#roceit fanfiction

[roseianxiety]

All wrapped up by the fireplace

Ship: Romantic Roceit

Content Warnings: Mentions of alcohol usage, drunkenness, foul language, slight innuendo

Synopsis: Roman has some alone time with himself after their little Christmas Eve celebration, but a certain drunken snake approaches him and ruins his peace. At least that's what he thinks.

AO3

“Roman, is it really necessary for you to turn the living room into THIS?” 

Logan queries loudly as he gestures to the living room, now completely covered in Christmas decor and where their TV stood was now replaced with a grand brick fireplace. Roman really put a lot of effort into all this grandiosity.

“Yes, Logan, it is necessary.” Roman drawled out as he gave Logan a look while hanging the last ornament on the Christmas tree. He then added, hopping off his little stool. “You'd really expect ME to NOT go all out on Christmas?” he remarked at Logan.

Logan merely sighs and rolls his eyes, making his way towards his recliner chair. “I shouldn't have expected less from you and Patton when it comes to celebrating festivities,” he stated, gently sitting down and opening up one of the newspapers Virgil gave him. 

Roman hums proudly before strutting to the kitchen to check on whatever Patton was working on.

“Hey, Popstar, how's the baked goods doing there?” Roman questions cheerily from across the counter, propping his palm under his chin while he watches Patton do his thing.

Patton turns around, slightly surprised at Roman's sudden appearance but then giggles. “Oh hey ya, kiddo, didn't see you there.”. He continued, pulling out a tray of gingerbread man cookies out of the oven. “I'm almost done with the last batch. Careful, they're very hot.”.

He says before placing the tray down on the countertop to let it cool. Roman immediately reaches for one but hisses in pain and pulls his hand back when he burns himself with the piping-hot cookies. “Ow…”.

Patton tuts and shakes his head at Roman's impulsiveness, “I did tell you they're hot. You saw me take them out of the oven just now.”. He reaches to take Roman's hand but the other declines and pulls away. 

“Nah, it's okay. This burn is far from reaching my intestines anyway, so I'm cool. I was merely excited to taste your fantastic cookies, Padre.” Roman shrugs and moves to try and take one but Patton gently slaps his hand away. The creative prince pouts at that.

“No no, they're still piping hot. And, we still have to wait for the last batch before we can finally eat all of these.” Patton states with a raised chin, trying to seem authoritative but he looks silly and cute. Don't tell him that.

“Bummer,” Roman mutters with a pout before sighing. He straightens (ha!) his posture and stretches his arms over his head, turning on his heels. “Anyways, you better continue that while I go check whatever chaos Remus is doing. Don't want him ruining my party.”.

He says as he makes his way back to the living room. As he does so, he could see Virgil hissing aggressively at Remus while his twin brother was teasing the crap out of the anxious facet.

“Come on, take him! He's Mr. Fuzzy’s boyfriend!” Remus exclaimed, trying to give another handcrafted hairball abomination to Virgil who was desperately trying to get away from him. And Janus was there, laughing his drunk ass off by the sidelines.

Virgil notices Roman walking towards them and immediately calls for him while trying to stop Remus from getting close to him. “Roman! Come get your unhinged brother!” He exclaimed, before hissing at Remus.

“Hi, Roman~” Janus giggles drunkenly as he gives Roman a small. Geez… he really was drunk. Roman chooses to ignore him.

“Sorry Virgil but you're gonna have to deal with him yourself.” Roman hums, raising his hands in defense. Virgil groans at his response, now more annoyed. Remus then pushes the hairball abomination right at Virgil's face, causing the other to yelp.

Roman leaves them be and walks towards the couch, plopping just beside Logan who was engrossed with his puzzle thing or whatever it was. He tried to take a peek at it only for his face to scrunch up in confusion, not understanding one bit of it. Roman didn't what was so interesting about it but eh, at least Logan was having the time of his life.

He leans back on the couch while he watches as the fire crackles in the fireplace, emitting a cozy warmth that he always loved. Roman might now admit it out loud but he loved enjoying his Christmas with everyone. It’s good not to be alone.

“To be honest, I didn't think Remus would be this… tame when he is drunk. How surprising.” Logan comments as looks down at Remus on the floor before sipping on his wine. The chaotic individual was currently splayed out on the living room floor, already deadbeat asleep.

Patton carefully takes the empty mug from Remus’ grasp, trying not to wake him up. “So alcohol is just the way to calm him down?” He says, letting out a soft yelp when Remus grumbles and pulls the mug away from him, hugging it close. Patton frowns and leans back on the couch but not before grabbing two cookies from the snack platter.

“You know, it's already late and I already feel the spirit of Christmas welling up inside me. And by that, I mean vomit. Merry Christmas y'all, I'm gonna go bury myself in the comforts of my blankets.” Virgil suddenly says as he gets up from his usual place on the couch before sinking out, not letting anyone say a word.

Logan proceeds to check the time on his wristwatch. “Virgil is right, it is past twelve and my bedtime schedule. Merry Christmas everyone. Be sure to sleep well.” He says in a monotone, glancing at the rest of them. He then leaves as well, following right after Virgil.

“Aww geez, everyone's going to sleep now. I'm starting to feel eepy too. So sorry your party didn't go the way you wanted it to, Roman.” Patton apologizes with a small frown as he looks at the princely trait but Roman waves it off.

“It's quite alright, Patton, I am not easily upset at something so trivial.” He says casually, getting up from his spot on the couch and beginning to stretch his arms, hearing satisfying pops from his joints. “You go ahead and rest your adorable self, I'll deal with all the mess here.” Roman then added.

“Are you sure? I can help you—”

Roman immediately cuts Patton off before he can even continue his sentence, “Shush, Patton. I can handle this. You've been dozing off a lot, it's best for you to rest.”.

“Plus, I've still got a pump of adrenaline in me so I'm not that tired yet. I'm gonna spend all that leftover energy cleaning all of this.” He chuckles, trying to reassure the fatherly figure.

“Oh…if you say so. But don't forget to rest too. Merry Christmas, kiddo! I love you!” Patton exclaims before throwing himself on Roman, giving the other a tight, warm hug. Roman smiles fondly, hugging the other back. Eventually, Patton sinks out and returns to his room.

When Patton left, Roman immediately started his work. He cleaned all of the junk left in the living room, from the torn gift wrappers to the various cookie crumbs lying around. Roman resorted to carrying Remus onto the couch, Remus might not be the physically built one between them but God, was he heavy. 

He continued to clean the living room and even cleaned the kitchen as well, making sure there wasn't any mess left in the morning. After half an hour or so, he was finally done.

He makes a little nest out of pillows and blankets by the fireplace before situating himself in his creation. Even after all that cleaning, he still wasn't tired. And he couldn't think of anything to do. So why not look at fire instead?

Janus stumbles down from the stairs, drunk as fuck. He was planning to get some water but his eyes landed on something by the fireplace. Or more likely, someone.

“My my, what's our beloved prince doing here all by himself?”

Roman suddenly snaps his head back as soon as he hears that all too familiar sultry voice. His eyes narrow at the very presence of his archenemy. Janus was making his way towards him, while almost tripping on his own feet. He clearly was still not sober.

“What do you want, Janus? I'm not exactly in the mood to deal with you right now.” Roman groaned before turning back to the fireplace, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What? Am I not allowed to be in the living room? I just wanna get warm.” Janus huffs before plopping down beside the prince, causing the other's face to scrunch up more in frustration and annoyance. Roman scoots away from him and avoids meeting his gaze. He crosses his arms further, a big pout already forming on his lips. 

There was a big silence between them, and Roman liked it that way. Heck, he even forgot Janus was there beside him in the first place. Out of annoyance and trying to avoid the other, he got distracted by watching the fire slowly move and crackle in an intricately artistic dance. Not until Janus said the most out-of-pocket thing ever which ruined the vibe.

“You know, you could've done other things to warm me up than buy me socks.”

Those. Those were the very words that ruined his perfectly good vibes. Because what the actual fuck!?

“W-what? No!” Roman remarked quickly in sheer embarrassment, his whole face as red as his sash. Now why did Janus have to say that?!

Janus only tilted his head at him, staring at him innocently for a few minutes before letting out a sadistic cackle, making Roman turn red. “I'm just messing with you, Roman.”.

He then stops momentarily, batting his eyelashes at Roman as he bites his lips suggestively. “Unless you want to…”.

Roman's whole face immediately burned up like the fire in the fireplace. For some random reason, the way Janus was saying that in a low and sultry voice while biting his lip was absolutely sending him. Jesus Christ on a stick, it was not the right time to be a gay mess.

“How many bottles of wine have you drunk today?” Roman queries, gently gripping Janus' face as he tries to look for any sign of sobriety.

“Just a bit. Like, three or four bottles. I don't know, I forgot. Silly me.” Janus giggles, looking up at Roman with a drunken gaze, his whole face dusted in pink. Okay, but truth be told, he was quite cute when he was not up to something devious. Not that Roman would admit it.

“Geez, you're so drunk right now. You need to go back to your room and sleep.” Roman clicked his tongue before letting go of Janus, causing the other to slump forward against him.

The deceitful facet whined, clinging close to him. “I'm not drunk! I am very sober as you can see. Iz jus very very cold… hmm, you're warm.” he grumbled lowly, nuzzling close to Roman. The creative prince was having second thoughts if he should push Janus away or let him cuddle with him, he's still not on good terms with Janus after all and the latter was drunk.

“Even while drunk you still have the gall to lie.” Roman scoffs with a roll of his eyes.

“So warm… you are like a walking furnace. Very warm. I like warmth.” Janus babbled, not wanting to let go of Roman. The other could do nothing but grimace, having no choice but to let Janus cling to him like a koala bear.

“Not gonna lie, you're sorta cute when you're drunk. And pretty annoying too.” Roman commented, glancing at Janus for a moment.

“Awww, you think I'm cute AND pretty, Roman? Do you like meeee?”

The creative trait could feel his cheeks heat up at Janus' bold words. He tries to hide his blush by averting his gaze from Janus while his heart begins to ram against his ribcage.

“No way! I-I meant pretty annoying! Nothing else.” Roman exclaims in defense but Janus merely chuckles at him, clearly not convinced with his answer. And of course, Janus doesn't stop taunting him.

“Then why are you blushing?~” Janus teases as he reaches to grab Roman's face, urging the other to look at him. 

“I'm not!”

“You so are.”

Roman let out a frustrated groan and covered his face. Janus was going to be the death of him if he didn't stop teasing him. He wanted to rip out his hair and scream. Roman took back what he said, Janus was not cute when he was drunk, more like annoying.

“By the way, how did you know I'm cold-blooded? I never truly told anyone that.” Janus wonders, seemingly having calmed down from his amusement. Roman glances at him, slightly caught off guard by his question.

Roman thinks for a moment, he didn't think of the possibility that Janus might ask that question. When he got Janus for Secret Santa, his first plan was to give him something shitty like a passive-aggressive letter but he scrapped that because he might seem like too much of an asshole. So he went for something useful. He may or may not have done some research for Janus' gift.

“I just assumed because you're a snake and all,” Roman muttered, still refusing to look at Janus at the fear that the other would tease the crap out of him or if his heart would fully jump out of his chest. “They're not that special, just some pair of yellow socks.”.

“I like them though, they're yellow and keep my feet warm.” Janus hums happily before raising one of his feet up to show off his cool new socks, then wiggles his toes a bit just to fuck with Roman. The princely facet gave him a disgusted look but it quickly melted away into a hearty laugh.

“Didn't expect you'd wear them immediately. Thought you might throw it away because it does not match your ‘Disney Villain’-esque aesthetic.” Roman chuckles softly. Janus smiles at him, a sincere and genuine one at that.

Roman wanted to admit it, but Janus was growing on him. He had never seen this side of him before when he was sober. He was less villainy and scheme-y, although Janus still got that sass and all. Yet it was his first time seeing him smile so genuinely. It was a fresh sight to see.

Their eyes suddenly met for a moment, the both of them could feel a quick spark of electricity as soon as their gaze landed on each other. Roman could only watch as Janus slowly leaned closer toward him, almost climbing on his lap. 

They stare at each other intently, not knowing what will happen. Roman's gaze moved from Janus' eyes down to his lips, then back up, before gulping softly. There was a pregnant pause between them, but it was broken when Janus leaned forward, closing the gap between them.

Sparks fly as their lips collide in a kiss, likening it to a fireworks display. All the background noises seemed to quiet down behind them, only the loud thumps of their passionate hearts that seemed to jump out of their chests could be heard. Roman only stared at Janus in shock as he sat there, frozen. His brain was still processing what was happening. 

But before he could, Janus suddenly pulled away. 

“I love you…” He mutters against Roman's lips before moving away to rest his head on the prince’s shoulder.

Then it finally clicked to Roman. He snapped out of his trance and immediately reached to touch his lips with his fingers, trying to feel the bits of the presence of Janus' kiss as his whole face warmed up. Janus kissed him and confessed to him… Janus…kissed…him

.

.

.

.

.

.

JANUS KISSED HIM!

The realization dawned upon him like being hit with a ten-wheeler truck. Did this mean Janus liked him all this time?! No… no, that can't be the case, right? He was drunk. That cannot be true… right? But it did seem genuine.

He was about to question Janus when he realized the other had already fallen asleep while lying on his shoulder. Really? He just kissed Roman and gave him a dilemma then went to sleep!

Roman let out a groan, mentally slapping himself on the face. He did not want his Christmas to start with him overthinking about this. After a long while, he lets out a long sigh, choosing to accept his reality. Maybe Janus did like him. But does he like him back?

He glances at Janus once more, observing his features. Huh, his scales were interesting up close. They shine like emeralds. A small smile creeps up on Roman's lips while he watches Janus sleep peacefully, he really is stunning.

Janus suddenly shudders in his sleep, clinging more to Roman. The personification of creativity notices this and decides to pull the other closer, basically letting his archenemy cuddle him. Roman looks around for the blankets until he finds one, draping it around him and Janus, hoping that would shield them from the chilly breeze.

Roman then queries softly, “Still cold?”. 

Janus then unconsciously shakes his head as a response while he nuzzles the other. The creative facet chuckles softly, wrapping his arms around Janus to keep him warm.

He continues to observe the other for a few moments, watching as he softly breathes and snore. It was cute. This could be good blackmail material for Janus, but Roman wasn't exactly in the mood. All he wanted to do right now was admire him. Roman then whispers to him, pressing a gentle kiss on Janus’ forehead. 

“I love you too, Janus.”

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

Writing Taglist: @cutebisexualmess @extraintrovertedalien (please tell me if you want to be added or removed in the tag list)

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #sanders sides fanfic #tss fanfic #roman sanders #roman sanders sides #janus sanders #janus sanders sides #roceit #roceit fanfic #roceit fanfiction #ts roceit #romantic roceit #alcohol cw #tw all caps

[shsl-fander]

Forbidden Love

Synopsis: Janus has loved Roman for years now, but he had to sacrifice that love for a plan with the dark sides which includes betraying Roman amd getting together with Remus.

Pairing: Roceit

Tw: Crying, Janus angst, Unrequited Love, one moment mentions pinning up against walls which can be taken as romantic or sexual.

Him. It was always him from the start. There was always one boy that always caught Janus's eye, the boy that made him stumble on his words ; the one person who could only ever get the snarky Deceit to act soft ; even if it was when Janus was alone thinking about said boy. His charming smile, his beautiful shimmering green eyes, soft singing voice, everything about him. Roman.

Yet, he couldn't have him. It wouldn't work, it would mess up the whole plan. He had to betray Romam, that was how things worked ; he was Deceit.

Janus squeezed his blanket tighter towards himself, tears burned his scaled cheek as they continued to fall, staining his eyes. A few sobs left him, as he burried himself farther into his sheets and blankets. The lump in his throat tightened as a few sobs left him, puddles of tears on his blankets. God, he hated being like this. It wasn't like him, especially after he had so successfully tricked someone!

A loud knock snapped Janus out of his trance, he jumped, hissing angrily at the door. "Do you mind Remusss?!" he exclaimes defensively, voice cracking. He heard haunting laugh from the other side of the door.

"Oh come on Jan! Cheer up! You did great, sure my bro's hurt but, you got Patton and Thomas to trust ya. Betraying Ro was part of the plan," Remus reminded him, bouncing on his feet. "You should be proud of yourself, you usually are. "

Janus grumbled miserably ; Remus didn't understand. When you fall in love, that doesn't just go away. Especially, when he had loved Roman since they were kids, when Roman didn't even really know him. He wasn't sure if Remus had even been in love before, even if he had ; he clearly wasn't understanding.

He knew this wasn't everything, he knew he was meant to marry Remus if everything they wanted to do could be done. The problem was he was in love with Remus's brother, and nothing could be done about that.

At first the days dragged by, every hour feeling ten times longer than it actually was, every moment Janus saw Roman he was replied with uncomfortable glances, glares, and just genuine rivalry ; and it hurt. He knew it was deserved, but it hurt. Eventually, weeks started to go by,then months, and Janus avoided Roman as much as he could. When he had to see Patton to gain his trust he made sure to dodge any opportunity to be in Roman's presence.

His heart ached, he yearned for am opportunity to be with Roman. He wanted to tilt the prince's head up, before leaning in and connecting their lips together ; kiss him until they could barely breath. Pin Roman up against the wall and watch the prince trip and stumble on his words, watching him blush. He wanted to run his fingers through roman's hair as they listened to showtunes together, the two had more in common than either liked to admit, and theatre was one of those things. Roman saw himself as a hero, Janus was more of a villian; and yet somehow that only drew him too Roman more.

Sooner than Janus wanted, he knew he had to be engaged to Remus ; it was his plan, yet he didn't think he'd end up regretting it this much. Was loyalty to the dark sides worth this much? Was their plan against the others, mainly leading up to what orange was going to do, really worth it? To sacrifice the first real love Janus had felt since Virgil left years ago.

"Janussss, Jan? Janny are you okay?"

Janus blinked, the voice of a certain moral side jolting him back to reality, he jumped, clearing his throat. "Ahem, Yes?" he said, hoping Patton hadn't asked something important.

Patton giggled, smiling widely,"I heard you recently got engaged to Remus! How are you feeling?" He asked curiously.

Oh. Right. That. "Oh- yeah. Great, happiest I've ever been!" Janus insisted with a hiss, at least he was used to lying.

He knew it'd never be how he dreamed. The love he yearned so strongly for. All he had were his dreams, his heart ache, and the guilt. The hope that one day, maybe at least Roman could forgive him.

That would be enough.

Word Count: 762

#roceit #roceit fanfic #ts sides fanfiction #fanfic #fanfiction #roceit fanfiction #sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #sanders sides fanfic #hurt no comfort #angst #janus angst #janus sanders #roceit angst #Roman sanders

[prodigal-explorer]

my dearest little prince (i)

(roman sanders hurt/comfort, cw for extreme self deprecation and janus dropping truth. features sympathetic janus!)

“My dearest little prince…what’s happened to you?”

Roman’s hollow eyes, darkened from sleep deprivation, were squeezed shut, tears spilling out the sides and down his cheeks. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Nobody was supposed to know. Not even Janus’ tender, lulling voice could pull him out of this panic.

“Baby, come here. Please. Let me help you. Let me hold you.”

Janus’ words were practically hypnotic to the tired, desperate young prince. Roman was so tired of being used, so tired of being an object. All he wanted was to be loved, just like everyone else, but it seemed that no matter what he did, no matter what positions he bent himself into, he could never change himself enough. He was still too Roman. Maybe his actions weren’t the problem, after all. Maybe Roman himself was to blame. Everything about him, after all, was wrong, no matter what he did and how he did it. Roman could feel his mind turn to fuzz, Janus’ words and form growing farther and farther away as he enveloped himself in a meager attempt at self-protection. After all, Roman had long learned that he couldn’t trust anybody else to protect him from anything.

This had to be a trap. It just had to be.

“When was the last time you ate?” Janus whispered, putting a hand on Roman’s shoulder. The prince flinched back, but Janus persisted, too anxious to be sensitive. “Baby, please. I’m worried about you. You’ve always been so fragile. And lately, it feels like you’ve just been floating away.”

“Yeah?” Roman whispered, his voice seething with hurt. “I wonder why.”

Janus blinked, and tilted his head, his brow furrowed. “What do you mean, darling?” he asked gently.

“Maybe I should float away,” Roman mumbled thickly as his tears started to suffocate him. “You all would like it so much better if I was gone. You play tricks on me to make me shut up or look stupid, you use me for your own agendas without even caring about mine, and then you betray me when all I ever wanted to do was help my friends! I wanted to be a prince, I wanted to be honorable and chivalrous, but- but what’s the point if it always ends with me alone? I’m the least favorite side, Janus. The least favorite. The least amount of fans like me, and the most amount of fans hate me.”

“That’s-…that’s not fair, Roman,” Janus whispered, but Roman interjected before Janus could continue.

“Maybe it is fair,” he snapped, “Someone has to be. Maybe it should be me. After all, I am the evil twin. No matter what I say or do, no matter how hard I try, people only care about the bad stuff I did, and none of the good stuff I’m doing. What’s the point of trying anymore? What’s the point of anything?”

Roman tried to keep ranting, but a whimper cut him off, and as he realized the weight of everything he was saying, he started to sob. He felt like he was being crushed under the weight of the situation. Never in his entire life had the little prince felt so helpless.

Janus took the opportunity to talk. He tried to hide his anger, not towards Roman, but towards everyone and everything that caused Roman to believe such terrible things were actually true. Himself included.

“My precious little one,” Janus murmured, carefully pulling Roman’s limp and trembling limbs into a hug. “You are not evil. Evil people don’t worry about whether or not they’re evil. Evil people don’t cry as you do now. You are so, so good, my darling. And I’m sorry that nobody has told you that. I’m sorry that you’ve felt so alone for so long. You try harder than anybody I know. You are so ready to learn and change that sometimes I worry that you’ll lose yourself one day and never find it again.”

“Would that really be such a bad thing?” Roman muttered to Janus’ chest.

“Of course it would!” Janus scolded gently, starting to rhythmically pet Roman’s curly hair and support his delicate form. “Roman, you are so special. You’re so…beautiful. I’ve never met anybody else who sees the world the way you do, with such wonder. With such color. You sing when no audience is around to applaud you. You speak to things that can’t speak back. You care so much about everything. You care more than anybody I’ve ever met.”

There was silence and stillness in the room for a very long time, not a sound except for occasional sniffling from Roman. And then, the creative side fully launched himself into Janus’ arms, letting his sorrow carry him as he melted into Janus’ secure, but gentle hold, sobbing into his shoulder and letting Janus support his weight, trusting him to keep him upright.

“My baby…my sweet baby,” Janus whispered, “You’ve been hurting for a long time, haven’t you?”

Roman couldn’t speak. He couldn’t act, he couldn’t ask for more than this. For so long, he had been trying to act more mature, so he could be taken more seriously. But it felt so good to just cry, and be a child again, even if just for a moment. Janus seemed to innately know that Roman needed this. Maybe Janus cared more than Roman thought.

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #tss #roman sanders #sanders sides fandom #janus sanders #sympathetic janus #roman tss #tss janus #janus tss #tss roman #roceit #platonic roceit #hurt/comfort #sanders sides roman #sanders sides janus #roman sanders angst #sanders sides fanfiction #sanders sides fic #sanders sides fanfic

[prince-rowan-of-the-forest]

Saw you had writing prompts up and thought I’d send in something that brain conjured up in the early hours of dawn

“What if I want them to kill me? What if I want them to try? What if I want to see them realize that as much as I and others have tried. They…We can’t?’

d’know if this was what you meant by prompts but enjoy a depressed God?

More Than Human

----

At his very core, Janus was human.

One might say he was more than human, being a God, but being more than something doesn’t take away from that something, it just adds onto it.

----

| Ao3 | Next Part |

Warnings: implied/referenced suicide attempts, touch starvation, depression (with a somewhat positive ending)

Pairings: platonic roceit, though could be perceived as romantic if you so wished.

Word count: 1601

Notes: If I had a nickel for every time I wrote a fic with Mortal!Roman and a god!side I'd have two - (gets killed)

I really needed this lmao so tysm for the prompt! I've been really struggling with writing inspiration recently so this was really great!

It's been so long since I posted something new - it feels so good lmao. I left it fairly open ended so I could write more if anyone wanted it <3 just send an ask!! I'm always down for prompts :)

----

Janus was, first and foremost, a God

To be precise, he was the God of deception, trickery. In some communities he was the Guardian of all Evil, in others he was a representation of temptation, sin, all that was wrong with the world. 

At his very core, Janus was human.

One might say he was more than human, being a God, but being more than something doesn’t take away from that something, it just adds onto it.

Janus was still human, deep down, he always would be, no matter how many layers were added - immortality, reality bending powers, worshippers, temples - he couldn’t bury the human parts. Though he tried, he wasn’t indifferent. No matter what he did the harsh words still stung when they tore at him, the hatred many felt towards him sat heavy in his chest, loneliness clawed at him like a starving animal - and he was their prey. As it had been for years. 

He had been naive, a thousand years ago, to become a God. But they’d needed someone to shoulder the burden of the world's evils. They needed someone to shield them from the terrors, they needed someone who could face the lies and treachery and not be torn down by them. He had been foolish then, just a boy who was different, a boy who wanted to help. 

There was no way out, either. Janus had tried his best, he’d begged the universe, he’d searched. He’d tried to cut himself off from the world but that had only made the lonely, empty feeling in his chest worse, he’d tried to end it all, when he had no options left, but that hadn’t worked either. 

You couldn’t kill a God, after all. He wasn’t the only one who tried. 

—-

“You’re not going to defend yourself?” Said the knight, dressed in shining silver armour, a red cloak fastened at the shoulder flowing behind him, a confident expression turning to confusion. The challenger stood before him in his temple, shining sword drawn and pointed at Janus’ chest where he sat on his uncomfortable, stone throne. 

“No,” He answered simply.

“You’ll just… let me kill you?” He said, faltering, the only movement was his fiery red hair in the wind. 

Janus leaned on his elbow and didn’t say anything. The knight lowered his sword just a little. 

“Armies will try - if I fail,” The knight said, widening his arms in a gesture, “More people will come, try to kill you, why just allow it?”

“Maybe I want them to kill me,” Janus said softly, not quite looking at the knight, “What if I want you, them, everyone to try? What if I want to see them realise that as much as I and others have tried. They…We can’t?’”

The knight stared at the God before him, eyes widening as he realised, “You… whyever would you want to die?” 

Once again, Janus said nothing. The knight sheathed his sword and Janus sighed softly. He supposed today wouldn’t be the day. 

With the soft clanking of the knight’s heavy armour, he stepped forward, slowly approaching Janus’ throne as though he was prepared to be attacked. Even if he never went to draw his sword again, Janus could see the fear growing in his eyes with every step as he got closer. Janus didn’t move. 

“Why do you want to die, Janus: God of Deceit, guardian of Evil,” the Knight asked, now standing over him. How interesting, Janus thought, that a mortal would have the courage to do such a thing. Many Gods would have felt that something of the sort was an act of disrespect, possibly even choosing to smite down the mortal who dared to do such a thing, Janus found he didn’t have the energy to care. Instead he just smiled softly - at least this made his life just a little more interesting, even if it did nothing to lessen the emptiness in his chest. 

He sighed, he’s certain the knight would listen if he turned him away, but Janus had yearned for someone to talk to for hundreds of years. This knight would leave soon anyway and Janus would never see him again, what did it matter.

“Tell me your name,” Janus said, the Knight tilted his head and frowned, “Tell me your name, first, and I’ll answer your question.”

After a long, thoughtful pause, the knight sighed, “My name is Roman - Sir Roman Greenheart.”

“A lovely name,” Janus said softly, Roman smiled tentatively, “Now- your question… Why do I want to die? The answer is that living is painful.”

“Oh…” Roman said softly, “I would have thought a God would have an easy life.”

“Easy and painless are not the same,” Janus says softly, “People try to kill me on a monthly basis, Roman, and that’s barely scratching the surface.”

The pair were silent for a moment, before Roman gestured to the floor by Janus’ feet, “May I sit down?” He asked.

“You may,” Janus said. With permission, Roman folded to sit cross legged by Janus’ feet. He wondered silently why Roman’s attitude had changed so abruptly - minutes ago he’d been prepared to attempt to kill him. He wouldn’t ask though, instead simply ignoring him, resting his elbow on the uncomfortable arm of the throne and resting his chin atop his fist. 

Minutes spent in silence later, Roman must have shifted, because Janus felt his shoulder brush against his leg, sending a jolt of warmth through him, strong enough to make his gasp. He hoped Roman wouldn’t notice, but as the knight turned to look at him, he knew he wasn’t so lucky. 

“What was that?” Roman asked, frowning up at him - though the look seemed to be one of concern, Janus couldn’t be certain. 

“I’m not sure I know what you’re talking about,” Janus said, making a point to look forward instead of down at Roman. Unfortunately that left him unprepared for Roman laying his hand atop Janus’ knee. His whole leg jolted as he flinched away in surprise at the way the touch burned. 

“What are you doing to me,” Janus hissed, trying to sound menacing though he was fairly certain his fear and confusion were showing through his facade. 

Roman simply frowned, “How… How long has it been since someone touched you?”

For a moment, Janus couldn’t think of an answer because when he thought about it, Janus couldn’t remember the last time he’d been touched by another person outside of combat. His silence seemed to be enough of an answer for Roman. 

“I didn’t know Gods could be touch starved,” Roman said softly. Janus’ frown deepened. 

“Will you stop being vague and let me in on whatever odd breakthrough you’re having?” He asked, voice tired but still a little snappish, Roman jumped.

“Oh- um…” he sighed, “I believe you might be touch starved.”

“...Meaning?” Janus asked, frowning down at the knight with a raised eyebrow.

“You’ve gone too long without touch,” Roman said, sighing, “So you aren’t used to it - people need touch to be happy.”

“I am not a person.” Janus pointed out, frowning, he wasn’t even sure why Roman was even still here - now he was telling him he had this strange sickness of some kind? Who did he think he was?

“You don’t have to be a human to be a person,” Roman pointed out, voice irritatingly soft.

Janus narrowed his eyes, “Why are you still here?”

“Why haven’t you told me to leave?” Roman challenged, Janus blinked. People didn’t usually stand up to him - well, not after trying and failing to kill him, anyway. They usually ran in fear after that - that’s how it always went.

Roman held his gaze for a long, quiet moment, before Janus sighed.

“I don’t know,” he said. Eventually, Roman’s expression became one of pity, maybe concern. 

“You…” Roman trailed off, fidgeting with the hem of his sleeve, “Do you have anyone to talk to? Other Gods?”

“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” Janus said, tone growing icy. Roman frowned, but seemed to understand as he stood up.

“Well - I must get back to my village duties,” He said with a small smile, confusing Janus greatly - though he tried not to show it. Why on earth was he smiling?

“Good,” Janus said sharply, “Leave me be with your prying questions and annoying presence.”

Chuckling, the knight turned away, though the glint in his eyes certainly worried Janus - if only a little, though he tried immediately to get the sight out of his mind, “I will return here in a week's time - for no reason - perhaps I’ll bring some cookies.”

Janus frowned as he watched him leave. Was this mortal trying to tempt him, a God, to return to his own temple, with the promise of cookies? He said nothing as Roman walked away and continued to sit there once the knight was out of sight over the crest of the hill. Janus thought he shouldn’t come back next week - as the mortal was clearly inviting him to - but he wanted to. He really wanted to and Janus wasn’t one to deny himself what he wants despite having not wanted much other than death for the last few hundred years.

Despite that, and despite his harshness towards Sir Roman, he still wanted to see the strange mortal again.

So for the first time he actually kept track of the passing days and a week later he returned to that temple. For the first time he appeared before a knight without hoping that it would be the last time he did so. 

----

Tags: @full-of-roman-angst-trash @your-local-random-dino @cutebisexualmess @glacierruler @roseianxiety @bella-bugatti-frogetti-baguetti (if anyone wants to be added, let me know!)

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #janus sanders #ts janus #roceit #(platonic or romantic its your choice lol) #roman sanders #ts roman #fanfic #fanfiction #rowans writings

[korruptbrekker]

@5am-the-foxing-hour

Roman couldn't look away from him even if he wanted to.

He looked majestic like this, hair splayed out around his head in a golden halo, expression peaceful and relaxed as he dozed in the vibrant, plush grass of the Daydreamscape. The sun caressed his skin, revealing yellows and blues in the patches of scales that dotted his face, his arms, his bare hands.

Janus's hand lay limp in Roman's own as he fiddled with his slender, ungloved fingers and admired his boyfriend before him. In his pale blue sundress and stunning red lipstick he looked right out of a storybook, the curious newcomer that would only wake once Roman's kiss of true love was delivered.

A glance to his left told him that Virgil was just as enraptured. A gentle smile played across his mouth, curving the edges upwards as he shifted forward and slid his fingers between shining locks of golden hair, scratching at Janus's scalp.

Their boyfriend moaned and shifted, face pinching slightly. Virgil froze. Roman did not.

"Hush, darling, go back to sleep." He encouraged, not once stopping his soft fiddling with Janus's fingers.

With a low hum his brow smoothed out and Janus settled back into his sleep. Roman caught Virgil's eye from over his head, smiling wide. Virgil let out a breath and smiled back.

Warmth bloomed heady in Roman's chest as he grinned, vines of adoration and love stretching from his chest and guiding his movements as he leaned forward to press a kiss to Virgil's lips.

Beneath them, Janus smiled, eyes fluttering shut as he enjoyed the sun.

—

If you like, please reblog. <3

#sanders sides #fanfic #fanfiction #sanders sides fanfiction #roman sanders #ts roman #janus sanders #ts janus #virgil sanders #ts virgil #roceit #anaroceit #romantic anaroceit #kbwrites

[groovyghostie]

The Seer: Part 1

Hey, guys! This is my Storytime Big Bang 2023 (@tss-storytime) submission! It was a lot of hard work and fun to get this done, and I'm really super proud of it! Mind the tags, stay safe, and enjoy! I was partnered with @creative-lampd-liberties, an amazing artist, for this event. You can find the art they made here. They also made the cover below!!! I'm putting this fic on Tumblr (even though I hate posting fics here -_-) because I have it set to registered users only on AO3 to help avoid bot AI scraping. That said, here's the AO3 link for those who are registered users on AO3:

[AO3 Link]

Summary: After spending most of his teenage years pretending to be something he’s not (a girl), then spending his adult life so far pretending to be something else he’s not (a clairvoyant), Janus is caught off-guard when he is granted real powers. He is the seer that predicts the downfall of the kingdom, as well as the potential salvation. The problem? The kingdom’s hero is Roman, Janus’s best friend’s brother, who… dislikes Janus. A lot. Now Janus is stuck going on a quest to destroy the source of The Dragon Witch’s power with a ragtag band of adventurers, and he has the unfortunate task of making sure they all survive. The forest is dangerous. So is their enemy. Janus hopes his friends are even more formidable.

Rating: T

Word Count: 26,268

Ships: Janus/Roman, Remus/Patton, Logan/Virgil, Thomas/Remy, Prince/Anxiety (shorts), Dad/Teacher (shorts)

Content Warnings: fire, description of burnt bodies, description of corpses, minor character death, animal death, parent death, sibling death, blood, assault, description of being burned, main character disowned by parents, mortal peril, kidnapping, injuries, transphobia, alcohol use, deadnaming, swearing

[Fic under readmore]

Prologue

Logan took his job very seriously. Being the prince’s manservant on top of being co-leader of the servants was a monumental task, but it was also a monumental honor. Of course, it was hard to feel honored when he was in the middle of taking the prince’s now-dry laundry back to his room so he could hang it up in the wardrobe. One basket on his head and the other on his hip with a hand on each one, Logan balanced the large burden carefully. He was passing one of the guest bedrooms, of which the door was cracked open, when he heard voices. He wasn’t sure who was in that room. Guests were more Remy’s department, because Remy could be charming when he wanted to be. That wasn’t Logan’s department either. 

He slowed, drifting closer to the door to listen. 

“...illing him won’t be easy,” said a male voice.

“Please, with me on your side, we’ll have no issues. It’s the chaos after that we must worry about.” This voice was female. It was smooth and sweet, the definition of comforting.

“Still, we must be careful that no one guesses what we’re up to. We’d have to act fast to prevent anyone from stopping us.” Logan recognized that voice. It was Prince Eschive, the king’s brother. That couldn’t be right, though. He wouldn’t be conspiring like this, surely.

“You’re right, of course, Dear One. Caution is of the utmost importance,” said the female voice. 

Logan peeked through the crack in the door. He could see the woman, now, and was fairly certain that it was Duchess Adalinda Draco. She was visiting the palace because she was a childhood playmate of the queen. This didn’t make any sense.

“I’m glad we’re agreed, Darling,” said Eschive. “And when we kill my brother and his family, you shall make a lovely queen.”

Logan’s eyes widened. They wanted to kill King Marceau, along with his entire family. But that couldn’t be right.

Adalinda grinned and leaned in toward Eschive. “And you shall be a powerful, respected king.” She placed her hands on his shoulders and kissed him. Logan’s eyes were drawn to her shadow. It shifted against the wall, forming unfamiliar shapes. It took Logan a few beats to figure out what he was seeing. Then the shape came together in his head. Horns. A tail. Wings. Very draconic, indeed. He gasped.

Adalinda pulled away from Eschive. “Did you hear something?”

Eschive nodded, face darkening, and Logan took that as his cue to leave. He rushed the rest of the way to the corner and turned it quickly, then ducked into a servants’ kitchenette. He waited there, his heart pounding in his ears.

After a few minutes, when he realized they weren’t going to come after him, he left the small room and headed towards Prince Virgil’s room again. No one would believe him with his word against Prince Eschive’s. He’d have to take this into his own hands.

1: The Conman

Janus leaned forward, placing his chin on his folded hands with his elbows on the table. “Tell me, Ms. Fortuna, what can I do to help you?” He looked her over. Salt crusted her hair at the tips, her lips were dry, and she had a spyglass tucked into a loop in her belt. A sailor, then. Judging by the spyglass, probably a captain. Her clothes were fine, too, so probably a merchant, especially when considered with the lack of scars. A pirate would have more scars, and any other kind of ship’s captain would have plainer clothes. “Business, or personal?” he asked.

“Business,” the woman across from him answered in a deep, sonorous voice. “A friend recommended I come here, because I’m worried if I call my fleet back from Hertland they’ll be lost to the storms. Can you tell me whether to wait or to call them back?”

Janus was surprised. If she was, herself, a sailor, she should know that there was a fleet of pirates going up the coast of Hertland, probably toward her ships. He hummed and made his usual show of looking into his crystal ball. His brow furrowed. Then he looked up suddenly. “If you don’t call them back now, they will be taken by pirates. Do they have a mirror you can use to speak to them?” 

Ms. Fortuna nodded quickly. “I must go tell them. Thank you so much, Janus.” She reached into her satchel and pulled out a bag about the size of a cantaloupe. When she set it down onto the table, the action was accompanied by the sound of clinking coins. “You’ve done me an invaluable service.”

“Of course, Ms. Fortuna. I wish you good fortune,” he said, smiling at her. 

As soon as the front door closed behind her, his smile grew into a grin and he chuckled. He snatched up the bag she’d left him in one hand, his cane in the other, and made his way back to his bedroom.

The room was small, with a comfortable bed, a bookshelf, a wardrobe, and a locked chest all crammed into what little space there was. He went to the chest and knelt to unlock it with the key on a leather strap around his neck. He carefully set his cane on the ground next to him. He grabbed his coin purse, emptied a bit of the bag of coins into it, then locked the bag in the chest. The coin purse got attached to his belt. He left his shop-and-home, locking the door behind himself.

-

“To suckers!” Remus exclaimed, raising his glass. It was the third of the night, half empty, and Remus’s cheeks were red.

Janus laughed and tapped his glass, still his first, against Remus’s. “To suckers,” he responded, though his smile was fading a bit. 

Remus raised an eyebrow. “What’s wrong, sourface?”

Janus shook his head. “It’s nothing. Everything’s perfect.”

“Liar,” Remus accused, pointing at Janus. “Something’s bothering you.”

Janus huffed. “I didn’t lie. Everything is perfect, and that’s what’s bothering me.”

Remus tilted his head, considering that statement for a moment. “What, are you bored?”

“Yes, Remus,” Janus said, voice full of frustration. “Everything’s too easy. It’s both unsettling and incredibly boring.”

“Excuse me,” said someone behind them. 

Janus jumped, and they both turned in their seats. The person standing behind them was mostly obscured by a deep midnight blue hooded cloak. 

“I couldn’t help but overhear that you’re bored. What do you do for work?” the person asked.

Janus narrowed his eyes suspiciously, but nonetheless answered, “I’m a fortune teller.”

The person sounded like they were grinning, but it was hard to see in the shadows obscuring their face, as they said, “I think I can give you a challenge.” They pulled a hand mirror from their cloak, revealing that their skin was extremely pale. After placing the hand mirror, set against a simple bronze back with a handle, on the bar, leaning between Janus and Remus, they turned on their heel, then they were gone.

“Well, that was weird and creepy,” Remus said, turning back to Janus.

Janus was staring at the mirror. “Yeah.” He shook his head and looked up at Remus. “Well, nothing left to do but keep drinking,” he said with a smile.

-

Janus awoke with a groan. His head was pounding. He dragged himself from his bed, still wearing his clothes from the night from before. He needed to splash water on his face before anything else. At least he’d gone to the well twice the day before. As he padded towards his basin, leaning more heavily on his cane in the sleepiness of the morning, he suddenly froze. 

He stood in the street outside his shop, looking up at the palace. It was on fire, burning bright and hot. People were screaming and crying. There was a sound, the loudest cracking that Janus had ever heard, then the tallest tower of the palace began to fall, right towards Janus. He covered his head.

He was back in his room, the brightness and heat gone. He breathed heavily, looking around in confusion. His hands shook. He looked back toward the bed. There on the blanket lay the mirror, in all its plainness. He’d been looking into it before he fell asleep, noting the odd feeling it gave him. Like a sense of impending doom. 

With nothing else to do, he dismissed what he’d seen, felt, and heard as a waking dream and continued his morning routine. 

His hands shook for hours. 

2: The Duke's Sons

Janus didn’t know why he’d agreed to go to the palace. He hadn’t been back since everything changed. But Remus had requested he accompany them. When the group stopped at his shop, he greeted Duke Erex politely, then Roman Erex, this time his voice dripping with sarcasm. Roman glared at him. He made his way to the back of the group to stand next to Remus and Patton.

“Hi, Jan!” Patton greeted him excitedly. 

Janus couldn’t help but smile back at Patton. Patton could almost always improve his mood. “Hello, Patton. Remus, how are you?” 

Remus glared at him in a way that was quite reminiscent of his brother. “It’s not fair, you always recover from drinking quicker than me,” he grumbled.

Patton cupped a hand around his mouth and stage-whispered, “He’s been grumpy all morning.” 

Janus grinned. “Well, that can only be expected from someone who’s hungover as fuck.”

“Fuck you,” Remus grumbled.

By the time they were near to the palace, Remus was feeling much better. The fresh air had revitalized him. Still he was complaining, just more energetically. “I hate going to the palace,” he groaned. “It’s so stuffy.” 

“Can you shut up?” Roman hissed from just in front of them.

“Can you?” Janus shot back.

Roman shot him a glare. “At least I’m not going to the palace in commoner’s clothing,” he sniffed.

Janus grit his teeth. “At least I’m not a stuck-up bitch,” he replied. 

Roman whirled around, stopping Janus, Patton, and Remus in their tracks.

“Guys, pl-” Patton tried.

“No, you’re not. But you know what you are, Janus?” Roman asked. 

“What?” Janus challenged.

“Dumbasses!” Remus exclaimed, trying to pull their attention to him.

“You’re a fraud. You pretend to be so confident, but you know that, deep down, you’re just faking it. You pretend all the time,” Roman accused. He turned and began to jog to catch up with his father and the bodyguard.

Janus stood, frozen, mouth slightly open.

“Jan…?” Patton asked gently. 

Janus snapped from his stupor, set his jaw, and squared his shoulders. “Let’s go.” He began to walk quickly, trying to catch up. His short legs did not help. Patton was in the same boat, but Remus kept up with the two of them effortlessly. Damn his height and long legs.

Still, they did catch up, right as the group arrived at the palace gates. Janus glared angrily at the back of Roman’s head, imagining that his eyes were burning holes into him. Roman ignored him. 

The palace corridors were cold, and they echoed. Janus had always disliked that. It drew attention to him when the sound of his cane against the floor was amplified so loudly.

Patton grabbed Remus’s hand, then held his other hand out to Janus. Janus took it gratefully. His heart flooded with gratitude for his friends. He genuinely didn’t know what he’d do without them. 

They had to let go of each other, though, when they reached the parlor where they were to meet Prince Eschive. Janus had always disliked Eschive. He reminded him of a weasel. A servant, tall and graceful, with spectacles perched upon his round nose, opened the door for them, and Duke Erex led the way into the room.

The duke and his sons, as well as Patton, sat down in the chairs provided for them when the servant gestured to them. Janus stood against the wall behind Remus and Patton, and the bodyguard stood against the wall on the other side of the door. The servant glanced at Janus’s cane and gave him an apologetic look, presumably for not having a chair for him. Janus shrugged one shoulder and smiled at him.

The tall servant poured them all tea, including Janus and the bodyguard, and even offered them all sugar. Janus always took his tea black, unless it was herbal, then he would add honey.

They waited for a few minutes, sipping their tea before Eschive finally entered the room. The duke, his sons, and Patton stood to greet him, bowing and then shaking hands with him. The prince seemed to revel in the attention and respect. 

“I apologize for my lateness,” Eschive said. “I was caught up in another matter.”

Janus noticed the tall servant making a concerned… or worried face at that.

“Of course, Your Highness, we do not mind,” said Duke Erex. He turned and gestured to Patton. “I do not believe you have met my son Remus’s husband, Patton.” His expression dripped with disdain, and Janus’s blood boiled. He saw Remus clench his teeth.

“I have not,” said Eschive. 

“A pleasure,” said Patton.

“The pleasure is mine,” said Eschive with a crooked smile. A shiver went down Janus’s spine, and Patton looked like he felt much the same.

They all sat, Eschive across from the duke, and began to discuss as the servant poured Eschive some tea as well.

“Tell me, Achille, the state of your land. How is the crop this year?” Eschive asked.

The duke nodded and began his spiel on how well the crop was coming in, and how the cows were producing well, and the weavers were working hard on the wool he’d imported from Hertland. 

Roman interjected occasionally, as he had been put in charge of managing the numbers for the sales of their textiles.

Remus, for once, sat silently.

There was a knock at the door. Eschive looked up, then motioned for the tall servant to open the door. Outside the door stood a beautiful woman and a servant. The woman was of average height, with pale skin and a perfect figure. Her curly hair, which went down to her waist and had two braids in the front tied together at the back of her head, was a striking fiery red. The servant was short and skinny, with perfect, swooping dark hair, and tinted glasses covering his eyes.

Eschive grinned, his eyes almost glazed over. “Duchess Draco! Come, join us.” He stood, so Duke Erex, his sons, and Patton stood as well. The duchess walked over to Eschive, and Eschive took her hand, then leaned down to kiss it. He let go in a way that seemed almost reluctant, then turned to Duke Erex. “Achille, this is Duchess Adalinda Draco. She is visiting from the province of Noerel.” He turned to the duchess. “Adalinda, this is Duke Achille Erex and his sons, Roman and Remus.” He gestured to each man as he spoke. The short servant slipped out.

The duke also took Adalinda’s hand and kissed it. “Wonderful to meet you, Your Grace.”

“Likewise, Your Grace,” said Adalinda. She turned, and her eyes caught Janus’s.

Janus dropped his cup, freezing up. It shattered. On her head were curling black horns. Behind her back, blood-red wings and a matching tail.

He was in the street outside his shop again. The heat and light were so intense. Smoke burned his lungs. A shadow fell over him, and he looked up. A dragon flew overhead, towards the palace, and began to breathe fire to add to the flames. Again, the tower cracked and began to fall toward him. 

Then he was back, the cool air of the palace washing over his skin. He leaned heavily on his cane, his legs feeling weak. Patton and Remus hovered by him worriedly, and the servant was knelt by his feet to clean up the glass. Thankfully, the teacup had been empty. “I’m sorry,” he choked out. 

Adalinda was looking at him with concern. Roman was looking at him with disdain.

“Let’s go outside,” Patton murmured. “Excuse us, Your Highness,” he said louder. 

“Of course,” said Eschive, waving them away.

Patton escorted Janus out of the room, Remus following behind them. 

“What happened?” Remus asked worriedly. 

“I… just felt faint,” Janus answered. “I’m fine now, really.”

Patton didn’t look convinced, nor did Remus, but he knew Janus well enough to take that as a cue to drop it. 

“I have to go back inside,” Remus said. “Are either of you coming?” Janus shook his head. He couldn’t go back in there with that woman. 

“I’ll stay with Janus,” Patton said. 

“No,” said Janus, shaking his head, “Go keep Remus out of trouble. I just need to gather myself.” 

Patton frowned, “But-”

“Go on, keep your husband from saying something regrettable,” Janus repeated.

“Hey!” Remus exclaimed.

“Oh, I’m right and you know it,” Janus replied. “Now go.”

Reluctantly, Remus and Patton went back into the parlor.

Janus sighed and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes. He had a headache.

“Pssst,” he heard. “C’mere.”

Janus opened his eyes, looking around in confusion. There, across the hall from him, there was the shorter servant, peeking out from behind a plain wooden door. He raised an eyebrow. The man motioned for him to come closer. He hesitated for only a few moments before carefully standing upright. The cane, like always, echoed. 

The servant opened the door for Janus to come in. Inside were both the taller servant and the shorter servant. When he was in, the shorter servant closed the door behind him. He looked around. They were in a little kitchenette that was probably primarily for preparing tea if Janus had to guess.

“So…” Janus said. “What did you want, exactly?”

The taller servant cleared his throat. “My name is Logan. I think we have some things to talk about regarding Duchess Draco.”

“Oh?” Janus asked, carefully keeping the nerves from his voice.

“I’m Remy, by the way,” interjected the shorter servant.

“Janus,” replied Janus politely.

Logan cleared his throat. “How about I recount to you what I’ve seen, then you can return the favor?”

“That sounds agreeable,” Janus answered, eyes sparkling with interest. “You've noticed something odd about her, then.”

Remy gave a small laugh. “You could call it odd, I guess. I’d just call it freaky.”

Logan shot him a glare, then continued, “I’ve definitely noticed something odd. You’ll hear my story, then?”

Janus gestured for him to go ahead.

“I was passing by Duchess Draco’s quarters, and I heard her and Prince Eschive conspiring to… get rid of the king,” Logan said.

Janus’s eyes widened.

“That’s not all,” Remy added.

“Indeed,” Logan agreed. “They kissed, and when they did Duchess Draco’s shadow morphed.”

“She had horns and wings,” Janus guessed.

Logan blinked. “And a tail.”

Janus nodded. “I saw that, too. And more.”

“More?” Logan inquired.

“I had a vision this morning… This sounds insane.”

“You’re the seer whose shop is down the main street, are you not?” Logan asked.

Janus hummed. “I suppose I must confide in you. I… am a fraud. Before this morning, I had never seen the future in my life.”

Remy snorted. Again, Logan glared at him. “That is a very unethical way to make a living.”

Janus took a deep breath. “I’ve done what I needed to do. I have a clear conscience. But that isn’t what this conversation is about. I had a vision this morning. The palace was burning. It felt so real… And…”

“And?” Logan prompted.

“I saw it again, just now. But this time there was a dragon, adding to the flames,” Janus said.

Logan and Remy were silent for a few moments, seeming to communicate with their eye contact. Finally they turned back to Janus.

“The course of action I propose is to keep this to ourselves for now,” Logan said. “Our word against the prince and duchess’s is not worth much.”

Janus nodded in agreement. “We should find more information. I can… speak with some of the mystics and magic shop proprietors. Hopefully one of them will have something useful to say.” He was hesitant. He’d avoided the other professionals in the capital to keep from being exposed as a fraud. This situation called for it, though.

Remy grinned. “We get to spy on the duchess and the prince, then?”

Logan gave a long-suffering sigh. “It’s not spying. It’s gathering information.”

“By watching them,” said Remy. “So, spying?”

Logan groaned.

“Janus?” called Remus’s voice, followed quickly by Patton repeating the call.

“I have to go,” Janus said. “It was nice to meet you both. Stay safe.”

“You as well,” Logan answered.

“Yeah, don’t get yourself killed or anything,” Remy said.

Janus huffed out a small laugh, then went to join his friends.

“Where were you?” asked Patton when Janus emerged from the small room.

Janus gave his most convincing smile. “Just gossiping. The servants always have the most interesting things to say.”

Remus giggled. “You’re always looking for things to use against people, aren’t you?” he said as they followed behind the rest of the group.

Janus gave a scandalized gasp. “I would never! I’m just a harmless busybody.”

Patton laughed a little. “Right. He’s just curious and nosy, Remus,” he said playfully.

“Right. Patton knows I’m telling the truth,” Janus said, barely holding in laughter.

Remus shook his head. “Riiiight. Well, I suppose I just have to believe you, seeing as you’re my best friend.”

“Good,” Janus replied.

About that time, they reached the palace gates. “We’ll see you soon, right, Janus?” Patton asked.

“Of course,” Janus answered. “Feel free to drop by any time.” He smiled. When Patton hugged him, he hugged back. And when Remus punched him in the arm, he punched Remus in the chest. They all laughed.

Patton and Remus followed Duke Erex, and Janus walked back toward his shop with a sinking feeling in his stomach.

-

The wooden training swords clashed in a way that sent the vibrations all the way up Pryce’s arm, making him wince. His opponent saw an opportunity, and she forced him back until his back collided with the stone wall around the training area. She grinned, and he laughed breathlessly.

“Good match, Val,” he said.

“Wish I could say the same,” Valerie teased, then immediately continued, “and I can. Thanks for the pointers, Pryce.”

“Val!” called a voice from the west viewing platform.

“Virgil!” Valerie called back. She gave Pryce a little wave, then jogged off to her brother.

Pryce watched, then his eyes slowly moved to the right of where the prince and princess were now talking, and he saw the very person he always looked forward to seeing at the end of his practice. His face split into a wide grin, and he waved.

Andy waved back. He looked a bit less self-assured than usual, which worried Pryce. He ran to meet him a little quicker than he usually would, scrambling up the ladder to the platform. “There’s my least favorite sarcastic asshole,” he greeted jokingly.

Andy gave a half-hearted smile and pulled a cookie from the basket he carried. He held it out, and when Pryce reached for it, he snatched it away. “I need help,” he said, the smile falling away. He looked as if he might cry.

Pryce stepped closer and guided him over to a more secluded corner, his blood running cold. He didn’t think he’d ever seen Andy so upset. Annoyed, sure. Grumpy, sure. But never anything like this. “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Andy took a deep breath, and it came back out much shakier. He closed his eyes tightly for a moment. He wouldn’t make eye contact when he opened them again. “My father still hasn’t come back,” he said, voice breaking slightly.

“He left three weeks ago, didn’t he?” Pryce asked, his heart breaking at the expression on Andy’s face as he nodded. “I’ll go look for him then, okay? It’ll be okay,” he assured him.

Andy sniffled softly. “By yourself?” He sounded terrified. Pryce had never seen him so vulnerable.

Pryce gave him a reassuring smile. “How about I take Thomas? Sound good?”

Andy nodded again. “Thanks,” he mumbled.

“Hey, it’s going to be alright,” he said, opening his arms.

Andy surged forward and buried his face in Pryce’s chest, dropping his basket to the floor. Pryce rubbed his back as he cried silently. Over and over again, he reassured him that it was alright. He wished he knew that were true.

3: The Prince

Virgil’s arms were folded in front of him. “You didn’t show up to our history lessons today,” he accused.

“Ugh, I forgot it was Monday,” Valerie groaned. “I’m so sorry, did you cover for me?”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Of course I did, I’m the best brother ever, remember?”

Valerie nodded, smiling. “Ah, yes, how could I forget?”

“That’s right,” Virgil sniffed. “And I deserve compensation.”

She shook her head fondly. “What do you want, Virge?”

Virgil pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket. “Give this to Logan for me?”

Valerie sighed. “When are you going to tell him you’re his secret admirer.”

“Never. Ever. That would be the most embarrassing and mortifying thing ever. Why would I do that?” Virgil asked, his face starting to turn red.

Valerie patted her little brother’s head. “Because if you don’t, you never get to find out if he feels the same, you never get to properly court him, you never get to marry him… I could go on.”

Virgil glared at her. “How dare you make sense at me?”

She finally took the note and placed it in her own pocket. “I need to go get changed into my dress for dinner. I’ll give it to him as soon as I see him.”

Virgil smiled, just a little. “Thanks, Val.”

“Well, I wouldn’t be a very good sister if I didn’t enable you in your quest to never talk to your crush about how you feel,” Valerie snarked, starting to walk back toward the armory.

“A lot of sass for someone who’s gonna need me to cover for her again in the future,” Virgil responded.

Valerie waved him off and walked away quickly.

Virgil shook his head fondly and headed back for the palace. He slipped in the door at the east end of the palace, near the kitchen. The halls were empty, which he was glad for, given he was technically supposed to be in his room studying.

He turned a corner, and there was Logan, arms crossed and eyebrows raised. “What are you doing, Your Highness?” His intonation did not make it sound like a question.

Virgil felt very small with Logan towering over him. “I went to see Valerie.” His intonation made it sound like a question.

“Right. It’s not as if you need to practice your spells, is it?” Again, it did not sound like a question.

“I, um… I’m on my way back to my room now.” Again, it sounded like a question.

“Hm. I suppose that’s acceptable.” Logan cracked a small smile.

Virgil took a deep breath. “I thought you were mad at me.”

“I’m not mad at you, Virgil,” Logan assured him. “I’d prefer that you stick to your schedule, but I’m not angry.”

Virgil smiled a little, relieved.

“I’ll accompany you back to your room. I have some work to do nearby.”

“Okay. Sounds good,” Virgil said, as casually as he could manage.

“Good,” Logan answered.

“Good.”

-

The next day, Remus and Patton joined Janus in his garden.

“That one looks like a duck,” Patton said, pointing up at a cloud.

Remus nodded. “A duck who’s up to something,” he added.

“Noooo!” Patton whined. “He’s a nice duck. Very polite. He’s doing some cooking, see?” he said, pointing again.

Janus pointed at Remus. “That one looks like a husband who’s sleeping on the couch tonight,” he joked.

“Only if that’s where we fall asleep after-”

“Remus!” Patton exclaimed, his face cherry-red.

Remus chuckled, reaching up from where he rested with his head on Patton’s lap and booping Patton on the nose, even as Janus made a disgusted face.

“Remus, Father wants you,” Roman’s voice interrupted.

Remus groaned, lifting his head up from Patton’s lap. “What does he need?”

“How should I know?” Roman asked.

Remus rolled his eyes and began to stand up. He licked Patton on the cheek as he did, causing him to break out in giggles and wipe at his cheek with his sleeve. “I’ll see you soon, Darling,” Remus said, getting to his feet fully. “Bye, Jan-ass.”

“Bye, dickhead,” Janus responded as Remus opened the gate of Janus’s back garden to leave.

Roman was about to follow him when Patton called out, “Roman, are you busy?”

Janus shot Patton a glare.

“No, I suppose not,” Roman said, pausing by the gate. “Why?”

“Come join us!” said Patton. “We’re cloud-watching.”

“Oh. Fun,” Roman said, sounding slightly conflicted. His gaze wandered over to Janus, and they both narrowed their eyes.

Janus gave in first, letting out a frustrated sigh. He poured Roman some watered wine into the extra cup he’d brought out with him (Remus had a habit of managing to break the wooden cups, but he always bought a new one when he did, so Janus didn’t mind much). He held out the cup, a peace offering of sorts.

Roman opened the gate and stepped into the garden. His red coat looked out of place in the green of the small fenced-in area.

Patton grinned. “Yay!”

Roman reached for the cup. As his hand closed around it, his fingers brushed Janus’s. Janus found himself dropping yet another cup as he sprung upright. He stood in a grand ballroom, smoke and screams filling the air. Roman stood a few feet away, and, past him, a great shadow in the shape of a dragon with glowing red eyes. It began to move toward Roman, and Janus cried out.

Janus was back in the garden again, breathing heavily. Roman was in front of him, their faces just inches apart. Wine dripped down Janus’s shins, staining his dark pants even darker. “Watch it!” he hissed, unable to think of what else to say or do.

Roman’s stunned expression turned offended. “You’re the one who dropped it!” They were even closer now.

Patton snickered, and Roman and Janus jumped apart like they’d been burned.

“I have to go,” Janus said quickly.

“Janus!” Patton called, but Janus was already out the gate and rushing toward the palace.

-

Logan set the tray down on the table more loudly than he usually did things, especially in the library. As a result, Virgil jumped.

“Holy shit, Logan! Don’t do that to me!” Virgil exclaimed.

Logan gave him a disapproving look. “You are going to get in trouble with your father one of these days using that sort of language.” He began to take items off the tray and set them near the tomes that Virgil had laid out on the table. “Time for lunch. Take a break.”

Virgil looked at the food, then back to his books again, then rubbed his hand over his face. “Fine. Thanks, Logan.”

“Of course, Your Highness.”

Virgil opened his mouth to say something, but then the door burst open and footsteps, along with the tapping of a cane, hurried toward them.

“Logan? I need to talk to-“ Janus stopped as he rounded one of the shelves and spotted Virgil. He bowed quickly, wincing at the spasm in his back. He hoped they couldn’t see his expression. “I apologize, Your Highness.”

Virgil huffed. “No need for that. Please.” He paused as Janus righted himself. “Hey, aren’t you—“

“Janus,” Janus interrupted quickly. He realized his mistake quickly, but he decided to double down, clenching his jaw. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “It’s Janus now.”

“Oh!” Virgil said. “Cool.”

“You needed to talk to me, Janus?” Logan asked.

“Yes. It’s urgent.”

Logan looked to Virgil, and Virgil waved him off. He and Janus began to leave, and as they were rounding the shelf, Logan looked back to see that Virgil had gone back to his books, the food untouched. He sighed softly but continued on his way.

He led Janus to an empty sitting room, then closed and locked the door behind him. He turned back to Janus, who had begun to pace nervously. “What do you have?”

Janus bit his lip. “I had another vision.”

Logan stepped closer. “That sounds ominous.”

“Yeah, it’s…” Janus sighed. “You remember Roman Erex, yes?”

Logan wrinkled his nose slightly. “Yes. Yes I do.”

“Well, his brother and brother-in-law are my friends, and we were spending time together in my garden when Roman came to tell Remus to go see their father. Then Patton said that Roman should join us, and I didn’t want him to, but Patton was giving me those puppy-dog eyes, and… I went to hand him a drink, and when our hands touched, I saw… him, fighting a dragon in a grand ballroom. Maybe the one in this palace.” As Janus finished, he felt the tension drain out of him, leaving only exhaustion in its wake.

Logan looked off into space, considering it for a while. “There seems to be no other reasonable conclusion. Roman is the one who must save the kingdom.”

Janus winced again. “That’s exactly what I didn’t want you to say.”

“Well, on my end, I’ve seen Eschive and Adalinda entering and exiting the same rooms furtively around the same time. They are certainly in it together. But, Eschive… He’s different around her,” Logan said.

“I noticed that yesterday,” Janus confirmed.

“What are our next steps?”

“You keep an eye on them. I’m going to spend the rest of the day talking to the other mystics. I was putting it off, but it’s becoming more and more urgent,” Janus said. “And you can clue in Remy, too.”

Logan nodded. “Shouldn’t we talk to Roman?”

Janus clenched his jaw and his free hand. “More information first.”

“Got it. Stay safe, Janus.”

“You too,” Janus said with a strained smile. He exited wordlessly, leaving Logan behind with only a sinking feeling.

When Logan returned to the library, it was to find Virgil having actually eaten a little bit. Not as much as Logan would like, but he would take the small victory.

“Why are you studying so hard?” he asked as he approached. “You hate studying.”

“I found something that interests me,” Virgil replied, leaning away from his books and stretching with a wince. “Healing magic is actually really interesting. Kinda complicated, though.”

“Good. But I would encourage you not to neglect your physical wellbeing, Your Highness,” Logan chided.

Virgil rolled his eyes and took another bite of his food to placate him. “You don’t have to call me that,” Virgil protested with his mouth full. “In fact, I’d prefer if you didn’t.”

Logan stiffened slightly. “I’d prefer to follow the rules, Prince Virgil.”

Huffing, Virgil took another bite, but this time swallowed before speaking again. “So, what’s going on with Janus?”

Logan looked unsure of what to say. “Just some palace business he is helping with.”

Logan, Virgil thought for the millionth time, was a horrible liar. “Right,” he said skeptically.

“If you’ll excuse me, Your Highness, I have some chores to take care of,” Logan said, looking uncomfortable.

“Of course,” Virgil answered defeatedly.

“Will you finish your food?” Logan asked.

Virgil softened. “Yeah. Yeah, I’ll eat. You’re good at taking care of me.”

Logan allowed himself a small smile at the praise. “It is my job.”

He turned and left, and Virgil wished he would stay.

4: The Mystic

“ Mirror’s Shop of Curiosities ,” the sign hanging from a post above the door read. Underneath the words was painted a crystal ball with an eye inside. The building was sort of squat, the walls bowed outward, but somehow not suggesting a lack of structural integrity. In fact, the building itself seemed to exude comfort and safety. The walls were a ruddy brown color, the windows dirty with shutters that were likely once a deep blue but now a cracked and faded cerulean. The door was the most well-taken-care-of part of the exterior. It was a deep brown, almost black, leaving passers-by wondering what kind of wood it was.

Janus steeled himself, took a deep breath, and knocked twice before entering. A bell rang above him as he walked in. At first glance, the shopfront was emptier than expected. Scattered potion bottles and dried herbs sat on shelves, along with jars of things that looked suspiciously like pieces of once-living animals. A layer of dust coated almost every surface except for the products themselves, the counter, and the table and crystal ball toward the back of the shop. The table looked a lot like Janus’s own setup back at home.

“Hello?” Janus called.

A head, mostly a mop of gray hair and the lower part of a face (which looked awfully young compared to that color of hair), popped up from behind the counter. “Hello!” the person said in a smooth voice that somehow seemed discordant with their appearance. It was a familiar voice, though Janus wasn’t sure where he had heard it before. “Oh! You’re Janus, right?”

Janus winced. He had hoped not to be recognized at any of these places. “And you must be Mirror?”

“Correct!” Mirror replied, standing up to their full height. They were a little taller than Janus, pale and wearing rather simple clothing. “What can I do for you?”

“I, um… I’ve had a vision that I would like to get a second opinion on,” Janus answered.

“Well, I’d be happy to provide one!” Mirror said. “Go ahead.”

Janus took a deep breath. “I saw… the palace. On fire.”

Mirror’s mouth fell halfway open for a moment, but they regained their composure fairly quickly. They shook their head. “We should discuss this in private.” They hurried around from behind the counter to lock the shop door. Janus noticed that they were barefoot. They rushed back around the counter and gestured for Janus to follow.

Janus walked into the back room and sat when Mirror gestured to a chair. He watched as Mirror began to light candles and close curtains. The back room was full of drying herbs, empty jars and bottles, and potion-making apparatuses. It smelled strongly of rosemary and thyme.

When Mirror was done rushing around, they sat in the only other chair, which faced Janus, and looked at him intently. “Tell me everything.”

As Janus recounted his visions, Mirror looked more and more troubled. When Janus was finished, Mirror began to mumble to themselves, rubbing their temples (which allowed Janus a glimpse of one of their eyes, which was the color of their hair with no pupils or whites. Very unsettling.) and occasionally chewing on their bottom lip.

Mirror finally turned back to him, their eyes hidden by their hair again. “This is very disturbing.”

Janus huffed out a nervous laugh. “Tell me something I don’t know.”

Mirror chewed on their lip again for a few moments. “The first two visions seem to be somewhat metaphorical. Disaster at the palace, something to do with a draconic creature.”

Janus nodded. “Okay. But the third?”

“Literal. Roman Erex will have to face off with the Dragon Witch,” Mirror said gravely.

“The Dragon Witch?”

“She seems to have taken on the name Adalinda Draco. The fact that she has already infiltrated the palace is very worrying…” Mirror mused.

“Okay, but who is she? What do you know about her?” Janus asked.

“Not much, I’m afraid. I know only that she has a reputation for destruction, and that they say she can influence people,” Mirror informed him. “You should keep asking around to find out more. I fear that Roman may be our only hope, and that he needs your help.”

“ My help?” Janus asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Mirror answered. “You’re the one who had the vision for a reason.” They paused, then stood and began to rummage around in the deep drawers of their workbench. They pulled out a rectangle-shaped parcel triumphantly, then turned to hand it to Janus. “Keep track of all of your visions, gut feelings, and even just notable thoughts in here. It will help.”

Janus raised an eyebrow. “How will journaling help?”

Mirror smirked. “It’s the journal more than the journaling. It’ll help you piece things together, trust me.”

“Right,” Janus said, pushing himself up. “Well, thank you.”

He was almost out the door when Mirror called, “Remember to keep your mirror nearby!”

Janus turned quickly to ask Mirror what they meant, but there was no sign of them. His stomach roiling with dread, Janus left the shop.

-

Janus knocked at the door hesitantly. He hated coming to visit Remus. Not because of Remus or Patton, but most of the others in the house. Roman and the duke shared a strong distaste for him, though for different reasons, as did most of the servants. Duchess Erex, though, was different. Carine Erex was really the only positive maternal figure Janus had ever had. And he was relieved beyond belief that she was the one to open the door.

“Hello, Your Grace,” Janus greeted with a smile.

Carine scoffed. “I’ve told you many times, dear one, you may call me Carine.” Her hair was up in a practical bun, and she wore a riding outfit. She must have been about to go out. He wondered how Duke Erex felt about her wearing pants instead of a skirt.

Janus grinned. “Your husband might murder me if I tried.”

Carine’s expression turned sour. “Yes, I suppose so.” She shook her head and smiled again. “Are you here to see Remus?”

“And Patton, if they’re both home,” Janus responded.

“I believe they’re in the greenhouse. Patton wanted to do some gardening today,” Carine said. “Go ahead, dear. And tell anyone I invited you in if they ask.”

Janus let out a small sigh of relief. “Thank you, Carine,” he said.

She winked. “Don’t mention it.”

They traded places, Janus going into the house as she went out, and she closed the door between them. The greenhouse, which was attached to the house, was not far from the front door, thankfully. Janus arrived there without seeing another person.

Patton was wearing his gardening outfit, the too-big shirt and patched pants reminding Janus of a child gardening with their mother. The whole ensemble was muddy, from wide-brimmed hat to gigantic boots.

Remus lounged nearby, sideways and upside down on a fainting couch with his torso and head hanging off. Janus wondered if the blood was rushing to his head. His tie, jacket, and waistcoat were discarded and his shirt unbuttoned. He held a book in front of his face, probably another horror novel.

Janus cleared his throat, and two sets of eyes turned to him before Patton let out an ear-piercing squeal.

“Janus!” he cried. “There you are! We were worried!”

Janus grimaced. “Yeah. Something came up.” He looked down at his wine-stained pants and realized he’d been in the presence of the prince like this. He wanted to hit himself. Then his eyes fell on Remus again. Remus’s expression was tired, angry, and sorrowful. He looked absolutely miserable.

Janus walked over and perched himself on the arm of the couch. “Do you want to talk about it?” he asked softly.

Remus shook his head. “Not right now.”

Janus gave a half-smile. “Okay. Then we’ll talk about something else.”

Patton brushed himself off as well as he could with muddy gloves on, then took the gloves off. “What do you want to talk about, Janus?” he asked softly.

Janus took a deep breath. “I have something fairly serious I wish to discuss, actually. I need you both to listen with an open mind.”

Remus quickly swung himself upright, his impeccable balance unnerving as always. “What’s up, Janny?” His eyes still looked sad despite the rest of his face having taken on an expression of curiosity.

Janus looked away. “I had a vision. A few, actually.”

Silence fell over them for a few moments. Patton was the first to break it. “I thought you didn’t really have those.” He sounded scared, his voice small.

“Yeah,” Janus said. “It’s a new development.”

“Okay…” Remus began. “What kind of visions?”

Janus took a deep breath and recounted not only his visions but everything he’d learned at the palace and Mirror’s Shop of Curiosities. He didn’t look at them until he was finished. When he finally did look, Remus looked… Dismayed? Angry? Shocked? No, certainly not, because now he just looked worried, like Patton.

“Well,” said Patton. He didn’t seem to know what to say after that. He was trying to look brave, Janus noted. He didn’t want Patton to be afraid of him.

Remus apparently did know what to say. “This is bullshit. But! I think I speak for both of us when I say that we’ll do whatever we can to help.”

Patton nodded quickly. “Tell us what you need, Kiddo. I could talk to Roman for you…”

Janus shook his head. “First of all, I am two months younger than you.”

“Baby,” Patton said, nodding decisively.

Janus scowled. “Secondly, I’m going to keep Roman in the dark as long as possible. I don’t think he’ll believe me without more information.”

“We can do that, then,” Remus offered. “I’m good at that.”

“You are,” Janus agreed. “I think that would actually be pretty helpful.”

“You should go check in with Lo again,” Patton suggested. “He needs to know what you learned from Mirror.”

Janus nodded. “That’s good, yes, I can do that.”

Patton tilted his head. “Take a breath, Kiddo.”

“ Two. Months ,” Janus hissed before following Patton’s instructions.

“You got this,” Patton encouraged. “How’s your leg?”

Janus frowned. “Fine. I can rest later, I know that’s what you were going to say.”

Patton frowned back. “You’d better rest later, Mister.”

“Two months,” Janus repeated. “And you’re not my fa-” He paused. “I’m going to go to the palace. Thank you for your help.” He walked out as quickly as he could, trying to get his heart rate under control.

5: The Worshipper

Janus crouched at the top of the stairs, listening. Listening to his parents argue. About him. His mother was of the opinion that they could, “make [him] better,” while his father just wanted to, “get rid of [him].” Janus didn’t want to know what that meant.

He was about to go to his room and get ready to leave, for good, when his father called that name. The name that wasn’t his. It didn’t belong to him. Nonetheless, he was expected to respond to it.

He straightened, brushed his jacket off, smoothed his short hair down, and began to walk down the stairs. “Father, that isn’t my name,” he said stubbornly.

His father’s face was turning purple. “Yes, it is,” he ground out. He pulled a chair up next to the fire—far too close—and said, “Sit.”

Janus did.

His father was pacing as his mother knelt in front of him. His mother pleaded, “We know this isn’t you. Tell me what’s wrong, what has happened. How do we make you want to be our little girl again?”

Janus frowned. “I’ve told you, Mother,” he said softly, “you can’t. I’m not your little girl.”

“Ridiculous!” his father roared. “You stubborn little brat! Just tell us what you want so this can go back to normal!”

“This is normal! This is who I am!” Janus yelled back.

Janus’s father pushed his mother out of the way and grabbed Janus by his collar, pulling him up.

The rest was a blur. Janus remembered being beaten and thrown around, but only vaguely. What was vivid was the left side of his face being pressed to the grate in front of the fire, then slammed against it again and again. He could never forget the feeling of his flesh searing against hot metal.

That was the day Janus was estranged from the Marquis and Marquess de Allerie.

-

The streets were crowded. It slowed Janus’s progress in getting to the palace, but it provided the noise he needed to overrule his racing thoughts. It only left room for one thing. He had to get to the palace and talk to Logan and Remy.

He was lucky in that walking around the streets with a cane meant the people that noticed tried not to bump into him. Unfortunately, someone didn’t notice him.

Janus nearly went tumbling to the ground, barely managing to steady himself. The person who ran into him, though, did fall to the ground. Janus went to help him up. He recognized him vaguely, someone he saw frequently in visiting the palace when he was younger. The baker’s son, he realized. Avery? Alfred? Allen? Something like that.

The man pushed Janus’s hand away and stood on his own. As their hands touched, Janus froze.

He stood in the forest. The air was cool and crisp and smelled like iron, and there was only the moonlight to illuminate the gruesome sight before him. The palace baker lay prone in the dirt, his horse lying nearby and his cart overturned. A pool of dark liquid spread around him, wetting the dirt.

“Are you okay?” asked the baker’s son, and Janus returned abruptly to the busy street.

“Yeah, I’m fine, bu-” Janus began.

“Good,” said the man, and he rushed away before Janus could ask or tell him anything.

Janus swallowed heavily, watching after him. He could still taste the iron smell. Then he turned and continued on his way to the palace.

-

Thomas felt the damp seeping through the seat of his pants as he sat on the log, but he didn’t particularly care. It was cold, sure, but he was more focused on his conversation.

“I dunno, Emi, it’s like he just wants to play with me. Like it’s some kind of game,” he said.

The child sitting in front of him was drawing lines in the dirt, but he looked up to answer. “Maybe that’s his way of showing he likes you. Like when Kyle used to push you over.”

Thomas winced at the memory. “Yeah. Maybe.” He didn’t sound convinced.

Emile sighed. “I think he likes you, Tommy. He even made you that sketch of you. The one you hung up on your wall.”

Thomas smiled. “I know the one. It’s so pretty.”

Emile nodded decisively. “There you go. He likes you.”

“But what if it’s just as friends?” Thomas asked.

Emile shrugged. “You know I always say you should talk about it instead of overthinking.”

Thomas shook his head fondly. “Maybe you’re right, Emi. As always.”

Emile grinned. “Why, thank you!”

“Thomas!” Pryce’s voice called. It sounded like something rather urgent needed his attention. When Thomas looked back to where Emile had been, he was gone. Thomas sighed and stood before jogging in the direction of Pryce’s voice.

Upon reaching the clearing just off the road, Thomas froze. Andy’s father lay in the dirt, dried blood caking the dirt around him. His throat had been slit, and he was so, so pale. Thomas looked to Pryce who knelt next to a pool of vomit. It looked like he was having trouble breathing.

Thomas went and knelt next to him, in between him and the upsetting scene. “Can I touch you?”

Pryce nodded. Thomas placed a hand on Pryce’s back and rubbed it.

“We’ll do everything we can,” Thomas assured him softly. “We’ll take him back for a proper burial and do whatever Andy needs. I know it’s terrifying, and that it hurts, so badly right now. It hurts more than anything. But it will be okay, eventually.”

Pryce nodded again. “Okay.” He paused. “He was like a father to me.”

“I know,” Thomas said softly. “You go back to camp, and I’ll carry him back there. Ready the horses and put out the fire. Can you do that?”

Pryce nodded yet again. Thomas helped him to stand, then he turned and walked back towards their camp.

Thomas sighed and turned back to the baker. He crouched next to him and offered a small prayer to the Death Goddess, then hefted the body into his arms.

-

Thomas screamed as he fell to his knees in the remnants of his home. The scorched bodies of his fathers were contorted in fear, and he wanted to scrub the sight from his eyes.

His brother lay in a makeshift grave in the forest. Thomas had built it from stones and mud. He hoped it was enough for Emile to rest peacefully.

“ Thomas,” said a small voice.

Thomas looked up. Emile stood over him and offered him a hand, pulling Thomas to his feet when he took it.

“ Emile?” Thomas asked, dumbfounded.

“ Yeah. The Death Goddess and the Magic Goddess took me in. I’m sort of a god now? Or, I will be,” Emile said. “It’s hard to explain.”

“ Oh,” Thomas said softly.

“ You have to get up,” Emile told him. “You have to walk to the nearest town and ask for help. Please, Thomas. You have to live.”

Thomas had never been able to say no to that face.

-

Patton grabbed Remus’s hand as they entered the shop. A bell attached to the door rang out. There was a bored-looking teenager at the counter, leaning their elbows on the counter with their chin in their hands. They had bright red hair that fell over one eye in the front and ended at their neck in the back. Their clothes were largely black and red, very expensive colors to dye fabric in, though the clothes themselves looked fairly plain.

Remus squeezed Patton’s hand. Patton had always been uncomfortable around anything to do with magic.

“Hey there, Kiddo!” he greeted the teenager nonetheless.

They finally looked up, having been unfazed by the bell. “Hi, welcome to Pierre’s Powerful Particulars, home of many useful magical items. How may I help you today?” they droned.

“We want to trade for information,” Remus said. “Are you the proprietor of this shop?”

The teenager huffed out a small breath. “Hell no. I’ll go get Pierre.”

“Thank you very much,” Patton said with a friendly smile. He was sure he looked nervous.

The teenager waved their hand and disappeared into the back of the shop.

Patton cast his eyes around nervously. Remus squeezed his hand again. Patton smiled at him.

A tall man, probably in his late twenties, walked out of the back of the shop. He looked tired. He clearly hadn’t shaved in a while, but not long enough to grow much of a beard. His long blond hair was pulled back into a bun at the nape of his neck. His dark eyes looked glazed over.

Poor guy must be really tired , Patton thought.

“Pierre, at your service,” the man said.

“We need some information,” Remus said. “We are prepared to pay handsomely.”

The man smiled. Something about it unsettled Patton. “Well, I hope I can provide what you need.”

“What do you know about the Dragon Witch?” Remus asked. Patton decided he also didn’t like that Remus had gone into all-business mode.

“Oh,” Pierre said, “I can tell you about her.”

6: The Nanny

By the time Janus got back to the palace, he was in a very sour mood. From the crowds, the exchange with Patton that almost ended in him saying something regrettable, the vision from Andy, and the pain in his back and leg. Nonetheless, he continued to walk, making his way into the palace and beginning the search for Logan.

It didn’t take long to find him, returning some clean blankets to one of the linen closets.

Janus cleared his throat. “We need to talk,” he said when Logan turned his head to look at him.

“Come in,” Logan said.

Janus walked into the linen closet and closed the door behind him. It wasn’t as cramped as it seemed when looking into it from outside. He took a deep breath. “I have troubling news. I’ve talked with the proprietor of one of the shops, and it seems we’re dealing with someone called the Dragon Witch, who has taken the name Adalinda Draco and gotten herself a noble title.”

Logan’s eyes widened. “That sounds unpleasant.”

Janus nodded. “Her powers supposedly include mind control. And Roman must defeat her. Apparently my having the vision means I’m supposed to help.”

Logan began to pace in the small space. “What do we do, then?”

“Remus and Patton have been filled in, and they’re looking into that now,” Janus replied.

Logan nodded. “As soon as they find that information, we should take action. Time is certainly of the essence.”

“Definitely. I just have to convince Roman when the information becomes available to us,” Janus said, his tone and expression both defeated and nervous.

“I have to talk to Remy,” Logan said as he opened the closet. “But first, let me walk you to the gate. You look exhausted.” They began to walk together.

Janus grimaced. “I’m that obvious, huh?”

Logan pressed his lips into a tight line and let the silence hang for a moment. Then he said, “There’s nothing wrong with needing to rest. Taking care of yourself is important.”

Janus laughed sharply. “I give that advice all the time. I suppose I haven’t applied it to myself.”

Logan hummed thoughtfully. “Maybe you should give that a try.”

“Thanks, Logan.”

Logan nodded.

As they rounded a corner, they passed Virgil. He gave a little wave. “Hi, Janus. Hi, Lo.”

Virgil rounded the corner, and Logan turned his head slightly, looking wistfully at where Virgil had been.

“You should talk to him,” Janus said after looking around to make sure no one was nearby.

Logan bristled. “I talk to him all the time.”

Janus scoffed. “About feelings, Logan.”

Logan shook his head. “There’s nothing to do about it. He’s… out of my reach.”

Sighing, Janus looked away. “Just a little advice.”

They reached the door to the palace, and they walked down the path to the gate in silence.

“Get home safe,” Logan said.

“I’ll certainly try,” replied Janus.

They both turned and began to walk in opposite directions. The streets were less crowded now, and Janus made it home in far less time than it would have taken earlier. He thought about Logan’s advice to take a rest, and Patton’s demand that he rest. He put out his “Open” sign and went to clean up a little. He’d do some readings and then rest. Putting it off surely wouldn’t hurt… too badly.

-

Janus was in the middle of listening to a customer’s question about their future when he heard a knock on the door. Specifically, Remus’s knock pattern. He paused, then interrupted the customer, “I need to check on this, I’ll be right back.”

When he opened the door, Remus was there, looking worried and somewhat upset. Patton stood slightly behind him with the same expression on his face. “What’s wrong?” Janus asked.

“Um, we have something kind of important to tell you,” Patton said, then began to chew on his lip. He paused for a moment, then wrinkled his brow. “You’re not resting.”

Janus cast a glance over his shoulder. “Can it wait a little? I’m with a customer.”

“I guess,” said Remus. But Janus had never seen him so on-edge.

Sighing, Janus gestured for them to come in. “You guys go to my room, I’ll be right there.”

They both walked past the customer and into the back room.

Janus walked over to the customer. “I’m very sorry, but something has come up. If you’ll come back later, I’ll do your reading for half price.”

They looked a little miffed, but the customer did leave. Janus sighed and went to join Remus and Patton. “What’s wrong?” he asked, concerned.

Patton and Remus looked at each other.

“The Dragon Witch,” said Patton. “She’s a real nasty character.”

“What do you mean?” Janus asked, his heart jumping in his chest.

Remus tried to perk up, but it didn’t quite work. “Well, it’s mostly just rumors, but, supposedly, she started the war in Louria, killed the prince of Hertland, and has razed quite a few villages.”

Janus’s eyes gradually widened. “That’s… not good.”

Patton quickly added, “But we think there’s a way to defeat her. We were told that the source of her power is an enchanted mirror.”

“So we destroy that,” Janus said.

“It’s not that simple,” Remus replied. “The mirror is hidden away in a cave in the Droiler Mountains. She connects with it through other mirrors.”

Janus hissed out a sigh. “Well… Do we know where the cave is exactly?”

Patton nodded and pulled out a map from his messenger bag.

Janus hummed. “That’s about a three days’ walk, six round trip,” he said. “And… Unfortunately, according to my visions, Roman has to come with me. You two can stay here if you like, though.”

Remus and Patton locked eyes again. Patton nodded.

“Fuck that, let’s go on a quest!” Remus said. “Besides, you may need help kidnapping my brother.”

Janus sighed.

-

For the third time that day, Janus walked to the palace, this time with companions. The sun was moving lower and lower in the sky. He was distracted, trying to come up with what to say to Roman. Patton flitted around him worriedly as they walked. He kept asking if Janus was alright, if he needed to stop. He said that they could go tomorrow, that Janus needed rest. Janus just hummed and mumbled basic responses. “I’m fines,” and “It’s okays.”

Janus felt like it took very little time to arrive at the palace. Nonetheless, he brought himself back to the present just as Remus told the guards that they had business with Logan. It was a good excuse to be there so late, and it was true as well. The guards let them in.

Janus let Remus take the lead on asking around about where Logan was. Eventually, they caught up with him. “Logan,” Janus called.

Logan turned to see them, and he quickly bowed his head to Remus. “I assume you have something to talk about?”

Janus nodded. “I’ll let Remus explain… I need to talk to Roman. I walked here to stall,” he admitted.

Patton furrowed his brow. “Janus, your leg…”

Janus set his jaw. “I’m fine , Patton. You three discuss what needs to be done. It’ll help when I drag Roman back here.”

Logan sighed, and Remus gave him a concerned look as well. “I’ll be okay, I promise,” Janus said. He turned abruptly and left before he could be lectured on the importance of taking breaks.

When he finally got back to Duke Erex’s estate, it was dark, and he was limping pretty heavily. One of the servants opened the door. Thankfully, it was Grey, who was sympathetic to Janus. “Young Master Remus isn’t here, Janus,” they said.

“I know,” Janus answered. “I’m here to see Roman.”

Grey raised an eyebrow, but nodded. “He’s in the study. The Duke isn’t there, don’t worry.”

Smiling in relief, Janus stepped inside when Grey gave him space to. “Thank you, Grey.” He walked away quickly, trying to avoid anyone else. Another servant brushed past him in the hall outside the study, knocking into the arm holding his cane and nearly kicking the cane out from under him. Janus nearly fell. He righted himself and took a deep breath before knocking on the study door.

“Come in!” Roman’s voice called. Janus did his best not to hobble as he entered. He closed the door behind him.

Roman looked up, then his eyes widened in surprise. “What are you doing here?”

Janus took another breath. “I have something to talk to you about.”

Roman furrowed his brow, but then gestured for Janus to continue.

Janus told his story in great detail, trying to make sure Roman would believe him. To his surprise, Roman listened quietly.

When Janus was finished, Roman stood from behind the desk, then walked toward Janus. Janus straightened as much as he could, but Roman still towered over him. He swallowed with difficulty.

“You really think I would believe all that? That I’m so gullible I’d just listen to you?” Roman asked.

“Roman, it’s true,” Janus said as earnestly as he could, fighting against the annoyance that wanted to creep into his voice.

Roman grit his teeth. “I can’t believe you! Why do you want to make a fool of me?”

Janus shrank back a little. “I know I wasn’t always nice to you when we were growing up, but this isn’t about you and me! This is more important than us!”

“Why do you always feel the need to antagonize me?!”

“Oh, please! You do the same!”

“You little-”

The door swung open. In swept Galena, Roman and Remus’s nanny, carrying a basket of clean dishes. She took in the scene before her. “Hm. What are you two fighting about now?” she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Roman frowned, almost a pout, like a child who knew they were about to be in trouble. “He’s trying to convince me that I need to go off with him to save the kingdom.”

“It’s true!” Janus insisted. “I saw you fighting the Dragon Witch! I saw it, Roman!”

Roman turned back to him. “You’re really doubling down?”

Galena raised a hand, then pinched her fingers together. “Quiet.” She stepped closer to the two of them, taking in Janus’s expression. “Roman, he’s clearly telling the truth.”

“What?!” Roman asked.

“Look at his eyes,” Galena requested.

Roman peered into Janus’s face, and Janus clenched his free hand into a fist at his side, his knuckles going white as he tried not to flush from having the attention on him. Whatever Roman saw with his deep green eyes seemed to surprise him. He stepped back. “What do we do now?” he asked Janus.

Janus breathed a sigh of relief. “We go to see Remus and Patton at the palace. They’re discussing it with a servant who knows about it. They’ll have an idea of what our next steps should be.”

Roman nodded, surprisingly agreeable. “Great. Let me finish on this last report, then we’ll go.”

7: The Baker

Logan led Patton and Remus toward the scullery, where Remy was supposed to be helping out that day. “So, Patton,” Logan said, “It’s been a while since we got to talk.” His voice felt stilted and awkward.

Patton nodded, giving him a smile, even though he didn’t turn to see it. “Yeah. I’ve missed you and Prince Virgil.”

Remus tilted his head. “You should visit them sometimes, Pat.”

Patton’s smile fell. “I guess, but right now we have serious things to talk about.”

“Indeed,” Logan agreed. He opened the door to the scullery and held up a finger in a gesture for Patton and Remus to stay in the corridor. He returned shortly with Remy at his side.

“Hello,” Patton said with another smile. “I’m Patton, nice to meet you.”

“Remy, at your service,” Remy answered.

Remus waved a hand. “Remus, it’s a pleasure.”

Logan cleared his throat. “Let’s go somewhere less… open.”

Patton’s eyes widened. “Right! Lead the way!”

Remy grabbed Logan’s arm, much to Logan’s apparent annoyance, and began to walk. A short walk later, they found themselves in the servants’ quarters. Remy opened a door and gestured for the rest to go inside, then followed when they did. He checked no one was around and closed the door. “You have information?” he asked when he turned to face them, lowering his tinted glasses slightly, an excited look in his eyes.

“Yes!” Patton said. “It’s… There’s this mirror we have to go destroy to take away the Dragon Witch’s powers, but it’s in a cave in the mountains, and it’s going to be a long journey, and Remus and I are going with Janus and Roman to do that,” he said far too quickly.

Logan and Remy seemed to catch all of it, though. Remy hummed. “Well, I have to go with you guys. I’m not missing this.”

Logan hummed. “I suppose I should stay here, then.”

“I want to go too,” a voice said from the doorway.

They all jumped and turned to face the door, where Prince Virgil stood leaned against the door frame.

There was silence for a few moments, then Logan frowned. “No.”

“No?” Virgil asked, frowning back.

“It’s too dangerous, Your Highness,” Logan answered.

“I’m a grown adult,” Virgil shot back.

“A grown adult who’s never been in any real danger. You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Logan said, sounding slightly agitated.

“And you’re just overprotective! I’m a healer! I can help!” Virgil cried.

“Prince Virgil-”

“Actually,” Remus interrupted, “a healer might be helpful.”

Logan shot him a glare.

“See?” Virgil said. “They want me to come!”

“Kiddo, Lo’s right. It’s really dangerous,” Patton said.

“Virgil,” Logan said, successfully catching Virgil’s attention. “I just want you to be safe.”

Virgil tilted his head. “I will be, Logan.”

Logan sighed softly. “Then I’m coming too. The other servants can fend for themselves for a while.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow and flushed slightly, then a triumphant smile split his face. “Cool.”

“Won’t people look for you?” Patton asked.

“Hm,” Virgil paused for a moment, “I think I have an idea.”

-

“Where are we going?” Patton asked as he, Logan, and Remus followed Virgil down the road. 

Virgil was focusing very hard on not tripping over the boots he’d borrowed from Logan, which were about two sizes too large. “Mh,” he hummed, “you’ll see.” He pulled the hood of his cloak down further. He was clearly trying not to be recognized. Patton wasn’t sure if Logan tagging along would help with that.

They finally slowed outside a bakery. The bakery that served the palace more often than not. Virgil opened the door, and the group made their way inside. 

The baker’s son–Andy, Patton’s brain supplied–popped up from behind the counter, surveying them with a raised eyebrow. “How may I help you?”

Virgil looked around, then lowered his hood. “I need a favor.”

Andy rushed to bow, but Virgil quickly waved for him to straighten up. 

“It’s fine, um…” Virgil cleared his throat. “I have somewhere I need to go, but no one can know I’m gone. You look so much like me…”

“Ooooh, no,” Andy said. “Nope. I can’t. That’s not going to work.”

“Andy, please,” Virgil said. He looked around furtively again. “It’s very important. The Dragon Witch has infiltrated the castle, and I need to go destroy her power at its source. We need your help.”

Andy’s shoulders fell. “The Dragon Witch? I… Who’s going to run the bakery?”

“I think I know a couple people who owe me a favor,” Patton said. “I’m sure I’ll find someone.”

A small sigh escaped Andy’s lips. “You’re sure about this?” 

Virgil nodded. “It’ll be absolutely fine. Just lay low, and I’ll be back before you know it. A week, tops.”

Andy nodded. “Okay. Okay, I’ll do it.”

“Thank you,” Virgil said. “You're doing the kingdom a great service.”

With a sigh, Andy walked around from behind the counter. “I��m glad to help, I guess.”

-

Patton held up a lock of Andy’s hair and carefully took the scissors to it. “You know, Logan, I don’t think anyone would have noticed that Andy’s hair is longer than Virgil’s. It’s not that much longer.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Logan said with the smug tone of someone who had just gotten their way. 

Patton brushed the hair off of Andy’s shoulders. “Look in the mirror and tell me what ya think,” he instructed Andy, who did as told.

Virgil approached to look Andy over. “...Well, this is uncanny.”

Andy turned to look back at Virgil. “Tell me about it.”

“Makeup time!” Remus announced with perhaps a bit too much excitement. 

Andy sighed. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to apply it myself after you leave…”

“We’ll keep it simple,” Virgil promised. “Come on.” 

Andy followed Virgil to the vanity table and sat facing the mirror. “And what do I do if someone notices I’m not you?” he asked. 

“No one will notice,” Logan assured him, “because you will lay low and pretend to be ill. Ask not to be bothered, and no one will bother you.”

Andy took a deep breath, grimacing slightly as Remus and Virgil simultaneously began to apply makeup to his face. 

“Eyes open,” Virgil instructed. “You need to see what we’re doing.”

Patton leaned against the wall, watching as Remus and Virgil lectured Andy on what to do with the makeup, Virgil very seriously and Remus with the occasional off-color remark.

Remy emerged from the walk-in closet with an armful of clothes and began laying them out on the bed.

There was a knock at the door.

“Got it,” Patton said, pushing himself away from the wall.

When he opened the door, there stood Pryce and Thomas. “Oh,” said Pryce, “hello, Patton. Do you happen to know where Andy is? Or Logan, he might know.” 

“Ah, um…” Patton began.

Pryce looked past Patton, and his facial expression fell when he spotted Andy. He raised his eyebrows in confusion. “Why is he here?” He took in more of the scene. “What’s going on?”

“Pryce?” Andy asked. 

Logan and Patton locked eyes. It took less than a second for them to come to an agreement. 

Patton stepped aside for Pryce and Thomas to enter. “Hi, Thomas,” he said

“Hi, Patton,” Thomas answered with a tense smile. 

Logan walked over to them as Patton closed the door. “Andy is doing us a huge favor. Prince Virgil has somewhere he needs to go without anyone knowing he’s leaving.” He looked over at Andy. “I think it’s safe to say you’re nervous? Will having Pryce around to help you ease your mind?”

“Yeah,” Andy said. “That would help.”

Pryce still looked somewhat confused, but he nodded at Andy’s answer. “I’ll help however I can. But…” He shifted his gaze to Andy. “Andy, I need to talk to you for a moment.” 

Virgil and Remus moved away from Andy so that he could get up. 

“What is it?” Andy asked, tone full of trepidation.

Pryce jerked his head toward the closet. “I think it would be best to have this conversation in private.”

Andy looked back at Virgil, and Virgil waved for them to go. He followed Pryce, clenching and unclenching his fist at his side. 

The door closed heavily when Andy pushed it. It left Pryce and him in complete silence. “What is it?” he asked carefully.

“We, ah… Your dad,” Pryce said. “We think he was attacked by bandits. It was far too late by the time we got there.” Pryce’s voice was breaking, but he made it through giving Andy the news. 

Andy shook his head, tears welling in his eyes. “No…”

“Andy, I’m sorry,” Pryce said. “I’m so sorry.”

Andy choked back a sob, placing his hand over his mouth. “No,” he repeated. He was unsuccessful in holding back his next sob. The dam broke, and he couldn’t stop himself from crying out in distress as the sobs overwhelmed him. 

Pryce opened his arms, and Andy dove into them again, clinging to him with all his might. He shook like a leaf as he cried into Pryce’s shoulder. Pryce rubbed his back, muttering empty words that meant nothing to either of them.

8: The Childhood Friends

By the time Janus and Roman arrived, Andy had calmed down a fair bit. Remus was showing him the different makeups and brushes, and Logan was filling in Thomas and Pryce on the situation, as well as clarifying some things for Andy. Remy had just returned from making preparations for his and Logan’s absence, and Patton and Virgil were packing Virgil’s things.

Roman looked around at the activity of the room. “How many people know about this?” he asked.

“Only the people in this room,” Logan answered. Janus nodded in confirmation.

Roman counted quickly. “I feel like this is too many people.”

“We’ll need as much help as possible, won’t we?” Janus pointed out. 

“I… suppose so,” Roman said. 

Janus sat down in the nearest chair, trying not to look too tired. “So, to recap,” he said, “Duchess Adalinda Draco is really the Dragon Witch, and she’s conspiring with Prince Eschive to kill the King. Her power comes from a mirror that she keeps in a cave in the Droiler Mountain Range. We need to destroy it. Virgil is coming, so Andy is taking his place and pretending to be him until we return. The journey should be six days, round trip. Three days to the cave, three days back. Everyone clear?”

There was a general murmur of consensus that rumbled through the room. 

Janus looked up at Roman. “From now on, I suppose I’ll defer to you.”

Roman looked around the room again. “Do we know exactly where we’re going?”

“I’ve got a map,” Remus answered without looking up from the makeup laid out on the vanity table. “Ooh, this one would be perfect for hiding that scar.”

“Remus, focus,” Roman groaned.

“I am! This is important, too, you know,” Remus chided. “I got the guy at the magic shop Patton and I visited to show me where on the map the cave should be.”

Roman nodded briskly. “And who is going on the journey?”

“You and me,” Janus answered.

“And myself,” Logan said.

“Patton and me too,” added Remus.

“And me,” said Remy. 

“And me,” echoed Virgil.

“I’ll go too,” Thomas chimed in.

Roman nodded. “That makes eight.”

“We should leave as soon as possible,” Janus reminded them. 

Again, Roman nodded. “We’ll meet just after midnight tonight. Everyone needs to pack for the journey. We can meet outside the north gate of the capital, in the treeline so the guards don’t see us and bother us.”

Logan frowned. “Are you sure we shouldn’t plan more?”

“Do you think we have time?” Roman shot back. 

Logan pursed his lips. “I suppose not.”

“Get ready,” Roman said. “We leave tonight.”

-

Andy sat staring at himself in the mirror. Everyone else had left the room, many of them to their own homes to pack, Pryce with Thomas to the temple, and Virgil to his closet for the moment. His face didn’t look quite like him. Definitely more like the prince than himself. He touched his cheek lightly over his now-invisible scar and looked down at his hand. Only the faintest hint of powder dusted his fingertips.

Virgil reentered the room with an armful of traveling clothes and an empty knapsack hanging from the other hand. He set it all down on the bed and looked to where Andy was still sitting next to the vanity.

Andy looked up only when Virgil sat down in a chair he pulled up next to him, then bowed his head slightly. “Your Highness.”

Virgil coughed and cast his gaze to the side. “You don’t need to… Um, you really don’t have to tell me, but I was wondering if you’d like to talk about whatever Pryce said to make you so upset…”

Andy sniffed, blinking at the stinging in his eyes. “My father went on a trip for some seasonal ingredients. When he didn’t return, I got Pryce and Thomas to go look for him. He was attacked.” His words were stilted, ground out past the lump in his throat. He grit his teeth and clenched his fist.

A look of understanding spread across Virgil’s face, and his shoulders fell. “My condolences,” he said. “You probably don’t want to hear any platitudes right now. But I can sit with you for a while, if you like.”

Andy shook his head. “You need to pack. I’ll be okay.” He sniffed again.

Virgil sighed. “We haven’t been that close in a long time, but you’re still my friend, Andy. I want to help.” He smiled a little. “Besides, we both know that Logan will be packed in no time and back to either help or nag me. I can at least sit right here until he gets back.”

Andy managed a tense smile. “Thanks, Virge.”

Virgil grinned and ruffled Andy’s newly-cut hair. “Least I can do for a childhood friend.”

He hesitated for a moment before holding his arm out. Andy leaned into him, and he wrapped that arm around him.

“I wish I could do more,” Virgil murmured. “I wish I could stay.”

“They need a mage,” Andy said, muffled by Virgil’s shoulder. “They’ll probably get themselves killed without you.”

Virgil huffed out a small laugh. “Knowing Duke Erex’s sons, that might not be an exaggeration.”

They fell quiet, the tension of Virgil’s nerves and Andy’s sadness hanging in the air. The silence remained until Logan arrived to scold Virgil for not having packed yet, which sent the two into a fit of laughter.

9: The Mage

Janus stood against a tree, waiting for the others to arrive. The moon was high overhead, waxing, and it bathed the forest canopy in silvery light that soaked through the leaves to dapple the ground beneath. His eyes focused in on movement off to his left, and he tensed, reaching for the dagger he’d strapped to his belt.

“Calm down, it’s me,” someone grumbled, and Janus relaxed when he recognized the voice.

“I expected you to get here first, or maybe Logan,” Janus commented as Roman came to stand a few feet away from him.

Roman yawned and grumbled.

“Not a morning person, huh?” Janus asked with an amused smile.

“Shut up. It’s not even morning yet,” Roman snapped.

Janus held his hands up and stifled a small laugh. “Cut your nap short to get your hair perfect, did you?”

Roman glared at him, and he had to stifle another laugh. A surprisingly comfortable silence fell.

Virgil and Logan arrived next, Remy trailing behind them.

Thomas came next, then Remus and Patton.

At this point, Roman had recovered his attitude and superior airs, and he was questioning everyone on whether or not they had packed everything they might need. Logan quickly joined, and the rest realized that those two in combination might be an actual living nightmare.

“Hey, Dipshit,” Remus said finally, reaching into his bag. He produced a rolled-up map and held it out toward Roman.

Roman reached for it, then hesitated.

Remus jabbed the paper toward his brother. “You’re our intrepid leader.”

Roman took the map.

Remus grinned. “Don’t fuck it up.”

-

The group had traveled mostly in silence for several hours until the sun rose. As the morning sun began to shine, Patton began talking.

“You know, I think we ought to get to know each other better, you know, as a group.”

Logan gave him a withering look. “Must we?”

“Yes,” Patton answered matter-of-fact-ly. “We should take turns saying fun facts about ourselves.” He was met with silence. “Okay, I’ll go first. I’m Patton, and I can say the alphabet backwards.”

“You can?” Logan asked before Janus could warn him.

“Yep!” Patton said with a grin. “Listen,” he paused for effect. “’The alphabet backwards.’”

Logan blinked, and Virgil, Roman, Thomas, and Remy all snickered. Then realization dawned on him, followed by a devastated thousand-yard stare.

Patton burst into giggles. “Okay, okay,” he said through his laughter. “Remus next!”

Remus smiled. “I’m Remus, and I tricked Patton into marrying me.”

“Remus!” Patton chided. “You did not trick me!”

“Nope,” Remus answered. “You fell desperately in love with me all on your own because I’m irresistible.”

“Ew!” Roman and Janus exclaimed simultaneously. They locked eyes for a second, then silently agreed never to mention it again.

Patton sighed, a smile still on his face. “Okay, Jan, your turn.”

Janus’s eyes widened. “Me? Why me?”

“Because you’re the first one I looked at!” Patton replied.

Janus sighed. “Well… I’m Janus, and I guess I see the future now.”

“We all knew that already,” Patton protested.

“Okay, fine, then… Um, I guess… Oh, I once helped Remus fill Roman’s room with feral cats,” Janus said. “That’s a pretty fun fact.”

“You what?!” Roman screeched.

Janus rubbed at his ear. “Ow.”

“I thought you had ‘nothing to do with that’!”

Janus huffed. “I lie, Roman, we’ve established this.”

“Ooookay!” Patton intervened. “Next…. Um, Logan!”

Logan raised an eyebrow. “Well, I am Logan, and I work as head of servants at the palace, a role which I share with Remy. I am also Prince Virgil’s personal manservant.”

“Lolo, we already knew that, too,” Patton said.

���I really do not know what you want from me, Patton,” Logan said.

“Well…” Patton began. “Oh! How about your favorite sweet!”

Logan blinked. “I suppose that would be the jam the palace cook makes.”

Virgil grinned. “I once saw him eat a whole jar in one sitting, three days in a row,” he said.

Logan’s face went still. “Falsehood. You’ve fabricated this.”

“Mmmh, I don’t think I have, Lo,” Virgil answered.

“How about you, Prince Virgil?” Patton prompted.

“Oh,” Virgil said. “Well, first of all, I’d prefer if all of you just call me Virgil. At least for this journey. Um… What’s a good fact about me? Ah, um, I can do this,” he said, and summoned a small ball of light in the palm of his hand. They all watched as it morphed through several animal shapes before settling on a cat that stretched, arched its back, then curled up in Virgil’s hand before slowly fading.

“Woah,” Patton said. “You’ve gotten so much better at that!”

“Very impressive,” Thomas agreed with a smile.

“And you, Thomas?” Patton asked.

“Oh, well, I’m Thomas, and I like to sing,” Thomas answered. He hummed a scale in demonstration.

“Wow!” Patton exclaimed. “I didn’t know that.”

“You don’t know everything about everyone, Pat,” Virgil pointed out.

“If I did, I’d be Janus,” Patton joked.

“I don’t know everything about everyone,” Janus informed them. “Just the things I can use in my favor.”

Roman mumbled something, and Janus pretended not to have noticed.

“I’ll go next,” Remy volunteered. “I’m Remy, and I make the best coffee and tea in the world.”

“You know I make better Earl Grey than you,” Logan interjected.

“In your dreams, Girl,” Remy responded.

“His coffee is pretty good,” Virgil admitted.

“Your turn, Roman,” Patton said.

“I hear a river,” Roman said in lieu of an answer.

“Perfect,” Logan said. “That should be a good place to rest briefly and gather some water if it’s clean. If not, we should probably gather it anyway and build a fire to heat it.”

The group headed toward the sound. Janus slowed, getting a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. Then Patton called his name, and he hurried to catch up.

The river was wide and flowed briskly, though not quick enough to pose any danger should they need to cross it. Virgil looked around at the edge of the trees by the river, and his stomach flipped as he heard a snatch of song.

“Guys, wait!” he exclaimed. “I think I know where we are!”

The music got louder. Virgil quickly slapped his hands over his ears and spat out a quick incantation, causing the rest of the group to do the same and freeze that way. Someone was still moving, though.

Logan was walking toward the river’s edge at a leisurely pace, a blank smile on his face.

Virgil’s eyes widened, and he murmured another incantation to muffle all sound for himself. He ran to Logan and looked toward the river.

Logan looked toward the river too. He didn’t notice Virgil next to him. Instead, he saw Virgil sitting on the rocky bank, singing. He held a flower in his hand, which he looked up from only to bat his thick lashes at Logan.

Virgil saw the creature for what it was. Its face was covered in a mix of scales and feathers, the skin between gray and withered. Its hunched shoulders drew close to its thin neck as it sang. A slimy, pointed tongue darted out over chapped lips.

Virgil planted himself in between the thing and Logan, hands on Logan’s shoulders. But Logan was physically stronger than him, especially under the creature’s influence. Logan forced him to take a step back, then another. “Logan, please,” Virgil said. “Logan, it’s not real,” he begged. “Whatever you see, it’s not real. It’s going to kill you, Logan, please!”

Logan kept pushing forward towards the river.

“Logan!” Virgil exclaimed, glancing back to see they were only a few meters away from the bank now. “Logan, I need you to be safe! I need you, Logan! Please!” he cried, throwing his arms around Logan’s shoulders.

Logan stopped, the melody shortly after. “Virgil?” he asked, looking down at the prince in confusion.

Virgil nearly sobbed with relief, sagging against Logan’s chest.

The rest of the group removed their hands from their ears, staggering slightly.

A screech rang through the air, and Virgil felt a hand close around his ankle, sharp claws digging in. He was yanked back and nearly fell.

Logan closed his arms around Virgil quickly, eyes widening. “Virgil!”

The others were pretty quick to realize what was happening and rushed over. Janus, Remus, Patton, and Remy all grabbed onto Virgil tightly and began to pull with Logan, while Roman and Thomas each drew their swords. They rushed the creature and began taking swipes at it, though they couldn’t seem to penetrate its steel-like scales.

Janus kicked at the creature’s face, and it used its free hand to swipe at him, tearing his pants and leaving long gashes across his upper thigh. In his surprise, he let go of Virgil and staggered back, and the creature managed to pull Virgil a little closer to the water. Remus let go, too, as soon as he noticed Janus’s injury.

Roman scanned his eyes over the revolting creature, and he finally brought his blade down hard on its wrist, cleanly severing its hand.

It screeched again and reeled back, and Remy, Patton, Logan, and Virgil toppled over into a pile. The creature disappeared into the water with a splash, leaving a trail of viscous brown blood.

Virgil looked down to see the hand still clutching his ankle and cried out. Thomas leaned down to hold his leg still and pried the hand off with the tip of his sword.

Roman rushed over to Janus, who was leaning against a nearby boulder. “Are you okay?” he asked urgently.

Janus nodded. “Fine… I’m fine, just a scratch.”

Roman leaned down to look. “That’s not just a scratch, Janus,” he said, giving him a look. “Take better care of yourself. Hopefully Prince Virgil can heal that in a minute.”

He stood straight and turned to help everyone regroup.

Logan held Virgil close to his chest for a few moments longer as the group began getting ready to move to a safer area. Finally, he helped him stand. “Thank you, Virgil,” he said very seriously.

Virgil managed a weak smile. “No big deal.”

10: The Confidants

The campfire crackled, comforting Patton a great deal. He leaned back, watching the water from the river begin to boil, the additions of the vegetables Virgil had foraged for and whatever type of meat Thomas had managed to acquire when he left for twenty minutes beginning to turn it into more of a broth. He reclined against a particularly old tree and let Janus take over the stirring for a minute. Thomas sat next to him, cleaning a blade. Despite the dire circumstances, he was quite comfortable with this group of people.

Across the fire, Roman sat down in between Janus and Virgil. Logan was on Virgil’s other side, then Remy, but Logan was entirely focused on the map, which Roman had given him to look over while they rested. Thus, Roman seemed to be the only one who caught Virgil poking at his ankle, pants pulled up slightly to reveal a bruise and the beginnings of some swelling. “Are you alright?” Roman asked.

“Mmh,” Virgil answered noncommittally. “I’ll be fine.”

“Can’t you heal it?” Roman pressed.

Virgil frowned. “I haven’t really mastered healing myself yet. Drawing from my own energy just to pour it back into myself… It’s harder than you’d think.”

Roman nodded and reached for his bag. He dug around in it for only a moment before pulling out a small bundle, wrapped in a strip of fabric. He unwound the fabric to reveal another, lighter fabric beneath holding together a poultice. Roman held out the poultice and the strip of fabric. “My nanny, and Remus’s, she made this. Caught me packing and made me bring it.”

Virgil hesitated. “I can’t accept that.”

Roman raised an eyebrow. “Do you want me to disturb Logan from his intensive thinking?”

Virgil grimaced. “Okay, okay.” He took the offered poultice and fabric, then pressed the poultice against the worst of the bruising. After securing it with the cloth, he looked up at Roman. “Thanks.”

Roman smiled. “You’re quite welcome, Your Highness.”

Virgil flushed. “Stop that,” he groaned. “I’m nobody’s superior right now. Or in general really-”

“Do I hear self-deprecation over there?” Patton’s voice called.

Sighing, Virgil shook his head. “I am your equal in this journey. How’s that, Pat?”

“Perfect, Virge. Keep it up,” Patton encouraged.

Remy snickered.

“What?!” Virgil snapped. 

Remy shrugged, still smiling to himself.

Virgil grumbled to himself for a moment or two. “Either way, I don’t particularly enjoy the royal titles and all that…”

Roman gasped. “I never would have guessed!” he cried, feigning surprise.

Virgil elbowed him. “Shut up, dummy.”

“That’s the best you’ve got?” Roman asked.

“Oh, no, but if I swear, Logan’s sure to look up, no matter how preoccupied he is.”

“He’s definitely listening,” Remy added. “The boy can multitask.”

Janus looked up from the pot of what could now probably be called soup. “Remus has been gone for a while.”

Patton sat up. “You’re right. Should finding more firewood take this long?”

Roman scoffed. “Please, he’s Remus, he’ll be fine.”

Janus nodded slightly. “He’s right, Patton. It’s Remus. He probably found something gross that interests him, so he’s watching that.”

Patton didn’t look convinced, but he nodded back anyway. “Yeah, you’re probably right, Roman.”

“Of course I am,” Roman said, puffing out his chest.

Virgil, slouching, snorted. “Oh, you’re more of an obnoxious royal than I’ll ever be.”

One of Roman’s hands flew to his chest, and he gasped. “’Obnoxious’?!”

Virgil nodded definitively, though he couldn’t hold back a smile. He giggled.

Roman shook his head. “You wound me, Virgil,” he lamented.

Virgil snorted. Logan looked up briefly, but then seemed to decide it wasn’t worth it and looked back down to the map. Virgil had to hold his hand over his mouth to stifle the laughter at the look Logan had given him.

“Dinner’s ready,” Janus said. “Smells great, thanks Thomas, thanks Virgil.”

Janus began serving the soup into the wooden bowls Logan had been sure to tell everyone to bring. There was just enough for everyone present at the fire and about two more servings.

As they ate, Virgil eyed Patton, who ate far more quickly than Virgil thought he used to, then began glancing at the pot. He caught Janus’s gaze and nodded toward Patton.

Janus watched Patton for a minute, then took Patton’s bowl. He scooped out a smaller serving into the bowl, then dumped the rest of his own into it. When Patton opened his mouth to protest, Janus held up a hand. “We have some leftover things from Virgil’s foraging that I can eat, and you know Remus will only eat one portion.”

Patton couldn’t exactly argue with that. He tried anyway. “But wouldn’t you like the soup better?”

“Nope,” Janus answered. “Doesn’t agree with me.”

Patton frowned.

“You know I’m not going to let up until you eat,” Janus pointed out.

Patton sighed, then smiled a little. “Thanks, Janus.”

Janus waved a hand. “Whatever.” After a moment, he pulled out his journal and a fancy pen he’d kept from his younger years from his bag. He opened it and began to jot down some of the day’s events as well as the visions he hadn’t had time to write about yet. There was a pleasant silence that fell over them for a while. Janus’s pen against papers, the crackle of the fire, and the waking crickets and owls were the only sounds that rang out in the twilight.

Then there were the sounds of footsteps and twigs breaking. Remus loudly made his way to the fire and dumped an armful of firewood near it. He grinned over at Janus and Patton. Patton smiled back, while Janus gave him an unimpressed look.

“We saved you some dinner,” Patton announced.

As soon as Remus held out his bowl, Janus dumped the rest of the soup into it.

“We should rest soon,” Logan said, finally looking up from the map.

Roman yawned as if to punctuate Logan’s statement, causing Virgil to yawn.

Remus swallowed a mouthful of soup. “I’ll take first watch. Get some sleep, everyone.”

“I’ll take the next watch,” Logan said. “Wake me in two hours.”

“Then me,” Janus volunteered.

“I’ll go last,” Roman said.

Virgil and Patton looked up from where they’d been yawning, half asleep.

“Hey, wait,” said Virgil.

“Yeah,” Patton said.

Logan and Roman met gazes. “I suppose we could use one more shift, so everyone gets adequate sleep,” Logan said.

Roman nodded. “Aren’t you going to volunteer, Remy?” he asked.

“Nah,” Remy answered. “I’ll let one of them take it.”

“Me!” said Virgil before Patton could.

Patton pouted at him.

“Okay, Your Highness,” Logan said.

“Lo-” Virgil tried to protest.

Logan smiled tightly. “I am still your subordinate.”

Virgil huffed.

“Lay out your bedrolls,” Roman said. “Get some rest.”

-

Virgil sat on a tree stump with his chin in his hand. He supposed it was good that nothing had happened during his watch, but still, he was very bored. Sunrise was on its way, the sky beginning to lighten ever-so-slightly.

When he heard movement behind him, in their campsite, he turned around quickly. He saw Patton quickly getting out of his bedroll and stumbling off into the forest around the campsite.

Virgil debated in his head for a few moments. If he followed Patton, the campsite would be undefended. But, currently, Patton was undefended. He decided to follow.

He moved as quietly as possible, so as not to disturb the others. He heard Patton begin to retch, and he moved a little more quickly. When he found Patton, he announced his presence softly, “Patton, are you alright?”

Patton managed to nod, though he began emptying the contents of his stomach shortly afterwards.

Virgil moved next to him and gently rubbed his back. “It’s okay, just get it out,” he said as comfortingly as possible.

After a few minutes, Patton straightened up and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. “I’m okay,” he rasped.

Virgil reached out and placed his hand on Patton’s forehead, murmuring a quiet incantation. He meant to check what was wrong with him. He instead found something entirely different. “Patton,” he said slowly, “are you…?”

Patton nodded a little. “Um, yeah.” Tears welled up in his eyes. “I, ah, I don’t know what to do! I haven’t told Remus yet, I can’t. What if he’s not ready, or he doesn’t want to- What if I’m not ready?!”

Virgil placed his hands on Patton’s shoulders and looked him in the eyes. “Pat. You will be the best father ever. I know you will. And I’ll be here, no matter what. Whatever happens with Remus, whatever you need. I’m here.”

Patton sniffled and threw his arms around Virgil. He sobbed into Virgil’s shoulder, and Virgil held him tightly, one hand on his back and the other on the back of his head.

“I’ve got you,” Virgil said gently. “I’ve got you.”

-

Patton sat next to Virgil on his bed. “Hi. What’s wrong?”

Virgil huffed out a small laugh. “How do you do that?”

Patton grinned. “I can read minds. Now, tell me.”

Virgil bit his lip, chewing on the dry skin there. “I don’t want you to hate me,” he finally said.

Patton scoffed. “You’re my best friend. Why would I ever hate you?”

Virgil’s frown deepened. “You really want me to tell you something that might make you hate me?”

Patton smiled gently at him. “I could never hate you. You can tell me anything.”

Virgil took a deep breath, then blurted out, “I’m not a girl, I’m a boy, and my name is Virgil!”

Patton took a moment to parse out what Virgil had said, then realization flashed across his face. “Oh, thank the gods,” he breathed out. “Me too.”

Virgil tilted his head, processing.

Patton laughed loudly. “Call me Patton,” he said. “Nice to meet you, Virgil.” He smoothed out his skirt and grinned again at Virgil.

Virgil smiled hesitantly back. “Okay.”

“ Okay,” Patton said. “I’m so glad I got to tell you that.”

“ Me too,” Virgil said, grabbing Patton’s hand.

“ And I’m here for you no matter what,” Patton added.

“ Me too. I’ll always be there for you, Patton.”

Six months later, they both told Virgil’s parents.

A year later, Patton met Remus. They got engaged not long after, and Logan replaced Patton as Virgil’s personal servant. Parting was hard for them. But life moved on. Being on a journey together was nice, though. It felt like no time had passed.

11: The Child God

Janus walked next to Roman as they made their way along the path. Behind them were Patton and Remus, then Logan and Remy. Roman was looking at the map, where Logan had laid out a new, “more efficient” path for them.

“You know you’re holding it sideways, right?” Janus asked.

Roman scoffed. “It’s called looking at something from a different angle. Try it sometime.”

Janus scowled. “You don’t have to get angry every time someone tries to help.”

“Maybe I don’t want your help,” Roman snipped.

“Fine,” answered Janus, Having schooled his expression into calm indifference. “Let’s see how well you do without me.”

“Fine,” said Roman, turning the map completely upside-down.

“Will you two shut up?” Remus groaned.

“No,” Janus and Roman answered at the same time.

“Seriously, shut up,” Remy interjected, “I hear something.”

Everyone paused, listening carefully. There was yelling in the distance.

They all looked at each other, then began to run in the direction of the yelling. Janus lagged behind a bit, so Patton stayed with him.

It didn’t take more than two minutes for the group to come to the clearing in which was nestled a small cottage. In the garden in the front, which was larger than the area of the house, a man and a child were running about with large nets. The man was also holding a shovel.

“Hello?” Roman called. Janus tried to shush him, but it was too late.

The man paused, though the boy continued in his pursuit of… something. The man waved, and Remus waved back.

Remy crossed his arms and looked rather unimpressed.

“What?” Patton asked.

“I don’t do kids.”

“What?” Janus repeated.

“I just don’t like ‘em, hun.”

Janus rolled his eyes and looked to where the twins were already headed toward the house.

“Whether you enjoy the presence of children is not relevant to this situation,” Logan, clearly exasperated, told Remy. “Now… Get over it.” He turned to Patton. “Did I say that right?”

Patton gave him two thumbs up.

They started to walk toward the cottage, Patton and Logan practically dragging Remy. Roman had already reached the front gate.

“And you are?” Roman asked, having already introduced himself and his brother.

“I’m Emile!” the kid cried.

Roman smiled. “Lovely to meet you, Emile.”

The man looked at the group, seeming like he was thinking very hard about something. Finally he said, “I’m Teal. What are you doing here?”

“We,” Roman said, trying to sound important, “are on a quest!”

Janus rolled his eyes. “We heard you yelling, so we came to see if something is wrong.”

“Something is wrong!” Emile exclaimed.

“What is it?” Roman asked.

“Garden gnomes,” the man replied. “We have an infestation.”

“I thought most gnomes lived in the mountains,” Roman said.

“Oh, those are true gnomes,” the man explained. “Garden gnomes are pests that dig up gardens and eat any plant they can find.”

“They get into my garden pretty often,” Janus said.

“And you’d know that if you hung out with the cool group, Ro-Ro,” Remus said with a grin.

Patton elbowed him and muttered, “Be nice.”

“Well, can we help?” Roman asked.

Remy groaned, so Patton elbowed him too.

The man hesitated. “Some extra hands might be useful.” He smiled at Emile, and Emile smiled back.

Roman smiled too. “Perfect.”

Janus held out his hand over the gate to shake the man’s hand, shoving Roman slightly out of the way. “I’m Janus,” he introduced himself. Roman glared at him.

“I’m Patton!” Patton added. “And this is Logan, and Remy!”

Teal nodded. “Okay, so here’s our strategy for trapping the garden gnomes.”

The group filed through the gate as Teal explained that they were trying to drive the pests into the center of the garden on the path, then catch them in one of the nets. Teal was going to dig out any holes that looked like they still had gnomes in them.

Unfortunately, this plan just resulted in all of them running around for a long while like they were being chased by an ogre, except for Emile and Janus, who were keeping the garden gnomes in the center. They had five of them.

By the time they were finished, it was a bit past noon. Teal put the garden gnomes in a burlap sack and asked Roman if he could take them as far out into the forest as possible and release them, so Roman went. Then Teal invited the rest of them inside.

“Dear, we’re all done,” he called, removing his jacket and leaving it on a chair by the door.

They walked through the den and into a kitchen, where a man stood by the oven. He looked over with a fond smile when Teal and Emile entered. His eyebrows shot up when more people followed. Then he smiled again. “I don’t think we have enough chairs, but we’ll make it work! Who are all of you?”

“We’re.. passing through and heard Teal and Emile in the garden,” Janus explained.

“Their friend said they’re on a quest!” Emile added.

Janus sighed. “Roman is prone to dramatics.”

“You can say that again,” Remus said.

“Well,” said the man at the oven. “I just got the stove hot enough. Can I make you lunch in thanks? We can introduce ourselves while I work on that.”

“You don’t have to-” Patton rushed to say.

“I am pretty hungry,” Remus admitted before Patton could quite finish. Patton pouted at him.

Janus couldn’t help but agree.

Teal had already begun dragging in every chair that he could find.

Patton made Janus sit down at the table, then sat next to him.

“So,” said the man as he got ingredients from cabinets. “My name is Dyad. I’m the dad around here,” he said with a small laugh.

“That’s because he’s Papa,” said Emile, pointing to Teal.

Dyad paused for a moment to ruffle Emile’s hair affectionately.

The group introduced themselves again as Dyad cooked. Patton kept offering help and getting refused. After a while, Dyad served food.

They talked pleasantly as they ate, Janus and Teal sharing gardening tips. Once everyone was finished with their lunch, there was a knock on the door.

“Emile, could you get that, honey?” asked Dyad.

Emile hopped up and practically ran to the door. When he opened it, Roman, Virgil, and Thomas stood at the door. “Hi, Roman,” he said happily. He peered around Roman to see the two others. He locked eyes with Thomas. “Thomas!” he cried and practically pushed past Roman to hug Thomas around the waist.

Thomas froze for a moment, then hugged Emile back, his eyes filling with tears. “You can touch me…” he mumbled.

“Only here,” Emile said back. He pulled away, then looked at Virgil. “Hi! I’m Emile!”

Virgil smiled a little, though he looked between Emile and Thomas curiously. “Virgil. Nice to meet you.”

Emile smiled back, then went back inside, gesturing for them to follow him into the house.

They followed, though Thomas walked stiffly and looked around carefully. It was the same, but… different. Very different. It still felt like home.

When they got to the kitchen, tears began to flow down Thomas’s face.

Virgil was the first to notice. He nudged him gently and asked softly, “Are you okay?”

Thomas didn’t respond to him. Instead, he hesitantly asked, “Dad? Papa?”

Both Teal and Dyad turned to look at him, then rushed, almost tripping over themselves, to hug him. Thomas held on to them tightly, trying his hardest not to sob.

Emile hugged Thomas again, too.

“How is this possible?” Thomas choked out.

“Um…” Roman said.

Janus elbowed him in the side, but he continued nonetheless.

“What’s going on?” Roman asked.

Thomas sniffled and wiped at his face.

“I brought Dad and Papa here so I could be with them,” Emile explained, though Roman didn’t find that very helpful to him. Emile continued, looking up at Thomas earnestly. “This is my little corner of the world, where I can live again. You can come here too, someday. But you still have a lot to do.”

“Emile-” Thomas began, but very suddenly, the house was gone. Teal, Dyad, and Emile were gone, too. It left all of them dizzy and disoriented. They sat in weathered chairs around a rotting table, except for Thomas and Virgil, who still stood. Tears flowed freely down Thomas’s face.

-

Thomas didn’t speak again until they were sat around a campfire again. Everyone else was quiet, trying not to disturb him too much as he appeared to be deep in thought. Finally, he looked up, meeting eyes with Remy over his tinted glasses. Thomas’s eyes were bloodshot, and Remy’s eyes had bags under them.

“Emile was my brother,” he said, voice hoarse.

“Was?” Patton asked gently.

Thomas nodded. “He was seven, and I was six, and our village was raided.”

There was silence for several moments. Then Remy spoke up, “You don’t have to talk about it.”

Thomas coughed. “But I should.”

Janus frowned. “You shouldn’t do anything that will cause you pain,” he said.

“I need to,” Thomas insisted.

Remy nodded slightly, face deathly serious for once. He reached over and grabbed Thomas’s hand, squeezing it tightly.

Thomas shot Remy a sad smile, then looked around at the rest of the group. “Teal and Dyad, Papa and Dad, they adopted us before I can remember. They took care of us and made sure we were happy. The other people in our village were amazing, too. We all took care of each other. It was full of good people.” He paused, taking a shaky breath in and letting it out in a heavy sigh. “I’m the only survivor.”

Patton gasped softly, and Remus put an arm around him.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Virgil said.

Thomas shook his head. “It was a long time ago.” He smiled a wobbly smile. “Emile died protecting me. He hid me, and took an arrow to the chest before he could hide himself.”

Remy squeezed his hand again.

“He didn’t die, though, not all the way,” said Thomas. “Some of the goddesses took him in. He’s…”

“The Child God of Magic,” Janus finished in a soft voice.

“How’d you know?” Thomas asked.

Janus frowned. “I just… did.”

“The church was an accident,” Thomas said. “I went to look for help, and I told the people in the next village over that I was saved by my dead brother, and they just kind of… picked it up. We built a temple to him, and they took care of me. The temple helped him gain power, and…”

“How’d you become a knight?” Roman asked.

Thomas shrugged. “I wanted to help people. It made sense.”

Logan, who had been looking down pensively this whole time, looked up. “You gave Emile new life. You should be proud of that.”

Thomas smiled again. “Thanks.”

“We should go to sleep,” Roman said after a bit of silence. “Long day tomorrow.”

Continued in Part 2...

#tssstorytimesubmission2023 #sanders sides #roceit #analogical #intruality #analogicality #roman sanders #remus sanders #janus sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #virgil sanders #character thomas #remy sleep #remy sanders #dr emile picani #the dragon witch #sanders sides fic #sanders sides fanfiction #ghostie writes #mind the cws

[jdlightful]

Roceit post !! 😱

“You did such a horrible job. Next time you should really break a leg.” Janus snickered.

Roman smirked slightly but it quickly went to a forced frown, his eyes looking to the side. “Shut up.. I hate you.”

Janus shook his head, laughing. "You're too kind."

Roman groaned, “You’re a pain in my ass.”

Janus smirked. “Oh, c’mon you know you love me, sweetie.”

“Yeah.. so what..” Roman mumbled under his breath as he walked past Janus.

“Oh~.. What was that my dear? I couldn’t hear you, say it louder.” Janus teased, his tongue flicking.

“Yeah so what!” Roman grumbled, causing Janus to smile and laugh softly.

“I knew you loved me.” Janus looked at Roman, “I hate that you’re right.” Roman says as he turns to Janus.

Janus put out his hand, Roman hesitates at first but puts his hand in Janus’.

Janus immediately pulls Roman closer. Romans eyes widen briefly. Janus smirked and moved took off his own hat, using his freehand to hold the back of Romans head as he pulled him in to a kiss, covering the kiss with the hat.

As Roman pulled back his eyes were still wide. He slightly hit Janus’ shoulder. “You little.. I hate you so much.”

“I hate you too, sweetheart.” Janus laughed, standing up and nudged Roman out of the way.

#thomas sanders #fanfiction #sanders sides #janus sanders #roman sanders #roceit

[naminethewriter]

I Still Recognize You

I'm trying to catch up! Here's day three of @roceit2023, hope you enjoy 🥰

Here on Ao3

Masterpost | Roceit Week 2023 Masterpost

Summary: Roman is waiting for his partner at a Masquerade Ball. Then he spots the most gorgeous person he's ever seen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roman excused himself from the conversation he’d been having with two acquaintances to get himself a drink. He’d arrived at the party about an hour ago and despite the masks, he had already found a few old friends in the crowd. There was one person he knew would be coming and was looking forward to seeing the most that he had yet to spot: his partner Janus.

He had wanted to come together of course but for some reason Janus had insisted on meeting him at the party. Why, they didn’t explain but after noticing Roman’s disappointment they had assured him that it was a surprise that Roman was going to enjoy greatly, so he had agreed. But finding Janus had proven difficult so far (though they might have just not arrived yet), so after grabbing a drink, Roman searched for a spot that would give him a good overview of the room.

Thankfully he found a quiet corner where he could take a few moments to just observe the crowd. As he was taller than most other guests it was unnecessary to find a higher place. He stood there and sipped his drink for a few minutes before he spotted a person in the most gorgeous outfit he had ever seen.

The person wore an elegant yellow and black dress that fit their figure perfectly. Their long blonde hair flowed along their back like a river of gold with a few decorations weaved between the strands that sparkled from afar. The mask the person wore fit the color scheme of the dress and formed a butterfly that hid their face from the nose up. The figure moved through the crowd with effortless elegance that seemed so familiar to Roman and before he even realized it, he was making his way towards the person.

He caught up with them at the bar and cleared his throat to get their attention.

“Good evening,” he greeted politely when they turned around. “Would you give me the honor of a dance with you?”

The person chuckled before taking a sip out of a glass they had just received from the bartender.

“My, aren’t you forward?” they teased and Roman, who had already been very sure of their identity, instantly recognized the voice.

Janus.

“I apologize, but you looked so gorgeous, I simply couldn’t help myself,” he said with a slight bow, causing his partner to chuckle again.

“You are such a flatterer. Very well, let’s dance.” They emptied their glass quickly and grabbed the hand Roman was offering. With a grin, Roman pulled them on the dancefloor and they began to waltz.

“You really do look absolutely beautiful, my dear,” Roman commented when he was sure that he could keep the rhythm without much thought. Janus laughed quietly.

“Thank you, you look quite handsome yourself. I must say, I didn’t think you would recognize me this fast. I’ve only been here for five minutes.”

“As if I wouldn’t recognize you just because you wear a dress.”

“It’s more than just a dress, darling. You’ve hardly seen me with my hair down and I’m wearing a mask. Plus, I have heels that make me at least a few inches taller.”

“Maybe, but there was just something about the way you moved that felt so familiar.”

“They way I move?” Janus asked and even though they were hidden behind the mask, Roman know they raised their eyebrows.

“Yes. So elegant and confident. Drew me towards you immediately.”

“I see. Again, I’m flattered.”

“I should be the one flattered, having you as my partner.”

“I don’t mind you calling me your girlfriend tonight.” Roman could see Janus flush and smiled fondly.

“So I finally get to meet you on a feminine day, huh? I’m honored.”

“Shut up.” Janus flushed deeper and Roman kissed her cheek.

“I mean it. I am so thankful that you feel comfortable enough around me to be who you are. I know that’s not easy for you.”

“Thank you. I’m really glad I bought the dress; it makes me feel great. Even if I probably wouldn’t have had the courage to come without the mask.”

“And that’s fine,” Roman hummed, pulling Janus closer and slowing their movements. “Whatever you’re comfortable with.”

“I love you,” Janus said and there was so much relieve in her voice that Roman couldn’t help but press a kiss to her lips.

“I love you, too.”

#namiswriting #roceitweek2023 #day 3: masquerade/party/dance #roceit #roman sanders #ts roman #janus sanders #ts janus #fluff #genderfluid janus #roman throws compliments around like candy #and janus loves it #don't let her tell you otherwise #sanders sides #fanfiction #reblogs are appreciated

[i-am-bitterly-jittery]

Five Times Someone Mistook Roman And Remus (And One Time They Finally Met)

+1. They Finally Meet

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] •

Word Count: 1834

Rating: Teen

Pairings: Dukexiety, Roceit, Logicality

Warnings: hangovers, swearing, mild suggestive language

~~~START~~~

Virgil’s plane landed at ten thirty a.m. and he got home less than an hour later.  

He wasn’t surprised to find Patton passed out on the couch — he knew that Patton and Remus had gone to a club the previous night to celebrate Remus’s 27th birthday, and it was no surprise that Patton would choose to sleep here rather than trek all the way home after dropping Remus off.  

What was a surprise was that the man sleeping in his and Remus’s bed was not Remus Duke.  

Deciding that he was way too jet lagged to deal with this right now, Virgil ignored the sleeping Roman Prince, and headed for the bathroom instead.  

He just needed a shower. Once he’d showered, he’d come out to find that it really was Remus and it was just the exhaustion getting to him.  

He was sure he would.  

He just needed to shower.  

Half an hour later (it was really hard to leave the bathroom when you were afraid of what you might find) the man in the bed still wasn’t Remus.  

Great.  

~~~ 

“Good morning, Janus.” 

Janus just hissed in return. It wasn’t fair, Logan had been way more smashed than he was last night! Why was he perfectly wide awake and put together while Janus had a massive hangover! Logan should have to suffer too! 

Of course, Logan did go to the trouble of preparing omelets, toast, and fruit, so Janus couldn’t be too mad at him. He could try, though.  

“We have a slight issue,” Logan said once Janus had had a little bit to eat.  

“I don’t do issues until after noon,” Janus mumbled, shoving more eggs into his mouth.  

“It is one-thirty in the afternoon,” Logan pointed out, rolling his eyes. “And I believe you will agree with me that this is an issue that will need to be rectified sooner rather than later.” 

He gestured to Janus’s living room, so Janus reluctantly followed his hand.  

Janus’s first thought was that there was nothing of note about the living room. Logan must have taken the couch when they’d gotten home from the club, so Roman would have just slept on the ground. And that was where he was, sprawled face down on the ground in the same position he must have fallen asleep some hours previous.  

Janus’s second thought — which he would never ever admit to — was “the butts don’t match.” 

The man currently passed out on Janus’s living room floor was, as Janus remembered observing last night, not wearing the same shirt that Roman had gone to the club in, but now that he was really looking at him, he wasn’t wearing anything that Roman had gone to the club in. He had on an acid green crop top with a mesh shirt underneath, black booty-shorts with the word “JUICY” across the ass, fishnet stockings, and bright green platform boots.  

It was a difference he should have noticed last night, but he chalked his inattention up to the alcohol.  

“Remus!” He groaned, face planting onto the table. “Fuck.” 

“Quite,” Logan agreed. “I have sent a text to Roman asking if he went to his own home, but so far he hasn’t replied.” 

“Fuck my life!” Janus whined into the table. “This is your fault.” 

“You are the one who brought the wrong man home, I fail to see how this could be my fault.” 

“A, you didn’t notice either and you were with me the whole time, so don’t think you can pin this whole thing on me; and B, you were so drunk last night that you took up all my limited attention!” 

“I was not that drunk,” Logan sniffed defensively 

“Of course you weren’t. You just keep telling yourself that. You were dead sober last night, noticed that I wasn’t bringing Roman with us, and just decided not to say anything; how very thoughtful of you.” 

Logan glared. 

~~~ 

Of all the places Roman expected to wake up, this was not one of them.  

It looked like he was in the bedroom of a teenager who was deep into their emo phase. The walls — the parts that he could see anyway — were painted a dark purple, band posters and depressing art covered nearly every wall and the ceiling, but the thing that really gave away where he was were the photos of a man who almost looked like Roman (if Roman were an evil twin) covering the empty spaces on the walls.  

He slowly made his way out of the bed and onto his feet, groaning the entire time — alcohol was evil! 

Unsure of what to do he left the bedroom and found himself in a kitchen, face to face with two people — one he recognized and one he didn’t.  

“Hey Roman,” Virgil sighed, sounding exhausted.  

“Um, hi. Look, I don’t know how I got here?” 

“I think Patton can explain,” Virgil looked expectantly at the other man who looked like he was about to be crushed by guilt.  

“I’m sorry!” The other man — Patton — cried. “Remus and I went to a club last night, and then my glasses got broken, and I couldn’t see very well, and you didn’t protest when I dragged you out, and–!” 

“Pat.” 

“Right, right. I’m sorry I kidnapped you Roman.” 

“It’s– uh, it’s fine. I mean, I don’t really remember. Uh, so then what happened to Remus?” 

“Your friends took him home,” Virgil explained. “I’ve already talked to Remus, we’re doing a prisoner exchange in like half an hour, so I’ll get you some breakfast, and you can freshen up or whatever, and then we have to leave.” 

“…yeah okay.” 

Weirdest day ever. At least he was finally going to get to meet his mysterious doppelgänger.  

~~~ 

Best. Birthday. Ever! 

Remus vaguely remembered seeing Snakey and Specs at the club and going to say hi. He remembered Snakey calling him Roman and thinking that it was funny, he thought he’d corrected the other man, but apparently, he hadn’t since Snakey took him home with them.  

Now he was on his way to the park with Snakey — whose name was Janus — and Specs — Logan — because Patton took Roman home instead of him, and apparently both of them needed adult supervision to make it back to their proper places.  

When they got to the park, Virgil was already there along with Patton and a man who must be the mysterious Roman.  

Ignoring Virgil for the moment — even though he really wanted to have a nice snuggle — Remus walked straight up to his doppelgänger. Roman seemed to have the same idea, and the two of them met in the middle. They regarded each other for a minute, tilting their heads this way and that before each declaring “I don’t see it!” before glaring at each other for daring to have the same thought. 

“I swear, Virgil started. “If you two are actually twins and this whole thing has been some elaborate Parent Trap–!” 

“When’s your birthday?” Roman asked him, still scanning him skeptically.  

“Yesterday, I’m twenty-seven, the same age Kurt Cobain was when he died!” 

“Oh, definitely not twins then; my birthday was a couple weeks ago and I turned twenty-nine.” 

“Good,” Remus replied. “I wouldn’t want to be twins with a prep.” 

It was mostly a joke, but he enjoyed the way Roman’s face turned red and twisted with anger.  

“Well I wouldn’t want to be twins with some emo goth!” 

“Excuse you, I am punk! Thank you very much.” 

“The similarities are uncanny,” he heard Logan observe behind him.  

But he didn’t pay Nerdy Wolverine any mind, he’d met Roman, and now there was only one thing on his mind. He bounced right up to Virgil and dragged the shorter man into a kiss.  

Then, once he felt Virgil relax, he dipped him.  

Virgil hissed, clawing at Remus’s shirt in a desperate bid to keep from falling — as though Remus would ever let him fall.  

“I hate you!” 

“Nah,” Remus cackled. “You don’t.” 

Logan was shocked when the man he’d been talking to at the club turned up with Roman at the park. His mind thought back to the writing still present on his hand, a phone number followed by “if you want to keep mooning over the stars I’m all lightyEARS <3”.  

Patton seemed to notice him too, he smiled brightly and made his way over.  

“Logan! I didn’t know you knew Roman!” 

“Nor did I know that you knew Remus,” Logan answered, somewhat dumbly.  

“All roads lead to Rome, I guess,” Patton joked. “I really goofed last night; I don’t know how I didn’t realize he wasn’t Remus, even without glasses.” 

“Yes, well Janus and I did not realize that Remus wasn’t Roman either, so you are hardly the only one to ‘goof’ here.” 

Patton chuckled. “Aww sweetie, you’d had a lot to drink, I’d’ve been pretty surprised if you noticed.” 

“I wasn’t that drunk!” Logan insisted (why did people keep saying how drunk he was? He was fine last night, it would not have been safe for him to drive, but he was in complete control of his faculties!).  

“No, you were cute!” Patton reassured him quickly. “You’re really smart, I could listen to you talk about stars for hours. In fact, I heard that there’s a new planetarium opening next week… maybe we could go together?” 

“I– um, that is I–” Logan stuttered.  

“Say ‘yes’, moron!” Janus hissed behind him.  

“Yes!” Logan blurred out quickly, flushing slightly.   

Patton smiled and kissed him chastely on the cheek. “Then it’s a date.” 

Logan’s blush grew darker, and Patton’s smile only widened.  

“What!?” Screeched Roman. “Since when does Logan have a boyfriend! I want a boyfriend!” 

That was the end of Janus’s patience. The time to act was now, while they were both sober and he was certain this was Roman.  

He grabbed the collar of Roman’s shirt — the scarlet button-down he’d worn to the club the previous night — and yanked him down into a kiss.  

Initially, Roman just stood there like a limp noodle, but just as Janus was about to pull away and apologize, he suddenly reacted, twisting his hand into Janus’s hair and deepening the kiss.  

Someone was wolf-whistling, but Janus didn’t care because fucking finally! 

It felt like an eternity before they were pulling away.  

“Wow,” Roman murmured, stunned.  

“I’ve been trying to do that for weeks!” 

“Are you two quite finished?” Logan asked, having regained his own composure.  

Janus’s only reply was to detangle one hand from Roman’s shirt to flip him off.  

“That was cute and all,” Remus drawled. “But Roman and I need to fight now, I need to prove my dominance!” 

“Oh, you think you’d win in a fight?” Roman demanded, fully pulling away for Janus, much to the other man’s annoyance.  

“I know I would!” 

“Oh yeah?” 

“Yeah!” 

“Fine! You, me, right here, right now, thumb-war, let’s go!” 

“You’re on!” 

“Why are you like this?” Virgil and Janus both demanded at the same time. 

~~~END~~~

And so the fic is over, Roman and Remus will continue to be confused for each other, but Virgil Janus Logan Patton and Remy will know the doppelgängers well enough not to mistake them again

Doppelgänger taglist:

@royalty-of-all-things-snuggly @pixelated-pineapple @knight-shives @misunderstood-shadowling @minamishipsit2 @kaira-the-yellow-turtle

#sanders sides #ts sanders sides #roman sanders #virgil sanders #remus sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #janus sanders #dukexiety #intruxiety #roceit #princeit #logicality #doppelgänger au #thursday writes #my writing #sanders sides fanfiction

[pancakewithamace]

Find The Word Tag

Thank you @charlesjosephwrites for leaving this tag game open! I wanted to try my hand at this. The words I’m looking for are worry, want, current, joke, and shiver. I’m gonna tag @transfemlogan, @lovely-ashes09, @fartsnroses, @girlboypatton, @late-to-the-fandom, @nonbinary-writing, and anyone else who'd like to partake in this game, to find 4 of 5 of the following in your writing (or all five if u want) and post the snippet around it: need, thought, moment, warm, and/or whom.

Here are the snippets I found:

Worry

Snap. A faint shuffle. "Alright, who's there? I know you're there," Roman said quickly, spinning around, his eyes darting to each corner of the room. "Don't worry about me hurting you, I'm just exploring around here. Honest." Hiss. (Prince & The Snake Charmer)

Want

The next morning, Remy and Remus had an argument over who should drive the car so Patton and Logan could sit in the back. Remy won, mainly because no one else wanted Remus (a professional Monster Jam truck driver) to be behind the wheel of a fragile AMC Gremlin. (Ch. 1, Takeover)

Current

Cyrus. Dolon had heard that name before. ‘Of the Sun’ usually followed his name in the scrolls Dolon had read, not ‘Ambrose’. His gaze drifted to the orange clay pot of rosemary in Jonidis’s kitchen, disoriented. His husband, Laurel, had told him that Cyrus had fallen many years before either of them were born. The name of the current Solar of the Sun was Alina – yet she must be disputed somehow – for the few temples of the Sun Dolon had tried to find nearby had all been nearly destroyed. A monastery, completely abandoned. (Ch. 2, D&D AU)

Joke

“The prince from Kalia is named Patton,” Cate informed him as they walked, “He’s the one in the grey vest. The Ayrubian prince is Roman – now, remember that one kid from the music camp you took when you were, like, six?” Virgil snorted. “The crazed one in green? I think his name was Remy or Remus or something.” “Yeah, him,” Cate said. She glanced up, grinning. “Well, I think they’d qualify as the same person, but with less butt jokes. He’s the one with the red sash.” “Oh boy." (Ch. 9, KFAM 1)

Shiver

“The- the wood,” Logan mutters, staring back toward the campfire. The flames are hot and burning and hurt to touch. It’s a safer danger than Virgil’s eyes, firm and sculpted; the color of clear, smoked honey. “It’s same as the fireplaces in the castle.” Logan doesn’t want the stinging burn in the corner of his eyes. Painful, like the sour lump in his throat. Virgil is silent. He shivers in the dark, sighing. (Ch. 10, KFAM 2)

#ash is rambling again #writing #sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #d&d #dnd #dnd fanfiction #tag game #writing tag game #roman sanders #virgil sanders #logan sanders #remus sanders #analogical #roceit

[im-an-anxious-wreck]

Inspire

AO3 link

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

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

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

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

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

Universe: Magic/royal au

Perspective/main character: Roman

Side/secondary characters: Patton, Janus, Logan

Appear: Virgil, Remus, Remy, Emile

Romantic relationships: Roceit, background established Dukexiety 

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

Word Count: 17,458

Link to my collection of TSS fanworks

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

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

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

Thanks to @threecrowsinatrenchcoat for beta-ing!

-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well, there was no point thinking about that now.

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

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

"Is that child yours?"

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

"Well, nothing. It's actually—"

"Good, then fuck off."

"I— excuse me?"

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

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

Roman took another deep breath.

Get the child to safety.

"Sir, you're under arrest."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

A man just spluttered dumbfoundedly.

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

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

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

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

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

"Yeah… I heard."

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

"...Patton."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Oh, well that… thank you, sir."

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

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

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

…

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

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

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

"Patton?"

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

"Do you have a favourite colour?"

"Mm… yeah."

"Well, mine's red."

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

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

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

"My favourite is definitely the colour of vomit." 

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

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

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

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

"Sorry," Patton mumbled.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"...Blue, like the sky."

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

Patton nodded hesitantly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

-

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

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

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

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

Roman sat down in his room by the roaring fireplace.

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

~

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

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

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

"Yes?" Roman asked.

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

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

"This young man broke into the castle—"

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Alright… So, wh—" Then it hit Roman. 

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

"Ah, I see."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"An apprenticeship?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Yes, please."

"So the barber as well…"

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

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

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

"Oh, of course. Good idea."

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

"My name is Logan, sire."

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

"I… am aware."

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

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

"That's right."

"Wow… oh, er, thank you."

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

"Yes, I will, sir."

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

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

~

Roman smiled to himself. 

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

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

Roman sighed and began pacing again.

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

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

Maybe he should ask Janus as well.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Mm, good idea."

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

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

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

"You're welcome, sire."

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

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

"Have a good rest of your day."

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

…Well, Janus did have a rather nice face.

-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Logan inclined his head towards Roman. "Greetings."

"Hello, Logan. Hello, Patton." 

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Okay, thank you."

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

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

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

"...Yeah."

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

"Oh, I— thanks, Logan."

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

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

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

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

"I… suppose so?"

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

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

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

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

"Sick?" Logan asked.

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

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

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

Logan smiled softly. "Thank you." 

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

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

"You can do that?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

"That was most impressive," Logan complimented. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Yeah."

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

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

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

"Oh! Cool! Can I try?"

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

is perfectly harmless."

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

"You sure did!"

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

"What's interesting?"

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

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

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

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

"Um…"

"Either is a perfectly acceptable option."

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

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

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

"That's very true, Patton."

"You're quite emotionally intelligent."

"Thanks, Logan."

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

"Hmm, what does it do exactly?"

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

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

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

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

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

"No, sire."

"Hmm…"

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

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

"I followed Patton."

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

-

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

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

Roman rushed over. "Is he okay?"

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

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

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

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

"Yes, sir."

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

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

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

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

"Of course. Logan, come with me."

"Yes, sire."

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

…

This was all Roman's fault. 

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Well, it's curable."

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Alright. Thank you, Emile."

…

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

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

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

"How is he?" Virgil asked.

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

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

"Granted."

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

"Of course, Logan. What is it?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

…

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

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

Roman sighed as he scrubbed his face with his hands.

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

He just… needed to be here.

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

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

"It's fine."

"Burning the midnight oil, huh?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"...I hope so."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Roman nodded, not trusting his voice.

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Which is okay and to be expected."

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

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

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

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

"It was twice."

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

"Hah, yeah. It sure was."

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

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

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

"Strangely enough, Logan."

"Oh, really?"

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

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

"Mm, not really."

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

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

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

"That is… surprisingly insightful of you."

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

"Shit and hot air."

"Yep, bingo!"

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

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

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

"...Okay?"

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

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

"Maybe what?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"You need sleep," Remus finally said.

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

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

"I… I should be here with him."

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

"Well…" Roman blinked tiredly.

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

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

Remus nodded solemnly. "Of course, always."

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

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

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

"Darn," Remus said sarcastically.

"Goodnight."

" 'Night!"

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

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

It was going to be a long few days.

-

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

"Hey, Pat. How are you feeling?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Glad to be awake. Is everyone okay?"

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

"Oh, good. Was he working alone?"

"Fortunately, yes."

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

Roman laughed. "I suppose you're right.

…

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

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

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

"He had a big day," Janus murmured.

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

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

"I have no doubt."

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

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

"So should you," Janus pointed out knowingly.

"Hey, I slept some…"

"I presume under threat by Remus?"

"...Yeah."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"I will later. You go."

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

"W—"

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

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

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

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

"Oh, thank you."

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

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

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

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

…

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

They were going to be okay.

-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"If I could—"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"...Yes, sire."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Mm, I see. Quick thinking."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Yes."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Yeah, I get it, your majesty."

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

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

"I— yes. And… thank you."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

-

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"...May I ask what happened?"

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

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

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

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

"What do you mean?"

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

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

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

Roman raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"...Yeah."

"Since when?!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"...Crying?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

…

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

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

"Oh, that. Um…"

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

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

"Nope." Patton shook his head for emphasis.

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

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

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

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

"Ah, well, no one's bribed me—"

"Same," Patton interjected.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Yeah! Yesterday I recognized the word strawberry!"

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

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

"You two as well."

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

…

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

"Good morning. How's… it going?"

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

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

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

"Of course! Have a good one."

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

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

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

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

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

"So, I'm not so mad and am ready to talk. Virgil filled me in on some stuff, but I'd still like to hear some of it from you."

"Alright. What do you want to know?"

"Well…" Questions swirled in Roman's head, so he decided to start on an easier one. "How did you meet Virgil?"

"Virgil was a child soldier and I was over his unit, but before that, I was in the nanny ward taking care of children not even half my age. I've known Virgil since he was little. Literally."

"Oh… um, what was your relationship with your father?"

Janus' expression went sour. "That scumbag? I tried to do everything he wanted, including… trying to get close to you to kill, overthrow, or manipulate you, but I realised… I didn't have to do that anymore. There were other people out there who cared about people. Up until then, Virgil was the only person who wasn't an utter dick. But you showed me that people can be good. However, I couldn't quite find it in me to defy my father, so I didn't— couldn't do anything while he was alive.

"Fortunately, he'd had a lot of enemies and was assassinated soon enough. So after he died and I was free, I asked for time to better myself before becoming your advisor, and I did, by dismantling the child army and finding either their families if they were forcibly taken, or good orphanages if their parents had given them up for misbehaving or a price."

"Wait, that was you! You did that?"

A bit of the tension fell from Janus' shoulders. "Yes, but I didn't want the publicity, and especially not on the traumatised kids, so I kept it to myself. I think Virgil suspects though."

So far, Janus' story matched up with Virgil's in all the important ways… but he had to be sure that Janus had changed.

"Are you a danger to me, the kingdom, or the kids?"

"Well, of course I'd say I'm not, but since you're not sure you can trust me, that doesn't do much good, so… I'm afraid only you can answer that question."

Damn, Janus was —as usual— right. 

Roman stepped closer and stared into Janus' eyes, one light brown and one dark brown eye staring back. "I'd like to hear your answer anyway. Are you a danger?"

"No." There was fear hidden in some deep part of Janus' eyes, but Roman could tell that it wasn't a fear of being caught for lying, it was a fear of loss, of losing Logan and Patton, of losing Roman.

"Okay."

A bit of hope flittered in. "Okay?"

"Okay," Roman confirmed. "I believe you. It may take a bit to be able to fully trust you again, but… I believe you."

Janus let out a shaky breath, relief and disbelief evident as he all but collapsed into his singular armchair by the fireplace. "I understand it'll take time, but I thank you for the opportunity to prove myself to you again."

"And I'm… glad you want to. I'd… I'd be lost without you, Janus."

"I'd be lost without you as well, my king," Janus softly admitted.

-

Roman smiled to himself, full of pride, as he looked out the carriage window and recalled the events that'd taken place that day.

Logan and Patton had started a program together to help kids in situations like the ones they'd come from. It'd been in place for a month now —and about as much time since Roman had started trusting Janus again—, and once a week they would go to check on the progress in person.

Everything was going well in the program and Roman couldn't be prouder of Logan and Patton for their work in it. He'd seen how much work and effort they'd put into it, even if he'd only just seen the work they did from the castle.

This was Roman's first time going with them as he was usually too busy when they went to check on everything and help with things in person. Instead, Janus would take them, but this week, Roman had a lighter load and worked a bit harder yesterday to have the entire day free.

There was one week where Remus had taken them when Janus had too many meetings and not enough time, but that had gone about as well as Roman would've expected, especially as Remus didn't have Virgil with him and hadn't told Roman that he was taking them beforehand. Roman was ninety-five percent sure that Remus taught them several different ways to commit arson that day.

"King Roman?"

Roman blinked out of his thoughts and looked over. "Yes, Logan?"

"We're here."

Roman glanced out of the window before smiling. "Ah, so we are!"

They could've made the trip back to the castle that day, but they'd spent all day working and were already tired enough as it was, so Janus suggested that they stop at the inn in town for the evening.

Janus and Logan went inside to check in while Roman and Patton grabbed their bags. Roman hadn't exactly expected not to get home that day, but he was always prepared and had a few changes of clothes for everyone.

"Wait, did you hear that?"

Roman paused. "...No?"

"Hmm." Patton put his bag back and took off to the alleyway next to The Crumbling Knight Inn.

"Pat— and he's gone." Roman sighed and hastily copied Patton.

Patton was sitting rather far into the alley and was looking intently at some sort of animal across the alley from him. 

"Oh, you found a dog," Roman murmured as he quietly walked back and peered around the alley corner. 

The muddy dog carefully crept towards Patton and sniffed his outstretched hand before allowing him to pet her. 

"Aww, aren't you sweet!" Patton cooed as he glanced at Roman with fleeting, pleading eyes.

…Roman guessed they may very well have a dog soon.

Roman stepped around the corner and the dog eyed him suspiciously.

"She said she has no family. Can we keep her?"

"...The dog said that?"

"Well, not exactly 'said'… but I know what she means."

"I— alright, if you'll help take care of her, then sure. You absolutely may."

"Oh, I will! I'll take very good care of her!"

"Then we should give her some water and a snack and start a bath, then we can give her some more food if the other stays down."

"...She says she doesn't like baths, but she hates being covered in dried mud more, so she'll allow it this one time. Also, I think the promise of food helped."

"Well, then we only need to convince Janus and bribe the innkeeper."

…

As it turned out, the innkeeper needed more convincing than Janus, but after the extra money was laid down and Patton gave puppy dog eyes and even promised to clean up after the dog, she agreed.

All four of them sat at one of the tables in the inn's dining room, and the dog sat next to Patton —albeit on the floor, much to Patton's disappointment—. 

"I'm very glad your program is going well, Logan and Patton," Roman said after they'd eaten most of their food.

"Thank you. I was quite pleased with the progress as well."

"Yeah!" Patton exclaimed as he took the last biscuit from the now empty basket. "It's already helped quite a few kids." He took a big bite and rested his hand against his thigh before gasping. "Hey! That was my biscuit!"

The dog didn't pay Patton any mind though as she wolfed it down.

Janus pursed his lips ever so slightly and Roman instantly recognised that he was trying not to laugh. He seemed to recover quickly though and kindly said, "Here, Patton. I didn't end up eating my biscuit so you may have it."

"Oh, thanks! I'll be sure to hold it over my plate this time."

"Probably wise."

"...Oh hey! I know what we should name her now."

Roman raised his eyebrows. "Oh?"

"Biscuit!"

"That does seem like a logical enough name for a dog," Logan agreed.

"...She says that's a good name, especially if she gets more biscuits sometime."

Roman laughed. "Well, we'll have to see about that."

-

Roman never would've been able to imagine that it was possible to care for so many people this much. His brother, Remus; Captain of the guard, Virgil; Logan Hierophant; Roman's ward, Patton; and Roman's adviser, Janus.

His care for them seemed to only be multiplying every day, and Roman was quite content to let it.

But lately his care for Janus was almost… changing? Not diminishing in any way, just… it was a bit different now.

Roman got up from the desk in his room and began pacing.

He wanted to be more physical with Janus for one thing, and while he liked some physical affection in general, this still felt different. He wanted to be near Janus more than he'd ever thought about. There was just something in Roman that pulled him to Janus.

He wanted to hold Janus' hand, to hug him, and to… wake up next to each other? 

He… he wanted to run his fingers through Janus' long, beautiful hair, to brush and braid his golden hair. Wanted to cup his cheek and lean in and—

Kiss Janus??

Oh.

Oh.

Oh, wow. How had Roman not seen that before, hadn't seen that coming? 

Roman sat down on his bed, legs feeling almost shaky under him as he laid back.

But now that he thought about it… it almost made sense.

Sure, one could think that one's friends were pretty, and one could want to be physically affectionate with them, but there was some feeling in Roman's gut that told him that this was different, something that told him that it wasn't strictly platonic.

…Now what?

Roman sat up.

Did he want to tell Janus? Or maybe wait? 

He wasn't sure what he'd be waiting on but he also didn't want to just rush into anything. How was he supposed to know what to do? He'd never been… been in love before.

Roman almost rolled his eyes at how obvious it was. Who did he know that would have some experience with romance? Remus and Virgil, of course. They were married after all.

Roman found Remus and Virgil quick enough, both relaxing in their shared quarters as they cuddled on one of their couches.

"Hey, Ro-bro! Wanna come on in and tell us what's on your mind?"

Roman shut the door behind himself. "That obvious, huh?" 

Remus rolled chaos' eyes. "Of course. There's clearly something on your mind, so what has your brain going in circles?"

"Yeah, we're here to listen and help if we can," Virgil agreed. 

"Well…" Roman sat down on the couch opposite Remus and Virgil. "I realised that I may… like Janus romantically?"

Remus snorted loudly as Virgil pursed his lips, probably to not do what Remus did.

"Did you only just learn that?" Remus asked, voice full of amusement.

Roman huffed. "Yes. Was it that obvious?"

"Oh, definitely. I thought you were just taking your sweet time asking him, but you didn't… man, talk about King Oblivious."

Roman huffed, pretending to be offended. "Wow, if I'd known that I'd just get insulted for my trouble—"

Virgil laughed. "No, we'll— well, I'll help at least. No guarantee for Remus though."

"Hey! I can be helpful too!"

"Sure."

"I— okay fair." Remus looked back at Roman. "So, what's the problem exactly?"

"Well, I think I'd like to tell him, but like…"

"You don't wanna fuck it up?"

"I wouldn't put it quite like that, but yes. I just— I really care about him and in one way it wasn't really all that long ago that I thought I might… might lose him. I just don't want to worry about possibly losing him again."

"I really don't think you'll lose him," Virgil said. "I…" They hesitated. "Even if he didn't like you back, he's not one for abandoning his friends."

Roman sighed. "Yeah, you're right. I'm just… nervous I guess."

Remus seemed to be taking this more seriously now. "Yeah, that's understandable. I was super nervous about asking Virgil, and waited so long that he ended up asking me." Remus laughed. "And he was probably more nervous than I was!"

"Oh, definitely. I was so anxious that I almost threw up."

…

After a bit more assurance from Virgil and some —light-hearted— badgering from Remus, Roman decided that he'd tell Janus soon, but especially as he'd only discovered his romantic feelings that day, he would give it some thought as to how he would ask Janus out.

Maybe he could do a big gesture first? Like a picnic perhaps? No, it was winter and far too cold. 

Should Roman just tell him? There wasn't much romance in that though… but maybe he was just overcomplicating things?

Roman's nerves had only doubled and he was still no closer to figuring out how to ask Janus out.

Roman sighed as he wandered through the hallways, lost in thought.

What if he got so worked up that he got too nervous to ask Janus at all? Maybe… maybe he should just ask now before his brain blew it out of proportion.

Before Roman quite realised what he was doing, he was walking towards Janus' room.

Roman took a deep breath and knocked on the door before he could chicken out.

"Come in," Janus called.

Roman opened the door and shut it behind himself. "Hello, Janus."

"Hello, Roman." Janus smiled before putting a bookmark in the book he'd been reading and setting it on the small side table next to the armchair. The fire crackled merrily in the hearth. Janus gestured Roman over. "I won't bite," He teased.

Roman huffed. "I know that."

"Then why do you look so nervous?" Janus raised an eyebrow.

Roman stopped by Janus' chair and almost wished that he'd thought to wear his regal attire or at the very least his crown. He really needed the confidence.

"Just… am?" Roman tried.

"Right," Janus said sarcastically, clearly not believing him. He seemed to realise how put upon Roman felt though as he suggested, "Why don't you sit down?"

"But there's not— oh!" Roman did his best not to squeak as a warm arm wrapped around his waist and pulled him down into Janus' lap.

"There, now you're closer to the fire. You're cold, you need to keep warm."

"I—" Roman was quite sure his cheeks were flushing. "Right, um. Yeah."

Fortunately, the chair was large enough for both of them, Roman sitting sideways in between Janus' legs with the backs of his knees on the armrest, feet dangling over the side. Janus' arm was still around Roman's waist, fingers splayed over his stomach. 

Roman wasn't really sure where to put his arm that was closer to Janus, and since it was a bit too late to put it in between himself and Janus as Janus had already pulled them pretty close together, Roman decided to put his arm around Janus' shoulders.

Janus laid his hand that was not wrapped around Roman on Roman's knee. "So, how'd you sleep last night?"

"Uh, pretty good. What about you?"

"...I should've expected you to ask me back."

Roman laughed. "I mean, that's kind of how small talk works usually."

"Hah, fair enough." Janus stared at the fire and Roman finally saw that it wasn't just shadow from the flame under Janus' eyes making him look tired. His shoulders were a bit heavy looking as well.

"So, how'd you really sleep?" Roman finally asked.

"Well, not very well. I don't know why. It's not like there was really anything to affect or disturb my sleep like that… anyway, I'll just try to get better rest tonight."

"Well, why don't you just take a nap?"

"Hmm, I might. I usually struggle with falling asleep in the middle of the day when… anyway."

"When what?"

Janus sighed. "When I'm alone. I used to have people near when I was in charge of… the nanny ward and then later with the… well, not really soldiers, but the point is I never slept alone growing up. It doesn't really matter though, I'll just wait until—"

"I'll sleep with you!"

Janus coughed. "What?"

Roman felt his face warm as he shifted awkwardly, but that just made it worse as it just reminded Roman just how much they were touching. "Okay, that sounded… but what I meant was we could… take a nap together?" Oh, dramdach, that didn't sound much better.

"I— yes. That… yes." 

Roman didn't think he'd ever seen Janus so not put together. Maybe his sleep problem had been going on for longer than he'd said.

Roman didn't have any more time to ponder such things, however, as Janus moved his hand from on top of his knees to under, and his other hand to support the rest of Roman as he stood and carried Roman over to Janus' bed.

Janus set the still stunned Roman down. "Well?"

"Uh, well what?" Since when was Janus so strong??

Janus huffed in amusement. "Are you going to scoot over so I can get in as well?"

"Huh, oh! Oh, yeah." Roman moved over as Janus slid in next to him and pulled the blankets over them.

"Here, you can scoot a bit closer. It's pretty chilly today and the bed's rather cold."

Despite the warmth in Roman's face, the bed was indeed cold.

"Okay," Roman murmured as he shuffled closer, choosing to sleep on his side.

Janus was behind Roman as he'd hoped that he'd be less awkward, but Janus must've also been on his side as threw an arm over Roman's waist and buried his nose in Roman's shoulder.

Well, this was certainly different than what Roman had expected when he'd gone to Janus to tell him that he loved Janus. He hadn't even gotten that far before Janus was sharing a bed with him.

Life was weird sometimes.

…

Roman woke up warm so he hummed and snugged even closer to the warmth before frowning. Wait, what was warm?

Roman's eyes flew open and he realised that he was sleeping on… on Janus' chest! He scrambled back and tried to sit up.

"Well, good evening. Where are you going in such a hurry?" Janus asked, lazily watching him from where he was half sitting up against the headboard.

"Oh, I— I was— just… surprised, that's all."

"Fair enough. I'm sure it'd be a bit surprising to wake up next to —or rather on, in this case— someone when you're not used to it."

"But you are? Even now, and even with me?"

Janus considered him for a moment. "Yes."

Roman looked away, not even quite sure why. "Oh."

Janus started at Roman for a moment longer before he broke whatever that was and said, "So, it's about suppertime. How about we go find the whole crew and eat together."

"Yeah, absolutely. That sounds great."

They got out of bed and fixed their bedheads and slightly skewed clothes.

"Oh, I almost forgot," Janus said as he put his hat back on. Roman hadn't even noticed that he'd taken it off. "I had something I wanted to talk to you about earlier."

"Oh?"

Janus' eyes ran over Roman before he looked away. "I— nevermind."

"...Are you sure?"

"Yes. Let's go eat."

…

They all gathered for supper and ate amid chatter and teasing.

"So," Logan began seriously as he set down his fork. "I read about something in the library today and I was wondering if everyone has birthdays or just a select few."

"Oh, everyone does," Janus said. "Some people may choose not to celebrate or may not know what day exactly they were born on —I presume you don't—, but most people celebrate their birthday, or at least know when it is."

A bit of sadness crossed Logan's face. "Ah, I see."

"We could choose a day to be your birthday though," Roman suggested.

"Really? We can do that?"

"Absolutely! We can pick a date and then throw a little party that day to celebrate you."

"What about tomorrow?" Logan asked.

"Well, let's have enough time to at least plan it."

"How about this Saturday?" Janus offered.

Logan considered it for a moment. "...That would be acceptable."

"Good," Janus said before turning to Patton. "And you will, of course, get one as well."

Patton almost dropped his fork in surprise, eyes widening. "What? Really? I get a birthday too?"

"Of course, Patton," Roman assured. "You're no less a part of this family than anyone else."

"Oh."

Roman decided not to dwell on that too much right now. He did, however, make a mental note to himself to be sure that Patton always knew that he was part of the family. "Do you know when your birthday is?"

"...No."

"Well, that's just fine. We can pick a date for or with you sometime after Logan's birthday party, okay?"

"Okay!"

Janus asked Logan, "Would you like to help plan the party, like perhaps after supper, or would you rather it be a surprise and we plan it for you?"

"I'd like to be involved with the planning, please. I'm not very fond of surprises."

"That's understandable," Remus said around a mouth full of food. "One time I tried to throw a surprise party and Roman screamed!"

"In my defense, you jumped out of nowhere with what looked like a mound of some weird red stuff! It looked bloody!"

"Okay, listen, it's not my fault I don't know how to bake!"

Today definitely hadn't gone how Roman had expected but, all in all, it was —albeit weird— still a good day.

-

Today was Logan's new birthday and as excited as Logan seemed to be, he also was at least that much nervous, stressing over every little detail and clearly tense and on edge.

"No, a bit lower… now to the left… not that left, go to the right a bit. That's too high, can you—"

"Logan, I don't think we'll get this exactly right at this rate," Janus said a bit exasperatedly.

"...Oh, right. Apologies, right there is adequate… well, maybe just a bit to the—"

"Logan!"

"Oh, right, right."

"Why don't you use magic to get it just right?" Patton asked.

"... Because we didn't think of that," Janus admitted. 

"That's a really good idea," Roman praised.

Janus let go of his side of the banner and it stayed in place with a bit of gold glittering around it; a sign of his magic. He gestured for Roman to do the same thing and he did, his side also staying with the same golden glitter.

They both climbed down their respective ladders, and Janus made rulers out of his magic on each of the four sides of the banner to get it perfectly centered. Finally it was secured, and Janus went back to blowing up balloons with his magic, some dark blue sparkly confetti in each one.

"I've got the cake!" Virgil exclaimed as he entered the event hall.

"And I've got the ice cream! …Mostly because Virgil doesn't trust me with the cake."

"I saw the flips you were doing with the ice cream bucket!" Virgil and Remus set their loads down on the table.

"Well, obviously I wouldn't've done that with the cake!"

"Well, it's hard to know with you.“

Remus huffed as chaos made a cold bubble around the ice cream so it wouldn't melt, but conceited, "...Okay, that's fair."

Roman walked over to Logan. "Hey, you seem a bit stressed. I know that this is a lot, but it doesn't have to be perfect, okay? We want you to have fun, not be stressed out of your mind."

"Ah, yes. You're right, of course. I just… want this to go well. I'm afraid I've rather so-called 'built' it up in my mind to be this big important thing, so I'm worried about it not going perfectly."

"Oh, I know what you mean. I've definitely done that before. Trying to get every little detail perfect, even when I wasn't sure what getting it perfect would look like. It's called 'perfectionism'."

"Oh, there's a name for that? I didn't realise it was such a common thing."

"Yes, but there's ways to help with it, like letting yourself know that it's okay to make mistakes, or that it doesn't have to be absolutely perfect. It's not going to be perfect but that's okay! I know letting it go is easier said than done, but just know that I'm here for you, Logan."

"Thanks, I appreciate it. I just… I suppose I just want to be good enough. I've been given such a wonderful opportunity here and I don't want anyone to think that I'm squandering it." Logan dropped his voice, "I just don't want you to regret letting Janus take me in."

"Oh, Logan, I don't regret Janus taking you in at all! Short of some very, very bad stuff, I'd never regret that. I'm so glad you're here, and I want you to be here, okay?"

Logan nodded as he seemed to be fighting back tears. "Okay. Thank you."

"Of course. Anytime."

Roman patted Logan's shoulder and they shared a small smile.

…

After Logan was able to relax, things went smoother and Roman was quite sure that he was enjoying everything.

Remus was standing next to Virgil, each had an arm wrapped around the other's waist, and Remus was using his free hand to make a ball of magic that Logan, Patton, and Biscuit were running around, chasing. Occasionally, something would happen —like almost running into each other, or the bundle of magic would jump just out of reach— and Logan and Patton would laugh, Biscuit barking with them.

Roman stood off to the side with Janus, who was watching everyone's antics in amusement.

Roman wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but ever since he'd realised that he liked Janus romantically, there kept being… little things. Roman wasn't even sure what to call them. 

While they hadn't shared a bed again after the nap they'd shared, they still were in close proximity more often than ever. Janus would put an arm around Roman's shoulders as he showed Roman something out of his book, or would press their knees together under the dinner table. Just little things like that, things that Roman still couldn't quite get his head around.

Was it just his feelings for Janus misinterpreting things? Or… well, he didn't even dare to hope.

Janus also seemed to be spending more time with Roman, even if he said something about it being a coincidence that they were in the same room. Roman… wasn't sure if he believed Janus.

Despite all that, Roman couldn't help but worry that he'd missed his chance. Sure, he probably hadn't, but his worry didn't seem to care about that.

What if he never told Janus? He knew he'd regret it if he never told him though, he just hoped that if… —when?— he told Janus, that he wouldn't come to regret that too.

He still felt no closer to knowing how or when to tell Janus, but he supposed that he probably wasn't in that much of a rush. The only people Janus talked to outside of their little family, were all in a professional setting, so Roman doubted that Janus would just suddenly have a partner… hopefully he wouldn't anyway.

Remus yanked the ball higher and Patton jumped, trying to catch it, but it bounced off of the tips of his fingers, and he laughed merrily as he slowly drifted down, having used a slow-fall spell that Janus had taught him recently.

Roman heard a gentle laugh from beside him, so he looked over at Janus, whose smile was softer now, sunlight hitting his face just right, and hair sparkling golden in the light.

And before Roman realised, "You're the most beautiful person I've ever had the honour of meeting," Tumbled out of his mouth.

Janus broke his vision away and looked at Roman in shock. "Wh— what?"

Oops. Well, it was out there now. "Oh, well… I wasn't planning on saying this right now, but I really have been meaning to tell you so… I like you."

"...Like romantically?"

"Yes, like… like romantically."

Janus smirked before he stated matter-a-factly,

"About time." 

"What?"

"I've been flirting with you for a while now! I was starting to wonder if you'd ever like me back."

"Wait, really?"

Janus nodded. "You're an idiot."

Roman laughed abruptly. "Wow, thanks."

"But you're a very lovable idiot."

"Oh, thanks." Roman's face warmed a bit as Janus stepped a bit closer.

Janus gazed into Roman's eyes and he gazed back, the striking contrast of Janus' eyes all but mesmerising. He cupped Janus' face in his hands, running a thumb across his soft cheek before running his other thumb over Janus' scarred cheek, gently tracing a few of the raised lines.

"You're beautiful," Roman said, voice full of wonder.

"I— you're not so bad yourself."

Roman took a little step forward. "Why, thank you." He let his right hand fall a bit until it rested on Janus' shoulder, and Janus reached up with his left hand to grasp at Roman's sleeve. "I really like you," Roman murmured.

"I really like you as well," Janus said back, voice just as soft.

"So, wh—"

"Hey, Roman!" Patton exclaimed before he stopped next to them.

Roman pulled back from Janus to see a sheepish Patton. 

"Oops, sorry. Didn't quite figure out what my intuition was telling me in time."

Roman laughed. "It's alright, what's up?"

Patton held up a light blue balloon that had been folded and twisted into the shape of a dog. "Uncle Remus is making balloon animals!"

"Uncle?"

"Oh, um, well, he and uncle Virgil said it was okay… but I can—"

"No, that's perfectly fine. I was just surprised, that's all."

Patton paused, no doubt seeing if Roman would suddenly change his mind and get mad, but, of course, Roman didn't. "...Okay."

Janus seemed to notice the need for a subject change as he asked, "Do you think he could make me something?"

"Hmm, I think a honey badger would be too complicated, but I bet he could make you a snake!"

"Sounds perfect."

Patton ran off to no doubt ask Remus about the snake.

Janus shook his head fondly. "I'll never understand how children can have so much energy."

"Right! They're so small and yet they just zoom around."

Janus paused before looking back at Roman. "Well, we should probably go see what everyone wants to do next."

"Yeah, that sounds good… can I hold your hand?" Roman blurted out, startling a laugh out of Janus.

"Yes." Janus held his hand out and Roman took it.

Roman wasn't quite sure what this meant for them yet, but it seemed like it would only be for the better.

As they all sang 'happy birthday' to Logan around his birthday cake, Roman couldn't help but wonder at how he'd gotten such an amazing family.

And he couldn't wait to spend the rest of his life with them.

~The End~

No reposting, likes are nice, and reblogs are very much appreciated! | Taglist (ask to be added or removed): @someoneiwasnt

#sanders sides #sanders sides fics #sanders sides fanfic #sanders sides fanfiction #vee's writing #ts storytime 2022 submission #ts roman #tss roman #ts janus #tss janus #ts logan #tss logan #ts patton #tss patton #ts virgil #tss virgil #ts remus #tss remus #roceit #background esablished dukexiety

[roseianxiety]

Fan Language

× Pairing: Roceit

× Canon Universe

× Tags: Fluff, Crack and Fluff, Crack Treated Seriously, Kissing, Slight Fourth Wall Breaking, Swearing

× Word Count: 1k+ words

× Notes: These are what the fan gestures Janus used mean:

Kiss Me - Press the half-closed fan over the lips

Talk to Me - Touch the lips with the tip of the closed fan

I Fancy You - Place the tip of the closed fan over the cheek

I Love You - Open the fan and place it over the heart

× AO3 link

× Summary: Janus tries to flirt and seduce Roman through the art of fan language. His mission fails successfully.

Janus has been throwing signs at Roman for the past few weeks on how he was utterly in love with the other side but the creative facet was too oblivious for his own good. And Janus was suffering because of it. Good lord, help him.

He let out an exasperated sigh as he fanned himself, the Florida heat getting to him and it made thinking way more difficult than it should have been. Janus pouts to himself, trying to formulate a plan to woo Roman and make him realize that the resident snake likes (more like love) him. He leaned back on the couch while he continued to fan himself... his eyes landing on the fan in his hands. Then the gears in his head began to turn, he was trying to figure something out. And an idea popped up! Janus smirked to himself at what he had thought of, thinking that this was the best idea he had created. Now time to execute his plan (and get himself some royal D).

---

Roman was in the kitchen preparing himself a nice, warm cup of tea to soothe his throat after belting out loud in his room as he practiced for an upcoming play Thomas would lead. He brings his mug to his lips and takes a small sip, the warm liquid is comforting before taking another sip. He hums in satisfaction, hopping onto one of the bar stools, and sipping at the delicious liquid again. He was so occupied by his tea and his own thoughts that he didn't notice a certain snake-like side enter the kitchen until the other coughed to get his attention.

He was snapped out of his thoughts and saw Janus glance at him before passing by, the resident snake heading towards the fridge. His and Janus's relationship was doing rather well, although it took them a long time to finally forgive each other. Their acquaintanceship was improving per se. But Roman does notice sometimes how weird Janus acts around him, making him wonder if it's a negative thing or a positive one. Hopefully the last one. Roman shrugs it off and continues to drink his tea while he now thinks of new ideas he can put into a script he is working on.

"What are you up to, Roman?"

Roman looks up and sees Janus approaching him, also noticing a fan and a glass of wine in both his hands. Roman blinks before shrugging and replying, "Nothing much, just drinking tea and thinking of more glorious ideas." he replies cheerily before finishing the cup and setting it down on the counter before turning his full attention towards the serpent-like side. "What's up?".

Janus presses his half-closed fan over his lips before he speaks up again. "Bored, went here to get me some refreshments," he answers simply, closing his fan and taking a sip from his wine. Roman watched carefully as he listened to Janus speak. "What's with the hand fan by the way?" he queries in curiosity, pointing at the fan Janus was holding. Janus perks up and looks at his fan, "Oh this? Just bringing it around with me, the Florida heat is insufferable." he says plainly, placing his wine glass down on the counter.

Roman nodded in understanding as he got up from his seat, walked towards the sink, and placed his mug there. "Anyway, gotta go back to work now. See ya." he chirps, shooting Janus a charming smile. The other merely nodded and looked away, opening his fan and fanning himself quickly. The creative facet watches him for a moment and shrugs before sinking out to his room.

---

He was done questing from the Imagination and he decided to go to the living room. Roman was thinking about having a movie marathon of his favorite Disney movies (which is all of them by the way), maybe he could invite the others with him. He suddenly popped out of nowhere in the middle of the room, surprising Virgil who let out a surprised scream and sprung up from his seat. Oh, and Janus was there too.

"Holy fuck, Roman! Can you not do that!?" Virgil exclaimed exasperatedly with a hand on his chest, sitting back down on the couch. Roman knew he held no malice behind his words. The princely facet plopped down beside the anxious one and ruffled the other's hair playfully, causing a hiss of annoyance from Virgil. "My bad, my bad." The creative aspect laughs sheepishly, his laughter growing louder as Virgil tries to shove him off the couch but he doesn't budge.

His eyes then landed on Janus who looked at him, the tip of his closed fan touching his lips. Roman smiles at him sweetly and waves at him, "Hey Jan—" but before he can even finish his words, he drops onto the floor face first as Virgil finally shoves him off the couch. He groaned into the carpeted floor while Janus looked amused. Janus giggled softly and shook his head, covering the lower half of his face with the fan as he suppressed his laughter.

Roman looked at him wide-eyed, surprised to hear a genuine laugh from Janus. A very rare occurrence indeed. He couldn't help but smile as well at the sight of Janus' amusement, and he felt his cheeks heat up. Roman spares Virgil's soft glare as the other laughed his ass off at Roman's current state, the creative one rolled his eyes and got up from the floor. He turns on the TV and grabs the remote before plopping back down on the couch, Now he is sitting on the empty spot near Janus.

"I'm gonna have a Disney movie marathon, Y'all interested?" Roman queries, glancing at Virgil. The anxious facet shook his head as he got up from the couch and stuffed his phone inside his hoodie pocket, "Nah. I'm gonna go take a nap.".

"What about the others? What are they doing?"

"I think Patton's taking a nap too, Lo is working with whatever he's working on, and Remus... I don't know what he's up to." Virgil states as he walks towards the stairs. "Enjoy your movie marathon by the way. I'll tell them if they're interested," he added before climbing up to his room. Roman frowns slightly. It seems that no one was interested, Sigh, poor him... Wait, Janus was there too, but he'd declined too—

"What're you going to watch?" Janus queries quietly as he continues to fan himself slowly, his eyes gazing intensely at Roman. The creative one raises his eyebrows at the other's words, before grinning happily. "Oh, I'm gonna watch Cinderella first. Are you... gonna stay and watch with me?" he smiles softly at Janus. Janus blinked and stared blankly at Roman as he processed the question. "... I guess," he muttered, shutting his fan closed.

Roman beamed happily before directing to Disney Plus where he immediately picked Cinderella to begin his movie marathon with. He places the remote down on the coffee table while excitedly flapping his hands against his lap, his eyes glued to the TV. Janus watched him closely, noticing how excited the other was. He got up from his seat and went to sit down beside the spot beside Roman. Roman turned to look at Janus, who was already looking at him, his reddish-brown eyes locked with the latter's dual-colored ones. Roman gives him a smile and Janus then places the tip of his fan over his cheeks before smiling back at the other then looks away to look at the television. The princely trait continued to watch the movie that played on the TV. He also can't help but wonder why Janus keeps doing those certain gestures using his fan.

---

Janus let out a frustrated groan as he sat up on his bed. It has been a week since he tried out his fan language technique on Roman and his clues still haven't gotten through the other trait's head yet. Why is it not working? He questioned as his arms fell limply onto his lap. (It's because barely anyone knows about fan language, Janus.). He glanced over to his side table where his fan was resting; He grabbed the handle and opened it, fanning himself with it in utter annoyance.

What does he have to do to get Roman's attention and for him to notice his dying love for him? (Fucking communicate with him). Janus huffs closes the fan and stands up, walking up to the door and heading down to look for Roman. There, in the kitchen, stood the creative facet. He was drinking his favorite tea as usual and staring into nothingness, probably lost in his thoughts again.

Janus coughed softly to get the other's attention, The other jolted before turning to look at him, his eyes widened at seeing Janus there. Janus touched the tip of his fan to his lips before batting his eyes at Roman, seemingly trying to act cute. Roman blinks in confusion and waves at him with a sheepish smile.

The deceitful trait rolled his eyes before opening his fan and placing it over his heart, hoping that Roman would get what he meant. Janus waited patiently as Roman seemed to try to understand what he meant. But alas, Roman still failed. "Janus, what are you even doing?" Roman asks curiously, tilting his head slightly.

Janus huffs before closing his fan (only in half) presses the half-closed over his lips, and does it again. All of this bullshit was fucking stupid, why can't Roman just loves him already so they can make out-- Surely this gesture would get through Roman's head, it's probably the most obvious one yet. Roman looked at him quizically and cocked his head to the side once more and blinked at the snake-like side, looking like a confused puppy.

An exasperated and annoyed noise ripped out of Janus, getting with all this guessing game they were playing. His plan was stupid and pointless, now he had to put his big boy pants on and do it himself. "Oh, you idiot—"

Janus marched towards Roman, which confused the other more, before pulling Roman by his collar and kissing him. Roman's eyes were blown wide in shock as he stared at Janus, his mind going blank. After a minute, he finally snapped out of his shocked state and everything was finally processing in his head. Roman then finally kissed Janus back, his hands tangling on the other's hair.

The both of them soon pulled away from the kiss, and both of their faces were flushed red.

"So... that's what you wanted?" Roman asked, letting out a soft chuckle. Janus looked away in embarrassment, he was still leaning close to Roman. "Yes..." he muttered softly, embarrassed by his own actions. "Well," Roman started, standing straight. "I guess you still got the message across using... what's it again?" the creative facet says, smiling lopsidedly at Janus.

"Fan language."

Roman giggles a bit at hearing Janus' answer. "You do know not everyone's going to understand that, right? And I thought I was the dramatic one," he said with an amused expression. "Hush and just kiss me." The deceptive trait murmured and unfurled his fan with a flourish, concealing both their faces from the supposed audience as their lips met once more.

--------

Writing Taglist: @cutebisexualmess @extraintrovertedalien (please tell me if you want to be added or removed in the tag list)

#sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #sanders sides fanfic #tss fanfiction #tss fanfic #roman sanders #roman sanders sides #tss roman #ts roman #ts roman sanders #janus sanders #janus sanders sides #tss janus #ts janus #ts janus sanders #roceit #romantic roceit #tss roceit #ts roceit #roceit fanfiction #vee writes

[jaderj1209]

Running Away From You

Hello there! I participated in the @sandersidesbigbang so this is for that! Also thank you to my beta reader @im-an-anxious-wreck !! AO3 Link

Summary: In the town of Sandersville, there are a group of super powered villains and heroes. On the supervillain team consisting of Patton the healer and force field wielder, Roman the speedster, and Virgil the shadow caster, they use their powers to steal money from banks and other nefarious deeds. On the superhero team consisting of Logan the telekinetic, C!Thomas with super strength, Janus the shapeshifter, and Remus the speedster, they use their powers to defend the city from the group of villains. Their roles seemed pretty concrete. However whenever two people from the opposite teams start to catch feelings for the other, what do they do? One runs away from the other of course. 5 times Roman ran away from the superhero Janus and the one time he didn’t.

#tssbb 2022 #thomas sanders big bang 2022 #sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #roceit #intrulogical

[prodigal-explorer]

Do you want to trade vampire aus? Bc me and my friends vampire au has janus and virgil and roman (and remus)

We actually have like 4 bc im obsessed with vampires but like The Main One lol

omg absolutely!!! i would love to!!

here is my vampire au:

Roman is a young teen who is infatuated with everything mythical and magical. He knows everything there is to know about magic, it's an extreme special interest of his. And he has a large forest outside his house that he regularly explores, hoping that he will find a mythical being one day.

And one day, he does.

Janus is a young vampire, the vampiric equivalent of a teenager. And when he and Roman run into each other, Roman treats Janus with kindness and curiosity, which is not what Janus expects. His older brother, Virgil, has always told him that humans are dangerous and back-stabbing. But Janus is a lonely boy, being raised only by Virgil, who is battling an extreme addiction to human blood and working hard to raise Janus and provide for him without coming near humans and risking killing them.

Janus and Roman become fast friends, especially when Roman discovers that Janus is a vampire, and is extremely happy to have finally met a mythical creature. Janus doesn't really feel any extreme craving for Roman's blood because he has never tasted human blood before, so he has no idea what he is missing out on.

Meanwhile, at Roman's house, there is father, Patton, and his older brother Logan is sort of like a ward of the family. Logan is not Roman's biological sibling, nor Patton's biological son. Logan sort of acts as a built-in babysitter for Roman, especially because Patton has gone mad. When Roman was very young, his twin brother, Remus, died in the big forest, and ever since that horrible day, Patton has lost it, insisting that a rabid vampire killed his little boy, and that he vows to find the vampire that did it and kill him, so that he can keep his surviving son, Roman, safe from harm. Every day, he searches in the big forest for the vampire, but as a result, he neglects Roman and Logan, leaving them to their own devices for very long stretches.

Logan thinks this is ridiculous. After all, vampires don't exist! He, and every other human in their lives, believes that Remus fell out of a tree, and that was how he died. But Patton knows the truth.

Eventually, Janus introduces Roman to Virgil, and Roman introduces Janus and Virgil to Logan. It goes about how you would expect: Virgil and Logan both think that the other is strange and shouldn't be trusted, but Roman and Janus work hard to bring the four together, and it eventually works out when Virgil and Logan realize that they have the same goal: to protect their little brothers from harm.

But what happens when Virgil decides to fully trust these humans as well as Janus, and tell them something that he never dared to tell anyone? That the day he realized he needed to stop pursuing human blood was the same day ten years ago, where he found a tiny little boy in the woods and sucked him dry, killing him. And that the little boy looked identical to Roman.

And yeah! That's my AU!! I really really like it, and it gets even angstier when you consider the possibility of Patton discovering Janus and Virgil and figuring out what they are, or Logan realizing that Virgil was indirectly the reason why the family fell apart.

It's just cool. Yeah! I would love to hear about your AU!!

#sanders sides #thomas sanders #sanders sides fandom #tss #roman sanders #virgil sanders #patton sanders #logan sanders #janus sanders #remus sanders #sanders sides au #tss au #sanders sides fanfic #sanders sides fic #sanders sides fanfiction #tss vampire au #roceit #analogical

[prince-rowan-of-the-forest]

Siren Boy

Janus foolishly sings along to a siren song and somehow ends up with a siren interested in something other than murdering him.

----

| Ao3 |

Warnings: minor injury

Pairings: pre-romantic roceit

Word count: 2177

Notes:

a fic for day 5 of Roceit Week (this should've been posted yesterday but I got distracted reading lol). The prompt was 'duet' and this fic... barely fits into that. LIke, such a loose thread it's barely visible. but still I wrote something. it's not my best work but this fandom needs a more saturated mermaid fic market, so, here you go.

Reblog to let Roman kiss the pretty human.

I hope you enjoy!!

----

Janus sighed, leaning against the railings of the ship he was currently sailing on and looking out across the endless sea towards the horison. 

His job paid well but got incredibly boring incredibly quickly. He wasn’t part of the crew that scurried back and forth across the deck. He wasn’t even really a sailor, despite what he told the people who hired him. 

And despite his affinity for the sea, Janus really had no place on boats amongst sailors, not really. 

He was a child of a siren and a human, born with human legs and thus useless to his aquatic kin, born with scales and fangs and a voice like silk which made his hated by the humans he was stuck with.

But Janus had made do, survived, grown up. He’d worked out how to utilise people’s paranoia and his own talents for money to make a living, worked out how to talk his way onto ships and make a living on the sea, even if part of him wished to be in it, rather than drifting atop it. 

It was mostly pirate crews he was able to get on board with because they were most suspicious of the sea, although they were the most unpleasant to be aboard with too. Pirates - despite being the most likely to hire him - were also the most likely to mistreat him and underpay him. One incredibly nasty captain had even attempted to take his scales whilst he was sleeping. But that was a story for another time.

For now, Janus was actually aboard a royal ship (an amazing opportunity for him, royals payed very well, actually) and his job was to protect the travelling family against the lure of his own kind, the sirens who lurked in the waters and hoped the drag the glittering royals into the sea using song that did not effect Janus. 

Which was why they hired him. Because of his siren heritage, Janus wasn’t effected by siren song, meaning that if he heard it, he could warn the crew and passengers and make sure they stayed below deck until the sirens had given up. He was supposed to protect them. 

Right now it was night. He and the lookouts up in the crows nest were the only ones out on deck and sirens rarely attacked this far out from their cosats anyway. So instead of really paying attention like he should be, Janus was resting his chin on an arm on the banister, looking out to the open sea and occasionally throwing a small jewel (a pile of which he’d stolen from the royal safe, because he would be long gone before they ever found out and he didn’t really care) as far as he could and listening for the satisfying splash sound they made. 

And maybe the reason he was so startled when he heard the first notes of drifting song was because he was not paying attention. That didn’t mean he didn’t snap into action immediately upon feeling the little tug on the edges of his mind - for him it was light enough to brush off easily, not so much for the other humans on board the boat. He whistled twice, sharp and loud, through his fingers to alert the others on the deck to get inside. He couldn’t let the sirens hurt anyone, or the only reputation that allowed him any income at all would be ruined. 

Luckily for him, he’d caught the sound of song early enough for the lookouts to get inside so that Janus could bolt the doors from the outside and return to the railings with a lanturn to look around and see if he could spot the culprits of the song.

He couldn’t see anyone yet, they must still be under the water, but he could hear the notes of the song clear as day and strangely enough he found he actually… recognised the tune? That was a first. 

There was no harm in humming along, right? The song was familiar, a shanty he had heard often enough aboard pirate vessels, he was pretty sure. He hadn’t heard it enough to know the words off of the top of his head, but he knew the melody well enough to join in. 

Only a minute or so later, the song ceased and Janus thought for a second that the siren had given up until he heard a loud splash. He yelped, before narrowing his eyes at the water, he still couldn’t see anyone… 

He leaned further over the railing, lowering the lanturn towards the water below in hopes to get a better view. Seconds later he realised how stupid of a thing to do that was as his hand slipped on the railing, he barely had a second to slam his eyes shut before he began to fall. He cried out, though he already knew it was useless because minutes previously he’d locked everyone else below deck. 

He’d expected to fall, hit the water and either be drowned or ripped apart and eaten by the creatures that were probably swarming down there. He expected to succumb to a fate he had been so sure he was immune to. 

Something grabbed his ankle and Janus cried out as his whole body jerked- momentum from the fall stopping so abruptly it had pain shooting through his ankle to the point where he was slightly worried he was injured worse than a bruise. But his main worry right now was not his potentially sprained ankle, but what the hell had caught him in the first place. 

Janus tried to look back up at the boat from where he was dangling and when he did his eyes were immediately caught by a pair that glittered like rubies in the starlight. They lit up when Janus caught their eye, grinning wide enough to show sharp teeth not unlike Janus’ own. 

“Careful,” They said, smirking, their voice sounding foreign in a way Janus had never heard on his travelled, “You might fall if you lean too far over.”

“A little late for that warning, don’t you think?” Janus said, a little breathlessly, he was starting to get a little light headed from hanging upside down for too long, “Any chance yuo could lift me up?”

They pouted, “Not even a thank you?”

“Thank you,” Janus said, trying to keep his tone as sincere and panic free and the growing nausea, “Very much for catching me, I really appreciate having my life saved, but if I hang here much longer I fear I might pass out.”

“Alright alright,” They said, rolling their eyes before finally hoisting Janus up over the ship railing and letting him sprawl onto his back on the deck and catch his breath, “That was close, lucky I was here, huh?”

Janus huffed, sitting up and turning to the stranger, who was sill lying draped across the boat’s railing, chin now resting on a hand. It was dark, but now that Janus had the ship’s lanterns aiding his eyes (he had unfortunately dropped his in his fall) he could mostly see their whole appearance and… oh god. 

“You’re-” Janus started.

“A siren? Yes, well observed,” They said, still grinning. Their bright red hair was long and streaked with gold, the fins on their ears and arms as well as their dorsal which Janus could see clearly were a translucent pinkish red, dotted with glittering sparks though they drooped in the open air. Their tail was mostly hidden, hanging down the outside of the boat and thus lost from Janus’ eyes to the darkness. 

And a pretty big thing that Janus could definitely see, was how shirtless this guy was. 

Of course he was shirtless, because merfolk didn’t have shirts, but Janus didn’t realise before just now how bad of a position that put him in, because he was far too gay and shaken up to deal with all of this right now.

Why had the siren who’d tried to lure him into the water saved him anyway? Where was the logic in that?

“Like what you see, sweetie?” They said with a smirk, Janus tore his gaze away, looking off in the other direction out of spite.

“Shut up,” Janus said, “What are you doing here, anyway? Shouldn’t you be in the water with the other fish?”

“Ooooh someone’s upset, guess I hit a nerve,” The siren said, wow, really mature, “You’re rude, I literally saved you! Does it matter why I’m here?”

“Surely it was your intention to lure me into the water?” Janus said, still looking away, “Why would you save me?”

The siren was silent for a moment just long enough for Janus to give in and look back, only to find them watching him with an odd expression. 

“Because you sang back to me- it was fun to sing with you rather than alone…” they said eventually, “No-one’s ever done that before, I was curious.”

“Right,” Janus said, turning his attention to his ankle - just for something to do other than look at the (very pretty, don’t think about that) siren. He pulled off his shoe and sock and sucked in a sharp breath at the pain the action caused. His ankle was indeed swollen and bruised, sprained at least. There was a crash next to him and the siren let out a loud ‘oof’, Janus turned to find that they had fallen from the railing onto the deck next to him, whether intentionally or not, Janus didn’t really care.

“Apologies,” They said, “That was incredibly inelegant of me.”

Janus huffed and went back to inspecting his injured ankle. Maybe it wasn’t wise to ignore the siren, who could certainly be quite deadly to him if they wanted to be.

He was aware than in his peripheral that they were slowly shifting closer to him, but they also seemed to think they were being sneaky, so Janus pretended not to notice for now.

That was until they reached over and brushed their clawed fingers over his injured ankle - although lightly - earning them a sharp elbow to the shoulder and a loud hiss as Janus backed away. Part of his mind told him that such a reaction was horribly animalistic, but he knew that was the people who found him and raised him talking and he tried really hard not to care right now as the siren seemed to wilt a little bit.

“I didnt mean to hurt you,” They said softly, sitting back to leave a fair amount of space between them both, “I could heal you- but- um- you probably wouldn’t want me to, so, it’s fine.”

“Why on earth would I not want to be healed?” Janus said, glaring, though mostly he just felt confused. He might not trust the siren, but he knew they had a whole range of useful abilities when they weren’t trying to kill you, so why…

“Because I would have to kiss you,” Roman said, “And your reaction to that touch a second ago made me think you might be against that-”

“Kiss me?” Janus yelped, the siren made a hand gesture as if to say ‘I told you so’, “I don’t even know your name!”

“My name is Roman - why exactly is that a prerequisite for me healing you?”

“Okay, Roman,” Janus said, coming to the realisation that they probably didn’t know what a kiss insinuated in human culture, he took a deep breath and attempted to explain as shortly as he could, though his face was pretty red by the end of it anyway.

“Romantic interest?” Roman said, tilting their head a little, “Like- mates?”

“Um, yes, well-” Janus answered, frowning, he was glad he knew enough about sirens for this, otherwise it would make conversations like this so much more difficult, “The first time you kiss someone probably happens before that, to, uh, express attraction for someone? But it’s quite intimate and I have hesitations.”

Roman hummed, tail swishing a little where it was now draped across the deck of the boat. Janus was frankly astonished by how big the fin was, enough that Janus could probably lay across the entire fin with spare roon. He’d always assumed they were smaller. 

“But if it’s just to heal what I hurt,” Roman said slowly, “Then surely it would be ok?”

Janus considered for a moment, wondered why the idea of kissing Roman didn’t seem even remotely as horrible an idea as it should have. In fact, a large part of him really wanted to say yes. 

“And besides, you are very attractive, I wouldn’t mind kissing you the other way too.” Roman said nonchalantly, looking away. Janus tried to get his suddenly flaming blush under control whilst Roman wasn’t looking. 

“Just healing,” Janus said eventually, “We can uh- circle back to the other way later.”

“...Fine, just healing,” Roman hugged, reaching out a hand with a smirk on their face, “For now,”

Janus hesitated, before pulling in a deep breath of cold night air and taking Roman’s hand. 

----

Tags: @full-of-roman-angst-trash @reptilianrapscallion420 @your-local-random-dino @cutebisexualmess (if anyone wants to be added let me know!)

@roceit2023

#sanders sides #roceit #roman sanders #janus sanders #ts roceit #ts roman #ts janus #fanfic #sanders sides fanfiction #rowans writings

[virgil-is-verge]

@roceitweek

Day 3: Hands & Touch Starvation

cause why do 1 when u can do both

#roceit week 2022 #roceitweek #roceitweek2022 #sanders sides #sanders sides fanfiction #janus sanders #roman sanders