Work Text:
"we need to resolve this. you two need to resolve this. now." logan declared, pulling the other two sides up with him.
over the last few months, he'd grown increasingly frustrated with their inability to work together.
"resolve what? we're fine, everything's...fine." virgil insisted, though he was visibly avoiding looking at janus.
"trust me. it's not a big deal. just...stay out of this."
"no. i've stayed out of this for far too long now. like it or not, you're both here to stay, and for thomas' sake, you need to accept that, and deal with whatever remaining resentment you have for each other."
"i'm not doing this. we're not doing this." janus simply stated, as if it was a clear fact.
"yes, you are. neither of you is leaving until the matter is settled."
logan replied, equally dry, letting go of them both so they could wander to opposite sides of the room to glare at each other.
"now. let's get to the core of the issue first. virgil, why do you have an issue with janus being here?"
virgil sighed deeply.
"because he's a manipulative, malicious liar. and i hate him. he's bad for thomas. he's bad for all of us."
"alright. janus, how does that make you feel?"
"i think he's right. you can't trust me." the other side responded, in his typical overly sarcastic tone.
"janus..." logan sighed, exhausted by the entire situation.
"neither of you is getting out of here if you insist on being disingenuous."
janus rolled his eyes, biting his lower lip in hesitation before talking again.
"it makes me feel....frustrated. i want the best for thomas. all of us do. i've been working...tirelessly, and utterly by myself, for years, just to keep him safe. you of all people should know that i care for him." he gave virgil a meaningful look.
before logan could introject, virgil was already responding.
"you think your weird little crush on thomas proves that you're good for him? grow the fuck up, jay. you make him miserable. there's a reason why you and your lot are separate from the rest of us. you're not good. you can't be good. he's never going to listen to you, it's honestly pathetic that you keep trying so hard."
"virgil-" logan tried, but he'd already lost control of the situation.
"you say that as if you were never one of us. you only hate us so vocally because you want to prove that you're different. changed. well, congratulations, virgil, you had the good fortune of being the first of us to beg to be allowed into the good guys club. that doesn't mean you're better. it just means you're lucky. but don't you dare-" a slight blush came over one side of janus' face, and he suddenly looked genuinely hurt.
"don't you dare use the things you know about us...about me...to your advantage now. you have no right."
"why not? you're the one who tried to hide me and the others from thomas for years, you're the one who kept your own existence hidden from him so you could scheme in peace, maybe i'm just sick of all this fucking hiding that you do! i'd say i have every right to reveal whatever the fuck i want about you."
janus didn't say anything, instead merely biting down on his lip again, chewing it slightly in clear distress.
"oh, what, does that make you uncomfortable? that i could tell everyone about all the-" virgil's voice was abruptly muffled by his own hand.
"janus." logan said, in a warning tone.
"we've discussed this."
"what- you can't seriously expect me to just...let him get away with this?" janus asked incredulously, voice trembling slightly from frustration and genuine fear.
"nevertheless, i can't let you use your powers against us. that's the agreement."
janus grit his teeth, but he knew how fragile the trust he'd been granted was, so he let go.
he stared pointedly at the ground, expression still equal parts irritated and mortified, as virgil continued his briefly interrupted rant, now with added venom in his voice.
"all the-"
to virgil's great annoyance, he was once again cut off, this time by the sound of roman entering.
"what's going on here? shadow the edgehog and dr. sunshine fighting again?" he questioned, glancing at both of them suspiciously.
"virgil and janus needed some...encouragement to settle their differences, so i took initiative."
"with varying success?"
"with varying success." logan confirmed.
"oh, great, another witness for my testimony." virgil commented, making janus flinch slightly.
"now, where should i start? the fact that you have an entire collection of drawings of thomas in your room? that you used to ask me for help reaching the top shelf? oh, maybe i should tell them about your whole shedding process-"
with virgil's every taunt, the human half of janus' face got progressively more and more red. he was letting out small sounds of distress every now and then, and eventually, his palpable discomfort seemed to entice the other of the two brothers.
"ohhh, fun, are we talking shit about janus? can i join in? okay, i've got a good one-"
all three sides groaned in unison at their unwelcome guest.
"-after you left, he cried the entire night. like, all night. it was so annoying, i could barely get any sleep!"
and then the room went quiet.
virgil looked at janus.
janus looked at virgil, then logan, then roman.
then left.
everyone looked at remus.
"what? i wasn't even done with the story! i was gonna talk about how he kept emo's old hoodie and sometimes still uses it as an extra blanket at night. oh, and the day after storm cloud over here left, jan got so wine drunk he threw up on the fl-"
"shut up, jesus christ, i don't wanna hear about that." virgil insisted, covering his ears.
"virgil, i believe it would be advisable if you-" logan started.
"yeah, yeah, i'll...go after him." virgil conceded.
//
virgil found janus upstairs, in his room, facing the wall.
"...janus? are you...crying?"
"no."
"right. naturally." he sighed, moving closer to janus.
carefully, virgil removed his hat and his gloves.
working his way through the other's defenses.
the walls he'd put up.
"will you please just...tell me, honestly, what happened when i left? i need to know. i want to know."
"no. i'm not- i'm not going to open myself up like a wound for you, virgil. i'm not going to expose my insides just so you can laugh at them. i can't. you know i can't. it's antithetical to everything about me. and it's-"
"embarrassing? look, i'm not....i shouldn't have- i'm sorry, okay? i was angry. i've been angry at you for...a long time, because that's easier than admitting that i...hurt you. did i hurt you?"
"no."
"janus."
"...yes." his voice was barely a whisper.
"you left. you left without saying goodbye. virgil. of course it fucking hurt. and it hurt even more when i finally saw you again, and you...you had everything. everything i wanted. you had a seat at the table. you were accepted and loved. i was so...jealous of you." he grimaced at that particularly shameful confession.
"i resented you. and you...you resented me right back. why? why do you hate me? why did you leave? why did you-"
his human eye had gone misty with tears, and when he realized it, he quickly turned back away from virgil.
"please....please don't look. i'm not crying, there's just something- something in my eye, it's not-"
"you're still like this?" virgil shook his head slightly.
"...oh, look at that. remus wasn't kidding." he gestured vaguely at the black hoodie on janus' bed.
his distress was quickly replaced by flustered defensiveness.
"th-that's not- it was just...laying around, so i- shut up!"
"hmh...oh, ew, i hate how endearing i found that. look, you can keep it, if you want. or you could just...ask me for a hug. y'know, like a normal person."
janus turned to look at him, surprised.
he opened his mouth, then closed it again, clearly unable to actually get the words out.
he'd reached his truth limit, apparently.
virgil rolled his eyes, tempted to tease him for the frankly pathetic display, but made a conscious effort not to, as he wrapped his arms around janus.