Chapter Text
dukey has opened a private chat with Janus .
dukey: bitches love my mustache
Janus: I was using my free period to nap, thank you.
dukey: bitches LOVE my mustache
Janus: I’m not convinced you can call that a mustache.
Janus: What happened, what’s got you so cheery?
dukey: i got patton for the project
Janus: Uh huh. I know. I was also there.
dukey: hes coming round later to dickscuss
dukey: oops i mean *discuss
dukey: butterfingers [man_shrugging]
Janus: Ew.
Janus: Since when do you have a thing for Patton?
dukey: since today when he asked to cum round??? keep up
Janus: Right…
dukey: whod u get????
Janus: You pay no attention to anything other than yourself, huh?
dukey: >:3
Janus: You’re so infuriating, how am I friends with you.
Janus: I got Roman.
Janus: So, I’m working alone essentially.
Janus: Did you not hear him physically gag?
dukey: ohhhh booooo my stinky brother
dukey: he smells like. flowers and shit.
Janus: And you smell like actual shit.
dukey: like a real man should
Janus: Lol
dukey: wots your topic
Janus: Rousseau.
dukey: oh yuck
dukey: before u ask… i do not know my topic
Janus: And I wouldn’t expect anything else from you, Re.
dukey: [kissy_face]
One new message in hole gang.
Logan.: Has anyone met this Thomas person? I’m partnered with him for World History and want to know if I can get away with doing everything alone.
patton-cake: oo!!! ooo!!! i chatted to him in algebra!!! hes sweet
patton-cake: he helped me out a bit, i think he’ll pull his wait
virge: weight*
princey: Grammar police over here
virge: dont ever compare me to the police everagain
virge: so who’d every1 get
virge: assuming none of u got L lol
patton-cake: i’m with remus! so roro ill be round yours later on today <33
princey: I dont want to talk about who I’m with
patton-cake: he’s with janus :)
virge: lmaooooo
princey: Don’t. I’m in shambles
Logan.: Why? Janus is intelligent. Just because you don’t like him - which may I point out, is rather unprecedented, you’ve never properly interacted with him - doesn’t make him a bad partner for an academic piece of work. If I had to be with a partner, Janus would be my first pick in manners of achieving a high grade.
princey: Logan I’m not reading all that
princey: Plus. He’s in my house All The Time. That’s Remus’s only friend
dukey: um excuse me you dont see us cos we spend all our time in my room fuckin and suckin
dukey: or driving about. to find a place to fuck and suck
princey: I DONT WANT TO KNOW
Janus: We have never had sex, I’m begging you to stop telling people that we have.
Janus: I’m not even gay.
Logan.: Falsehood.
patton-cake: thats a good one janus <3
Janus: ????
virge: wait
virge: r u actually NOTgay
Janus: I’m not. Stop asking.
princey: Step one; denial
dukey: step 2 daniel
princey: Fuuuuuck I have to hand it to you, that was a good one
dukey: im here all week
princey: You’re always fucking here no matter how hard I try to get rid of you
dukey: you could never egt rid of me i will torment u forever
dukey: thats what twins are for
Logan.: Shocking that out of our entire group, only one of us has a sibling. And how unlikely for them to be a twin.
Janus: I have a younger brother.
princey: You’re not part of the group tho
patton-cake: roro thats so meaaaan stop :((((((
dukey: i know where you live
Janus: [eyes_rolling]
Janus: Wanna come over to work on the project?
princey: Not really
Janus: Didn’t think so. It’s fine, I’m walking to your house right now.
princey: I beg your pardon???
Janus: Then beg.
dukey: i invited him freak
Logan.: You have a younger brother?
virge: cmon L keep up
Logan.: I have this chat muted, and I’m in the library. I found my card.
Janus: Yuh huh.
princey: patton and I are in the kitchen do not bother us
dukey: use protection
dukey: or dont im not ur mom
patton-cake: OKAY we’re waiting for you two!
princey: ????
Janus: 5 minutes away.
dukey: did u lock the fucking door i hate you
dukey has opened a private chat with princey .
dukey: bro i left my keys
dukey: in the lizard enclosure
dukey: i want her to open doors
One missed call.
dukey: OPEN THE DOOR
One missed call.
dukey: i will come in thru the window
dukey: im going to climb up the drain pipe and drop out the ceiling and strangle you
Two missed calls.
dukey: you know i will
dukey: i climbed into the loft before ill do it again
One missed call.
dukey: PISS FACE
princey: Jesus okay.
dukey: thank you :3
“He’s on his way down,” Remus beams over to Janus, dropping his phone into one of his cargo pockets (where he will inevitably forget about it and panic), and rocking back onto the heels of his boots. The shoes give him an extra inch of height, taking him to be two inches taller than Janus.
The aforementioned fiddles with the brim of his plain black baseball cap, rubbing his fingers over his left cheek, where a large patch of vitiligo encaptures his features. He’s spent a lot of his elementary, middle, and now high school life being mocked horrendously for his more unique appearance. His skin is a rich, terracotta brown, the left side of his body patched with bright vitiligo. It wraps around one eye, down his cheek, jumps a little past his neck to attach to his collarbone, and continues in patches down his left side. Arms and hand, down his torso, down his left leg. He can’t say why it’s so concentrated on one side. He was born with a striking case of heterochromia, his right eye another deep shade of brown, dark, foreboding - and his left was a jade green. As if that wasn’t enough, as if kids didn’t already have a reason to pick on him for being ‘different’, atop his left eye, surrounded by the vitiligo, was a dark, reddish-purple birthmark. And his little brother had nothing. Plain brown skin, two brown eyes, no birthmark in sight. Janus often credits himself for taking all the uniqueness before his brother had the chance.
He was an easy target throughout school, and found himself turning towards isolation and agitation, hiding in the company of the only one to put up with him - Remus Royal. And what a name that was. The stranger of the Royal twins, he was distinctly different from his brother, sporting a more ‘punk’ look, always seen in his heavy black boots, and some sort of dirtied or painted trousers. Whatever jacket he wore, whether it be denim or leather, was always adorned with patches - and to this day, Janus had never known someone to accessorise quite like Remus. Among his myriad of decorations, he had a necklace with a tooth on it, and Remus could never seem to answer if it was real or fake. And he had dyed a silver chunk into the front of his hair, supposedly to make sure no one could confuse him for his brother. At one point he had gotten all the way to the razors, intent on giving himself an undercut, before his mother had caught him (half way through shaving) and begrudgingly taken him to a proper salon to have the undercut shaved properly.
Janus kicks the ground, stuffing mustard fingerless gloves into the pockets of his dark grey hoodie. He’d let Remus sew a few patches onto one of the sleeves of the garment, his favourite being the yellow two-headed snake, stitched neatly just under the elbow on the left arm. Remus had said it was an act of reclamation, that no one could hurt him when they called him a snake, when they told him to pick a side. Remus assured him he was unique, that he was different, but that he should be proud of it. “If everyone was normal, no one would be.” Or, “who decides what normal is? People can’t handle your differences. That’s their problem. You’re cool as hell.” Remus thought his appearance was ‘cool.’
That’s why Janus keeps him around.
A key clicks in the lock and the door pulls open, revealing a tall Roman Royal looming in the gap. “Why the hell did you put your keys in the lizard tank?” Is the first thing out of his mouth. Janus observes the strange way Roman carries himself. Shoulders a little too straight, head slightly too high. His fringe drops in front of his face, and Roman swipes it away with a manicured hand. He’s wearing slightly baggy, lightwash blue jeans with a red belt, he has gold earrings in, and a tight fitted red and white t-shirt. He has a thin gold chain with an italic R dangling from it. Janus thinks he looks ridiculous.
“I’m teaching her to open doors,” Remus answers as though it’s the most obvious thing in the world, “and then he can help me take over the world. Me and Veeder against the universe.” Ah yes, Veeder. Remus had already made it known to Janus that it was short for ‘Vehicular Manslaughter’ which was so insane… it was perfectly Remus.
“Am I still around? Or have I been fed to the lizard by this point?” Janus chuckles, sliding his sneakers off at the door, tossing them in the same direction as Remus’. The Royal household is like a second home to Janus, himself and Remus spend around 25% of their time in each of their four hangout places. 25% at Janus’ home, 25% at Remus’, 25% in Janus’ car (sometimes driving them to the mall, or in the general direction of a fast food location), and 25% just milling about in the woods, sometimes up trees, sometimes in a fire pit, but always smoking among the foliage.
Remus spins on his now-socked heel, narrows his eyes at his friend and throws him a sly grin. “That’s to be decided. Don’t cross me, Janny.”
“Stop calling me that,” Janus rolls his eyes and hears Roman huff disapprovingly behind him. “What’s your damage, Princey? Can’t handle a little bromance?”
“Yeah, back up bro, don’t watch me stick my tong-”
“That’s plenty, thank you!” Roman interrupts with a grimace as Remus cackles, throwing an arm around Janus’ shoulders, squeezing. Janus bats the touch away. The feeling of another's skin upon his body makes him shudder, and very slowly, a fire begins to spark in his stomach.
Roman has already marched ahead through their large sitting room and into the ornate kitchen, where Patton sits, laptop open in front of his face, though his eyes are angled down, and Roman can spy the reflection of Instagram in his glasses. But Patton looks up when his friend enters, beaming, blonde curls bouncing by his ears. The smile wavers when he spies Remus and Janus creep up behind, but he manages to force it back up rather quickly.
“Hey, you three!” Patton waves, sliding his phone face down onto the table. He struggles a little with Janus and Remus, finds them… difficult. Janus is hard to read, fueled by sarcasm and frustration with the world as it seems, and Remus is just… (and Patton feels horrible for thinking this), weird. The two brothers are like the North and South pole, opposites yet… They have their overlapping similarities. Externally, they appear to have made an outrageous effort to look totally different, Remus with his darker style and eyeshadow, Roman with his bright, fresh face. And yet they’re not totally different. They’re the two most creative guys Patton knows. But of course, he knows Roman much better.
“What’s up, Patton, how was your day?” Remus swings his backpack off his shoulder, tosses it haphazardly onto the floor and slides into a dining chair across from his work partner. He rests his chin on his hand, almost immediately seeming uninterested in getting any semblance of educational work done.
As Patton answers, something about it being as wonderful as always, Janus slips his brown leather book bag down, slithering into the seat next to his friend, observing Roman from the corner of his eye. The teenager glides around the room with practised ease, pouring himself a cup of water, retrieving a pack of cookies from the cupboard to place in front of Patton as he passes. He opens the pantry and only has to search for a second before he lands on exactly what he’s looking for, sliding a granola bar into his pocket, and practically catapulting a family bag of chips across the room, slapping into the side of his brother's head.
“I hope you die,” Remus reacts swiftly, though his tone holds no real weight as he tugs the bag open, delving in. He offers the bag to Janus, who holds up a gloved hand and shakes his head.
“Oh no, I would love to but you know I’m on this strict diet,” he comments, overdoing it, drawing every word out and shaking his head faster and faster as he pulls out a handful. He’s finishing articulating the reply as he places the first chip between his lips, the sour expression painted across his cheeks melting into a coy smirk as he chews. Ew, sour cream and onion.
Roman finally plants himself next to Patton, pushing his iPad onto its stand and fumbling ever-so-slightly to tug the Apple Pencil from its charging port. The struggle makes Janus smile.
“Cookies,” Patton beams, tugging the packet open to snack. “Thanks, Roro!”
“Thank you, Roro!” Remus mouths over to Janus, fluttering his eyelashes and clasping his hands together by his cheek. Janus hits him on the side with the back of his hand.
“Don’t be mean. He’s a sweetheart,” he corrects. Remus rolls his eyes but nods solemnly.
The four sit in relative silence for a bit, Janus having retrieved a book from his bag on Rousseau, scratching notes into his workbook in neat cursive writing. Remus hasn’t done much, Janus can quite clearly see him playing Plague Inc on his laptop with a focused expression. He hasn’t spoken to Roman, who is tapping away on his iPad, and occasionally taking a lazy screenshot. Patton seems to be mostly mindlessly snacking, although every so often he’ll poke Remus across the table and whisper something about their project.
Janus feels his phone buzz in his pocket, and for the first time in forty five minutes, he fishes it out from the back of his jeans.
Logan. has opened a private chat with Janus .
Logan.: Hello.
Logan. is typing…
Janus: Hello?
Logan.: Janus, I wanted to send you an apology for my recent behaviour. I apologise for denying your library card when it was clear you were attempting to help, with no malicious intent. I should not have been so dismissive, and in the interest of open communication I will state that the reason I declined is that I do not entirely trust you. I am aware of your past with Virgil, and despite him having explained the story in a more calm manner since the events, I admit I am still tinged with the memory of his sadness at the time. This being said, the past is the past, and it would be good for the group if we could put it behind us. All in all, I am sorry for being avoidant and rude, and would be pleased if we could get to know each other better. Maybe you and Roman could even learn to get along. Sincerest apologies, Logan.
Janus: Okay, man, it’s whatever.
Janus: You didn’t want my card. I’m sooooo upset.
Janus: Apology accepted.
Janus is typing…
Logan. is typing…
Logan.: I’m glad.
Janus: Maybe it’d be cool to hang out as a group, yeah. If everyone’s okay with it. I don’t mind though if nothing changes.
Delivered.
Janus glances up from his screen, flinching when he notices Roman’s intense, scrutinising stare, fixated on his face. “Did your mother not teach you it’s rude to stare at people like that?”
Roman rolls his eyes, “I zoned out.”
“Sure you did, Princey,” Janus snorts, placing his phone face up on the table. He grabs another chip without thinking and grimaces as he chews. God, they’re gross. How does Remus keep on shoveling them in?
The image of Roman is burned into his brain, and when Janus looks down at his notes he realises his usual looped letters have begun to slope down the page, squirming away from between their perfectly placed lines, escaping as his pen bleeds into the paper. He sighs, flips the page and continues as he left off, focusing harder on keeping everything where it should be. But he can’t shake the Royal scrutinising him, that must be it. Studying all his features. Comparing him to some monster. He’s certain he was being examined, taken apart piece by piece, each bit put back together with disgust, sewn in with unspoken insults.
Janus’ phone buzzes again, he glances at the screen for a second. It's his little brother, he turns his head away, if it was urgent he'd call. He goes back to his swooping notes, curling his ‘L's as he writes. Three more messages come though. And then his phone starts to vibrate.
Emile :p is calling…
Janus sighs and drops his pen. Remus doesn't look away from his screen but waves his hand dismissively. “Sorry, I have to take this.” He rises, answering the phone as he leaves the room, wandering out into the hall. “Hey, what's wrong?”
Roman's eyes follow Janus as he exits. He'd been examining the way Janus worked. The way his hands swept across the paper as he wrote, the way the ink smudged ever so slightly as he dragged his gloved hand along the careful notes, rereading every page. He'd watched the way he read, carefully mouthing the words as he went. He'd noted how his eyelashes splayed across his cheeks whenever he thought about the words he was writing. And now he was taking a phone call, fingers dancing along his hips as he walked away, a sassy sort of tilt to his voice.
Who was he calling?
“Who's he calling?” Roman mutters across the table, to his brother, who finally glances up from his laptop. He's definitely not been taking any notes.
Remus hums, rocks back in his chair and chews on his nails before replying. “Logan, maybe? That's who he was texting earlier.”
“Why would he be calling Logan?” Roman questions as Patton glances up, bites into his cookie and flicks his eyes between the two brothers.
Remus laughs a little, “I dunno? Why do you suddenly care?”
Roman goes quiet. He shrugs.
“Nosy bitch,” Remus tips the last of the chip bag into his mouth, wiping his hands on his black cargos.
Janus is gone for ten minutes before he returns, grabbing his books from the table. He turns to Remus and kicks him in the shin, “hey, I gotta go. I'll see you tomorrow,” he punches his friend in the shoulder who nods and pushes him away.
“Hope you die on the way to whatever you're gonna do.”
“I'll jump in front of every car I see,” Janus beams, teeth glinting as he stuffs his notepad and books into his bag, slinging it over his shoulder. He doesn't say bye to Roman, but he waves to Patton, who offers him a cookie for the road.
“Bye, Janus!”
“Has anyone seen my phone?”
One new message in hole gang.
virge: im bored
virge: any1 free rn
dukey: studying
patton-cake: saaaaaame sorry virge :(((
princey: Clearly neither of you are studying put your damn phones away
dukey: you put YOUR dam phone away ur meant to be studying too
Logan.: All three of you are jeopardising your education.
patton-cake: we're taking a break!
patton-cake: a cookie break :3
princey: You've been eating cookies the whole time
patton-cake: and now im eating one with my laptop closed
dukey: ive been playing games this whole time
virge: so every1 busy?
Janus: Not that you want to hang out with me, Virgil…
virge: R U FREE?????
Janus: No.
virge: fuck u
Janus: [tongue_out]
princey: Whyd you disappear?
Janus: Emergency.
dukey: dick emergency
Janus: Ew. Dude. My brother called.
patton-cake: oh no!!!!! is he okay????
Logan.: That sounds rather serious.
Janus: He's fine. Had to go back for the car. He needed a ride. Friends left him stranded.
princey: So you ran off nobley to save him!
dukey: ok princey calm down
virge: mr knight in shining armour over here
Janus is typing…
Logan.: Janus, are you driving currently?
patton-cake: jaaan dont text and drive
dukey: jan?
dukey: jan?????
dukey has opened a private chat with Janus.
dukey: dude??????
dukey: r u driving?????
One missed call.
dukey: bro pick up
dukey: did u jump in front of a car
Three missed calls.
dukey: bro answer me
Five missed calls.
Three new messages in hole gang.
patton-cake: someone call him
dukey: i tried
virge: shit
Janus: Jesus Christ, guys. Seventeen missed calls?
Janus: I was driving, fuck me.
dukey: can i? >:^]
princey: Glad you survived janus
patton-cake: i think i deserve a second cookie from all that stress
Logan.: What a roller coaster.
Janus: You're all sooooo dramatic. Cool it next time.
virge: yeah pump the breaks
virge: i wasn't scared
Janus: Liar.