Chapter Text
Roman loved his brother, he really did.
But ever since Remus met that Creepy Cookie, he had become absolutely insufferable. The longer they were together, the more he had to yammer on. Typical Remus to go on overly detailed lewd and horrifying tangents.
He did so even when he threw on some earbuds and pulled a pillow down to block it all out. All that did was garner a noise complaint.
Roman hated reminders of being hopelessly single. He lost count how many failures he had in that department. He thought that once he accepted that women weren’t sparking the fireworks all that Disney stuff told him to expect. The field narrowed, sure, but it was all still clear as mud.
It happened over and over again.
Find a cute guy, scrounge up what “extra” money he could to treat them to the best date he could pull off. Mood lighting. Romantic music. Needing to lean on his brother’s income after losing ANOTHER week of his food budget over it. At least both of them had a more stable income at that point.
Even if, in Roman’s case, it was soul-sucking.
He thought hitting drinking age would be a game changer! It wasn’t.
At least one of these forays lead to them backing away, saying, “Desperate, much?”
So many “I’ll call you back”s that never got followed up.
Remus didn’t need to even TRY, when it came to Virgil.
Roman might’ve taken some of his resentment out on him, whenever they saw each other at the gym, “What does he even see in you, Jack Smellington?”
Virgil scowled back, “Why the fuck do you care?”
Roman practically squawked, “I-I just want to keep him away from- from-!”
“Why don’t you go back to the band club with a population of 1, you.”
“W-whatever are you talking about? I haven’t been in one since HIGH SCHOOL!”
“Geee, I don’t know, Prince Underarm Stink. Maybe The Lonely Hearts one?”
“YOU DID NOT JUST-”
Virgil snickered and ran off in Remus’s direction. His brother was over there, watching the whole thing and cackling.
Roman gave Virgil one thing, dude was quite light on his feet when he wanted to be.
Roman punched up the music in his ears. For some inexplicable reason, everything was soured by his mood.
---
A couple years later, Janus ran into Roman for the first time since the incident.
It wasn’t much earlier than that, when she started working as a full fledged physical therapist for one of the nearby clinics. This meant she was periodically working with clients at the gym neighboring it. She was glad that most of them were attentive students and gracious for her service.
It also meant that she had more chances to encounter Roman than ever before. She nearly didn’t recognize him – he appeared much more confident and ripped, than she remembered. So, she definitely didn’t entirely regret spilling that slush on him.
Janus totally wasn’t dwelling on Roman’s stupid, attractive face while helping a client do a towel assisted quad stretch. She totally didn’t narrowly miss the woman losing her balance. She totally gracefully moved past the lapse in attention.
She almost managed to banish that pretty Latino with a cute beauty mark on his cheek bone from her mind. That was until the devil himself entered the place and headed for the weight-lifting machines. The equipment was set up near the wall covered in mirrors.
Janus internally bemoaned, “Why couldn’t he have shown up when I was off the clock?”
She absolutely wasn’t staring at him from across the gym on that seated press. His vibrant crop-top sweatshirt and tight shorts left not nearly enough to imagination. She was totally just making sure he kept his form good, those abs engaged, breathing coordinated. It was only out of respectful concern.
Janus justified that by thinking, “Priorities? Who’s she?”
Though he wasn’t built like a bodybuilder, she swore she could crack some eggs on those abs, maybe even fry them too. She really wanted to get to know him, if you knew what she meant.
Her client reminded her of their existence, “Uh, Ms. Drivas. A-are we done yet?”
“Not quite yet, ma’am.”
Janus accidentally stole a few too many glances his way, enough for the client's patience to run out, “Hey! I needed to go pick up my kids… five minutes ago!”
She insincerely dropped into her service voice, “Much apologies, ma’am.”
“Look, I’m not blind. But, you’ve been wasting, like, half this damn session giving that asshole over there bedroom eyes! If this happens again, I WILL file a formal complaint!”
Janus sighed and furnished a clipboard for them. “Sorry for the inconvenience, I shall make sure this doesn’t happen again. Would you kindly sign out for my records before you go?”
At least the client complied with that request before they stormed off. She swore she heard that woman call her a bimbo, on her way out. Once Janus was sure the client was out of earshot, she let out a mocking gasp.
Janus took a few deep breaths, grateful that that was her last session for the day.
She was also glad Roman seemed completely oblivious to what was happening. He moved onto the seated lat pulldown machine, and was facing the wall this time. She had an opportunity and she was going to take him.
She just had to play it smooth and not come on too strong. She made her approach and it took a lot of restraint not to stare at his ass. She cleared her throat a little ways behind him.
He was still unaware, despite Janus being visible in the mirror. She rolled her eyes, thinking, “How loud are those damn earbuds...”
Closer, she found an excuse to get his attention. Roman’s form was getting sloppy, not surprising. Most people don’t know how to properly use that machine. He was practically yanking that bar to chest, his lower back was not going to have a great time. She shook her head and tapped his good shoulder.
She pulled back when he had an exaggerated startle response, losing grip on the bar. The selected weight crashed into the rest of the stack, making both of them flinch and a few other members stare at them for good measure. She gave a heavy sigh and thought, “So much for NOT making a scene.”
Roman turned to her with a mixture of confusion and annoyance, “I was in The Zone! Who the hell-”
Roman gave her a look and scanned down to her name tag and then stared at her again, “Have we met?”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
“Wait, you’re the same… person who spilled coffee on me!?”
“Yes, now… I did notice your form left much to be desired. How long have you been using this machine that way? It’s impressive how you haven’t hurt yourself. Yet.”
The bystanders went back to their reps.
Roman narrowed his eyes, “What’s it to you?”
Janus crossed her arms, “I’m sure you can read my name tag. It’s kind of my job.”
She internally added, “Well, when I’m getting PAID for it.”
He tried to look indignant, “Y-you’re lucky I was just about to- to take a break.”
Roman was blatantly lying, it only amused Janus more, “Oh, yeah?”
Roman grumbled barely audibly, “… just when I thought I understood…”
“What was that?”
Roman whispered to her, “… are you a w-woman?”
She snorted, “Sometimes, sort of? It depends.”
“Oh…”
Janus winced a moment and hoped it wasn’t noticed.
“Y-you’re very… pretty.”
Janus totally wasn’t flattered by a middle school level compliment. She totally wasn’t blushing about as hard as he was. Her words were simply out to lunch, that’s all!
Roman’s smile grew mischievous, “I know how you can pay me back for that shirt, m’lady.”
Janus was glaring at the audacity of it, “I swear, if you produce a fedora, I’m moving out of the country.”
“What? No-no-no, I wondered if we could hang out somewhere later?”
Janus gave him one thing, she was not expecting him to be the one making these moves, already. She wasn’t about to complain.
-
Janus was also NOT expecting Roman to take her to the same damn Greek place she took Remus to a few years ago. But here they were ushered to their booth and looking at the menus. She wondered if he could even AFFORD it. She better not be getting punked, here.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Janus rubbed her chin at the selection. She wondered about going for her regular, or something different. Roman didn’t even look, and said, “Oh, I’m getting their spaghetti and meatballs!”
“Moussaka sounds good…”
While they waited on their meals, Roman tried to spark conversation, pressing his fingers together, “So, you said sometimes?”
“Simplest way I can put it is that it’s fluid.”
Janus pointed at a pink diamond ring she was wearing on her middle finger. It was her indication system, to people she trusted. She also wasn’t about to flip him the bird here. Yet.
“I-I’m confused-”
Janus’s stomach dropped a moment. She realized it might be an impasse for Roman, depending on how he truly felt for her. She prepared for the worst, ready to forget thinking they had a chance. But gods, her psoriasis was in remission and she hadn’t had a good lay in an eternity.
The thoughts were interrupted by the waiter arriving with some bread sticks and drinks. She just had to play off that dread like it wasn’t a big deal.
Roman spoke up again, stammering, “N-not about you? I think? I-”
Oh, he was turning adorably red. She was imagining certain other places flushing, too.
Janus smirked, “For what it’s worth, you’re certainly not a sight for sore eyes.”
The suave atmosphere was disrupted when they got to their meals. Janus was eating like a sane person and Roman… Roman went straight for the plate of noodles with his hands. It was getting a few glances their way. Janus couldn’t resist commenting, “Sweety, what are you doing?”
His cheeks were covered in marinara and half-full of food, “Hmm?”
She thought, “This man REALLY is related to Remus. I’m so shocked.”
She said, “You’re just reminding me of someone I know...”
Roman gulped down his food and chuckled nervously, “F-force of habit?”
Janus simply blinked at him incredulously, not sure if she wanted any explanation. Roman’s everything was distracting her from HER food. Waiters stopped asking if everything was okay after the second check-in, Janus didn’t blame them.
Janus called down the waiter when they finished. He suggested paying for it, but Janus suggested splitting it. He gave her a strangely worried look at that, Janus then decided it best to just foot the entire thing again. He then insisted on giving the tip at least. It took nearly a half hour for him to figure that amount out, but she let him do it after he wiped off his hands.
“Now, can we freshen up? Your face is totally not looking like a crime scene right now.”
“Together?”
“Yes.”
One of the nice things about this place were their locked unisex bathrooms. They kept them very clean, too. It would be such a shame if… Janus shook her head and handed him a paper towel, “Here, you still got some on your face.”
As she approached him, she met his eyes with hers. A beautiful olive shade. She kept just far enough to pull back if he seemed too uncomfortable.
He stammered, “B-but I’m gay.”
Janus chuckled and pocketed the ring. They wiped off some of their make-up, some really expensive hypoallergenic stuff. They pulled up their hair with a familiar green band, “Yeah?”
Roman started to wheeze, “N-not f-fair!”
Roman furiously cleaned up his face. Janus laughed and glimpsed down at his pants. They went sultry, “What if we just-”
Janus reached out and Roman drew closer, allowing their touch.
Roman brought his face an inviting distance to theirs. “Can I kiss you?”
Janus answered by bringing their lips together, at first tentative. Roman kept impressing them when his tongue reached into their mouth. Janus mirrored him. The two of them moaned from the sensations, Janus lightly bit his lips, and he sighed.
Janus held his wrists and maneuvered both of them to the nearest wall, a little more forceful than they meant. But Roman simply looked thrilled about it, especially as their hot breath brushed his neck. They groaned as they explored each other a little more with their lips and teeth. They took turns sucking face and marking each other with love bites. Time seemed to stop.
It only restarted when they heard someone rap the door. Roman immediately panicked, “O-oh shit. H-how loud were we?”
Janus gave an unhelpful shrug, exhilarated by tonight’s surprises. They wanted to take it further. But time and place.
Janus answered the door, “Yes, we’ll be right out in a minute!”
Roman was teetering on panic, Janus stepped over and whispered, “You okay?”
His voice was trembling and quiet, “W-wow, did I- did we just make out in a public bathroom? H-how filthy! All those love stories never told me about-”
“If you asked me, romance is totally not overrated.”
He ran his hand through his hair, suddenly aware of his pants again, “I-I never got this far, this fast before… I kind of- I kind of like it?”
“I take that as permission to do something a little more exciting, next time?”
“YES. I mean, is this too fast?”
“Only too fast when either of us say so.”
“I kind of want to ‘skip to the good part’ like this, again? It-it’s so much less confusing and complicated?”
The person outside was knocking the door, “Hey, are you about done there?!”
“Just a minute, sir!”
“Whatever…”, the outsider shuffled off.
Janus turned to Roman, “I guess before we split. I wanted to ask you something.”
“Yes?”
“Have you ever heard of something called aromanticism?”
“Huh? Did you pronounce that right?”
“No, I’m definitely talking about potpourri here... what I’m saying is, maybe you should Google that later. Anyways, I think we’ve held up this place long enough, don’t you?”
Roman gave a sheepish nod as they left the restaurant.