Chapter Text
“You’ve gone too far this time, snake!” Roman growled, glaring at Janus, who seemed a little too amused by his anger. Of course he’d cajoled Thomas into lying about feeling unwell to take a day off, when they’d promised to be at an event that evening.
“Oh, come now, Roman!” Janus hummed, grinning just a little, “Look! Thomas is already enjoying himself far more! And it even calmed Virgil down! He wasn’t looking forward to that social engagement anyways.”
Janus’ dismissive wave had Roman seeing more red than usual, “If we go back on our word so easily, what does our word mean at all?!”
Janus just glanced at him, raising an eyebrow, “How many things did Thomas commit to this week? It’s Friday now, remember?”
Roman looked away, counting. It had been an abnormally busy week, and the rest of their events and commitments had gone swimmingly, even Logan had been content with their progress, which was a tall order.
“Quite a few.” Roman muttered eventually, watching Janus try to fight a grin, “But this was the last one!”
Janus stepped closer, hands up in a placating motion, and Roman fought the flinch at the feeling of those hands meeting his chest, straightening his shirt carefully, “Dear, Thomas was exhausted. Remus was already cooking up some lovely things for him to ruminate on the whole event. Virgil was stressed out. And there wasn’t anything for Thomas to gain from this event.”
Roman tried to hang on to the anger, but those gentle hands worked their way higher, methodically straightening his sash and the epaulettes on his shoulders, “But we said-“
“Shhhh,” A hand on his cheek brought a flush to his face, Janus leaning down to his level for once, free hand rubbing very slowly and distractingly against his chest, “A little white lie to save everyone a very distressing evening isn’t so terrible, is it? And now we have the whole weekend to relax. Wouldn’t you like to relax, love? You’ve been working so hard, all week too! And you’ve done so well.”
Despite his effort, he felt the anger slip away. He was tired. He had been working hard. The idea of a relaxing weekend was nice. And Janus’ hands felt even nicer, running along his chest and over his shoulders and pulling him close. When their lips finally met, Roman melted into the kiss eagerly, hands finding Janus’ hips to pull him closer.
“I guess it’s fine… just this once…” Roman finally muttered, giving in. And for once, Janus didn’t gloat, instead pulling Roman into another, slightly more heated kiss. Once Roman fell into it again, Janus shockingly let him lead, letting out pleased little hums every few seconds. A rare opportunity, one Roman wasn’t willing to pass up, winding his arms around Janus to pull him even closer.
Perhaps one little lie wasn’t that bad after all.
—
Janus had done it again, whipped up a convincing lie and sold it to Thomas with a beautifully wrapped bow, throwing Patton into a panic at their moral failings and setting Virgil on a downward spiral about the effect the lie would have on Thomas’ friends if they found out.
Despite Logan’s calm observation that they’d have to tell for anyone to know, Virgil had sunk out with a promise to haunt them about this, and Patton had moped a little about them losing their way before also leaving. Logan had left last, reassuring Roman it wasn’t that big a deal.
“What did you even get out of this?!” Roman huffed, knowing without looking that Janus was lurking in the corner.
“That event was a sham,” Janus waved his hand dismissively, “They were trying to use Thomas’ fame as an attraction without offering him any benefit in return. It wasn’t fair to him! Especially with his date with Nico coming up tonight, he had better things to worry about.”
Roman froze. The date, he’d totally forgotten in his anger. Finally turning to look at the deceitful side, he found Janus watching him with a carefully neutral expression.
“That was tonight?”
“Oh, Roman,” Janus softened a little, “This ridiculous event hasn’t been good for you either! Taking up so much of your time and energy that you’ve forgotten a date?”
“And I don’t have anything planned! Oh, this is a disaster.” He felt the panic creeping up, thoughts darting around trying to come up with something, anything. But Janus was right, he’d been dealing with that event so much he’d exhausted himself.
A firm hand on his shoulder caught his attention.
“Calm yourself, Roman. There’s still time.” Janus, calm and even and looking at him with that quiet smile reserved just for Roman, that hand moving from his shoulder to cup his cheek gently, “You’ve got all afternoon now, and Logan would love to remind you of all the events you told him were happening today. Remember you had that brilliant idea of having him keep track?”
He leaned into that touch, that quiet steady voice relaxing in a way he knew it shouldn’t be, “Yeah… yeah, it was a good idea, wasn’t it? And I’ll bet there’s something good going on.”
“You gave Logan plenty of ideas, I’m sure it’ll make him feel good to help too.” Janus pulled Roman closer, combing his fingers through Roman’s soft curls carefully, feeling the stress leech out of him. “Why don’t we go do a face mask or something to calm you down, and then you can go talk to Logan to figure out what Nico and Thomas should do tonight. Once you have that figured out, won’t it be fun to help Thomas find a cute outfit?”
Roman smiled at the idea, already getting a little giddy, “That does sound really good. Thanks, Jan. Sorry for being so-“
“No apologies now,” Janus hummed, kissing Roman’s neck lightly, “You’ve just had so much on your plate that you shouldn’t have had to deal with. Now you can focus on what’s important.”
Roman nodded along, missing the smug grin Janus was hiding, “You’re right. This is important.”
—
Roman was trying not to look too nervous, but he felt a drip of sweat roll down his back, glancing between Thomas and Patton.
Only that wasn’t Patton.
Janus, disguised again and putting on the performance of a lifetime, was once again using the emotional side of Thomas’ mind to sway him. And Roman was just standing there, letting it happen.
Logan didn’t seem any the wiser, as Janus was agreeing with him. And Virgil hadn’t popped up yet today, Thomas, having been soothed so quickly, hadn’t reached the anxiety threshold to summon Virgil.
Roman might do it by accident, though, if something didn’t give soon.
“Yeah,” Thomas started slowly, looking back and forth between Logan and ‘Patton’, “You’re right! It’s fine, and it’ll be worth it! Thanks, guys!”
Logan nearly beamed, the soft smile plastered on his face the way it always was when he felt he’d assisted Thomas, “Very good, Thomas! Happy to help.”
Roman nodded, settling on a fake grin while ‘Patton’ bounced a little in place, it was a very convincing replication this time.
Thomas took off, Logan sank away, and it left the two of them.
“How could you pull me into your shenanigans like that?!?” he hissed, face going red as he spun on Janus.
Janus quickly dropped the facade, smirking smugly at Roman, “Oh, please, I know you figured it out almost instantly. You could have ratted on me at any time, but you didn't.”
Roman huffed, turning away just as quickly, “I should have!”
Hands winding around his waist startled him, Janus’ voice soft right against his ear, “But you didn’t. And why’s that?”
The real reason had Roman flinching again because he’d quietly agreed with Janus. And because letting Janus play pretend had gotten him the result he’d wanted out of all this.
Lips brushing his earlobe had a heat rising to his face, and a sharp fang nipping playfully at his neck earned a very masculine squeak, “If you won’t answer, maybe I’ll just guess. I bet you liked the result, didn’t you?”
“I-“ he tried to deny it, but a hand sliding up under his shirt had him nearly choking, his own hand flying down to grip Janus’ wrist. They were in the living room, where anyone could walk in.
“So shy now,” Janus purred, another hand coming up to continue up Roman’s shirt, tracing along his abs playfully, “Even though you’re so handsome, all flushed like this~.”
Roman groaned, the compliment sending a thrill through him. Janus knew him too well, it wasn’t fair, “N-not here, Jan-“
“Maybe you’re right,” Janus pulled back just a little, but tilted Roman’s head to press a heated kiss to his lips, smirking when it drew a moan from the Prince, “After all, you’re too pretty to let anyone else see like this. Come on, love, let’s go play elsewhere.”
Roman’s head was already swimming, and he couldn’t resist being dragged away out of the living room, following Janus’ lead.
It had worked well at least once today, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad a second time.
—
“What did you do?!” Roman was seething, watching Janus sip daintily from his wine glass, as if nothing was happening.
Something was, in fact, happening, Logan was on a lengthy diatribe about their current predicament while Virgil and Patton tried to argue against each point as it came up, all of them yelling over each other and getting more and more worked up.
“I haven’t done anything! You were so opposed to my suggestions earlier that I decided to stay out of it.” Janus shrugged, smirking ever so slightly at Roman over his glass.
It made Roman bristle, annoyed he’d been told off. He had told Janus to stay out of it earlier, but only because Janus’ solutions always came with a catch, some lie or half-truth. But as he glanced around, the chaos starting to affect Thomas visibly, he realized perhaps he’d underestimated this situation.
To his horror, his brother finally popped in, derailing everyone with his nails-on-a-chalkboard bit again. It was always the same amount of distressing, even with time and repetition.
And Janus was just watching like he was at the movies, and it was just so frustrating.
“Fine.” Roman slumped a little, giving in, “You can still fix this, right?”
Janus’ eyes snapped over to his, that familiar smug amusement shining back at him, “But I thought I was- oh, what was it you said earlier? An underhanded, greedy viper, yes? Why on earth would you want help like that?”
He had said that, he nearly cursed himself. This wouldn’t be as easy as just telling Janus he’d been right…
Something clicked in his brain, an idea sparking to life. That sneaky way Janus had of distracting him from the issue at hand and making him agree… perhaps while the others were still distracted, he could…
He glanced over again, meeting Janus’ gaze with a much softer look, startling the snake. Good.
“You’re right,” he began, taking Janus’ free hand in his, “That wasn’t very kind of me, especially since you were just trying to help.” He leaned in closer, pressing a kiss to Janus’ gloved knuckles, “You’ll forgive me, though, won’t you? Please?”
He watched Janus’ eyes widen before narrowing quickly. He was onto the prince, but Roman stood firm, gently flipping Janus’ hand to kiss at his wrist, right on the little strip of skin where the glove ended and the sleeve hadn’t begun. He knew Janus liked that, almost as much as he liked when Roman begged.
“I don’t have a chance of stopping them now,” he started, lips brushing against Janus’ skin, “But they’ll listen to you, they always do. Even Remus.”
He looked up, trying for that begging expression, green eyes wide and hopeful, “Please, Janus?”
“Perhaps I’ve taught you too well,” Janus muttered, glancing away, and Roman was stunned at the soft blush faintly working its way across the human half of Janus’ face, “But you make a fair point. I am the only one who can turn this around now. Very well.”
He patted Roman’s cheek gently, a sign they weren’t done with this conversation that Roman was very familiar with, before shooing Roman off to his spot, clearing his throat and interrupting the fiasco. It was quickly resolved, Janus puppeteering everyone masterfully to an easy resolution.
Roman just sat back, an odd satisfaction shooting through him. He’d done that, convincing Janus of all sides to do something. He could understand a little now why Janus got such a kick out of doing it to him, the feeling was great.
The sneaky grin Janus shot him quickly had a shiver run up his spine. Perhaps a little too great, perhaps he was enjoying this way too much.
He was so doomed.