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Janus’s heart jumped into his throat.
Janus didn’t hesitate for long in surprise, but Roxanne’s eyes narrowed anyways. He was like a predator hunting his prey, scanning Janus for any sign of weakness before he would strike.
Janus cleared his throat, trying to force down his throat as he clasped his hands behind his back. Behind his back, his fists clenched tight. Out of the corner of Janus’s eye, Emile glanced very quickly to Janus’s fist and shot him a look that said: It’s going to be okay. I’m here, he can’t hurt you. I’m a witness.
“Roxanne, what brings you here? These rooms are private ya know. You’re not really supposed to be here.” Janus’s voice was, to the passive observer, level, calm, and poised, but inside was a completely different story.
Inside, a roaring heat flushed through Janus, hot and scorching, like a wildfire of anger roaring through him. Janus felt like he could scarcely breathe as Roxanne sneered at his question.
“Well, unlucky for you I have permission from the Director because you’ve forgotten to check your pager. You have a special dance in 15 minutes, dumbass.”
Janus’s blood drained out of his face, his facade cracking as he suddenly fumbling for his pager. He cursed inwardly as he saw he had accidentally put his pager on silent, seeing at least 5 messages waiting for him, ranging from ‘You have a special show at 1330, be ready. Room 001’ to ‘Because you’re refusing to respond, we’re sending the most responsible model to inform you in case you have placed your pager on silent. You will be deducted an hour’s pay for this week as consequence.’
How did they managed to italicized a message on the pager? Janus had never thought it was possible, or at least never had any of his messages needing to be emphasized.
Janus pushed down his rising panic, though doing so was incredibly difficult. Room 001 was the most high profile and where one of the most important and wealthy clients they could have and would request a private show. And that room was on the other side of the facility, a five minute trip if he ran.
Janus let his facade slip, not able to stop the curse that slipped from his lips.
“Fuuuuuck!”
Janus scrambled, grabbing everything he needed in a frenzy before whipping towards the door and launching himself towards it.
Roxanne arched an eyebrow at him as he scrambled, no doubt relishing in Janus’s panic. Janus still did not understand the man, why he disliked him so much, but Roxanne was the last thing he was worried about right now.
Right now he was worried about the wrath of the Director if they discovered Roman had come late to a show in Room 001.
Except, as Janus blew past Roxanne, he felt the corner of his heel catch something solid. It was too much momentum going to fast and Janus completely tripped. In his panic, he latched onto Roxanne like a lifeline, there wasn’t any thought behind it, it was pure instinct. But the added weight on Roxanne and the spreading expression of surprise on Roxanne’s face meant that Roxanne was not prepared for the sudden weight shift either.
They both went down as a result.
Janus was the more versatile of the two, though, immediately bounding up and giving Roxanne a frantic, “Sorry! Sorry! Didn’t mean to- Gotta go-! So sorry!”
And just like that Janus was racing down the hall, his heels clicking faster than he had ever heard them. It reminded him of-
No. Janus shook his head as he ran. He couldn’t think about that right now. Janus had to focus on getting there. He needed to get there.
Janus shot one last glance back at Roxanne. Emile was helping Roxanne up, but when Roxanne was upright again, he slapped Emile’s hand away. Emile frowned and that was all before Janus turned the corner, unable to tell what happened next.
Janus thanked his lucky stars his time at the facility had allowed him to train his body to run, especially in heels. He barely was breaking a sweat or wobbling even in his high heels.
But as he replayed what just happened, running into Roxanne and falling to the ground, he felt a sense of distance come around his body, like he was slightly to the left or right of his body. The moment of weightlessness and a hand grabbing onto his arm brought Janus back to that panic and fear he had running from his pursuers.
Everything was getting darker and Janus could see the flickering lights of that hallway above him casting those harsh shadows across the floor.
Janus couldn’t let them catch him. He couldn’t. He couldn’t! He could-
Janus nearly crashed into another person, blinking the sight of that dingy hallway away as a blur of blue streaked into existence.
“Woah!” The streak shouted, coalescing into Roxanne’s right hand man, Logic. His makeup was always teetering on robotic, contour bringing out his high cheekbones, and that’s what Janus latched onto as he nearly stumbled, breezing within millimeters of Logic.
“Deceit? Where’s Ro- Roxanne? He just disappeared on me down your hall, you know where he is? Wait do you have... a show in the 00s? You’re late, aren’t you!” Logic called out as Janus continued to retreat, racing towards Room 001.
“At my dressing room, yes and yes! Goodbye!” Janus yelled back to him, increasing his speed as he finally saw Room 001 with a sign beside the door in fancy letters.
Janus almost stumbled mere feet from the door, everything crashing down on him, his adrenaline beginning to wear off as he was near where he need to be. But he was close enough that he powered through without the ebbing adrenaline coursing through him, slowing to a walk to hopefully stop producing the thin sheet of sweat Deceit had from the sprint.
As Janus ran into the back room, Patton, his and Emile’s agent in the facility, turned with a expression on his face equal parts stern and frantic, running towards Janus like a hurricane.
“Where have you been! It’s less than 10 minutes til go time! You had your pager off didn’t you?”
Janus ran to the table beside Patton, plopping everything in his arms down, a can of his personal favorite hairspray nearly rolling off the table in his haste.
"I'm sorry Pat, I didn't mean to. I wouldn't- I couldn't-”
Patton placed his hands comfortingly on Janus’s arms, stopping Janus’s spiraling with his firm grip. He stared into Janus’s eyes, assured and purposefully with a touch of comforting. Patton squeezed Janus’s arm gently, in the same place Remus had all those years ago-
“Hey, Jan, it’s okay. You didn’t mean to. I know you tried your best to get here when you did see the booking. The Director’s not as kind or as forgiving as me though. I saw they’ve already deducted your pay, but we need to get you stage ready in Double Time.”
Janus breathed in a deep breath, calming himself down for a few seconds, eyes falling closed before they snapped back up to meet Patton’s sky blue eyes.
“Let’s do this.”