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Roman pressed his nails painfully into his palms.
He had been so happy to see Janus when he had appeared to whisk them off into the little courtroom scene. Watching him finally and fully express himself to the others like Janus sometimes did to him, but Janus’s words still echoed in his ears. Janus had been manipulating him throughout that whole fiasco and Roman had mixed feelings about it then.
But today… today had let Roman know where he stood now with Janus.
Part of Roman wanted to ignore it, to push down his growing emotions and his churning stomach. Ignoring his feelings wouldn’t help the feelings go away, though, Roman knew that.
And that was why he was hovering right outside Janus’s door, farther from the subconscious area of the mind than ever but still just a hair away from the light sides to be fully accepted. Perhaps that was Roman’s fault, but at the moment, Roman didn’t care.
He hadn’t been hovering outside Janus’s door for long before it swung slightly open and one of Janus’s gloved hands latched onto his wrist and quickly pulled him inside.
Roman always sunk out of his room, so he wanted to make the obvious distinction that he wasn’t so intimate with Janus anymore. That he wouldn’t be until they talked.
“What are you doing at my door? You know you’re always welcome to sink into my room. What gives?” Janus hissed, quickly shutting the door behind them.
Roman gazed around the room, not moving to immediately answer Janus. It was strange, a room that gave him so much joy to investigate before now nearly made him sick to his stomach.
Perhaps it was that uneasiness that Janus sensed or Roman’s general reserved demeanor that gave Janus pause as he took one of Roman’s hands and began to clutch it to his chest.
“Love? Are you upset about the talk with Thomas? I-”
“Why did you lead me on?” Roman’s harsh voice both interrupted Janus and took him aback at their harshness.
Janus frowned.
“Lead you on? I never lead you-”
“Yes you did.” Roman’s fist tightened even more at his side and he yanked his hand abruptly from Janus’s grip.
Janus looked lost and speechlessly went to grab for Roman’s hand again, but Roman stepped backwards away from him.
“What do you mean? I lov-”
“Don't you dare say that after what you’ve done!” Roman snarled, his simmering anger that had been lying dormant under the surface moments before finally boiled over.
Janus gaped, his mouth unable to form words properly for a long moment.
“I- what? I-”
“Oh, I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself. Oh, you know I love you.”
“Oh, Roman, thank god you don't have a mustache. Otherwise, between you and Remus, I wouldn't know who the evil twin is.” Roman’s voice perfectly parroted Janus’s words back to him hoping he was making his point clear.
Roman paused, if only for a moment, before he asked Janus one simple question.
“Why?”
He watched Janus’s expression fall and his eyebrows desperately scrunch together.
“Wha- What do you mean?”
Anger burning bright hot, Roman stifled the urge to punch something. Hard.
“I mean how you’ve utterly manipulated me the last two times we met with Thomas.”
Janus continued to remain confused for a moment before his eyes lit up and he bright his hand up to his mouth (which only served to remind Roman of all the times he had silenced them over the years)
“Wait, no. I’m sorry! I… didn’t know what to do so I panicked,” Janus reached out to touch Roman’s arm. “Please… I’m sorry.”
Roman recoiled away from Janus’s hand, scowling. Janus still kept up the concerned and sympathetic expression that was slowly compounded Roman’s nausea from just being in Janus’s room.
“How can I believe you? And if that’s your default response, that's messed up. I’’m not someone to manipulate, I thought I was your fucking boyfriend."
“You are.” The words were so identical to Patton’s just an hour or two before that Roman couldn’t help but see a flash of Patton standing there instead of Janus. Roman had no idea if Janus shapeshifted for a brief moment, but it didn’t really matter.
Roman had made up his mind already, gritting his teeth near painfully as he sent one last barb into Janus to tell him it was over.
“Right, Deceit.”
And with that Roman sank out.