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“Ah, Virgil.” Janus looked up from his book. “Please sit down.”
Virgil froze in the doorway to his room. He frowned and looked around checking for something, whatever that was he didn’t find it. He stepped in and closed the door behind him.
“Janus. You know what my room does, so why-”
“Well, you’ve been avoiding me for so long , Virgil darling! I missed you of course! ” Janus rolled his eyes. “What the fuck do you think? I wanted to talk to you without prying ears and the circus clowns know better than to go into your room.”
Virgil, bizarrely, relaxed, and went over to sit in the overstuffed bean bag. He rolled his neck, it popped, and stared placidly at Janus. The shadows under his eyes darkened and Janus felt it like a shot of adrenaline. He knew they showed on his own face, and he thought, oh god, oh fuck, what was he thinking-
But he wasn’t called Deceit for nothing. So he put away the book, looked Anxiety in the eyes and smirked. Because if he pretended then…
Virgil pouted, “You’re no fun Jan.”
“Right, Thomas needs an impostor syndrome fueled panic attack on top of everything.” Janus’ smirk widened and then disappeared. “I need to talk to you.”
Anxiety narrowed his eyes and he felt it, like a weight, like a train coming, like lighting coming to strike him-
“Oh.” Virgil blinked. “You are serious.”
Janus licked his lips, his heart going miles a second. If this is what a seat at the table gave Virgil, he shuddered to think what it would give others . Him and Virgil were evenly matched in the subconscious, this allowed Deceit to hide him some, but not enough. Anxiety always had a way of rising to the surface. He had yet to figure out how it worked.
“I am.” He said, feeling like Judgement Day had arrived.
Virgil hummed in the back of his throat. And the shadows deepened.
“Is it about-”
“Yes. The… thing we talked about.” Janus hissed through his teeth. He struggled to keep his thoughts straight, his vision blurred. Panic flooded his system, his stomach rolled.
Virgil clucked his tongue at him, and Janus felt his body lock up thoughts racing, oh I upset him, oh no, why did i say that-
A snap, and they were outside.
Janus gasped and fell forward on unsteady legs, and Virgil caught him, then lowered them down gently onto the floor.
“You really should’ve picked a better place to accost me.” He murmured in Janus’ ear, holding him close.
“So,” Virgil drawled, feeling far away and high in Janus’ room, “ the shitstorm. ”
Fuck, when was the last time he felt like this? Relaxed and sleepy. Safe. Room of Lies, as Janus affectionately called it, was the only place in the Mindscape that could really pacify Anxiety, robbing it of all the overthinking, tricking him into the hazy sweet state.
“Yes, the trouble’s been brewing down under.” Janus sounded muffled, even though Virgil was pretty sure he was playing with his hair.
“Hn.”
“Virgil, I need you to focus.”
“I know.”
Janus tapped his nose lightly, “Don’t fall asleep, Virgil. I’m serious.”
“I know .” Virgil said and closed his eyes just to be contrary.
A huff. “I forgot how you get here.”
“I haven’t been in here much. And it’s been very stressful lately.”
“Hm. Yes. Anyway,” he cleared his throat. “The others, or I suppose at this point, one other.”
Janus’ fingers ran through his hair, more for him than for Virgil.
“The individual-“
“Does orange trigger him?”
“Yes, every single word vaguely alluding to him is a risk,” he pulled the hair in his hands lightly. “Don’t be daft.”
“Mmn.”
“So, influencing Logan. General disquiet amo- Hm.”
Virgil snorted.
“General disquiet between us is only lending him ground. At this point, his intervention might be needed. It would be good for us to release the tension and just go for the jugular of the conflict.”
The hand in Virgil’s hair stilled.
“You’re not sure if Thomas is ready.”
Janus made a sound of agreement.
“It would be a shitstorm. But, the,” Virgil waved a hand, “ everything is going to hit the fan anyway. Logan’s been getting more upset over the small things, Roman is still hung up over you and Remus getting a seat at the table, and Patton is back to repressing again.”
He opened an eye, “Thomas has Nico now to worry about too. It’s all coming to a head soon. I can feel it, hell, there needs to be a confrontation, you’re right about that. You’re right to be anxious about it.”
Virgil tilted his head to look at Janus. “It’s going to happen.”
“What, no witty rebuttal? No denial?” Janus raised an eyebrow.
“No. There’s no point, in- In concealing it. Everyone’s on edge. It’s going to happen.”
They fell silent. Janus started to braid a small strip of Virgil’s hair.
“Getting ready for the fallout then?”
“Mhm. The cleanup duty for us dear Virgil.”
“I’ll brush up on my breathing exercises.” Virgil said dryly.
"Do that." Janus exhaled unsteadily. "Every bit of calm will help, I'm sure."