Work Text:
Patton was sitting at the bus station, barely being able to keep himself awake. He was hugging his backpack, he didn't think anyone would steal it if he fell asleep (or at least, he didn't want to believe someone would), he was just using it as a pillow while he waited.
He would close his eyes for a second, realize he did, freak out for a moment because he didn't know if he fell asleep for one second or two hours, realize he did not in fact fall asleep for two hours, and repeat.
School was taking a toll on him; he didn't have half as much energy as before, his eye bags were more prominent, and his reaction time was delayed a lot.
Just as he was about to fall asleep again, he noticed the bus approaching them. Patton stood up quickly and got on the bus.
He took a seat beside an old lady and laid his head on his backpack. He closed his eyes and this time the exhaustion won him over.
He woke up in a panic. Did he fall asleep? For how long? The bus had stopped and there was no one left inside.
He got off the bus and immediately felt something was off. He looked around and saw no one. Zero people waiting for the bus and zero people getting off the bus. He looked at the sign indicating the place they were at and he didn't recognize it. He'd taken this exact bus countless times before, he knew its limits and the last station it stopped at, and he didn't recognize this one.
He walked to see if he found anyone, hoping to find someone in his same situation. He felt someone touch his shoulder, he flinched and turned around to see a person standing behind him. It wasn't someone confused or anything similar, it was a man, around his age maybe, that looked like he was waiting for him.
“Who are you?” Patton asked him.
“I'm from here.” The man said. “I was waiting for you. Well– not specifically you, but anyone. Nobody ever comes here.”
“And… where are we?”
“I don't know.” He said.
Patton walked over to the bench in front of them. He left his backpack on the floor, leaning against the bench and sat down. The man followed and sat beside him.
“So, you're lost.” The man said. It wasn't a question, it was a statement.
“I'm not lost!” Patton said.
“Don't lie. You don't know where we are or why.”
Patton looked down, defeated. “By the way, what's your name?” He picked up his backpack and hugged it, same as before.
“My name's Janus.” Janus said. “Stupid name, I know.”
“It's not stupid! I think it's cool and unique.”
Janus smiled warmly. Patton brought him some kind of hope inside his heart that he would, maybe, someday, get out of here, even though he knew it was impossible. It wasn't for Patton, but it was for him.
“Patton?” Janus said, looking straight ahead.
“Yeah?” He responded.
“How do you feel?”
“Um,” He hesitated, “That's always a tough question to answer but, right now, I would say I’m tired.” Janus immediately recognized that as a lie. He hummed in response to Patton's statement.
Patton was lying. How did he know? He wouldn't be here if he was just ‘tired’. It could be true, but it wasn't the full truth, and that was a lie.
“You shouldn't be here.” What he meant by that was, someone like Patton shouldn't be here. He has a bright future ahead of him, unlike himself.
“I like you, Janus.” Said Patton with a smile on his face, a genuine smile.
How?
Janus stayed silent. “Let's get you out of here.” He got up and offered his hand out to Patton.
And Patton grabbed it tight.