#kid!remus

Virgil looked up into his best friend’s wide smile. “They’re flowers, Remus,” he said. “They don’t come in green.”

“Do, too,” he said, pointing at the flower border painted above the windows.

“Not in real life,” Virgil insisted. “Those are just pretend.” He went back to his drawing feeling a little guilty about the big purple flowers he’d drawn. Purple flowers were real, though, even if they weren’t growing at Dr. Picani’s house.

“If I prove they’re real, will you add them?” Remus asked, leaning in and staring into his eyes.

Virgil glanced at the purple flowers and nodded. “Uh-huh.”

“Deal!” Remus cheered and ran off to the Book Nook. “Ro! Help me find the flower book!”

Virgil watched him pull books from the big display next to Miss Julie’s reading chair. He’d check the cover and then, shaking his head, toss it into a little pile on the chair. Before long, he shouted, “Found it!” and ran back, waving a big book with flowers all over the cover.

“Walking feet, Remus,” Miss Julie reminded him, but Remus either didn’t hear or didn’t care.

Remus dropped the book onto the table and flipped about halfway through. He pointed to a tiny patch of flowers in the very corner of the page. They had soft green petals almost the same shade and shape as their leaves, but darker in the middle and fading on the edges. “See?” Remus said. “We have this book at home and Daddy reads it to us. They’re called ama—“ His face screwed up, rolling the word around in his mouth. “Ama—Daddy says they’re like lilies.” They both looked at the green crayon in the art box. It was the same bright green as the painted flowers by the window, nothing at all like the flowers in the picture.

“Hang on! I’ll get us paint!” Remus said and ran off again.

“Good morning! My name is Miss Julie.”

Virgil frowned. His teacher’s voice was a little louder than it usually was and she didn’t need to say her name. They weren’t babies. They all knew who she was. He leaned over the table and peered around the corner at the welcome chair.

Instead of already playing with the puppets or reading a story in the Book Nook or even playing in the kitchen—the toy kitchen. They never played in the real kitchen where they got snack—Miss Julie was still sitting in her big welcome chair next to the name tag board.

A mommy was there, holding a little boy’s hand. Someone new.

The boy was even shorter than Virgil was and he hoped he might be younger. Virgil hated being the youngest in the class. The boy wore blue jeans like his and bright yellow sneakers without any laces.

He didn’t answer Miss Julie.

His mommy started to frown but stopped, then smiled at Miss Julie the same way Daddy did when he was talking on the phone. “Janus takes a little while to warm up,” she said and patted his shoulder.

“Well, it’s very nice to meet you,” Miss Julie said to the boy instead of to his mommy. Virgil smiled. He couldn’t see the boy’s face but he hoped the boy smiled, too.

Miss Julie wasn’t like the lady at the dentist office or even at Dr. Picani’s office, talking to the mommy instead of to him.

“Today is your first day, so you get to pick a name tag. Then I’ll write your name on it.”

The boy tilted his head and looked at each shape and color in turn. Virgil was the only boy who’d picked a purple one and he watched as Janus looked at the big purple square for a long time. After a while, though, his hand closed on the yellow circle beside it and he placed it in Miss Julie’s waiting hand.

“A yellow circle like the sun,” she said, then took out her big marker and began to write.

Janus leaned closer and watched her shape each letter. When she asked him where she could pin it, he pointed to his shoulder and he turned so she could reach.

That’s when Virgil saw the big splotchy mark on his face. It looked like when Virgil had skinned his knee and picked at it.

It looked like it hurt.

Brittney had been drawing at the other end of the table. She dropped her crayon and it rolled under the table, but she didn’t even care. She just ran over to Janus and pointed. “Eww! What happened to your face?”

Janus looked away.

Remus did not.

Back from the easels to get paint, Remus held the biggest brush, dark green paint dribbling down the handle, over his hand and all over his arm. He hit Brittney's cheek with the paint brush and yelled, “What happened to your face?”

“Remus!” Miss Julie jumped up and took Remus by the hand and brought him to the timeout corner. When she turned around to take Brittney to the bathroom to wash the paint from her hair and her face and her dress, Remus stuck his fingers in his mouth, making faces. When he saw Virgil watching him, he did it more, laughing quietly.

The other boy, Janus, laughed, too, and his mommy crouched down to whisper in his ear. At first Virgil was afraid Remus had gotten him in trouble. Remus was good at getting people in trouble, almost as much as he got himself in trouble. But Janus just smiled and nodded, turning to whisper something to his mommy.

Miss Julie came back then, Brittney’s hand in hers. She looked down at her, not really smiling. “Now, what did you want to say to Janus?”

“I’m sorry I was rude,” she mumbled.

Miss Julie didn’t look happy. And neither did Janus’ mommy.

“I think that little boy over there has learned his lesson,” she said, then pointed to Remus with her lips. He was sticking out his tongue at his brother and painting his palm with what was left on the brush. “And I suspect this little one has as well,” she said, watching Brittney.

Janus peered around Miss Julie to watch Remus paint his hand. When he finally noticed the attention, he grinned and waggled his fingers like he did when they played monster.

Janus laughed and ran over to him. He held out his hand, too, and Remus painted his hand before Miss Julie could stop him.

Five

Virgil was burning up. He wasn’t sick or anything, but the nerves surrounding this date had every nerve on fire to the point he was surprised he hadn’t melted into a puddle. Was it possible to get heat stroke while blasting AC in a car? If not, he’d likely be the first victim of such insanity. There was just too much riding on tonight. Sure, romance was on the line- but more than that, his job was on the line, and so were his relationships with Logan’s sons. 

Because what if he did something so horribly stupid tonight that left Logan’s fancy suit covered in fancy dinner? Surely, he’d be fired on the spot. And just like that, no job. No money. He wouldn’t see the twins or Patton. Janus would lose some friends. Janus would never get his own room. He’d-

“Are you okay?”

The deafening silence that was swirling around Virgil began to splinter at the sound of his nephew’s voice. Glancing in the rearview, he could see that Janus had looked up from the book he had been reading- was it too dark to be reading that now? The sun was beginning to set, so he shouldn't be straining his eyes. Virgil opened his mouth to tell his nephew so when he saw Janus frown, “So you’re not okay.”

“No-no! I’m fine. I’m fine! I was just going to say you should stop reading for now. But I’m fine!”

“You said that three times.”

“Because it’s three times the truth.”

“That doesn’t make sense.”

“Well, yes, um… it doesn’t matter. I'm fine, Janus.”

“No, you’re not. Are you worried about your date?”

“A- a little- just the tiniest bit. It’s been a while since I was even on a date.”

“Was that with the guy who cheated on you?”

“W-what? What?” Virgil sputtered. 

“When I talked to Mom this morning, I told her you were going on a date. And then she said that the last guy was really mean, and he cheated on you, and he made you cry. So she said it’s now my job to watch out for you ‘cause sometimes you have bad taste like she does. But Mr. Logan is nice, so I don’t think you need to be nervous.”

Virgil gave a long and heavy sigh before he couldn’t help but smile, “Well, I’m always grateful to have you on my side, Jan… But what else did your mom say about me? Or my past boyfriends?”

“Nothing really,” Janus shrugged (to Virgil’s relief). “Just that you should take her advice more.”

Virgil gave a frown and mumbled to himself, “Did she tell you she’s a hypocrite too?” 

“What’s that mean?” 

Apparently, Janus had good hearing. Good to know. “I’ll tell you later,” Virgil said, pulling into Logan’s driveway. “For now, let’s head inside.”

Inside the home, Virgil found Logan in the family room talking with three other staff members, likely talking about watching the children for the evening… Virgil wished them luck. Upon realizing their arrival, Logan turned to grave Virgil with a small, slight, barely there smile, which somehow made Virgil’s knees feel like goo. He was dressed nicely (as always)- Logan’s attention snapped back to the few he was speaking to, and hushed voices were heard as they crowded Logan before they abruptly shoved Logan in Virgil’s direction. 

Virgil was about to comment on it, when he noticed that in the second he had turned around Logan’s perfect hairstyle had been messed up the tiniest amount in what was clearly an intentional way. Perhaps those three weren’t discussing babysitting at all, had he asked them for advice? The mental image was one Virgil couldn’t help but smile at. 

“You look nice,” Logan said with a nod. 

“You as well, I-”

“Mr. Logan?” Janus interrupted. 

“What can I do for you, Janus?” Logan asked, redirecting his attention. “If you’re looking for my boys, they’re in Roman’s room.”

“Okay! But first, what’s ‘hypocrite’ mean?”

Virgil gave a heavy sigh as Logan answered the question. “A person who says one thing then does another. Like if I told you to eat your vegetables but I never do. Does that make sense?”

Janus pondered for a moment or two before he nodded and turned to Virgil, “Then my mom’s one for not listening to you but wanting you to listen to her?”

“…She listens sometimes.”

“No, she doesn’t. I’m gonna go upstairs to play. Have fun!”

When his nephew disappeared, Logan let out a slight chuckle, “It sounds like you two are having quite… intellectual conversations.”

Virgil’s huff in reply only made Logan’s smile widen, so he turned away. “Let’s not miss our reservation.”

Dinner did not go as planned. 

Despite arriving at their reservation early- their table had apparently been given away which led to waiting. And upon finally being seated their waiter took the drink and appetizer orders and then promptly ignored their existence. The drinks had eventually found a way to them, but as time passed Virgil had the sneaking feeling that the appetizers would never come. This was only proven correct as the waiter vanished from the floor entirely, and according to the whispers of employees in the dining room- he had left the building entirely. Virgil couldn’t help but want to be a tad nosier, but he caught Logan’s amused gaze. 

“Any more info?” 

Virgil shook his head as he sipped at his near-empty water, “Nothing I can hear from here. But sorry, I forgot what I was saying.”

“I don’t recall myself,” Logan admitted. “I was staring at the couple behind you who received their meal. We have been here far longer than they have.”

“Does the food look good, at least?”

“As hungry as I am, everything does. I neglected to eat lunch today.”

“What? Why?”

“I was distracted by the boys and pulled in different directions. I had to make some calls, and then I had a meeting over Zoom. Ultimately, I didn’t even realize I had missed a meal until I began to get ready. So I simply ate an apple to tide myself over until dinner.”

“That’s not like you at all.”

“I agree. But I digress; how was your day off with Janus?”

“Good, good. I had told him to pick what we would do today, so we ended up at one of those pottery places where kids can paint the pieces. He was very meticulous over a few pieces of dish ware. He wanted a perfect matching set.”

“That’s adorable,” Logan smiled. “I’ve wanted to take my boys to do that, but I have a feeling that Remus would break far more than he’d paint. But he also wouldn’t take kindly to me just taking Roman even if I took him elsewhere.”

“Yeah, I can see that.”

“What did you paint?”

“I chose a shark piggy bank because… because it was there? Anyway, I made it purple with different colored polka dots because it annoyed Janus.”

“Brilliant reasoning.”

“I think so.”

“You-”

Logan’s words and Virgil’s train of thought flew off the tracks at that moment as a server walked by, holding a tray of dishes that looked beautiful but also smelled divine. 

“As good as that looks, I regret not choosing a place I am familiar with,” Logan frowned. Apologies.”

“Don’t apologize; you had heard good things about it. It seems like this is an off day. And I appreciate the thought process that we could try something new together.”

“Why do I sense a but coming?”

“However,” Virgil started because it was a different word than ‘but.’ “It is clear we are both starving, and it’s also clear that our food will never get here considering we still have menus. So, would it be such a bad idea to go elsewhere? I know a hole-in-the-wall a few blocks away with the best tacos I’ve ever had.”

Logan didn’t speak for the longest moment. Rather, his piercing eyes stared into Virgil’s as he folded his hands and sat up straighter in his seat. And in that moment Virgil couldn’t stop the strike of fear that shot through him as he wondered if he had accidentally insulted his date- if he had offended his boss. Logan had put in all this effort for tonight and yet, Virgil just wanted to throw it away. He opened his mouth to quickly amend his statement, but Logan spoke first. 

“Couldn't you have said that ages ago? Do they have quesadillas?”

Virgil gave a slight sigh of relief, “Real good ones.”

“No point in bothering for the check, it’ll take forever. I’ll leave more than enough cash for the drinks. Lead the way.”

The food was wonderful, and with it in their stomachs, conversation flowed easily. It was almost scary how easily Virgil forgot he worked for Logan. Right now, they weren’t boss and employee; they were just two (severely overdressed) guys on a date, and that was perfect. There was something alluring about just watching Logan be Logan. Just in the way he spoke and expressed himself as if trying to remain reserved but in the same way allowing Virgil to see his true expressions underneath. Virgil had always known how nice it was to listen to Logan speak of his children, but it was just as nice to hear him speak about his life and dreams. And even nicer was how smoothly he came up with ideas on how to integrate Virgil into them. It was a first date unlike any Virgil had been on, and as Logan took his hand as they walked back to the car- Virgil couldn’t have been more thrilled with that fact.

~~~~

   “So, who is our visitor today?” Roman asked curiously, looking down at them.

   The mysterious child rushed up to Roman and held up his arms in the air. “M’ name’s Remus!” He announced loudly, and Patton hurried over to grip at Remus’s shirt.

   “Remus? Did you pick that name out yourself?” Roman asked, casting a glance at Virgil, who just shrugged without responding.

   “No.” Remus shook his head and dropped his backpack on the floor.

   “Can Patton pronounce that?” Roman asked, looking at Patton. That might have explained why Patton never said his new friend’s name yesterday.

   “I call him Muss!” Patton beamed, still holding on to Remus’s shirt. “But I can say it if I try real hard,” Patton added, pausing to take a deep breath. “Remus”—he pronounced deliberately—“taught me how t’do it,” he looked very pleased with himself.

   “Can we play with play-doh? Pat said he had lots!” Remus bounced on the balls of his feet.

   “We do,” Roman paused, looking at the pair of them. “But did Remus get permission to come over here? I didn’t discuss it with his parents,” he asked with concern, but neither seemed deterred by the drop in mood.

   “The bus comes here, so I didn’t got to get a ride!” Remus nodded enthusiastically.

   “Oh boy,” Roman exhaled harshly. “Remus, do you have a phone?” He asked, and Remus nodded, and turned to dig a phone out of his backpack and held it up to show Roman. “Would you call your parents and hand it to me?” He requested. Remus just nodded happily again and did as asked, passing the phone over to Roman.

   He took the phone and stood up straight, holding it to his ear as it rang. It didn’t connect, though, and it went to a generic voicemail. Roman wanted to leave a message, but the inbox was full, which was even stranger. He sighed and passed the phone back to Remus. “Do you happen to know your address, Remus?” He inquired wearily.

   “Nah. Can we play play-doh, now?” Remus didn’t seem fazed at all. Roman looked at the pair of them and considered his options. The only things he could do to solve this accidental kidnapping was either return Remus to the school, which was closed, or try to call again later.

   “Remus, you shouldn’t go somewhere without telling your parents. They could get very scared, or you could get hurt,” Roman pointed out. Remus just tilted his head guilelessly.

   “I didn’ think they’d mind.” Remus just shrugged. Roman blinked a few times at that, unsure of what to do with that information. He wished Logan was home already to help. “I really wanna play play-doh, now,” Remus insisted, looking up at Roman with big eyes and a small pout.

   “Alright, but we’ll need to play together in the kitchen, so it doesn’t get in the carpet, and you’ll have to let me try to call your parents again, later.” Roman held up a finger each as he talked, indicating the two stipulations. Patton didn’t even seem to look worried at the idea, and Remus wiggling on the spot impatiently.

   “Fine, I don’t care, I’m hungry!” Remus rolled his eyes and passed his phone back to Roman, who took it in confusion. “You need it, right?” Remus didn’t seem suspicious in the slightest at the idea of leaving his personal property with someone he didn’t know, much less being in a strangers’ house. Roman nodded in agreement and pocketed the phone, heading over to the hall closet to get the play-doh bin out of the high shelf and take it to the kitchen. Remus and Patton both cheered when they saw the bin, and Patton grasped Remus’s arm, rushing off to the kitchen before Roman.

   “What do you two want for a snack, then?” Roman asked them as he put down the bins. Remus reached in for the brown and opened it up right away, pulling out a hunk of play-doh and eating it, which Roman briefly short-circuited at watching before reaching to take the play-doh container out of his hands.

   “Wha’?” Remus asked with a mouthful of play-doh.

   “That’s not food, Remus, you shouldn’t eat that,” Roman replied with exasperation.

   “Well, then why did they make it so good, huh?” Remus objected stubbornly and kept chewing.

   “Gross!” Patton laughed brightly, kicking his feet and gripping at the table.  

   “I thought they made it taste bad. I’ll get you something to eat, just don’t put anymore in your mouth, okay?” Roman pleaded. Remus just stared at him. “Please, Remus? I’ll make you Patton’s favourite snack if you don’t eat anymore. Don’t you want to try what he likes?” He bargained with Remus.

   Remus looked between Roman and Patton before smiling and nodding enthusiastically. Roman slowly returned the play-doh container to Remus, who took it quickly but thankfully didn’t eat anymore and instead dumped it out on the table and started pressing it flat. Roman sighed in relief and turned to the fridge.

   “Do you need any help?” Virgil whispered behind his hand, leaning in just before Roman opened the fridge door. “He kind of seems like a handful.” Roman didn’t want to say anything to Virgil and cause him to panic, but the problem was much more than eating play-doh.

   “I need a lawyer,” Roman hissed, adjusting his tunic flat. “Please watch them while I call Logan, he’s got to know the best protocol for this.” Roman rubbed his face, stepping away from the fridge to let Virgil take over.

   “His last name’s Belmanté, if it helps. Got it on the way back,” Virgil whispered conspiratorially at Roman as he passed, and Roman nodded. He was relieved Virgil thought of that, it would probably help locate his parents. Roman stepped out of the kitchen to go call Logan and figure out where to go from here.

   Virgil took two apples out of the crisper drawer and went over to the sink to wash them off, keeping an eye on the pair while he prepared Patton’s favourite snack, but they were absorbed in mashing the dough to soften it up, and he had no trouble doing both things at once.

   “We should make a giant dinosaur and have it eat these little guys!” Remus enthused, and Patton giggled and nodded, pulling out some shape cutters from the bin. Remus gasped and dug his hands in the bin with a loud clatter of plastic, rifling through the various shapes just to hear the noise while Patton began to roll out the white with tiny rolling pin.

   “I’ll make the teeth,” Patton announced, pressing the triangle cutter into the speckled white with supreme focus, pressing the triangle cutter in with the palm of his hand and struggling to pull it back out. He stuck the tongue out of the side of his mouth, while his fingers failed to get a hold of the edge of the small plastic piece.

   Remus dug around in the bin of plastic implements for play-doh, checking out the options. He pulled out each thing that seemed more interesting than a shape-cutter and tried them out on a wad of dough, getting excited about a wavy edge roller. “Woah! I can make spines!” Remus exclaimed, checking for any other rolling-cutters. He gathered all three and stole the rolling pin from Patton to flatten the hunk of dough he had, while Patton kept struggling with the triangle cutter. One of the cutters made triangles, and he passed that off to Patton. “Here, easier for teeth!” He said confidentially, and Patton frowned, looking at it oddly. “We’ll use the two you made for big fangs!” Remus nodded enthusiastically, and Patton perked up, taking the roller and running it along the off-white play-doh.

   Virgil dropped off the plate of apples and peanut butter with cinnamon and raisins in it and sat at the table, watching the pair both work at the dinosaur. Patton worked on a body piece while Remus rolled out a tail, both wearing determined expressions. “So, what kind of dinosaur are you making?” Virgil asked, stealing an apple slice for himself.

   “An cool one!” Remus hissed out, bobbing his head.

   “Yeah!” Patton agreed right away, picking up his wad of play-doh and throwing it down at the table to widen the shape.

   “Lots of spines and claws and stuff?” Virgil asked, smirking a little and leaning on his arm to watch them.

   “So many,” Remus nodded wisely, taking a spine he cut out with a roller and pressing it onto the tail.

   “So many,” Patton repeated, getting more play-doh.

   “Do you play with play-doh with any siblings or anyone else, Remus?” Virgil asked, digging for more information.

   “No, nobody.” Remus shook his head, hunching over his dinotail creation to look closely at it.

   “Muss doesn’t have play-doh at home,” Patton answered, also leaning in to look closely at the play-doh.

   “Good thing we have plenty, then. I used to make things to smash before Patton got here,” Virgil said, grabbing an untouched container of play-doh to join them in messing around with it.

   “Play-doh is the best to smash,” Remus said sagely, reaching up for a piece of play-doh and seeing the plate of apples. “Yes!” He grabbed the plate and pulled it close to himself, double-fisting apple slices covered in peanut butter. He didn’t have great aim, and some peanut butter with cinnamon dusted on top got on his face as he ate.

   Patton also reached for a slice and joined him in eating, and Virgil started making a little dragon. Remus looked around the kitchen for a moment, then put some play-doh on an apple slice to eat, Virgil breaking down cackling while Patton giggled delightedly as Remus chewed the thick texture and apple together. Virgil smushed the short amount of progress on the dragon and instead opted to make fake peanut butter with toppings for him to dip in.

   “This is so good,” Remus said with his mouth full, bits of apple mixed in the saliva-filled play-doh clearly visible in his mouth.

None of his powers were helpful in fights. He could tell when they were lying, he could attempt to shapeshift but he wasn’t good enough to make himself stronger that way, he could grow more arms to protect himself with but most of the time that just made them hit him more.

 It was all he could do though, so he made himself as small as possible, one pair of arms shielding his head, the other pulling his legs tight against his belly. They kicked him in the back and he whimpered. He could only pray that they’d get bored soon and leave.

 “Hey! Leave him alone!” a voice suddenly called from nearby. Someone came to his rescue? No, that couldn’t be, they probably hadn’t seen him clearly and as soon as they did they would join in or leave.

 “Piss off, squib!” the leader of his attackers called, a boy around thirteen years old, much bigger than Janus. His friends stopped hitting him for the moment but he didn’t dare move.

 “You piss off! I won’t let you hurt him more!”

 “And what will you do to stop us, huh? One little squib against all of us. We’ll take you apart along with him!”

 “You can try but I’ll wipe the floor with you!”

 “Cocky little shit!”

 The guys walked away from him and Janus waited with bated breath for the sounds of the other kid getting punched but instead there was a weird slurping sound and the older kids screamed.

 “What the fuck?!”

 “He’s also one! A monster!”

 “Doesn’t matter, he’s still a squib, just kick ‘im!”

 Janus risked lowering his arms just enough to get a glimpse of the scene in front of him. The other kid was surrounded by the bullies but he was grinning at them with confidence. Above his shoulders was something that wriggled and Janus guessed that’s what made the guys call him a monster.

 A monster, just like him.

 The attackers moved to strike him, the wriggling things did the same and Janus couldn’t look, so he shut his eyes tight and covered his ears as best as he could. He could still hear the yelling and something hitting something else but he couldn’t distinguish who did what.

 He stayed still and waited, and after a few minutes he could feel many feet hitting the pavement, moving away from him. He slowly uncovered his ears and opened his eyes.

 “You’ll pay for this, you monster!”

 “You better run! And don’t bother him again, you fucks!”

 The bullies were leaving and the other kid yelled after them, flipping them the bird. Janus couldn’t believe his eyes. The boy couldn’t be much older than him, the guys must’ve been bigger than him and there’d been at least five of them. How had he managed to fight them off?

 “Bunch of assholes,” the kid said when the bullies weren’t in sight anymore and then he turned to Janus. “You okay?” Only then could Janus see that his nose was bleeding and his cheek was swelling.

 “Me?! What about you?!”

 “Huh? I’m fine.”

 “You’re bleeding!”

 “Am I?” He touched his nose and looked at the blood staining his fingers. “I guess I am.”

 “’I guess’? Doesn’t that hurt?”

 “Not really. I’ve had worse.” Janus stared at him in disbelief. “What about you? Can you get up?”

 Right, he was still sitting on the floor. Carefully, he moved his legs to see if they were hurt but they only stung a bit so he tried to stand. He was almost back on his feet as he stumbled forward, only to be caught by one of those wriggly things.

 “Careful! Can you stand or do I need to help you?”

 Janus shook himself out of the shock and straightened, pushing the thing away. It was slimy. He grimaced.

 “Ew.” The other kid started giggling.

 “I guess you’re fine then.” He held out a hand. “My name’s Remus, I’m an octopus.”

 Janus blinked at him. “An octopus?”

 “Yeah! See my arms?” He moved one of the wriggly things in between them. “I’ve got four of them and I can turn my human arms and feet into them too! And if I try really hard, I can shift the rest of my body into an octopus, too, but I’m not good at that yet.” He grinned. “What’s your name?”

 “Janus.”

 “It’s nice to meet you, Janny! Especially since you’re a monster like me! I haven’t met many other monsters yet.”

 “You say that like it’s a good thing to be a monster.”

 “Isn’t it?”

 “No, it isn’t.”

 “Why?”

 “’Cause the other kids are mean about it.”

 “Why does that matter?”

 “Huh?”

 “Why does it matter what the other kids say? Being a monster is cool! You can do lots of stuff they can’t and no monster is the same as another, we’re unique!”

 “But blending in is better, right?” Janus asked, confused. “If you blend in, other kids won’t bully you.”

 “Bullies always find a reason to be mean, just don’t let them get to you.”

 “Easy for you to say. You can fight.”

 “You can fight, too. You just need to learn how. I could teach you if you want.”

 “You would?”

 “Sure! Monsters should stick together!” He grinned again and Janus couldn’t help mirroring him.

 “Okay.”

 “Great! How about you come over to my house? My brother and his friends are there and one of them can heal us a bit. Do you know your house’s phone number?”

 “I do.”

 “Awesome. Then my mom can call yours, so she doesn’t worry. Let’s go!”