#morality!janus

For @moceit-appreciation-week Day 6: Role Reversal

Word Count: 753

Characters: Patton (Deceit), Janus (Morality), all others mentioned

Rating: G

Warnings: none (?)

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It was supposed to be his day off, relaxing and rejuvenating himself. And he would have been happy to enjoy a little cat nap away from the magician and the overworked student, if he didn't feel a disturbance that threatened Thomas' balance. Patton sighed and got up, adjusted his purple bowtie, and grabbed his tailcoat. He adjusted his blue fingerless gloves and placed his old top hat on his head, making sure the blue band wouldn't distract him. Once he was set, he sank out with one goal in mind.

Janus was pacing around in his room, over thinking this latest conundrum. Should Thomas go to the wedding or the callback? Thomas valued his friends and he made that commitment first, but they wouldn't really miss him if he wasn't there. And then there was the callback, which could advance his career, and he'd been working so hard, he could be a positive voice and role model for thousands of people. It could do more good in the long run.

"You know, you'll wear a hole in the carpet if you keep that up," a sweet but cool voice greeted him. Janus paused and let out a huff through his nose. He should have expected this impromptu visit.

"Deceit," he said as if he were addressing a student, "Would you mind coming back during office hours?"

"Come on, Morality, we know each other well enough that the formalities are just silly!" Patton giggled, "And you need to take some time to rest."

Janus faced him with a scowl, but he couldn't appear terribly threatening in a yellow sweater vest and glasses. He was far too cute, like a brand new professor dealing with a rowdy new class at uni.

"No need for that sourpuss, professor!" Patton giggled and swung his legs from his perch on Janus' bed. His unnaturally wide grin was full of sharp teeth and his round glasses glinted in the light. His whiskers twitched as he waited for Janus to break his facade. He could never stay mad at Patton for too long.

"Now isn't the best time, dear. I have to work through so much in a short amount of time," Janus sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He could feel the weight of this decision pressing on his shoulders.

"What did you tell Thomas?" Patton asked and stood up, examining his claws and gloves—he was damned if he had a hangnail or a loose thread!

"I told him that I need some time to think things through that I don't want to rush any decisions," Janus sighed and adjusted his glasses. Patton approached him and wrapped his arms around him.

"That's so stupid of you!" he jeered. Janus snorted and shook his head.

"Intelligence aside, I need to think, hopefully without getting into Aquinas or Nietzsche."

"And you're stuck," Patton sighed and purred softly, "What does Remus want? Your sweet little prince has been shot down so many times, he's not doing so well."

"Remus?" Janus scoffed, "He wants his linguistic little brother to be kinder to his scripts."

"I thought Roman was older," Patton pouted.

"There's no telling which one is older. But in actuality, I think Remus wants to go to the callback, but he also wants to be an honorable friend. He's torn. Roman has already posed the important question: what does Thomas value more? And my student is panicked over all the possibilities."

"You know, it's a tough decision, and if you spend too long dwelling on it without a break, I can promise you won't have to deal with my little angel," Patton cooed and nuzzled his shoulder.

"You don't have Virgil under lock and key?"

"You know he's an escape artist. Especially when he has too much going on in his head. You need to take some time to rest," Patton hummed and kissed his neck. Janus melted into his embrace and sighed.

"I don't know if I can rest."

"You have got to be kitten me!" Patton hissed and held him tighter. Janus laughed and grabbed his hands, spinning out of his grip.

"How am I supposed to rest when my Cheshire cat is so playful?" Janus teased and booped their noses together. Patton giggled and kissed him quickly.

"I'm a cuddly kitty, and you are the perfect snuggle buddy. So do keep your loving husband waiting."

Okay, so I'm sure all of you have seen at least one trait swap au. Well this is also kinda a trait swap au. Well more like a swap au with added stuff.

Okay, so first of all, the traits being swapped.

Roman and Virgil switch, Remus and Logan switch, and Patton and Janus switch.

Example: Roman is Anxiety, and Virgil is Creativity.

Also! This au is swapped Prinxiety, swapped Moceit, and swapped Intrulogical. All of them are sad, and it's all pre-established.

Now onto the actual like.. story.

So, our Thomas, the original non swapped Thomas, is thrown into another dimension somehow. He wakes up in the bedroom of a huge estate, with two people standing over him.

Himself, and Virgil.

Wait.

So he gets up, and the other Thomas explains that he was thrown here because of some like.. storm or some shit, and after giving him the most basic info he leaves bc he's kinda a dick.

So this Virgil, who is surprisingly cheery- Explains everything else, what's different in his world compared to theirs, and so on and so forth.

He explains who everyone is, and once he gets to Roman, he gets this wistful look on his face, and talks like he's the most perfect person in the whole world.

Obviously Thomas comments on how head over heels Virgil is, and Virgil just deflates instantly.

He then explains that Thomas has put barriers around the castle, whether consciously or not, that prevent the dark sides and light sides to interact.

The dark sides are forced to stay downstairs, unable to come up without being violently shocked by the barrier, and the lights are the same way, except that they have to stay upstairs.

Thomas is of course devastated, but Virgil smiles and says that they've figured out how to get past some limits. Occasionally they gather in the foyer, the light sides standing at the top of the stairs and the dark sides standing on the floor, so they can see each other and speak.

But because I'm evil and want the angst- Virgil explains that he has been condemned to this room, others can come in and out, but Virgil is trapped. He assumes it's because Thomas tends to "Shackle his creativity" quite literally.

So because he's trapped, he cannot go out into the foyer, and so he hasn't seen his love in forever.

Thomas is of course devastated, and vows to try and get rid of the barriers, however he could.

I'll be honest, I listened to Days In The Sun from 2017 Beauty and The Beast, and this is what came out of it. I'm sad.

welcome, one and all, to part one of a series i am affectionately calling The Sides As Outfits I Would Use To Closet Cosplay Them But I Change Their Functions Because I Can, or TSAOIWUSTCCTBIFBIC for short.

so here’s a morality!janus