#snake side

Notes: I’m sorry that I haven’t updated the other story. Hope this is a half decent apology lmao. Trigger warning for drinking and smoking. Virgil is agender (it/them), Roman is bigender (she/him), and Janus is cisgender (he/him). I might write a second part to have a less sad ending but yeah.

Word count: 1692 words

Archive of Our Own Version

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Letting out a breath of smoke into the sky from the balcony, Janus wondered for the hundredth time if he should even bother going to the party. It’d be a waste of time. Familiar faces he didn’t want to see, but at the very least, there’d be plenty to drink, and no one would question why.

Janus found himself drunk a lot of the time, actually. More often than he’d like to admit, and more often than even Remus could guess. Not that everyone else knew, Janus was all too good at hiding it, so long as no one was close enough to smell the alcohol on him. It wasn’t too hard to avoid when he rarely left his room either.

Shaking the thought away, he let the cigarette slip from his fingers, watching as the embers slowly died out with the rushing air as it plummeted to the ground. It wouldn’t start a fire. Not unless he willed it so. He had considered it momentarily, but ultimately decided against it. It wasn’t worth it. No amount of arson would fix things, and no amount of denial would make everything fade away, no matter how hard Janus tried. With slow steps, he slipped away from the balcony, into his room to get ready to go. Soon enough, Remus bounced into his room, asking if he was ready to go, and they headed to the ‘light’ sides part of the mind palace.

The music was rather loud for it being so early, only nine, and they were going to be there until at least one in the morning. Janus didn’t mind that, going to find drinks first before trying to socialize. Ultimately, by the time it was ten, he’d mostly stuck around Remus, sharing awkward glances with Virgil throughout the night. He should’ve talked to them—he knew that, it was the only chance at fixing things. But honestly? Janus didn’t even know if he wanted to fix things anymore. Not if Virgil didn’t want to try either. Besides, he didn’t need them.

Before the first hour could pass, they had started up party games, Janus well on his third drink as Roman asked him a simple ‘truth or dare.’ “Dare,” Janus answered blankly, staring into his plastic cup and tapping his fingers lightly on it, waiting for an answer before downing the rest of it.

“I dare you...” Roman glanced around, looking for an idea, “jump down from the top step over the railing,” she shrugged. It wasn’t all that interesting, but there wasn’t much that was interesting when they were capable of practically anything with minor consequences. Janus gave a curt nod and stood up, heading to the top of the stairs and pulling himself over the ledge before jumping down. The landing wasn’t that successful, aided by the drinking, so he had stumbled a bit before regaining his balance. “Ree, truth or dare?”

“Snakey-baby, you know better than to ask,” Remus answered, a faux softness to his voice.

“Great, so truth. What’s the real reason you dragged me to this party, Ree?” he asked, clearly bitter about it.

Remus breathed out quietly. “Jan you know I meant dare.”

“I dare you to answer the question.”

“That’s not—fine. I’m tired of seeing you tear yourself apart. You needed to get the hell out of your room. You can’t waste the rest of your life there,” Remus answered.

Janus pursed his lips in response, muttering a “your turn” under his breath and looking down again. What he hadn’t expected was for Remus to turn to Virgil for the next one. Remus and Janus had practically avoided asking Virgil so far—knowing full well that if Virgil picked truth, it wouldn’t go anywhere good. Worse is that Virgil did indeed answer with “truth.” Remus paused for a second. “I was hoping you’d pick dare,” he muttered honestly, before trying to think of a truth. Dares were easy for him to come up with, being intrusive thoughts and all.

“I got one,” Janus piped up, earning a hissed protest of his own name from Remus that fell on deaf ears. “Is it true that it’s my fault you left?”

Virgil frowned at the question. “Of course not, Janus.”

“Then how come you never visit?” he asked. “Is it just that... quite frankly I’m not worth it? Please, enligh—“

“Okay! Game time over,” Roman spoke, clasping his hands together. “Who wants to help me bring out the deserts and we’ll watch a movie for a while, yeah?” Remus had jumped up at the opportunity, mostly not wanting to be a part of the awkwardness between Janus and Virgil. It didn’t take long to get set up, mainly because Remus didn’t bother arguing about a movie—Roman would rig the votes anyway. Janus and Virgil had sat on opposite sides of the couch, both of them getting a few more drinks than necessary. They stopped the movie a little short, wanting to watch the time change across different places.

Janus stood up, slipping into the kitchen and setting his cup on the counter. He had had too much to drink already, knowing better than to get more if he wanted to remember anything by the next morning. He sighed, tossing the cup into the trash and leaning back on the counter, gripping the edge lightly, wondering shortly if it’d be any easy to leave. He could hear shouting and laughter coming from the nearby room, but at the same time, he didn’t feel as though he could actually hear it. Everything felt too loud and too quiet at once, so he had managed to miss a giggling Virgil stumbling through the door way, spilling a bit of their drink as they walked through. Great, Virgil was absolutely shit-faced.

“Hey Janny,” it slurred, leaning on a nearby chair for balance. The room was spinning. Merely sighing, Janus stepped over, going to help Virgil back to the living room, but Virgil stepped back a bit, holding out his hand forward and shaking its head. “Too loud in there,” it blubbered.

“Then I’ll take you to your room, but if you keep leaning on that chair like that, you’re gonna slam your face into the fridge.” Practically as predicted, Virgil’s hand slipped forward, its eyes going wide for a short moment before Janus caught it.

Breathing out softly, Virgil’s eyes flickered across Janus’s face, before its eyes landed on the little leaf decoration in the doorway. It grinned, something that didn’t look anything like Virgil’s normal grin, too drunk to care. “Janny, they must’ve forgotten to take down the mistletoe,” it slurred, leaning forward and pressing a messy but soft kiss to Janus’s lips before he even had a chance to respond. Janus hadn’t even shut his eyes yet by the time it was over, in a little shock, and unable to savor the moment. “I missed you,” Virgil mumbled. “I know you’ve missed me too,” they added quietly, resting their head on Janus’s chest, eyes fluttering shut.

“I don’t love you anymore,” he murmured quietly, most trying to convince himself of that, especially after that kiss. He repeated it a couple of times, whispered and breathy while tears pricked his eyes, and once he said it clearly for the first time, loud enough to at least be heard over the other’s, he shifted to lift up Virgil, who was practically asleep standing up. He blinked several times, trying to blink away the tears and slipping by unnoticed by the rest of the sides, even as he carried Virgil off. He slipped into Virgil’s room, oddly not too hard to do (Virgil was rather light after all, concerningly so), before setting them on their bed. He pulled up the blankets over Virgil, watching them adjust into their space before slipping out of the room, gently shutting the door and letting out a quiet huff. “I don’t love you anymore,” he repeated, starting to walk away. He knew better than to mention the kiss to anyone, even Remus. Remus would blabber about it, accidentally or on purpose, and Janus knew Roman and Virgil had something going on. If he ruined that... well, it was definitely much more worth suffering knowing Virgil was at least happy.

Janus walked back into his room, slipping off his bow tie and pulling it off, setting it on the desk before taking off his hat as well. He rested his hands on the table in front of him, staring down at it and hunching up his shoulders, doing his best not to let tears fall. He was oh-so-lucky to hear knocking on his door. It certainly wasn’t Remus—he never walked. “Come in,” he called, wiping nearing tears in his eyes with his thumb quickly.

He hadn’t expected Virgil to already be stumbling out of their room, opening the door and leaning on the door frame with a soft pout. “I didn’t want you to leave tonight,” Virgil admitted. “Stay? Please? I’ll talk to the others and we can... we can all be together again,” they choked out, lip quivering visibly.

Janus already knew if he said or did the wrong thing it’d be waterworks for hours, until Virgil passed out. So instead, he merely agreed, whatever Virgil wanted, and went to bring it back to bed. He stepped over, expecting to bring Virgil back to their own room, but Virgil slipped right past him, climbing into Janus’s bed and cuddling into the blanket. “... You know I never wanted to hurt you right?” it asked quietly. “I just thought it’d make me happier...”

“I know, Virgil. Hush now dear,” he murmured softly, pulling a chair up next to his bed. “Sleep, okay? We can talk about it in the morning,” he suggested lightly, shutting off the lamp.

They wouldn’t talk about it the next day, actually. Or anytime soon. And Janus would hope to whatever God or gods there may be that Virgil wouldn’t remember the kiss, wouldn’t say anything about the kiss, and they could forget it. Virgil wouldn’t forget, but it never dared to mention it, their relationships to fragile to dare.

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Tag list:

@genderfluidmoma

@youremotionallystablefriend

@sinuous-scakt

@alinatheanimelover

Prompt List by @dragonindigo245​

Prompt: Reacting To Snow

Word Count: 612

Characters: Deceit, Remus, and Virgil

Trigger Warnings: None

It was a snowy day and all through the house, not a soul was stirring, not even a mouse. But when the first rays of the morning light peeked through. Three little children ran down to the living room. 

In there little onesies they peeked out the window, pressing their faces on the glass and looking at all-white stuff around them. 

"What is it?" asked the first, dressed in a skeleton onesie. He was an anxious thing and his name was Virgil.

"Something strange," answered the second, dressed in a snake onesie. He was the responsible one of the group and his name was Deceit. 

"It's snow!" the third shouted dressed in an octopus onesie. He was chaotic and had boundless amounts of energy and his name was Remus. 

"Snow?" Virgil and Deceit asked. The pure white thing was called snow?

"Yes, snow! Let's go play in it!" the chaotic one exclaimed. He ran upstairs and back down again. Carrying in his arms coats, gloves, and scarves galore. 

"Remus," Deceit said, "It might be too dangerous." 

"What? Snow?" Remus laughed and laughed. "It's not dangerous, now put on your gear and let's get going." 

Remus as quick as a mouse dashing towards its home. Put on his coat, hat, gloves, and green and black scarf. Meanwhile, Deceit helped little Virgil put on his gear and made sure he was bundled tight. Deceit then took care of himself and soon was rather warm. 

"Alright, let's head outside!" Remus shouted, grabbing their hands and leading them towards the door. Deceit was cautious and Virgil was worried. They had never been in something so snowy. 

Remus threw open the door and jumped outside, landing on the porch where the snow didn't seem to be. Deceit grabbed onto Virgil's hands, determined to make sure he was safe. Who knew what dangers lurked within the pureness of the snow. 

Remus who couldn't hold back anymore, let go of their hands and raced towards the snow. He jumped in without a second thought and started to wave his arms and legs around. Creating what he called, a snow devil. 

Meanwhile, Deceit and Virgil stayed on the porch, peeking out from beyond their fort. Virgil squeezed Deceit's hand and he squeezed back. Knowing Virgil wanted to go out and explore. 

"Let's go together," said Virgil with a smile. Deceit smiled back and together they walked out. 

It was crunchy and certainly cold. Deceit understood why they had to be bundled until they were warm. Virgil picked up some snow and let go of Deceit's hand, forming the snow into a ball. He smiled and threw it at Deceit who laughed and grabbed his own handful. Shaping it into a ball and throwing it back at Virgil. 

Soon the two were throwing snowballs back and forth. Remus joined them and together they played in the snow. Throwing the snowballs and laughing till their faces grew red. Creating snowman and making snow devils or angles, whichever you prefer. 

After their bodies grew too cold they all ran inside the house. When they were back inside, who would have thought, three hot chocolates were waiting for them. They tore off their clothes and ran to the counter. Grabbing the hot chocolates and sip, sip, sipping them down.