#tfth

“Just a gentle reminder that we don’t need to go out,” you said sweetly. “We’ve waited long enough.”

He took a deep breath and shook his head. “No, I’m sorry, darling, but I’m going to do this right.”

“When have we ever done things ‘right?’” you asked, chuckling. 

“That’s exactly my point! I’ve never actually taken you out on a date!”

“You are more than welcome to take me out on a date after we’ve had sex,” you suggested, bringing your hands up to play with the open collar of his shirt.

He put his hands on your wrists and stroked his thumbs across your knuckles. “Will you please let me do this? I promise you it will be worth it.” He looked down at you with pleading eyes, the kind that made your chest ache a bit, and you realized he wasn’t just doing this out of chivalry. He was trying to make up for the last time the two of you had had sex, months ago, despite numerous attempts on your part to make him realize that you were both at fault for that night. If this is what it would take for him to forgive himself, then you would happily oblige.

“Okay, darling,” you replied, cupping his face in your hand and softly stroking his cheek. 

He kissed the inside of your wrist. “Thank you, love.” And with that, the two of you left for the restaurant. 

—————————————————

Ever since you started dating Tom, even though you were fully aware that he was a celebrity, it never really felt like you were dating a celebrity. That is until your date that night. He had parked in a secluded spot behind the restaurant and the owner let the pair of you in the back entrance through the kitchen. You expected to be led to some sort of secluded dining room, away from the other customers. Instead, you stepped out into the main dining room, but there were no other customers. It was empty and the curtains were closed on large front windows to obscure the view of any paparazzi or other passers by. In the middle of the room there was a table donned with a white table cloth, candles, rose petals, and a bottle of champagne chilling in a bucket of ice. 

Tom pulled out your chair for you to sit and then sat down across from you. You looked at him with wide eyes. “Tom, this is…” you paused, looking around the room. “…amazing! Did you buy out the whole bloody restaurant?”

He chuckled lightly. “You deserve it, princess. Besides, I like to keep my private life private. At least as much as I possibly can.” 

“I think we’re fairly well rehearsed at that by now,” you joked, winking playfully at him.

“Be that as it may,” he replied with a smile before turning a bit more serious. “I won’t always be able to protect you from the paparazzi and fans, though I will try my hardest.” He reached across the table and took your hand in his. He looked apprehensive. “I hope you’re prepared for that.”

“I am,” you responded without hesitation. You had actually thought about this a lot since you first started dating Tom. Back then it was a fairly significant source of anxiety for you, fearing that your boss or a parent of one of your students would find out about your relationship via a pap photo in some trashy tabloid magazine. But now that your relationship was no longer taboo, fans and media prying into your relationship seemed a bit more tolerable. More than that, it was a sacrifice you were more than willing to make to be with the man you loved. 

“And while I would love to have you on my arm for every public event I attend, I’m not going to pressure you to do anything you aren’t comfortable with.”

“I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t fantasized about walking the red carpet with you,” you confessed bashfully. “Though I’m not nearly as photogenic as you.”

Tom smiled and shook his head. “Are you joking? Darling, you should know by now how gorgeous you are. Your smile alone would have everyone enamored with you in an instant!”

You bit your lip in an attempt to hide your smile as you looked down at your menu, but he used his index finger to lift your chin back up to look at him and his voice dropped to a low timbre. “And don’t get me started on how wild it drives me when you bite your lip like that.”

Your breath hitched and you immediately felt a gush of arousal between your legs. You squeezed your thighs together as you stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, Tom’s tongue darting out to wet his lips. You wanted to fuck him right there on the table and you were sure he wanted it too, but then he snapped himself out of it, clearing his throat and releasing your chin as he leaned back in his chair and smiled warmly at you. You smiled back, but you couldn't help but look a bit flustered as you adjusted yourself in your seat and the two of you began perusing the menu.

———————————————

Your dinner was possibly the best food you’d ever had, but it still didn’t quite take your mind off of other things. While you ate, your eyes wandered over his every feature: his jaw, down his neck, across his collar bone, and down to the little bit of chest hair peeking out from his open collar, imagining the trail of kisses you’d leave along that exact same path, and then lower and lower…

Tom’s voice saying your name pulled you from your trance. Your eyes snapped back up to his soft blue gaze. “I was going to ask if you wanted dessert, but I think you just answered my question,” he said with a grin. He signaled for the waiter and promptly paid the check before the two of you hastily made your way to the car.

Tom opened the passenger side door for you to get in, and then proceeded around the car to get in the driver’s seat. As soon as he shut the door behind him, you grabbed him and pulled him in for a passionate kiss. The two of you immediately lost yourselves in it. With your lips firmly locked with his, you climbed over the center console to straddle his lap. Your hands in his hair, his hands roaming your curves, the two of you were panting and whimpering until you reached down to undo his belt.

“Not here,” Tom said, reluctantly pulling his lips away from yours and moving your hand away from his bulging groin. 

“Babyyyyyy,” you whined, grinding your hips against his. 

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. “Princess, will you please buckle up so I can take you home?” he asked sweetly.

You let out a conceding sigh. “Only if you show me how fast your jag can go,” you teased. You kissed him on the cheek and then climbed back into the passenger seat, giving him a smirk as you fastened your seatbelt.

He chuckled. “I’ll see what I can do.” And with that, he revved the engine and took off towards his house.

The car ride was filled with light touches and sultry giggles, and when you arrived at Tom’s place, he lifted you up as soon as the front door closed behind the two of you, hitching your legs over his hips and carrying you to the bedroom. He sat on the edge of the bed with you in his arms and kissed you feverishly while you unbuttoned his shirt and threw it on the floor. Then you stood up in front of him and slowly peeled off your dress to reveal the red lace lingerie you had picked out for the occasion. 

He stared up at you in awe, his eyes roaming over your figure. When his gaze met yours again, it was so intense that you felt your heart begin to pound in your chest. You bit your lip and looked down at the floor. He stood up slowly in front of you, putting one hand on your waist and the other lifted your chin, encouraging you to look at him again. Leaning in close, he brought his lips to yours, caressing them tenderly. You closed your eyes and felt a warmth wash over your body from both love and lust as you kissed him softly. 

When your lips eventually parted, Tom swallowed hard as he slowly opened his eyes. “Lie down for me?” he requested quietly, lightly stroking his thumb across your chin. 

You nodded as you flashed him a coy smile, and then you laid down on your back on the bed. As you did so, he watched you intently while he took off his trousers and boxers. As soon as he was free of his clothes, he crawled on top of you, hovering over you possessively and kissing you deeply. You spread your legs and wrapped them around his hips, pulling him close to you. When you felt his cock glide against your clit, you moaned softly into the kiss, but he pulled away slightly to look at you. 

“Not yet,” he told you in a low, soft tone. “We’re going to take this nice and slow tonight. Okay, sweetheart?” With a feather-light touch, he rubbed his nose against yours. 

You simply nodded again, entranced by his intense affection. With his index finger he lightly traced the patterns in the lace that covered your breasts and stomach. 

“You look so sexy in this, darling,” he told you sweetly. “But I haven’t seen you naked in months.” 

Hooking his fingers under the straps, he began pulling your lingerie off of you while you wiggled out of it. After discarding it on the floor, he knelt on the bed in front of you, taking in the sight before him. He licked his lips as you parted your legs. Then he leaned down and captured your lips in another passionate kiss, his hand finding your breast and kneading it tenderly, occasionally brushing his thumb over your nipple. 

Eventually his lips left yours to place a kiss to the corner of your jaw, and then another one just behind your ear. A soft sigh escaped your lungs as you brought your hand up to gently caress the nape of his neck. 

His kisses continued downward, leaving a trail of tingling electricity in their wake: your neck, your collar bone, your chest. When he wrapped his lips around one of your nipples you gasped softly, his tongue swirling around the sensitive bud. 

As he continued his descent down your body, worshiping every inch of you, you could feel yourself getting wetter and wetter in anticipation, until you finally felt his soft lips kiss your pussy. You let out a sigh of relief, as if he was putting aloe vera on a sunburn. You had forgotten just how good his mouth felt between your legs. Clearly he felt similarly because he moaned in unison with you when he licked up the length of your slit. 

“Fuck, I missed the way you taste,” he mused, his breath fanning your soaked cunt before he continued exploring it with his tongue. He lapped at your inner walls while his nose gently nudged your clit, driving you wild in the process.

With both hands in his hair, you tugged on his locks. “Please, baby,” you begged. You didn’t have to say any more than that. He knew what you wanted. He dragged his tongue up to your clit and slowly drew circles around it as he inserted one, and then two fingers into your channel, causing you to arch your back and moan. Then he wrapped his lips around your sensitive bundle of nerves and sucked while his fingers curled inside of you, and that’s when you came tumbling over the edge. “Oh yes! Don’t stop! Fuck!”

He continued his actions until he felt you begin to relax, at which point he removed his mouth and fingers from your throbbing cunt and crawled back up to you, smiling down at you with his lips and chin glistening from your arousal. 

“How was that?” he asked, looking down at you earnestly as he stroked your hair. “Any pain?”

“None whatsoever,” you replied, smiling up at him. “It felt so fucking good.” 

A huge smile spread across his face. “Good,” he said as he leaned down to kiss you softly. 

As you kissed him back, you reached down between your bodies and wrapped your hand around his thick shaft, giving it a couple of pumps before gliding the tip through your slick folds. He let out little whimpers and huffs against your lips until finally he pulled away to look at you. 

“Are you sure you’re ready, sweetheart?” he asked softly, concern in his voice. 

“Yes,” you whined, bucking your hips. “I need you inside me so bad!”

He rested his forehead against yours, looking intensely into your eyes. “Tell me if anything feels even the slightest bit uncomfortable, okay?”

You cupped his face in your hands. “I’ll be fine, baby. I promise.” 

He rolled his hips slowly, gently pushing his length inside you until he was completely engulfed in you. You both groaned at the wonderful feeling. Then he stilled there for a moment and began giving you the softest little kisses. “I love you,” he whispered between kisses. “So much.” More kisses. “More than I can possibly express.”

“I love you too,” you replied softly, grinning widely against his lips while they caressed yours over and over in kisses sweeter than honey. 

You slowly began to move your hips, signaling to him you were ready for him to move, and he did just that. Slowly, he pulled back, and then carefully pushed forward again. You thought it was so sweet how gentle he was being with you. He repeated this over and over, all the while his lips lingered longer and longer on yours. A mix between a sigh and a moan escaped from your lungs and tangled with his own soft groans of pleasure as you were finally able to feel him move inside you again. You both kept that sensually slow pace for a while, reveling in the intense love coursing between your connected bodies, and then the tempo began to gradually increase. His breathing became more labored and his kisses sloppier. He moved his mouth to your neck, sucking almost desperately as he began to thrust into you. A breathy whimper escaped you with each snap of his hips, and you could feel the tension building in you, ready to release at any moment. 

“Tom,” you moaned, bucking your hips up to meet his at an even faster pace.

“Y/n,” he breathed needily in your ear.

You raked your nails across his back. “I’m gonna cum, baby. Please, come with me!” 

With a grunt, he lifted his head to look at you as he increased the speed and force of his thrusts. You met his gaze as you felt a warmth spread through your entire body once again. You felt your muscles tense and the coil in your belly tighten until it suddenly snapped. Your cunt clenched and fluttered around his cock in what you were certain was the most intense orgasm of your life, but you kept your eyes on him as you watched him come undone at the same time. You cried out each other's names while you rode out your collective high.

When you began to come down, you smiled brightly up at Tom, who beamed back at you, and you felt your eyes well up with tears. They fell down across your temples, through your hair, and onto the pillow. You knew this might have concerned Tom, had he not had tears in his own eyes as well, which fell onto your cheeks as he placed another deep kiss to your lips. 

When your lips finally parted, he rolled onto his back, bringing you with him so that you were laying on top of him. You rested your chin on his chest as you gazed lovingly at each other and he gently stroked your hair. Neither of you said anything for a long while, until Tom spoke seemingly out of nowhere.

“Marry me,” he said, barely above a whisper. 

It took a moment to process what he had said. You searched his face for any sign that he was joking. When you found none, you thought perhaps you heard him wrong. “What?”

“Marry me,” he repeated with a soft smile.

You smiled broadly and chuckled. “You’re mad,” you replied casually, though surely he could feel your heart beating fast against his stomach. 

“I might be,” he replied, his smile never faltering. “Does that mean your answer is ‘no?’”

“I don’t remember hearing a question,” you retorted as you moved to lay on your side next to him, propping yourself up on your elbow and looking down at him.

He chuckled, tracing your curves with the tips of his fingers. “Are linguistics your only concern here?”

You cupped his face in your hand as your expression turned earnest. “I’m just worried you haven’t thought this through, that maybe you’re just caught up in the moment.” 

Tom bit back a smile, as if thinking of some private joke only he was in on. 

“What?” you asked with a giggle. 

“Close your eyes.”

You gave him a questioning look, but did as he said anyway. As soon as your eyes were closed, you felt the bed shift, and then heard the sound of his bedside table drawer open and shut. The bed shifted again as Tom laid back down next to you. 

“Open,” he said.

You opened your eyes and the first thing you saw was Tom smiling back at you. He was lying on his side facing you, propped up on his elbow just as you were. The second thing you saw was the small black velvet box he was holding up in front of you. You looked at him wide-eyed.

“I bought this the day after we got back together,” he explained a bit sheepishly, looking down at the box. Then he looked back up at you. “So no, I’m not just caught up in the moment, but looking at you lying in my arms, looking more beautiful than anything I’d ever seen, I realised that I couldn’t wait any longer; I had to ask you now. But if this is too fast, I am more than willing to wait until you’re ready.”

“You still haven’t asked me anything yet,” you teased him, giggling through the tears in your eyes.

He laughed and shook his head at your adorable stubbornness that he loved so much. “Y/n,” he began affectionately. “I am more in love with you than I ever thought possible, and I couldn’t imagine my life without you. Will you please do me the honor of marrying me?” As he asked you this, he opened the box to reveal the most beautiful ring you’d ever seen. 

For a moment you were speechless. Tears streamed down your cheeks while you grinned like an idiot until you remembered how to breathe. “Yes,” you choked out.

Tom looked at you in awe. “Really?”

This made you laugh. “Of course, you silly sod!” 

You kissed him hard on the lips, throwing yourself on top of him and knocking the ring, which was still in the box, out of his hand in the process.

“Darling,” Tom mumbled against your lips after a few moments of shameless snogging. You pulled away only slightly to look at him. “I can return the ring if you don’t like it.”

“Oh shit!” You quickly scrambled off of your new fiancé and looked frantically around for the little black box. As soon as you found it, you took the ring out and admired it fondly. “Sorry, baby, I got so excited! I really do love it though.” You were sitting on your knees facing away from Tom, and about to put the ring on, when you felt his chest press against your back

“May I?” he asked softly in your ear. He took the ring from your grasp and delicately slipped it onto your left ring finger before wrapping both arms snug around your waist and resting his chin on your shoulder. 

“Chelsea and Emma are going to freak out,” you thought out loud with a giggle. “Whether it will be in a good way or a bad way, I’m not sure.”

Tom chuckled in your ear. “Emma actually helped me pick out the ring.”

You turned your head to look at him. “She knew you were going to propose??”

“And I’m willing to wager she told Chelsea too.” 

“Those sneaky bitches!” You exclaimed jokingly.

“It turns out they can keep a secret after all.” 

He placed a light kiss to your shoulder and then he tickled your sides, causing you to squeal and giggle while you tried to squirm out of his grasp. Your reaction only spurred him on however, so he continued tickling you.

“Thomas William!” You attempted to scold him through your laughter. “Cut it out!”

Eventually you were able to wiggle yourself free, crawling towards your pillow in an attempt to escape, but Tom quickly pinned you down and resumed tickling you while he laughed into the crook of your neck. 

You shrieked and giggled until you couldn’t take it anymore. “Okay! Okay! Jötunheim!”

He stopped and lifted his head, looking at you amused. “Did you just use our old safe word?” he asked with a chuckle.

You smirked and giggled. “Maybe… it worked, didn’t it?”

He laughed and released your hands from his grasp. “Touché, my darling,” he conceded as he moved to lay on his side. 

You turned to face him, tangling your legs with his and laying your head on the same pillow, your nose almost touching his. 

“Do you remember what we originally used that word for?” Tom asked as he began running his fingertips up and down your arm.

“Of course I do,” you replied with a chuckle. “We tried so hard just to be friends.”

A smirk spread across his face. “Well, you did at least.”

You gasped and swatted him playfully on the chest. “You didn’t try at all?”

“I tried a little!” he said in defense. “But what was I meant to do? I was madly in love with you!”

“You were not,” you argued, rolling your eyes despite the huge smile on your face.

“Oh believe me, I was. Excruciatingly so.” Tom inched his face closer to yours, lowering his voice as if he was telling you a secret. “From the moment I met you, I was done for.”

You giggled at his dramaticism. “You make it sound like a bad thing.”

“At the time, it was,” he said matter-of-factly. “I was doomed to love a woman who couldn’t love me back.” There wasn’t a hint of sadness or pain in his voice, but a pang of guilt resonated in your chest all the same, causing your smile to fade. Noticing this, he brought his hand up to gently caress your face, lightly stroking his thumb back and forth across your cheek. “Little did I know,” he continued, “that I would one day convince that very same woman to agree to be my wife.”

Your smile returned, a warm glow replacing the pain in your chest. “You didn’t ‘convince’ me of anything.” You softly rubbed the tip of your nose against his. “I promise you, Tommy. I am yours. I’ve been yours. Even when we were apart, I was yours, and I’ll be yours for the rest of our lives.”

Tom looked deep into your eyes, his lips just barely touching yours. “And I’m yours. No matter what. Forever and always.”

Roman opened his eyes to light shining in his face. It wasn't extremely unpleasant since it was warm, but his eyes burning was something he didn't want to continue. He rolled to the side of the bed and faced a...fireplace? Oh yeah...He was in a random person's house...after almost freezing to death..in the middle of a scary forest…

‘If I wasn't terrified, I’d make the joke that Remus would be so jealous.’ Roman thought as he slowly sat up in the bed. It seems the person he'd met last night was right about sleeping to gain strength back. He could actually use his arms now.

Sitting up he realized the room looked very different in the light of the day then in the dark of night. It was very nicely put together. The walls were a nice pale yellow with the beams in the ceiling exposed to show the nice dark lacquer. The furniture of the room matched the dark coloring of the exposed wood with some red and gold accents as well. The room looked regal, and expensive, dramatic even. Roman felt a bit out of place.

Roman closed his eyes and leaned his head back. He took a deep breath in through his nose and out through his mouth. He still felt a bit out of his wits, but he was starting to calm down a bit in the quiet of the morning.

“Hello!!” A loud voice said from his right.

This caused Roman to startle so bad he was within inches of falling off the bed. Most of the  sense of calmness he worked up immediately was lost in a matter of seconds. Roman brought his hand up to his rapidly beating heart as he took gulping breaths in.

“Oh no! Don’t worry! I’m not here to hurt you! I just wanted to say hi and actually meet you! You kinda died last time we met and I just wanted to make sure you are okay! Daddy says you just got really really cold and when I’m really cold I like warm hugs but I’ve been told that I’m supposed to ask people if they want a hug first but I couldn't ask you because you fell asleep.” The child took a deep breath since they had not since they started speaking.

Roman took a long moment to catch up to what the child had said. They just spoke so fast with such expressiveness Roman couldn't keep up. Let alone he was sure this room was empty not a minute before the child had spoken.

The child stood in the corner of the room with an amazingly bright smile. They rocked back a forth on their heels making their curly brown hair bounce around with them. The child was wearing light blue overall with a pastel yellow shirt that had white flowers embroidered on it. They looked to be around 8 years old and if Roman remembered correctly this was the kid that opened the door last night. Did he ever get their name? He couldn't remember.

Roman realized that the child was waiting for an answer to their question. Their question to….Oh! Hug Roman. They wanted a hug. From Roman? And he doesn't even remember the kids name. But the longer Roman took to answer the more the kid was looking dejected. Panicking, Roman answered them.

“Umm. I...Suppose?” Roman slowly opened his arms.

The child's face lit up like a kid on Christmas morning and climbed up the bed. The speed at which this child climbed up to him surprised Roman a little. They crawled into Romans arms and burrowed their face into Romans chest. Roman sat frozen for a long minute, then slowly lowered his arms around the small child.

For someone so small, they were quite warm. Roman couldn't remember the last time he had had a real hug. Distantly he thought about how it was kind of sad that the first hug he could remember was from a child that he didn't even know the name of. But he pushed that thought aside and squeezed the small child a little tighter.

He was very surprised at how trusting this child was. He was basically a stranger to this kid and yet they were so...comfortable around him. He had never met someone so trusting, even for a child.

“You know there's a spell on your door, right?” The child spoke suddenly, interrupting Romans thoughts and still huddled close.

“Oh there is, is there? How so?” Roman smirked. He missed the whimsical way children would speak. This one must have a big imagination. Much like Roman did when he was their age.

“You can’t see it? Look!” The child turned and shuffled so he was still close to Roman, but was now seated at his side under his arm.

They then pointed at the door and looked up at Roman with big, excited eyes.

“Look at the door! There's a yellow outline around it! That means daddy put a spell on it!” The child smiled brightly, then suddenly it turned into a childish pout. “I don’t know what it is though. I haven't been able to find out cause I’m not good at magic.” They huffed as they crossed their arms.

“Aww hey bud don’t say that! I’m sure you’ll get better. You just need some practice is all! Do you have a wand or something? Maybe I can help you!” Roman replied, smiling at the kid. Their eyes started to shine with unbridled excitement.

“You know magic!?” They asked, jumping off the bed.

“Of course I do! I’m a Prince after all! All princes know magic in some way! I just haven't practiced in a long time so forgive me if I’m a bit rusty.” Roman said with a smile as he also finally got out of bed. He got to his feet just fine, though he still felt a little weak. Though it was something he could easily brush off, the room was spinning a bit. But he had a child to entertain! And playing pretend was Romans favorite game. Roman took a deep breath and pushed past his slight weakness.

Roman walked to stand near the kid at the foot of the bed.

“Now! Where is this wand of yours?” He asked the excitable child.

“Oh, I don’t have one! Dad said that I draw my magic from the earth and stuff. So anything thats alive I can draw my power from!” They said with a big toothy grin, striking a power pose.

“Wow that's really cool! You must have been doing this magic stuff for a long time to know so much.” Roman praised. He would admit that was quite detailed for a child. But being this far out in the woods he's sure he could come up with some expensive magic lore as well.

“Well yea,” the child said, “Dad said I was born a witch!”

Roman continued to smile and nod even though he didn't quite understand. The person he talked to last night seemed quite nice. Definitely not the type to call their child a witch from birth. Though that's a pretty small insult so the child most likely didn't understand. He supposed he didn't actually know the person… Maybe he wasn't as kind as he had originally thought.

Roman thought it best to continue to play along with the child. They seemed to be having fun and Roman had to admit that he was also getting a bit into the game of make-believe. “Well that is really cool! I myself was born a Prince as you were born a witch. But not too long ago an evil woman tried to take away my title! So I ran away to live on my own and chose to keep my name as Prince Roman.” As Roman told his short tale the child listened with rapt attention.

“Woooww! That's amazing you must be so stroongg!! That lady must be so mean! I’m gonna beat her up for you!” They brought their fists up to show their...lack luster strength. But Roman appreciated the sentiment.

“That's okay kid. I don’t think I’m gonna see her again. I don’t want to go back there anymore anyway. Now! Let's do some magic! Show what you can do!”

“Okay!” They said. “But…” The child got really close to Roman and pulled him down by the sleeve to whisper in his ear. “Don’t tell my dad. He doesn’t like when I do magic in the house when he can’t watch.”

Roman smiled at the new seriousness that the child took on. Roman mimicked the same eer a well.

“You have a Prince's honor.” Roman said as he raised his right arm.

The kid gave him a once over. Seemingly finding what they were looking for, they took a step back and closed their eyes.They took several deep breaths and held their hands palm up in front of themself. While continuing to breath, they started to sway a bit.

Roman continued watching closely to see how long this kid was gonna commit to the whole ‘I can do magic’ thing. He was waiting for something small to happen, like a creek in the floorboards or a sudden draft, to blame on the kid. He would of course hype it up to say they moved a mountain or caused an incoming storm.

But before either of them even had a chance to speak up, heavy footsteps could be heard bounding toward the closed door. The door banged open hitting the wall, which caused Roman to jump. In the doorway to reveal a less than pleased looking Janus with a small child poised on their hip.

They paused at the door seeing that Roman was out of bed and standing next to the foot of the bed. His son was in the center of the room, doing his deep breathing exercise he had taught him to help manage his magic. Looks like he showed up just in time.

Roman stood frozen, starting at the person in the doorway. Were they the same person that he had met last night? They looked so much different in the light of the day. The slim, yet on the shorter side. They had dark black curly hair mostly covered by their circular black hat. They were wearing a yellow turtleneck sweater tucked into black high waisted pinstripe pants.

The small child they were holding was hiding their face in the sweater. They were wearing a small purple beanie that covered their black hair. The scared child was holding a stuffed toy of the cartoon animal Stitch so tight his tiny knuckles were white. They couldn't have been any older than 3 years old.

Janus finished assessing the scene in front of him and finally spoke up, addressing his child.

“Patton dear, what have I told you about magic without my knowledge?” Janus asked, slightly bouncing the toddler.

“To not do it in the house…” Patton said, hanging his head.

Janus sighed. “It's okay honey. Just want to make sure you're safe while...playing.” He said the last word slowly, while looking directly at Roman.

“But dad! He said he's a Prince! And that he knows magic as well! He was going to help me learn to control my magic more and then I was going to help him beat up some old lady who tried to make him not be a Prince!” They said looking back and forth between Roman and Janus. All previous shame gone in an instant.

“Is he now?” Janus inquired. “Well here I was treating you like a normal person.” Janus looked over Roman, who looked very uncomfortable, and bowed deeply. The child on his hip started to giggle, peeking their eyes out. “Now, your highness I promised you breakfast this morning but since you are already up you can join the rest of us at our table? I can guarantee it won’t be as grand as you are used too, but I’m sure we can work something out.” He grabbed the child that was on his hip under their arms and placed them by his feet. “Patton dear, can you take your little brother to the dining room and set up a bit? Breakfast will be done shortly and I wish to speak with the Prince.”

“Okay daddy! Let's go Virgey! I pour you some juice and then we can color!” Patton grabbed the little child's hand as skipped out of the room. If Roman would have looked any closer he might have seen the door glow a faint yellow for a second, before the color faded away.

Janus watched his kids leave the room with a small smile on his face. After they were completely out of earshot Janus turned fully to Roman.

“So. A Prince you say?” Janus asked.

Roman was extremely uncomfortable. He felt like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Yet there was really no reason to feel this way. He just… did when people talked to him. He always just assumes he's in trouble. He decided though that the truth is the best course of action here.

“Haha yeah no not really. Patton just seemed really into the whole magic thing so I thought I’d play along. They are very sweet…”

“They?” Janus asked, raising an eyebrow. It was off topic from where he wanted to go in his questioning, but his curiosity caused him to pose the question anyway.

Roman froze. Did he fuck up again? He shouldn't have let the slip when he didn't know how tolerant these people were. They were as close as you could be to living under a rock. They were so far in the forest.

Then again maybe they would be cool with it? It's not like Roman knew the gender of any of the people here so he just… Didn’t want to assume anything.

But that excuse did not work in his family. When he said that before he had gotten a long lecture from just about everyone in his family. It was like they all took turns, repeating the exact same ignorant shit. He remembers leaving that specific Christmas party and just crying alone in his apartment. That was not a good night.

Roman was so lost in thought he didn't even realize when Janus took a few steps closer to him. Shaking his head slightly to clear his thoughts Roman looked back up to Janus. He took a deep breath and hid his slightly shaking hands behind his back. He decided he might as well try and explain the truth again.

“I...I didn't want to assume any of your genders and none of you explicitly told me. I didn't want to be rude.” Roman said not directly looking at Janus.

Janus was largely taken aback. He was not expecting the stranger to be so...considerate. Janus looked the stranger up and down, searching for any sign he was lying to him. Finding nothing that could condemn him as such he decidedly spoke instead.

“Well that's very kind of you. I myself go by he/him. Both my sons do for now, but they are welcome to say otherwise whenever, or if ever, they wish. You?” Janus asked slowly.

“Umm… He/him as well…” Roman answered in a slightly shocked state. He never in a million years thought that Janus would be so chill about it all. It was such a stark reaction to everyone he had ever talked to about these things. Except the one person at the theater he had met, they were very chill since they were nonbinary. Roman had learned a lot from them.

But even if Janus was chill now, Roman still felt that everyone had a limit. So maybe he should just say he only used he/him and grin and bare it for now.

“Mhmm,” Janus hummed, “Okay, now that that's out of the way, I would like to know when my son came into the room? I happened to be taking Virgil to the kitchen when I heard Pat from outside the door. How long had he been here?”

Janus seemed slightly concerned, and Roman only had a few guesses why. Most of which included leaving a child with a random stranger that they had only met last night. But once he started to think about it, he knew when Patton scared him, but not how he came in. Surly Roman would have seen the door open; it faced the bed. Roman took a few steps back till he took a seat on the bed.

“To be honest I don’t quite remember when he got in here. I didn't see him come in, only when he scared the beegeebies out of me when he said hi. So maybe only about 20 minutes? I’m sorry. I understand why you wouldn't want me around your kids. I don't know you and you don’t know me. Sorry I randomly showed up at your door. Pat and I didn't do much, just played a bit of pretend before you showed up. Oh and he also wanted a hug when he first showed up. Sorry if you didn't want me too but he just looked like he would cry if I said no and I didnt want that so he crawled on the bed and we talked about magic for a bit.” Roman said, speeding toward the because he was running out of breath. He was also getting a bit anxious at the way Janus was just staring at him.

Janus was more interested in the fact that they talked about magic more than he was that Patton had hugged him. Pat was a very touchy child. His biological parents were very giving when it came to physical affection, so Patton was very used to it when he was taken in by Janus. Janus had to get used to Patton just running and hugging him. It had taken quite a while to teach him to ask first.

“Oh you talked about magic? What did Pat say?” Janus inquired.

Roman was a bit confused at the path the questions were taking. But not wanting to upset Janus anymore then he assumed he already had, Roman answered anyway.

“Umm.. Ye-yea. He told me the door had a spell on it and told me that he's bad at magic. And I’m never one to turn down a kid's wild imagination so I entertained him a bit. I told him that I would help him practice since I’m a magic Prince. You showed up right before he showed me any of his magic tricks though. I was just playing along with him, not trying to lie.”

Janus sighed and nodded his head. He looked around the room seemingly trying to find something to say.

“Okay. Well, I’d appreciate it if you weren't alone with my children. You are still a stranger to us and I’m not willing to trust you yet. You should probably feel the same about me. Now, let's take this talk to the dining room and we can decide where to go from here. Follow me.” As Janus finished he turned around, waved from Roman to follow, then walked out the door.

Not wanting to keep Janus waiting, he quickly followed him, still not noticing the faintly glowing door.

Next Chapter!

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