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So, I got this idea because I was thinking about how Deceit had a bunch of arms in the Forbidden Fruit video, and I was thinking about how, if someone had that many arms, you could probably knit/crochet while you were doing something else (or even crochet multiple things at the same time?). And then I realized that I really like the idea of Janus doing yarn crafts (probably 'Cuz I like making things out of yarn lol).

And so here we are, with a weird fic in which I decide Janus likes to crochet 'Cuz I get obsessive over things, and those things are currently Janus and crocheting…

Also, I SWEAR this one isn't as angsty as my other longer TSS fics (I know I say that about super angsty stuff too, but the angst is toned way down this time).

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Janus had a secret. Or, well, he had a lot of secrets- that came with the territory of being Deceit- but only one of those secrets was particularly relevant to his current activities. Or, maybe a few of them were, depending on if you counted them as part of the same secret or not, but, well.

It didn't really matter.

The point was that Janus had something he wanted to hide from the others. It wasn't anything evil or conniving or whatever other villainous secret the others would assume he was hiding. No, his secret really was rather mundane.

Simply, Deceit had a love for yarn crafts. He made clothes sometimes, but he particularly enjoyed making stuffed animals. It was a nice hobby to have between plotting the fall of society and contributing to Thomas's constant moral/personal dilemmas.

Of course, this secret wasn't really a big deal. It really was exactly as he'd described it- mundane. Just about anyone else wouldn't have any qualms about people knowing that they enjoyed making things from yarn, and he was reasonably certain that the majority of people wouldn't judge someone for having such a hobby. And it wasn't like Janus was looking down on his own hobby or anything (He wasn't- that would just be stupid, wouldn't it?).

The issue was that, even though Janus knew that most people wouldn't mock him for it, he felt it was rather likely that the others would judge him for it.

Well, he highly doubted Patton would laugh at him for it. Patton loved cute things, and his bedroom (the actual bedroom part) was covered in various stuffed toys. Hell, he wouldn't have been surprised if Patton himself had an interest similar to his.

And one would think that Patton, loveable, perfect Patton, having potentially similar interests would reassure him about his own hobby. Surely, the others wouldn't mock him for behaving similarly to their beloved Morality, would they?

Except Janus knew that, despite the usually-good relationship Patton had with the other sides, they often looked down on him for his childishness. Especially Logan, even though Janus knew the man had a damn unicorn onesie (In the back of his mind, there was a little reminder that the sides, and even Thomas himself, were all a bit childish at times in their own ways, but that still didn't provide any reassurance, and so he usually dismissed it). Patton wasn't looked down on as much as he used to be, but it had taken a lot to get to that point, and it wasn't like it didn't still happen sometimes.

And the thing was that Janus had only been accepted relatively recently, and though the others no longer flipped out every time he entered a room, they still had plenty of reasons to want to hurt him, to want to tear him down.

So, even if the others were completely fine with Patton having somewhat 'childish' hobbies, he knew that the story would be different if he were the side in question.

Virgil still hated him, so he would take any opportunity to drive him off. He would probably find some way to convince himself and the others that the things he made were somehow part of some kind of devious plan. Logan would think he was silly, and he would probably stop taking him seriously and just disregard his future input. He wasn't sure how Remus would react. It would probably depend on the day. He might think that the toys were cool one day and make fun of him for it another day.

And Roman…

Roman would probably mock him relentlessly. Even putting their issues with each other aside, Roman had a habit of mocking even the sides he cared about, sometimes harshly. And if Roman was like that to his friends, how would he act toward an enemy?

And okay, fine, maybe it wouldn't be the end of the world if the others no longer took Janus seriously, no longer held that bit of fear toward him that convinced them to occasionally listen to him. No, the bigger problem would be that, if Thomas's sides stopped taking Deceit seriously, then Thomas would stop taking him seriously.

(He didn't want to think about how much it would hurt if/when the others found out about his hobby and mocked him- how much it would pain him to have his hard, meticulous work dismissed and judged, how much it would hurt for him to be judged- more than he already was, at least)

As it was, Janus had just finished his latest creation. It was a snake, the largest one he'd made yet. It was over ten feet long, and he'd used different stitches and multiple colors of yarn to create a complex pattern on the snake's 'scales', and he was incredibly proud of it. It was time-consuming, yes, but it was also his best work yet. He'd been working on it for months during any bits of free time he had, and now that it was done, he felt like the pay-off was worth it. It was pretty and soft and he could wrap it around himself if he wanted to.

And he did want to. That was why he had made it, after all- it was a stuffed animal, but it was also a kind of pillow.

That, really, was another part of why he was so worried about what would happen if the others found out about his secret (or, well, okay maybe that was the bigger reason. Or, most of the reason). Because he didn't just make the stuffed animals- he also slept with them, decorated his room with them, and sometimes- when he was sure he was completely alone and no one would bother him- he would play with them. And though he knew that most people wouldn't judge him for making stuffed animals, a lot of people would judge him for actually using them for their main intended purpose.

(And why shouldn't he play with them? That was one- of many- reasons Deceit hated society. Society declared that adults shouldn't still want to play with toys, and even younger boys were often discouraged from playing with stuffed animals. But that wasn't fair- though society rarely ever was. Even still, he wasn't hurting anyone, and he enjoyed it, so why should society and its expectations dictate what he did with his spare time? It wasn't like other, more socially-acceptable adult hobbies were a better use of his time. Hell, at least he was creating something. He could just spend his free time watching football or something, and society would judge him less, if at all. But, society rant aside, he played with his creations regardless.)

He didn't 'play' with them in quite the same way he had when he was a child. Back then, his playing was more based on things like tea parties and making them talk to each other and such. Now, he mostly dressed them up and came up with little stories for them, sometimes positioning them quietly and imagining the voices. He didn't want to risk anyone hearing him. If they did, he would probably have to convince whoever heard him that he was talking to himself, and he really didn't need to have the others questioning his sanity.

Janus already knew what he was going to name his newest creation- Sir Slithers the Brave. Really, he just found the hamster thing Roman did to be funny, so he adapted the name to be more fitting of a snake. Maybe he shouldn't give something he spent months on a joke for a name, but it was his creation, so he could do whatever he wanted with it.

But Janus had stayed up late putting the finishing touches on the snake, and he was tired. He had to get to bed, or else he would be groggy and, more than likely, irritated in the morning, so he should go to bed to preemptively prevent whatever conflict was likely to happen if he didn't.

So, Janus got ready for bed, wrapping Sir Slithers around himself before settling in for the night.

XXX

The next morning, Janus had gotten ready for the day the same way he always did, and then he left his room to go eat only difference in what had once been his typical morning routine was that he ate breakfast in the Light Sides' kitchen, now. Janus had only started doing so because Patton thought that he wasn't eating anything, and the moral side had started nagging him. Of course, he was eating, just not with the Light Sides (which, really shouldn't have been surprising to Patton considering the fact that Janus was only recently even allowed in their half of the mindscape). Now that Thomas had accepted him and more-or-less tolerated Remus, the separation of the mind palace into 'Light' and 'Dark' was rather pointless. Despite that, Roman wasn't exactly motivated to do any remodeling to change that, so the halves were still separate, and each side had its own kitchen. Virgil had moved his room intentionally, but Janus saw no need to do the same (at least, no need to move it from the Dark Side. He actually moved it around different locations within the Dark Side semi-often). He wasn't trying to escape from the Dark Side, and he, in fact, prefered not being any closer to the Lights (and any potential symbolism of it after being accepted was pointless). And so, Janus still technically lived on the 'Dark Side', and it was a hell of a lot easier for him to just eat in the kitchen he was closer to.

But no, Patton wouldn't accept that he was telling that truth about eating a balanced diet, and so, the fatherly side had roped him into eating meals in the Light Side, usually with the others (which was frankly a pain, both because of the longer walk and because he was accustomed to eating meals alone, without anyone bothering him since Remus rarely ate at typical mealtimes).

When he entered the kitchen, he found that Logan was the only one who was awake yet, or at least, the only one in the kitchen. The other side was drinking coffee and eating toast smeared with Crofter's- the meal Janus had come to recognize as the side's go-to breakfast.

He was glad that Logan was the only side around at the moment, as Logan didn't mind his presence as much as Virgil or Roman, and he didn't pester him like Patton.

"Hello, Deceit," the logical side spoke as he entered.

"Good morning, Logan," Janus returned the greeting, going over to the stove to start the tea kettle.

And then Logan went back to eating his toast and left Janus alone, which he was grateful for.

As the water boiled, Janus took out the bread and began making his own toast. He and the logical side both usually ate the same thing for breakfast, though Janus usually put a different brand of jam on his toast. It wasn't that he didn't like Crofter's- it was a damn good jelly; rather, he just liked watching Logan glare at the jar of off-brand preserves every time he took it out. It was funny. The cool, 'emotionless', logical side still couldn't hold back a glare at the sight of Janus betraying Crofter's.

Not long after he had finished making his toast, the water was boiling, so Janus took out his mug and an earl grey tea bag. Then, he sat at the table to eat at about the same time that Logan was finished.

"Farewell, Deceit," said Logan as he stood from the table.

Deceit gave him a simple wave and began eating his own breakfast in peace.

… Until Patton skipped into the room less than a minute later.

"Good morning, Jan!" Patton chirped, far too cheerful for someone who was awake this early in the morning and who hadn't yet consumed a caffeinated beverage.

"Yes, good morning, Patton."

"Did you sleep well, kiddo?"

Janus mentally bristled for the briefest moment. He knew Patton wasn't making fun of him- Patton didn't know anything about his hobbies. But even still, the fatherly side's nicknaming, combined with Deceit's own knowledge of how he went to bed last night, almost made him worry that Patton did know and was making fun of him. Which was ridiculous because Patton referred to people as 'kiddos' all the time. It was just something he did, and he highly doubted that Patton meant anything by it (though Patton had been trying to infantilize Virgil less lately, so maybe if Janus asked him to, he would stop. But Janus also didn't want to risk making Patton upset by doing so).

And so Janus just nodded.

"Well, that's great!"

Patton started clattering pans around, and to be honest, Janus didn't actually know what the other side was making. Patton had two modes in the kitchen: cookies and god knows what. His cookies were pretty good- fantastic, actually. But whenever Patton was left to his own devices in the kitchen without someone else supervising, he more often than not made something kind of awful. He'd gotten better as Thomas learned to cook more, but just because Patton's food (usually) no longer made others gag didn't mean that it was good.

Not like he would say that, of course.

"So, what are you making, Patton?"

"Oh, I'm making some omelettes!" Patton replied. "Virgil said he was gonna try to be up early today, so I wanted to make him a nice breakfast."

"... What are the pickles for, then?" Janus questioned grimly, trying to keep his voice sounding interested rather than confused.

"I was gonna put them in the omelettes," Patton replied.

"Ah."

Janus didn't even bother mentioning the chocolate chips. He hoped that Patton was thinking about making cookies later, but he had a feeling that Patton would have taken them out later if that was the case, and they were sitting just a bit too close to the eggs and cheese.

Janus quickly finished his toast and drained his cup of tea. He washed his dishes while Patton started cracking eggs into a bowl.

"Well, I should be going, then."

"Oh, alright. Will I see you at lunch?"

He mentally sighed. Why hadn't Patton given up on this yet? He had proved he was eating- three square meals, fruits and vegetables and all- so why did Patton care which kitchen he ate in?

"Sure."

"Then I'll see you later, kiddo!"

Janus left the kitchen and began making his way back to his room so he could start his work for the day. He didn't want to be around when Virgil got up, nor did he want to watch Virgil force himself to eat Patton's food without making a face.

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