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Pretty much this entire chapter requires Remus-related warnings.

I will also be posting an extra chapter (the next one) that goes into more detail about what happened with Remus. I'm posting it separately because it's a lot more angsty and has some potentially upsetting content, so it's skippable if you don't want to read it (it'll be up in a little bit). It has a slight self harm warning, so please skip next chapter if you don't want to read that.

It shouldn't really matter whether you read that or this chapter first, as long as you read last chapter.

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When Janus went to talk to him, it turned out that Remus had been having a hard time managing his own intrusive thoughts and creative energy lately. An unfortunate side effect of this was that Remus didn't have enough control over what he was doing to keep it from affecting Thomas, hence the nightmares. More unfortunately, Remus was aware of the problems he was causing but still couldn't help it, which only fueled the more negative aspects of Dark Creativity's thought processes, creating a cycle that fed into itself and just kept making the problem worse.

Janus found him in the corner of his bedroom, digging his nails into the fabric of his sleeves and repeatedly mumbling something about sticking his hand on a stove. Once Janus absorbed the state the other side was in, he walked further into the room, but Remus didn't seem to have noticed he was there until the deceitful side knelt down and lightly grasped his hands.

Eventually, Janus managed to help Remus calm down enough for him to offer to let Remus sleep in his room for the night (Which was something he hadn't ever offered him before, but apparently his room helped Thomas, so it might help Remus, too. And though there was still lingering concern about his room's potential negative effects, all of Janus's frustration flew out the window upon seeing Remus, so he thought it should be safe enough).

And so it happened that Remus and Janus had a slumber party, sleeping on the couch like he did with Thomas and Patton. Remus had been shockingly tired after everything and fell asleep almost immediately.

And then he woke up at the crack of dawn, full of energy, and though Janus could clearly see that the man still wasn't feeling so great, it was an improvement over the night before, at least.

"Hey, Dee!" Remus greeted him. "It's about time you woke up!"

"... Remus, it's 5:30 in the morning…"

"Yeah," Remus spoke. "But I was thinking- what if pigeons were as tall as skyscrapers, and they crushed people every time they walked? And when they flew, they made giant tornados and blew all the buildings and people away."

This wasn't the strangest or most disturbing thing he'd heard Remus say by far, so Janus didn't even change his expression as he sat up.

"Well, I imagine there would be far more pigeon-related casualties if that were the case," he replied.

"Yeah there would!" the man agreed. "How many, do ya think?"

"I think it would depend on how many of the giant pigeons there were, Remus."

"Oh. I don't know. Like, at least 10, probably."

"It would also depend on whether the pigeons were living in a densely populated area, as well as how fast they were," Janus continued. "You would also have to account for how easily people would be able to kill them and how quickly they can grow and reproduce to maintain the giant pigeon population."

"Ooooooooooh. I should totally test it on one of Roman's villages in the imagination," Remus said with a nod. "I bet he'd get soooooo angry! And once I perfect my giant pigeons, I can use them to step on Roman's stupid, giant head!"

And that made Janus himself crack a small smile, even though he knew he, technically, shouldn't be amused by the thought of a giant pigeon stepping on the lighter half of Thomas's creativity.

(Maybe that was the point when he realized that, not only had Remus likely been lonely, but that he had missed spending time with the more chaotic side himself. And maybe he thought that Remus had likely gotten so upset because everyone was ignoring him, even Janus, who was supposed to be his friend. And maybe he wanted to start remedying that.)

XXX

After that, Janus started spending more time with Remus, more often than not inviting him to his own room because Remus's bedroom was usually covered in any number of mysterious substances that Janus had absolutely no desire to identify.

It was… nice spending more time with Remus again. Lately, he'd been absorbed in so many various things, from trying to get the others to listen to him, to working on his projects, to just plain brooding alone, that he'd ended up neglecting the other side. And Janus knew that the others wanted Remus around even less than they wanted him around, despite Thomas technically 'accepting' him (even though being accepted in Remus's case was more of just accepting that nothing could really be done about him, so he should just be ignored instead of trying to drive him off, so that wasn't really being 'accepted' at all. Not in any of the ways that mattered, at least).

So, Janus had been making more of an effort to work on his friendship with Remus. Janus was still rather lonely himself, but he could, in theory, have a quick chat with Patton, Logan, or Thomas without them being too disgusted at his presence. Remus didn't really have that. After Virgil left the Dark Side, Janus was really the only person he had left to turn to, and he'd been too focused on himself to notice that he was drifting away (Sometimes, it was hard for him not to act selfishly- that was his job- but that didn't mean he had an excuse to ignore his friend. His chest filled with guilt whenever he thought about it too much).

Remus had come over again and started chattering for a while, and Janus listened, occasionally inserting a comment or two about one of Remus's ideas, until the point when Remus was rolling around on the floor and suddenly stopped talking as he shoved a hand under the couch.

"Remus? What exactly are you doing?"

And then Remus removed his hand, holding one of Deceit's crochet hooks. It must have rolled under the couch at some point. Janus immediately felt his heart sink.

"Hey, Dee, do you crochet?!" Remus asked excitedly.

"What?! No!" Deceit immediately denied.

"Why do you have a crochet hook, then?"

Janus crossed his arms and turned up his nose.

"I have no idea how that got there! It's not mine!"

"Deeeeee, come on!"

"Drop it, Remus."

"Okay."

"..."

"... I meant this topic of conversation, not my crochet hook."

"Ha! I knew it was yours!" Remus grinned. "So, what do you make, Dee?"

"Nothing, Remus!" Janus hissed, a blush tinting the human half of his face.

"Oooooh, you're blushing! You're blushing!" Remus teased. "I bet you make something embarrassing! Like… like d*ck hats!"

Janus's blush only got deeper at Remus's words, making the other side interpret it in the complete wrong way.

"Wait, do you actually crochet d*ck hats?"

"Of course not!" Janus sputtered. "I don't even know what that is!"

"Hats shaped like d*cks, of course."

"Remus, oh my god, no. That's not what I make."

"Well, what do you make, then? Come on, Dee, show meeeeeeee," Remus insisted.

Janus buried his face in his hands, trying to settle the blush on his face (he wasn't sure if it was caused more by the fact that Remus was two steps from discovering his embarrassing secret or from Remus claiming he crocheted hats shaped like genitalia). Remus could, of course, tell that Janus was embarrassed.

"It can't possibly be worse than what I just said, Dee," Remus told him.

He mulled the words over in his head.

"That's… a fair point," Janus eventually relented. "Fine. But if you make fun of me, I'm taking away all of your deodorant."

Janus stood from the couch, untangling his legs from the blankets.

"You would never!"

Remus also stood to follow him as the deceitful side stepped over to his bedroom. Janus hesitated again.

"I'm serious. Don't laugh."

"I won't!"

(Janus reminded himself that Remus was almost always honest. If he said he wouldn't laugh, that meant he believed he wouldn't. And sure, maybe Remus only believed what he said because he didn't know, but Remus really did have a point earlier. Anything would be less embarrassing than that, and, if anything, Remus would probably be glad if he made… such hats. He still had his doubts, the back of his mind telling him that, even if Remus didn't laugh now, he would mock him later, but he decided not to listen to it. They'd been friends for forever, even if Deceit grew distant at times, and really, thinking logically told him that Remus, of all sides, wasn't the judgemental type.)

And so, he opened his bedroom door, letting Remus inside. As soon as the other man entered the room, Janus knew he saw the stuffed animals. How would he not have? They were all over the place, and they were all very obviously crocheted.

Janus remained in the doorway, arms crossed as he tried (ineffectively) to interpret Remus's body language, trying to figure out if any little movement suggested that Remus was about to start laughing at him.

Remus went further into the room, a casual, energetic bounce in his step. He walked over to Janus's dresser, which, just like just about every other piece of furniture in the room, was covered in his creations.

"Awe, they're so cute!" Remus exclaimed suddenly. "You really made these, Dee?!"

Janus started blushing again, though he felt some degree of relief at the fact that Remus hadn't immediately mocked him as soon as he saw the toys.

"... Maybe."

"Can I touch one?"

"... Sure."

Remus reached out and picked up the jellyfish Janus crocheted about three years ago. He grabbed one of the tentacle stingers and moved it around a bit. Janus just felt his blush grow deeper.

"Why are you all embarrassed, Dee? They're cute!"

Janus couldn't quite find the words to explain that the toys being cute was very much a part of why he was embarrassed. A second later, Remus fully turned his attention away from the toy to look at Janus and saw him blushing in the doorway. He set the toy back down gently and went over to him, his face marginally more serious than usual.

"Seriously, why are you embarrassed? It's not even like they suck or anything," Remus questioned. "I mean, I wouldn't have guessed you'd like this kind of thing, but there's nothing wrong with it."

"I… I know…"

"Do you? 'Cuz it seems like you're pretty embarrassed about it," Remus pointed out.

Janus shifted uncomfortably. Of course he logically knew there was nothing wrong with what he did, but telling himself that never did stop the embarrassment or fear of judgement.

"Deeeeeeeeee."

Remus threw an arm around his shoulder.

"Come on, why are you so embarrassed? This isn't like you, Snakey."

Janus took a deep breath. He could trust Remus, right?

"... 'Cuz I'm a grown man who makes… and plays… with stuffed animals…," he admitted, adding in that little bit of detail that made his secret truly embarrassing. "... That's not exactly… a common pastime for someone in their thirties. The others will laugh if they find out."

"So what? Since when do you care about what people think?" asked Remus.

"I don't want people to make fun of me and the things I worked hard on."

"Well, if they laugh at you, then fuck 'em, ya know? These are really cool, Dee, and you can do whatever you want with them. If anyone judges you for it, then they're just a poopy butthole."

Janus snorted.

"See, there we go!" Remus spoke, grinning. "Oh, this is so great! Who knew Deceit had a creative side?! Hey, Dee, do you think you could teach me how to crochet too?! I could crochet my own little toy army, and then we could have a stuffed animal death match! Or a tea party! Or whatever you like to do with them!"

Janus's chest felt a lot lighter now. Remus's words were actually (shockingly) pretty encouraging. And sure, he still didn't feel comfortable sharing his hobby with the others, but now he knew that Remus was not only okay with it, but had an interest in participating. Now that the bandaid was gone, he felt silly for ever doubting the other man.

"Do… Do you really want to?" he asked hesitantly.

"I mean, yeah," Remus replied. "I'm Creativity! Creating's kinda my thing, you know? Ooooooooo, can you teach me how to make an octopus?!"

And then Janus smiled wider than he had in a while. Here he was, his friend accepting one of his most embarrassing aspects of himself- his friend who actually enjoyed spending time with him (and who he enjoyed spending time with as well). This was… This was nice. Being accepted by Thomas was something he'd always wanted, but maybe what he'd had before wasn't so bad, either.

"Sure."

"Woo! I'm gonna give it fangs!"

"Maybe you should start with something a little simpler, first, though."

"Aaaaaw, you're no fun, Dee!"

XXX

To everyone's surprise, Remus actually cooled down after Janus went to talk to him, and for a long while after, Thomas didn't have any nightmares at all. Thomas had been getting more rest than he had in a while, and most of the occupants of the mind palace were benefiting from it- even Virgil had felt a lessening of his anxiety as a result, though it was, of course, present as always.

Virgil's good mood was almost enough to let him let go of his paranoia about what Janus was up to, but it wasn't quite enough. He still feared that Janus was up to something, and after Janus told Patton he was spending more time with Remus in response to Patton's questions about Janus eating with them less, Virgil was now afraid that Remus had joined in on whatever scheme Janus was working on.

Except Virgil and Roman didn't really have another plan yet. Of course, they were glad that Thomas was sleeping better, but with Remus no longer causing problems, they no longer had an excuse for getting into Janus's room.

Virgil and Roman had been sitting at the kitchen table, technically planning but not having actually done much more than sip coffee, when Patton came in, dragging Janus behind him.

"Heya, Kiddos!" the fatherly side greeted. "I'm gonna start lunch! Janus is going to be joining us today!"

"For Christ's sake, Patton, I told you I've been eating!" Janus hissed, though there was very little bite to it.

"I know, I know," replied Patton. "But you haven't been eating with us very much lately, so…"

"I also told you the reason for that…," Janus grumbled as he started getting the bread out for Patton.

"Oh, thanks, Kiddo," Patton said as he took it. "And it's great that you're spending time with him! I just thought we could have lunch together today."

Janus sighed, going over to the fridge to get out cheese and butter while Patton clattered around for a pan. They could hear Janus mumbling something under his breath, but it was too quiet to hear the words.

And then Roman sent a pointed look to Virgil.

"What was my brother up to, anyway?" Roman asked.

Deceit froze for a moment, hesitating as he closed the fridge door.

"Why do you care?" he questioned, keeping his voice level, though there was still an undertone of accusation.

Roman crossed his arms.

"Well, he was clearly up to something if it was affecting Thomas that badly," replied the man.

Janus brought the ingredients over to Patton, checking to make sure Patton wasn't trying to introduce any extra ingredients on his own.

"Frankly, it's none of your business," Janus told him as he turned around to look right at Roman, his expression almost appearing to be issuing him a challenge.

"I don't care if it's my business," said Roman. "Besides, you're just dodging the question!"

Janus threw his head back in a dry laugh.

"I'm Deceit, honey."

And before Roman could say anything back, Patton cut in.

"Now, now. No fighting, kids" he chided.

"Fiiiine," Roman whined.

"I am not a child, Patton."

"Oh, you're all my Kiddos, no matter how old you are," Patton waved him off.

It very much looked like Janus was about to start a second argument with Patton over that comment, so Virgil took his turn to interject.

"Whatcha making, Dad?"

"Grilled cheese! Sadly, Janus told me on the way here to not add chocolate chips."

"... Darn…," Virgil pretended to be disappointed, remembering the omelettes Patton made a while ago. "Well, can't have chocolate in everything, Pat."

"I know…," the man sighed. "If you want, I can add some to just yours?"

"N… No. No, that's alright. I'll just have a plain grilled cheese. Wouldn't want them to get mixed up."

"Suit yourself."

Janus rolled his eyes, leaning against the counter so he could watch what Patton was doing. Patton, Virgil, and Roman chattered about various things while Janus remained silent, and when the grilled cheeses were done, he ate quickly and left.

XXX

"What are we supposed to do now?" Roman questioned. "I mean, whatever the snake's plan was, it'll probably be worse with Remus getting involved.

"Yeah, I know," Virgil sighed. "But whatever they're doing, it's occupying Remus and keeping him from messing with Thomas… Which, I mean, that's actually a good thing, but it won't be if they cause something worse to happen later."

Roman crossed his arms defensively, hugging himself tight as he looked away from the other side.

"... Am I going to have to give Thomas nightmares on purpose…?"

Virgil tensed.

"No! No, Roman, I already told you we aren't doing that. We're not going to hurt Thomas to figure out what they're doing so we can stop them from hurting Thomas," Virgil denied. "That would kind of defeat the point, don't ya think, Princey?"

Roman let his arms fall back to his sides.

"But what are we supposed to do, then?! I hate the idea of giving Thomas nightmares, but what if that's the only way to stop them from hurting him worse?" Roman questioned.

"Ro, we just have to come up with some other excuse to get into his room," Virgil replied. "Getting him to let us in is just easier with Thomas because Deceit likes him, but really, we don't even need to have Thomas involved at all."

"So, what, we just knock on his door and ask him?" Roman scoffed.

Virgil sighed.

"No. Stop suggesting things you know aren't going to work just because you're frustrated," Virgil told him. "I think… I think we should try to gain his trust."

"What?!"

Virgil ruffled a hand through his hair, making it even messier than usual.

"Look, he's not gonna let us in without a reason, and he's barely ever out of his room outside of mealtimes and talking to Thomas. So unless something happens that gives us a real good excuse to force him to let us in, he's not going to go along with it," explained Virgil. "But if we can get him to trust us… He'll probably still hide whatever he's up to, but he might let us into the room, at least, or he might accidentally let a hint slip out or something."

"How are we going to get him to trust us, though?"

Virgil let out a long, exasperated sigh.

"Better practice your acting, Princey. 'Cuz we're inviting the snake to movie night."

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I know I include a movie night thing in literally all of my fics, but I just… like to.

And yeah, Virgil and Roman are really digging themselves into a really dumb hole…

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