XXX
Okay, so, here's another bonus thing that I hadn't originally planned.
But I like writing this story, so, here we go again.
This is technically a sequel, but here on FFN, I'm just going to continue posting under the same story to make it easier since I can't list it as a series. So, the next 6 chapters will be part of 'Roman and Spilled Juice.'
Heads up: this bit's a lot angstier, but it still isn't quite as angsty as some of my other fics. I was in a pretty bad mood when I wrote it, so some of that kind of spilled into it…
XXX
Patton had been finding it difficult to balance the way he interacted with Janus- on the one hand, he was trying not to treat him like a child, but on the other, he didn't want to end up treating Janus too coldly. He was the self-appointed Dad of the mindscape, and the other sides were his Kiddos, and it was difficult not to treat them like children sometimes, even if they were all technically the same age and all adults. He had already been having trouble remembering to cut back on the childishness with Virgil, and with Janus, there was a bit more hostility when he screwed up, as well as a much more fragile trust to break.
Even beyond Patton's own typical behavior, though, he did find it much harder not to baby Janus now that the man was being more open around them. Before, he'd started calling him Kiddo sometimes and pulled the whole 'I'm Your Dad' thing once or twice, but now, he really had to hold himself back more. It was hard not to coo or squeal when Janus did something cute, or speak to him like a child throwing a tantrum when he got upset, or accidentally start talking to him in the 'baby voice' that was usually reserved for animals or, well, actual babies.
Part of the issue was that Janus sometimes didn't seem to mind it, or even seemed to respond to it, while other times, it made the man snap with anger or get embarrassed. Especially when he was upset, Janus seemed to respond better to Patton's gentle 'Dad voice' in getting him to calm down, whether he was angry or sad. Though, treating him like he was cute usually set him off, unless he was in a particularly good mood. But it was so hard not to call him cute or squeal sometimes! Like when Janus did a snake blep, or fell asleep with an animal on the couch, or giggled at a joke.
Personally, Patton thought that adults could still be cute and do cute things (and that didn't make them a child), but he did recognize that, even if Janus did do cute things sometimes, he didn't like for it to be pointed out. He just had to remind himself of that sometimes, and sometimes he messed up.
This was one of the times he messed up, though he wasn't the only one.
"Now, Kiddo, why don't we try to calm down a little?" Patton suggested.
They had been eating breakfast, but Janus was now standing beside the table rather than sitting, and Patton hadn't seen him this angry in a long time.
"Calm down?" Janus exclaimed. "Patton, do you have any idea how long it took me to make this blanket?!"
To highlight his point, Janus held up the blanket, which was dripping wet and splotched with red. Considering that the blanket used to be bright yellow, the issue was obvious.
"Why'd you bring it to the table, anyway?" Roman questioned. "Like, I'm sorry for spilling the juice, but it shouldn't be here anyway!"
"I was cold, Roman! It's winter!"
"It's 72 degrees in here!"
"I'm sorry, are you half snake?!"
"Actually, snakes don't produce their own heat, and blankets work by containing the heat you yourself produce, so I'm not sure a blanket without any other heat source would solve the issue, anyway," Logan chimed in.
"I'm still half-human, Logan," Janus pointed out, sighing. "And that's not the point!"
Janus angrily threw the blanket down onto his vacated chair.
"Kiddo, you don't need to snap at Logan," Patton chided. "He didn't do anything."
His attention turned back to Patton.
"Would you quit trying to mediate the conversation?!" Janus requested angrily. "I don't need you to dictate how I behave! I. Am. Not. A. Child!"
"I know, Kiddo, but-"
"Do you?"
"Janus," Patton corrected. "I understand that you're upset, but it was an accident. Roman didn't mean to spill his juice. He apologized, so can't you forgive him instead of getting all worked up like this?"
That was apparently the wrong thing to say.
"Oh, he apologized, did he?!" Janus barked. "Funny, I seem to remember his apology putting the blame for it back on me!"
Janus's gloved fists were clenched tightly, shaking.
"I know it was an accident! I'm not stupid!" Janus continued. "But whether it was an accident or not, I still have the right to be upset! Something important to me was still ruined! And I think that, instead of blaming me for it and lecturing me about how I react, I should get an actual apology!"
He could see Janus's lip wobble, his eyes beginning to grow wet in the corners.
"I'm allowed to be upset about things!" he shouted. "And I certainly don't need the rest of you telling me what to do!"
And with that, Janus sank out of the room, leaving his juice-stained blanket behind, along with an awkward silence.
This was when Virgil walked in, having woken up late and missed almost the entire argument.
"… What the fuck did I miss…?"
XXX