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Patton was, quite honestly, disappointed in Roman and Virgil.

He'd had no idea that the two of them had done that to Janus, and it made a lot of sense why Janus would be feeling upset about that alone, let alone anything else. Now, he also understood that the two of them were suspicious of Janus, and he didn't think that their suspicions were entirely unfounded, but putting on a ruse like that seemed to be going a bit too far. It was one thing to suspect that Janus was up to something and a whole other thing to trick him into trusting them, trick him into thinking they were friends. He was sure that the constant suspicion itself could be hurtful sometimes, but this was a lot worse, and they had done it even after Janus was accepted. And sure, the two of them apparently abandoned their plan eventually, but they could have done a lot of damage with it, more than they already had.

This went far beyond a blanket.

Perhaps Patton had been a bit naive to think that their relationships with Janus could be fixed so easily. Maybe there was a lot more hurt and bitterness to sort through than he'd thought.

He just didn't get it, though. The two of them did like being with Janus, even if not all the time- he knew they did. It couldn't have all been a lie, could it? He'd seen them smile and laugh with him, seek him out, invite him to things. And after Janus got sick, Roman's words to Janus had clearly meant a lot to the man. There was no way Roman had said all of that just to trick Janus into trusting him or to play along with the rest of them. He had to have meant it.

So why was Roman still so mean to Janus sometimes?

He knew that Janus hadn't technically told him to talk to Roman and Virgil on his behalf, but he still felt like he should. Janus very well might not want to engage on his own behalf, seeing as the last time he wanted to avoid them he hid in his room for two weeks. And Patton really felt like their conversation should start with Roman apologizing.

He just hoped Roman (and Virgil) were really sorry.

The morning after Patton had his enlightening chat with Janus, he waited for everyone to come down for breakfast. Janus, predictably, had opted to eat in the Dark Sides kitchen, hopefully with Remus so he wasn't alone. Logan had a busy schedule today and ate quickly, so once he left, Patton waited for the other two to show up so he could confront them.

They walked in at almost the same time, with Roman shuffling into the room in an uncharacteristic manner and Virgil shuffling in a way that was far more characteristic, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

"… Hey, Kiddos," Patton greeted, his voice not quite as cheerful as usual.

"… Good morning, Pat."

"Morning, Popstar."

Patton waited for the two of them to get their breakfasts ready and sit at the table. Virgil got some dry toast, while Roman opted for a bowl of Lucky Charms. As they began to eat, Patton took a deep breath.

"I… I think we need to have a little chat, Kiddos," he announced uncertainly.

Once he made sure he had their attention, he continued.

"So, Roman, I hope you know that yesterday's breakfast ended badly, and I want you to apologize to Janus later," Patton directed. "Do you understand?"

Roman shifted uncomfortably, not meeting Patton in the eye.

"I know. I will," he sighed. "Virgil already lectured me about it last night."

"Okay, good," Patton accepted with a nod. "But I also went to talk to Janus last night, and he told me some things."

He saw Virgil bite his lip. Roman still wouldn't look at him.

Well, at least they seemed to know they did something wrong.

"Janus told me that you two made a plan to trick him into trusting you because you suspected he was up to something," Pattton spoke plainly, seeing no point in dancing around the words. "He was telling the truth, wasn't he?"

He waited for an answer.

"…Yeah…," Virgil admitted.

A deep breath.

"And you two understand that what you did was wrong?"

"We already apologized for that, Padre."

"I know," Patton agreed. "But Janus was still hurt a lot by it, and I don't think apologizing fixed it. And Jan didn't say much about Virgil with this, but Roman, he told me he didn't know if you actually meant your apology because of stuff like yesterday."

Patton frowned down at his own bowl of cereal, Raisin Bran with chocolate milk.

"But I did mean it!" Roman protested.

He took a deep breath in.

"Good. But make sure he knows that, okay?"

Roman nodded and Virgil fiddled with his sleeves a bit.

Patton just hoped everything would turn out alright in the end.

The three of them continued to eat in near-silence until Patton finished his bowl and stood up to wash it out at the sink. Just before he left the room, however, Roman spoke up again.

"Hey, Pat, were you able to get the stain out of his blanket?"

Patton sighed.

"No. I got it to fade a bit, but it's too delicate for me to do anything else to it."

"… Can I see it?"

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Patton goes Dad Mode (™)

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