Remus woke up, and immediately felt like he wanted to go back to sleep. He was sore, but that was nothing new. What made the feeling unpleasant was that he felt like he had cried himself to sleep. He hated the tightness in his chest and pounding in his head. If his chest was hurting because he had broken his ribs one at a time again, or his head was hurting because he'd stabbed it. But no, he had to deal with stupid feelings.

Remus groaned and buried his face in his pillow...his surprisingly soft and nice smelling pillow that was nothing like his usual pillow, which was made of rotten flesh and smelled like corpse lilies. Remus' eyes shot open and he jolted awake to find Janus sound asleep on the couch. Remus had been curled up against him.

Remus' mind was muddled about last night. He could take a guess about what had happened. After all, he could still feel his collar, which had a leash connected to it, and he still had his ears and tail. Looking at his hands Remus could see that Janus had taken off his fist mitts at some point, probably to keep his hands from getting too stiff. If the collar wasn't so loose and comfortable, Remus knew that Janus would have taken that off as well.

Remus nudged Janus, and then kept on poking him until he began to stir. "Jannie, get up." Janus groaned and squinted his eyes open. Remus was sure he was going to just shove him away, roll over, and go back to sleep. Janus loved his sleep, and he always hated it when Remus woke him up, which he did quite frequently.

Janus blinked blurrily and stared at him tiredly before he gave him a gentle smile. Janus gave his ears a small scratch. "How are you feeling, little puppy?"

Remus smiled and felt his tail wagging. This whole experience wasn't fun, but he did appreciate that Janus let him have his ears, tail, and collar for longer than usual. He loved these things, but Janus wouldn't let him just wear them for fun. They were just for their games. This was a rare exception. They weren't playing, but Janus was being as possessive and protective of him as he always was when he took on the role of Master.

"I'm good." Remus said. Janus gave him a disbelieving look. Remus fidgeted uncomfortably. "Okay, maybe good isn't the right word. I feel kinda icky, and not in a fun way."

Janus frowned and sat up. He turned to face Remus. "Icky physically, or emotionally?"

"Mostly emotionally." Remus' ears tilted down. This was the one bad thing about having dog ears. They made it impossible to hide how he was feeling, no matter how much he didn't want to talk about emotions. "Sir...Logan, he just...he stopped the game, and I couldn't tell. I mean, now it's obvious, but last night-"

"You were in subspace." Janus said. "Of course you had a difficult time thinking clearly, and Logan should have known as much. Even if you were having a difficult time using your words to say what was wrong, Logan should have recognized that you weren't okay, and he should have made sure you were taken care of. This wasn't your fault."

Remus smiled to himself. Everybody was usually so quick to blame him for everything. It felt nice to be told that he was blameless for once. "Are you going to tear Logan a new one? Are you going to do it literally? Can I watch?"

"I'm certainly not going to let him get away with what he did." Janus scowled before his face softened. He leaned forward and pressed his forehead against Remus'. "I know you want to be there to watch it happen, but I would feel better if you weren't near Logan for a while. What he did wasn't okay, and though you're doing better now you might slip back into that terrible state you were in last night if you see him so soon, and I don't want you to go through that again."

Remus pouted, but Janus wasn't to be swayed. He sighed reluctantly and nodded. "Fine."

"I'll make it up to you." Janus smirked mischievously. "When I'm sure that you're better, I'll let you come up with your own revenge. After all, while Logan disrespected me through what he did, you're the one that he hurt, and we both know that you don't need me to fight your battles for you."

Remus grinned excitedly. Janus tried to not hold him back too much, but for Thomas' sake he had to make sure that Remus didn't take things too far. It was a real treat when Janus let him loose.

"I'll come up with something perfect." Remus said. "Maybe I can figure out a punishment that fits the crime."

"You know I love it when you branch out." Janus ran a finger through the gray streak in Remus' hair and then gave it a playful yank. "We'll remind Logan, and all of the others, why we're not to be taken lightly." Janus stood up. He stretched a bit before giving the leash a small pull, dragging Remus to his feet as well.

"We need to get you some food." Janus said. "Do you still want to be a puppy? Or are you ready to be Remus again?"

I'm Remus." He said without hesitation. "But I wanna be Remus as a puppy."

Janus chuckled and ruffled his hair. "You always want to be Remus as a puppy. I'll allow it today. Consider it a reward for using your safeword, like you know you should." Remus very rarely used his safeword, even when he probably should. He was always pushing his own limits, and more often than not it was Janus who had to say that they were taking things too far. Janus was always trying to come up with new ways to encourage Remus to ask for help.

Janus gave Remus' leash a gentle yank, pulling him close. Janus grabbed onto Remus and sank the two of them out of the dark side, rising up into the kitchen on the light side. It looked empty, and smelled like nobody had been in there for several hours. Remus didn't understand it. It was morning by now. Logan should have come down for coffee, or a morning glass of wine, depending on how stressed he was from his night of work. And Patton should have come down to make breakfast, or skipped breakfast entirely and started making cookies.

Remus looked around. "Where is everybody?"

"Where do you think?" Virgil's voice came from the shadows. Remus turned to see the traitor sitting on top of the fridge. "I told them to avoid the kitchen for a bit. I knew that Janus would insist on getting you some food after a bit, and I didn't think the others would appreciate seeing you like this." Virgil gestured to Remus in his nude, furry, leashed glory.

"Seriously, would it kill you to put on at least some pants?" Virgil asked. "I swear, you two have no shame."

"And proud of it." Janus grinned. Remus giggled and nodded.

"How am I supposed to wear pants when I've got this bad boy?" Remus pulled on his own tail. "It doesn't like being trapped."

"And I don't like seeing your business." Virgil said as he very determinedly kept his gaze locked to Remus' eyes, even though he would normally much rather look anywhere else.

"Nobody's forcing you to be here." Janus pointed out.

"Please?" Virgil asked tiredly. "Just put something on."

Janus sighed. "I'll tell you what. We'll compromise." Janus summoned a dark green wrap around mini skirt. He wrapped it around Remus' waist and tied it just a bit too tightly in the back. The skirt was short enough that it left very little to the imagination, and the wrap-around nature gave a slit for his tail to slip right through without being constrained.

"Does that work for the two of you?" Janus asked.

Virgil narrowed his eyes, not looking completely satisfied, but he nodded. Remus was much more enthusiastic in his agreement.

"I love it." Remus swayed his hips, making the skirt twirl ever so slightly. Virgil averted his gaze when Remus' accidentally flashed him. "You should make clothes for me more often."

"We'll see." Janus said. He took the leash and pulled Remus to the table. Janus tied the leash in place. "Now, why don't you stay put while I get you something to eat?" Remus nodded and settled himself on the ground. He crawled under the table. Virgil jumped off the fridge and joined him under the table.

"How're you doing?" Virgil asked slowly. He seemed uncomfortable to be asking such a thing, and Remus felt a little uncomfortable to be asked. He couldn't remember the last time that Virgil had asked this kind of thing. Even when they'd both been on the same side Virgil had come up with any reason he could to avoid him. If Virgil thought that something was wrong with Remus, he would fetch Janus instead of asking about him himself.

"I'm okay." Remus said quietly. He fiddled with his tail. The softness felt nice and comforting, and he really liked that his tail was incredibly sensitive, making it an incredible sensation. He showed Virgil his wrists. "See? The marks are gone."

"Not on your back, dude." Virgil pointed out.

"Don't remind me." Janus hissed as he slammed a pan on the stove. "How many times in one day can Logan completely disregard my rules?"

Virgil rubbed the fabric of his jacket anxiously. "At least you were safe, right? You guys had a safeword and everything?" Remus nodded. "Then how did you get such bad rope marks? You could have cut off circulation. That's exactly the kind of thing that you should use your safeword for."

"You know Remus," Janus said fondly. "He thinks as long as he's still breathing, then he's just fine."

"I wouldn't have been able to say anything even if I'd wanted to." Remus said. "I was muzzled."

Janus breathed in harshly and Virgil hissed. Janus knelt on the ground so quickly and harshly that he hit his knees harshly, and ended up knocking his head against the bottom of the table. Janus seemed oblivious of the pain. Janus leaned towards Remus, gently caressing his jaw.

"Remus," Janus said breathlessly. "Puppy, are you telling me that you couldn't talk when you were immobile?"

"Yeah," Remus said. Janus' expression darkened and there was murder in his eyes. Remus could feel his hand shaking. "Why's that so bad?"

"How were you supposed to signal that you needed him to stop?" Virgil asked quietly. Remus tilted his head thoughtfully. He hadn't actually thought about that.

"I-I don't know." Remus admitted. He'd never felt the need to use his safeword before, so he'd never thought it would be a big deal if he couldn't use his safeword. Now that he had used it, and knew what it was like to need help, he was terrified at the thought of not being able to ask for it. It was odd. Remus wasn't one to be afraid of things, and it was the first time he was so scared of what could have been. Was this how Virgil felt all the time?

"I-I couldn't use my safeword." Remus squeezed his tail in his hands. "What if I needed to-to…"

"Shh," Janus gathered him in his arms and pulled him close. "It's okay, Cephy. You're okay. I won't let him hurt you ever again."

"I didn't think." Remus said. "I wanted to be muzzled. I was excited about it. I-I should have-"

"This isn't your fault." Janus said. "It was Logan's job to take care of you. He should know to do thorough research before he tries something new. There's an etiquette to gagging. If someone can't say their safeword, then they need to have an action or gesture in place to use as a safeword instead."

Remus tapped Janus' thigh three times. Janus tightened his hold on him. "Yes, exactly like what I told you to do last night. Did Logan put anything like that in place for you?" Remus shook his head. Janus let out a strained sigh, making it clear that he was about to lose his temper.

"Remus, I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to be honest with me." Janus said. "I need to speak to Logan about quite a few things, but I can't take you with me. If you can't handle being away from me right now, then I'll stay with you and murder Logan later. However, if you think you'll be okay without me then if Virgil's okay with it the two of you will have a playdate until I get back."

Remus looked at Virgil with wide eyes. He sighed and shrugged. "Yeah, whatever, I'm open to it if you want, as long as you keep it PG-13."

"I don't think I can be R right now." Remus said. He leaned closer to Janus before he pulled back. "You can go. I'll be okay."

"And what will you say if you suddenly feel like you're not okay?" Janus asked.

"Eden," Remus said. Janus gave him a small smile and scratched between his ears.

"That's a good boy." Janus said. "I won't be too long." He looked at Virgil. "Do you think you can pick up where I started with the food? Remus needs to get his energy back."

"I think I can find something." Virgil said.

"Just one more thing before I go." Janus said. He touched the leash. "Do you trust Virgil with your leash, or do you want me to put it away until I get back."

Remus clung tightly to his leash. "Don't take it away." He usually didn't like being restrained, but he desperately didn't want to be alone. The leash was grounding. It reminded him that somebody was within reach should he need them.

"Okay," Janus gave him one more affectionate pet before he stood up. "If you hear screaming, don't worry, that's just Logan."

"Just try to not do too much damage to him." Virgil said. "I'm sure it was just an accident."

"Maybe so." Janus said. "However, while I can forgive one accident, four different extremely dangerous and harmful accidents in the span of just a few hours is not something that I'm so willing to forgive." Janus waved his arm and suddenly he was dressed in his usual outfit instead of his silk bathrobe.

"Don't worry, I won't completely destroy him." Janus said. His tone made it hard to tell if he was lying or not. "After all, Thomas needs his logic." Virgil grimaced as Janus made his way upstairs.

"I'm going to have to do some damage control of Janus' damage control." Virgil said as he crawled out from under the table. Remus waited for a moment before he crawled forward enough to poke his head out. He saw Virgil turn the stove off before grabbing a few bowls. "You still like cereal?"

"Mix Cinnamon Toast Crunch with Oreo O's." Remus said. "No spoon."

Virgil gave him an odd look. "That's really tame for you."

Remus came out from under the table and sat on top of it instead. "Do you have any curdled milk?"

Virgil gagged slightly. "Ugh, yeah, hang on." Virgil got the requested cereal from the pantry, which held anything that they may want. He threw the boxes to Remus, who opened them and started nibbling on the cereal.

Virgil brought the bowls and two cartons of milk to the table. He climbed onto the table and sat across from Remus, handing him one of the bowls. Remus poured the curdled milk into it until it was almost overflowing, and then he added his cereal, uncaring when milk and cereal poured onto the table.

Remus picked up his bowl and began to slurp it up. Virgil sat across from him, eating his boring single flavor of cereal.

Remus ate through half his cereal before he lowered his bowl. He tilted his head at Virgil. "It's been a long time since we did this."

Virgil sighed, a sad look coming to his eyes. "Yeah."

"Why did we stop?" Remus asked.

"I left." Virgil said plainly, without a hint of remorse or regret.

"But we stopped before that." Remus reminded him. "You were avoiding us for a long time before you left."

"It just got overwhelming." Virgil said. "Janus was always playing these games, and you..well, you remember what you were like in high school."

Remus giggled. "So much stress, so much anxiety, he was like a cesspool of intrusive thoughts just waiting to happen." Nobody except for Virgil and Janus knew just how much influence over Thomas Remus had when he was a teenager. Those had been some good times, and Remus had frequently gotten high on the power rush. That was when he had started to actually do things that he suggested instead of just putting the thought out there. Even Janus had been unable to tie him down.

It was around that time that Janus had suggested their sub and dom games. He'd been desperate to find any way to pull Remus in. He'd tried dozens of different methods, this was just the one that stuck the best.

Remus drank the rest of his cereal, enjoying that it was both super soggy and crunchy at the same time. This was why he had two different cereals. It provided a nice variety of textures. When Remus was done he set his bowl down and lounged on the table, waiting for Virgil to finish.

"You wanna watch a movie?" Virgil suggested. "I'm not really in the mood for chasing you everywhere."

Remus' eyes widened. He could barely remember the last time he'd had a movie night with Virgil. It must have been when they were thirteen or so, when Remus' intrusive thoughts and Virgil's anxiety started to get worse. They'd had many sleepless nights where they just couldn't relax, so they'd just stayed up and watched movies all night. It drove Janus nuts.

"Can we watch the Addams Family?" Remus asked loudly. Virgil flinched at the sudden noise, but he quickly relaxed and gave Remus a small smile.

"I haven't seen that movie in forever." Virgil said. "Not since we were kids and had no idea just how messed up it was."

"I always knew." Remus said. For as long as he could remember, he'd loved the Addam's Family. Even way back before the Split. "Why do you think I love it?"

"Alright, fair enough." Virgil said. "But I'm not going to the Dark Side. We're going to be watching up here."

"Fine with me." Remus said. He could just imagine Patton or Roman coming down the stairs in the middle of the auction scene. He would love to see the look on their faces, and the prudes wouldn't even be able to complain, because it was a PG-13 movie, which meant that Remus was still following their stupid censoring rules.

Virgil finished up his breakfast and set his bowl down. He pushed himself off the table and untied Remus' leash. He brought him away from the table and towards the couch. Remus waved his hand and started the movie. He jumped onto the couch. Virgil sat on the other end as far away from him as he could get.

Remus lounged in his corner, taking up as much room as he possibly could. He summoned himself a bone to gnaw on, both to get in the mood of the movie, and to give himself something to do. He often got antsy when he watched movies. He needed to do something with his hands, or his mouth, to occupy himself.

Remus loved the Addams Family, but he had a hard time focusing completely on it. His mind had a tendency to stray, and right now it wouldn't stop wandering upstairs, to Janus and Logan. Remus trusted Janus to take care of everything, but he couldn't help but be curious about just what he was doing.

He still kinda wished he could be up there to join in the fun, but he was also glad that he was down here hanging out with Virgil. He hated how vulnerable and needy he'd been last night. If there was a chance that he'd get like that again when he saw Logan he would much rather let Janus take care of him.

He just hoped that Janus would give him a play-by-play of what he did. The deceitful side was a really good story teller. If Remus couldn't be there himself, at least he could know exactly what had happened.