Logan was numb. His mind had been almost completely empty all week, and he couldn't even bring himself to care. He knew he was letting the others down. Thomas needed him to keep him on track and do what he was supposed to. Roman needed him to keep him in line, to make sure that his extravagant ideas were attainable. Virgil needed him to keep him grounded. Patton needed his help to keep everything running smoothly. Janus would never admit it, but he needed Logan to advocate for him and the others on the Dark Side. And Remus…Remus…
Logan took a deep breath. He leaned back in his chair and ran his hands through his hair. He knew that he looked a mess. His hair was untidy. His shirt was wrinkled. His tie was crooked, because he kept on fiddling with it. Every time he was aware of his tie he would remember the excited and vulnerable look in Remus' eyes as he blindfolded him with this very tie.
Logan found himself looking back on every little detail of that night, everything that he'd done wrong. He should have known better. Janus was right, Logan had experimented with a new form of play without doing his due research. He'd read about the basics of muzzling and gagging, making sure he could do so without hurting Remus.
He'd carefully thought through the design of the muzzle so it wouldn't be too tight. He had wanted Remus to be as comfortable as possible. Logan had thought that he'd considered everything, but he'd overlooked the safeword.
Logan knew how important safewords were. When he'd first started to play these games with Remus he had insisted that he knew all of his safewords. He hadn't wanted to overstep any boundaries. As he grew more comfortable playing with Remus he had slowly become complacent.
Remus had made it very clear that he didn't like all of the safety rules and precautions that Janus insisted on. He didn't enjoy aftercare. He got irritated when they did the color check, as he felt that it dragged them out of the game. And he hated the implication that he would ever need a safeword. Without meaning to, Logan had taken Remus' words to heart.
Logan didn't try to treat Remus badly. He liked to think that he would never intentionally hurt or mistreat anybody, let alone somebody that he considered a friend. Logan just had a tendency to take people at their word. If somebody said they were fine, and their behavior didn't contradict their words, then why shouldn't he believe them?
Logan had learned how to recognize when Remus was enjoying himself. The more relaxed he got, the more submissive he became, and the more desperate to continue he was. Remus didn't often go into traditional subspace, but when it happened it was a sight to see.
Logan had been concerned the first time he'd seen it. Remus had seemed confused, clingy, and he barely understood anything that was said to him. Remus was nearly unresponsive. Logan, sure that he'd taken things too far, had used their safeword to put the game on hold. He'd started aftercare, doing his best to try to make sure that Remus was safe and well.
When Remus had finally come down from subspace he'd seemed disappointed. He claimed that it had felt incredible, and he didn't know why Logan had stopped all the fun when it was just getting good. Remus almost seemed hurt that Logan had ended their game.
After that incident Logan had learned to not make assumptions about Remus' state of mind. He figured that Remus would know better than anybody else about what he could handle. Since that day Logan did his best to not interrupt their games because he thought that he knew better than Remus did. Just because something seemed painful and uncomfortable to Logan didn't mean that Remus wasn't enjoying himself.
Remus was always so relaxed during their games, even when he was bruised, tied up, and humiliated, he still looked like he was having the time of his life. As soon as their scene ended and they began aftercare his mood plummeted, every single time. While Remus was submissive and cooperative during their games, he was annoyed and moody during aftercare.
Logan always felt a little guilty about it. These games were supposed to be fun and relaxing for both of them, and yet they finished on a note that left Remus feeling unsatisfied. It didn't seem all that fair.
The other night, when they had finished their scene, Logan had seen the signs of something being wrong. Something had clearly been bothering Remus. Logan assumed it was because he had to put an abrupt end to their game. Still, Logan hadn't tried to be dismissive. He had thought he'd given Remus adequate time to voice any concerns or troubles he may have. When Remus hadn't said anything Logan had thought he was confused and disoriented because he was in subspace.
Logan hadn't wanted to force Remus out of subspace. He didn't know nearly enough about it to know if it could be dangerous to pull someone from subspace too quickly. Logan didn't think that subdrop was inherently harmful, but he had a theory that it could be if it happened under the wrong circumstances.
He couldn't prove his theory, because that would mean either encouraging Thomas to learn more about BDSM etiquette, which would raise unnecessary concerns and questions from the others, or it would mean testing his theory on Remus, and Logan didn't dare do that. It was highly unethical to do that kind of thing to anybody, but Janus especially wouldn't want to do it to Remus. He cared about the other side, and he didn't dare to do anything that had even the potential to hurt him.
Logan had seen what Remus got like when he was in subspace and suddenly got thrown into unwanted aftercare. He hadn't wanted to cause that harm and confusion again, so he had made the foolish decision to not provide aftercare after their session.
Logan had thought it would be for the best. He had thought that Remus would want to enjoy subspace for a bit longer. Remus had come to him still collared and bearing the injuries from his brief game with Janus. Logan had thought that, given the evidence presented to him, Remus would like to keep the bruises around his wrists, ankles, knees, and elbows. He thought that Remus would want to keep enjoying his high.
Clearly, Logan had thought wrong.
He should have asked Remus, or at least explained things to him. He probably would have if he hadn't thought that Remus was in subspace, and would have had a hard time understanding him, or articulating anything. If Remus couldn't provide any insight, Logan should have taken Remus to Janus and asked his opinion on what was best. Janus probably knew much more about properly providing aftercare than Logan did.
The only reason why Logan hadn't taken Remus to his other dom was because he really did have a lot of work to do for Thomas that night. He'd been more than happy to put it off for a bit to give Remus the attention that he craved so much, as well as relieve the stress that had been building up all week, but he needed to work.
Logan had meant to find Janus later to discuss Remus' subspace and subdrop with him, as well as establishing some more safety guidelines. Logan knew it would be a longer discussion, so he had thought it best to not have it when he had work to do that would be making him divide his attention.
When Logan did anything he liked to give it his full attention. If he was going to be working on Thomas, he didn't want to think about Remus. If he was going to be speaking to Janus, he didn't want to be distracted by what was going on in Thomas' life.
Logan hadn't considered just how harmful his own behavior could be towards Remus. The intrusive side had seemed upset when he'd run off, and Logan had been worried about him, but he'd convinced himself that Remus would be fine. He had Janus., who was much better at dealing with emotional matters than Logan was.
He now knew that he never should have assumed anything. Despite what Remus liked to call their scenes, their relationship wasn't a game. It could be very dangerous, and Logan should have never done anything unless he was completely certain that it would be safe for Remus. Logan may play the part of a dom, but that didn't mean that he always knew best.
Logan had never wanted to hurt Remus. Perhaps that was an odd thing for a dom to say about his sub, but it was how he felt. All Logan wanted was to be listened to and respected, and their scenes allowed him to have control in a way that he couldn't have in his everyday life. He'd been so busy with getting what he wanted from their dynamic that he'd forgotten that Remus deserved that same respect from him.
Janus was probably right. Logan had messed up with Remus. He didn't appreciate that Janus was taking it upon himself to decide what was best for Remus without talking with him about it, as that was exactly where Logan had failed, but that didn't mean that he was wrong.
Logan really wanted to speak to Remus for himself, just to make sure they knew where they stood. If they were stopping these games, then Logan wanted to make sure that Remus knew that was what was happening. He knew that Remus had abandonment issues, and if Logan ended their games without a word then Remus would probably have a poor reaction to it.
He tried to go to the Dark Side to talk to Remus, but he couldn't get there. According to Virgil, Janus had locked them out. Logan knew that he had betrayed both Remus and Janus' trust, and Janus probably wanted some more time to focus on giving Remus the attention he needed. Logan thought he could be patient, so he waited until the next day before trying again, only to be met with the same results.
A week had passed, and Logan hadn't seen Remus or heard another word about him. With every day that passed he felt more and more distressed and nervous. Just how badly had he messed up? Was Remus okay? Was there anything that Logan could do to make up for his mistake? He didn't know, and Logan hated not knowing things.
He'd taken to staying in his room. He didn't want to deal with Virgil's disappointed glances, or Patton's concerned pampering. Patton knew that something was upsetting him, and it was in his habit to provide comfort when he thought that someone was hurting, but that wasn't what Logan needed. He didn't deserve to be taken care of just because he'd failed to take care of someone else.
Logan sighed and adjusted his tie one more time before he reorganized his bookshelf for the twelfth time in the past week. It was one of the few things that he had control of right now, and it was something he could do that wouldn't lead him to accidentally hurting anybody else that he cared about.
Logan was just deciding whether he should organize his books alphabetically by author, or by title, when he heard a hesitant knock on his door. Logan paused and waited for someone to introduce themselves, but not a word was said. It probably wasn't Patton or Roman. The two of them always announced themselves.
Logan didn't want to answer the door, but the only side he could imagine knocking right now was Virgil. Logan couldn't just ignore him. What if Virgil was having an anxiety attack? Logan was already guilty or brushing aside the pain that one of his friends was in, and he didn't want to make that same mistake again.
Logan turned away from his books and approached the door. He did his best to straighten his shir, but his tie remained crooked. He was well-aware how unprofessional it looked, but he didn't want to fix it. Remus had always had an odd fascination with his tie. He would probably be incredibly amused if he saw the state that Logan was in.
He wanted to be taken seriously, and perhaps wearing his tie like a drunken, depressed, overworked slob wouldn't help with that, but it would bring a smile to Remus' face if he knew about it, so at least for now it was worth letting someone else see him like this. Even if that somebody else wasn't Remus.
Besides, Virgil understood that people's appearance could be affected negatively when they were stressed, and he wouldn't judge someone for that.
Logan opened his door and was shocked to find that the person waiting for him was most certainly not Virgil.
"Janus." Logan straightened his back. "What are you doing here? Have you come to yell at me a bit more?" The words came out a bit more bitter than he meant. Logan truly was asking a genuine question. Had Janus learned something else about Logan's interactions with Remus that was problematic? Logan hoped not, but if he'd been doing something else wrong he would certainly like to know about it, even if that information was delivered through Janus' harsh comments.
"Not at the moment." Janus said. "However, the evening is still young, and yelling isn't off the table yet. We'll just have to see where the night takes us." He made it sound more like a promise than a threat.
"So what are you doing here?" Logan asked. Janus wasn't the kind to make casual social visits.
"Do you know what day it is?" Janus asked. Logan felt a pang in his chest. Considering how much he liked a good schedule, Logan was always aware of what day it was. Even if it didn't, he would know what today was.
"Wednesday." Logan said stiffly.
"Yours and Remus' play night." Janus said, as though Logan needed the reminder.
"If you've just come to cut deeper into the metaphorical wound-" Logan began.
"We're here to talk." Janus said. "It's a discussion that probably should have happened a long time ago."
Logan frowned slightly. "We?" Unless Janus had suddenly started to speak in the third person, which Logan wouldn't put past him, then he had brought someone with him. Logan didn't want to get his hopes up, but there was only one side he could imagine accompanying Janus anywhere.
"Lo-Lo!" Remus shouted behind him. Logan turned around just in time to catch Remus as he launched himself at him. Logan staggered a bit at the force, but Janus steadied him.
"Remus," Logan tried to set Remus down, but the other side clung to him tightly. Logan soon stopped trying to put him down. He instead adjusted his grip to allow Remus to hold onto him more comfortably. He knew that once Remus started clinging to something or someone, he wouldn't easily let them go. Logan could force him, if he really wanted to, but he didn't want to.
"Missed you." Remus muttered as he nuzzled aggressively against Logan, knocking his glasses askew.
"I've missed you too." Logan said honestly. Remus practically preened. "How are you?"
"I'm okay." Remus said "No scars, no allergies, no lasting damage."
Logan wouldn't go so far as to say that. "I was speaking emotionally."
Janus raised an eyebrow at him. "Ah, yes, because you've always been the emotionally insightful one."
Remus' tight grip on Logan loosened slightly. "I-I think I'm doing okay now." Remus said. He looked to Janus. "You said I'm okay, right?"
"As far as I can tell." Janus said. "But I've told you before, I can't tell you how you feel."
"But it would make it so much easier." Remus groaned. "Feelings are stupid and make no sense."
"At least we can agree on that." Logan said. Remus giggled and leaned against him.
Janus gave Remus a tired yet fond look as he finally pulled him off of Logan. "That's enough of that. I know serious discussions are the perfect time to climb on people, but why don't we save it for tonight."
Remus grinned and bounced a little on his heels. "So we can do it? Promise?"
"I told you we'd talk about it." Janus said sternly. "Now, shall we talk about it?"
Logan didn't know exactly what Janus wanted to discuss, but he was more than happy to hear him out. There might be a small chance that they could work things out so he could resume his relationship with Remus. It was wishful thinking, and Logan knew that he should be a bit more realistic, but he still hoped.
Logan pulled his chair away from his desk and gestured to the bed, where there was plenty of room for the others to sit. Remus was more than happy to hop his way towards Logan's bed, but Janus pulled him back.
"I think it would be best if we had this discussion in neutral territory." Janus said. "Our rooms have a tendency of influencing each other." Logan didn't know what would be so bad about his room encouraging Janus and Remus to behave more logically. In Logan's opinion, logical thinking could only contribute positively to a conversation. However, Janus had a point. If they were going to be talking about their dynamics then it probably would be best if they all felt like they had equal footing, which wouldn't happen if they were in one of their bedrooms.
"We can go to the kitchen." Logan suggested. Remus grinned, probably eager to mess with Patton's things. Janus hummed, unimpressed.
"Better," Janus said. "But we'd still be in the Light Side. I'm barely tolerated here, and Remus isn't accepted at all. Does that sound like neutral territory to you?"
"Well, where do you suggest we go?" Logan frowned as he crossed his arms. He didn't like it when his ideas were dismissed so easily and flappently. "If the Light Side is out, then so is the Dark Side. Unless we want to involve Thomas himself in our discussion, we don't have a lot of options."
Remus gasped and raised his hand high, waving it around frantically. Logan gave a small smile of amusement. He wasn't Remus' Sir right now, and yet the other side was raising his hand, asking for permission and approval to share his opinion, just like he would during their games if he knew that Logan really didn't want to be interrupted.
"Yes, Remus, do you have an idea?" Logan said. Remus nodded happily.
"What about Roman's half of the Imagination?" Remus asked Logan and Janus exchanged glances. It wasn't a bad idea. The Imagination wasn't specifically dark or light, and if they went to Roman's half then Remus wouldn't have any more of an advantage than the other two did.
"It's not a bad idea." Janus nodded. Remus beamed as though Janus had given him the most meaningful of compliments.
"I insist that we get Roman's permission before we do anything." Logan said. Roman's half of the Imagination would work quite well, but Logan didn't want to betray his trust and invade his personal space without explicit permission.
"Yeah, we can talk to Ro-Ro." Remus said, to Logan's surprise. He didn't think he'd ever heard Remus agree to ask for permission before doing anything, except when they were playing their games. They weren't doing a scene at the moment, but did Remus subconsciously see Logan and Janus as Sir and Master instead of his equals?
Logan was concerned about it, but then he recalled that Remus had called him Lo-Lo. Remus wouldn't use that nickname if he saw them as his doms at the moment. Logan thought it was safe, but clearly he'd been wrong before, so he would be keeping a close eye on Remus.
They left Logan's room together and made their way to Roman's door. Remus pounded loudly on it, yelling for his brother. While waiting for the door to open Logan looked around the hallway. He saw Virgil peeking out of his bedroom. When they made eye contact Virgil gave him a small, encouraging smile before he stepped back and quietly closed his door.
Logan was curious about the lack of comment from Virgil. He considered going to half a word or two with him, but then Roman opened his door and Logan turned his attention back to the matter at hand.
"What do you want?" Roman asked impatiently. He glared at Remus for a moment, but his gaze softened when he saw Logan and Janus there with him. "Does this mean that everybody's done moping around and not talking to each other?"
"Maybe." Remus said. "Can we use your half of the Imagination? Janus says we need neutral territory to talk about negotiations." Logan felt his hope grow. If they were renegotiating, then maybe things would work out after all.
Roman grimaced. "I don't know what exactly you'll be talking about, and I don't want to know." Roman rubbed the back of his head. He gave Remus a sideways glance. "You can use my side of the Imagination…if you talk to Logan and Deceit about what we talked about the other day."
Remus tilted his head. "What do you mean?"
Roman crossed his arms and stood proud, taking on a princely air that demanded respect. "I'm talking about the observation I made that you insist is an overreaction."
Remus looked confused for another moment before his eyes widened. "What? No! Roman, I told you it was nothing."
"Forgive me for not completely believing you." Roman said. "However, Deceit and Logan aren't as likely to make assumptions as I am. If it's really not problematic, they'll know it. If it is a problem though, well, they can take care of it." Roman narrowed his eyes at his brother. "They can take care of you."
Remus growled and looked like he was about to attack his brother before he rolled his head back and groaned. "Fine, deal."
"I'll know if you back out." Roman said. "I can tell Logan about this little issue of yours just as easily as you can tell him yourself."
"I said I'd talk to them." Remus pushed past Roman, forcing his way into his room and towards the door in the back that led to the Imagination. Janus looked just as confused as Logan felt as they followed Remus. What kind of issue was Roman referring to? Logan figured he would find out soon enough.
They stepped into the Imagination and found themselves in the throne room of Roman's castle. Logan could count on one hand the number of times he had been in the Imagination. He was not a fan of the lack of logic here, and Roman didn't like bringing others to the Imagination, as he didn't want to hear their criticisms or see their judgement. The Imagination was Roman's safe haven.
Logan expected that he would have to intervene and keep Janus from trying to analyze Roman's creations to find something to use against him, and to keep Remus from trying to 'fix' any of Roman's designs. Logan was shocked when neither of them paid any attention to Roman's creations. Remus quietly led them through the castle, keeping his hands to himself. Janus followed, focusing fully on Remus.
Outside the castle the Imagination everything was so bright and colorful that Logan thought he would get a headache if he was real. Remus scowled at the perfectly clear sky and led them into the nearby forest, where it was almost dark. The enchanted forest was just dark and misty enough to give it an air of mystery and magic. It wasn't the least bit frightening, but Remus relaxed slightly in the darkness.
They continued walking. Every part of the forest looked the same to Logan, but Remus seemed to be looking for something specific. Logan didn't know what he was searching for, but he eventually found it. Remus suddenly stopped in his tracks, looked around at the trees surrounding them, and nodded in satisfaction. He sat down on the forest floor.
Janus summoned a small blanket. He laid it out on the ground across from Remus and lounged on it. Janus gave Logan a short, unreadable look before he waved his hand and summoned another small blanket, which he tossed to the ground in front of Logan. It got a little dirty, but Logan appreciated the gesture anyway. He nodded at Janus as he straightened the blanket and sat on it.
"First thing's first," Janus turned to Remus. "What was Roman talking about?"
Remus groaned and laid back, not daring about the dirt getting in his hair. "He's worrying about nothing."
"Why don't you let us be the judge of that?" Janus gave Remus an unimpressed look. Remus growled and rolled over. He buried his face in the dirt.
"I told Roman that I see treating injuries and providing comfort, you know, the fluffy gross stuff that he likes so much, as a way of showing you care about someone." Remus said quietly. His voice was muffled, as his face was still pressed in the ground. "And now he thinks that since I don't take care of myself, that I don't care about myself."
Remus sighed. "And he thinks that since I don't like aftercare that I don't like it when other people care about me either."
Logan thought that Roman had every right to be concerned. He could see why one might think that Remus didn't care about himself. Logan was vaguely concerned about that as well, but Janus looked completely unbothered. If anything, he seemed relieved.
"I don't think Roman understands that the way you take care of other people is different from how you need to be taken care of." Janus said. "You like feeling pain."
"It makes me feel alive." Remus turned his head enough to look at Janus.
"And you like scars." Janus said. Remus smiled.
"They're like trophies engraved on my skin." Remus said. Logan had always wondered why Remus had so many scars. As they didn't have physical bodies, any scarring that they may have was illogical. Logan had wanted to ask about Remus' scars, but he didn't dare to. He didn't know whether Remus had the scars because he wanted them, so he did it with conscious effort, or because his function made it difficult for him to heal himself correctly, so his scars were real.
"Since you like pain, and you like scars, it only makes sense that you don't want your injuries to be treated if they don't need to be." Logan said. Remus grinned broadly at him. He seemed relieved that he wasn't being misunderstood.
Logan still thought it was concerning, and he knew he wasn't the only one. He had seen Janus insist on healing Remus' injuries, even when he didn't want them to be taken care of, because the injury was too concerning to leave on its own. Remus' tentacles, sensitive and important as they were, were not allowed to be purposefully scared or hurt at all. Janus also insisted that Remus not try to hurt himself without supervision or some kind. Remus frequently got so worked up in what he was doing that he took things too far if he had the chance to.
"Speaking of aftercare, we definitely don't need to talk about just what that will look like." Janus said. Logan allowed himself a small smile. If they were discussing aftercare, then there was a very good chance that he would be allowed to play with Remus again.
Remus sat up again. "I don't like how it's called aftercare. It makes it feel too squishy."
Janus nodded. "Right, apologies. Probation, then."
"Is that what we're calling it now?" Logan asked.
"I like it better." Remus said. "For no particular reason."
"So, let me reiterate and remind everybody," Janus glared at Logan. "This probation, or whatever we're going to call it, is non-negotiable. After anything is done, probation comes afterward, no exceptions. A new rule I propose is that there will be no playing on days that you're planning on working. I don't want another incident that involves a cross of priorities."
"I agree." Logan said. He never should have played with Remus last week. He knew he had to work, so he'd unintentionally rushed things.
"For the foreseeable future, I think it would be best if we all did the scenes and probation together." Janus said. "It's not just because I don't trust you, though I don't." Janus gave Remus a slightly regretful look. "I've slipped up myself and left Remus unsupervised during our scene."
Remus pouted. "I could have used our safeword if I really needed to stop."
"But you didn't." Janus said. "You don't use your safeword unless it's what you consider to be a real emergency, and that's not what the safeword is for. It should be used if anything is happening that you're not completely satisfied with."
Logan had an idea, but he hesitated to say it. It was dangerous and possibly dangerous. If they were real people Logan wouldn't think this idea was safe at all, but they weren't human, and Remus was far from normal.
"I may have a solution." Logan forced himself to say. "What if we have a scene where we push Remus' limits just a little bit to encourage him to use his safeword. He won't be punished if he doesn't use it, but he'll be rewarded if he does use it."
Janus didn't look happy, but he didn't dismiss the suggestion right away. "If Remus gets into the habit of using his safeword, and if he recognizes that just because he says it doesn't mean that he has to stop having fun, he may be more comfortable using it when he needs to."
"I like this plan." Remus said brightly. He probably just liked the thought of having a scene that was even harsher than it usually was.
"I'm not sure how I feel about it." Janus said. "I'll consider it." That was much closer to an agreement than Logan thought he would get. And he appreciated that he wasn't being immediately dismissed either.
"I think we also need to put a time limit on our scenes." Janus said. Remus groaned, and Janus gave him a long look. "Don't groan at me. I'm not saying we have to limit it to just five minutes. I think up to six hours in a twenty four hour period is plenty of time, at least for now."
"You're so boring." Remus said. "Do you have any more rules to throw at us?"
"I am certainly the only one who can come up with these rules." Janus rolled his eyes. "I definitely don't want to hear either of your contributions."
Logan was grateful for the invitation. He had a number of ideas himself. "Before we introduce any new elements into our games it should be discussed with the others, so we all know what to expect, and we can voice any concerns we have."
Janus gave him a small smile, approving of the idea. Remus wasn't anywhere near as excited.
"I don't like planning things out. It takes all the surprise out of it." Remus said.
Janus leaned closer to Remus, smirking. "What about that lovely scene I know you've been planning out all week? I know you've been looking forward to it."
Remus pouted. "Fine. I guess having a plan isn't so bad…sometimes."
Logan was intrigued. Remus had been planning a scene? Logan had never known him to do that. Who was the scene with? Logan opened his mouth to ask about it, but Janus turned his smirk to him and silenced him with a glance.
"You'll know soon enough." Janus said. "I think you'll like it." Logan was excited. Remus had thought of a scene that involved him. He couldn't wait.
"I think we should also talk about the scenes afterwards." Logan said. "Perhaps it can be part of aftercare, or probation, to discuss the scene. What went right. What went wrong. What was enjoyed, and how things can be improved."
"That is a terrible idea." Janus said in a clear lie. He looked towards Remus. "What about you, Darling? Are there any new rules you want to have?"
Remus fidgeted for a long moment. He pulled an octopus necklace up from beneath his shirt and began to nibble on it. "I just want to know when a scene is over. I used to know. The game was over when aftercare started, but now I don't know. That…that was part of the problem last week. The game was over, but I didn't know that it was, so my head got all weird and made me act like a clingy sub for way too long."
Janus' gave Remus a soft, almost proud look. "We can come up with a word to indicate the end of the scene." Janus said. "Like another safeword of sorts."
Remus relaxed slightly and nodded shyly. "Can we not talk anymore? It's making me feel squishy again, and I don't like it."
Janus sighed. "I suppose it's enough for now. But I want to have this kind of discussion at least once a month, just so we're sure that we're all on the same page."
Remus looked unhappy for a moment before a bright spark came into his eyes. He had an idea. "What if I plan a special scene for us to do after the boring talk?"
Logan nodded. "It will give you a reason to look forward to our discussions."
"It might not be able to happen immediately afterwards every month." Janus said. "Depending on how the discussion goes, we might not be in a good mindset to play that night. We can figure out how to make it happen, even if it takes a day or two."
Remus looked hesitant. "What about tonight? Can we play our game tonight?" I already set everything up on my side of the Imagination."
Janus looked at Logan. "What do you think? Are you ready for a specialty scene? Remus has apparently been planning it for a long time, but he can wait a little longer if you don't think you can handle it tonight."
"You-you'll allow me to play with Remus?" Logan asked. He wanted to be completely sure.
"You can play with both of us." Janus said. "Make no mistake, I don't trust you, and I will be watching you very carefully, but Remus gets very lonely, and I don't want to force him to be away from somebody that he actually wants to be with just because of one mistake. A terrible mistake that I don't want to see repeated, but a mistake nonetheless."
"I'll do my best to not let you down." Logan said, looking at Remus, who grinned at him. "What scene did you have in mind?"
"I'll show you." Remus said eagerly. He jumped to his feet and summoned three undead horses. It was rather tame for Remus. "Let's go to my side. Your lab is waiting."
"A lab?" Logan got to his feet. He was curious and excited. He always loved a good lab. He wondered if their scene would involve a mock experiment of sorts. Were they roleplaying? Just what kind of dark and twisted fun did Remus have in mind? Logan couldn't wait to see for himself.
"If we're all ready, lead on." Janus stood up. He picked up the blanket and tossed it over the back of one of the horses to serve as a barrier between him and the horse, as it wasn't wearing a saddle. Logan followed his example.
He didn't know what to expect from their scene. Logan liked knowing exactly what was going to happen, but he found that he didn't mind this time. He didn't care if his clothes were untidy, his tie was loose, and his hair was a mess. He was being given a second chance, one that he didn't think he deserved. He had the opportunity to play with Remus, and for Logan at that moment it was more important than looking professional and in control.
Tomorrow, when the scene was over and Logan wasn't hiding away in his room anymore, he would clean himself up and work on catching up on anything he'd fallen behind on this past week. Tonight though, he was going to enjoy himself with Remus and Janus. He was going to enjoy being Sir, no matter how long it lasted.