Janus was exhausted, infuriated, and more than just a little done with dealing with the others. Technically speaking he hadn't even seen the others that day. The only people he'd seen were Remus and Thomas, but the two of them were tied for being the most attention demanding and emotionally stunted people he knew...also tied for first place were Patton, Logan, Virgil, and Roman. He was absolutely surrounded by idiots, and it was draining.
Janus had not been fond of Thomas' anniversary video idea. It was a lot of effort, and he just didn't think that the benefits made it worth it. Thomas was in charge though, and Janus supposed he should just be glad that he was being included now.
The filming of the video wouldn't have been that bad if Thomas had just been a little more organized and less impulsive. It should have been very straightforward. However, Thomas and his sides always complicated things. Instead of asking every individual side all of the questions in one interview, and then letting them go on with their day, Thomas had to let his spontaneity get the better of him.
If anybody so much as mentioned another side when they answered a question, Thomas felt the need to bring said side back in for a follow up question to see their reaction. Janus had tried to be one of the first to be interviewed, just so he could get it over with and properly enjoy some quiet time until he had to supervise Remus' interview. He could barely begin to relax before Thomas called him back in for a follow-up question.
Janus was pulled up so many times that it gave him a headache. He should have saved his wine for after his interview. As relaxing as getting drunk sounded, Janus knew that he couldn't afford to have a muddled mind. Remus was due back any minute now from his interview, and Janus needed to be ready for the chaos he was sure to bring back with him.
He had originally planned on supervising the entirety of Remus' interview, but he was far too tired and spent. He'd watched the first minute or so, just to make sure that Thomas would be able to handle Remus alone for a short period of time. After Janus had stopped Remus from spoiling everything, using a method that he was sure would deter the other side from causing more trouble, he'd gone back to his room.
Janus lounged on his chair, his heating lamp set to its highest setting. His door was wide open, so he'd be aware the second that Remus returned. He knew that the other side would have an excessive amount of energy, as he always did after he was allowed to be in a video, and Janus would rather not find the entire dark side destroyed or on fire again. He'd had a hard enough day as it was.
Janus hoped that he could convince Remus to sit down and binge the Saw movies with him. It was one of the few franchises that they could both appreciate. Janus enjoyed any psychological thriller, no matter how bad it was, and any movie that had an unnecessary amount of gore and forcing people to do things they'd never even considered before was considered a masterpiece in Remus' book.
Janus only suggested they watch these movies when one of them was feeling ill, or when he was especially desperate to keep Remus calm. Considering the day they'd had, Janus thought that both the requirements had been met.
Janus was able to relax for a few more minutes before he felt the all-too familiar pull of Thomas summoning him. Janus hissed in irritation, slammed his hat on his head, and rose up in Thomas' living room.
"Thomas, I swear, if you've brought me here because you have another final question-" Janus' threat trailed off when he saw his host putting away his filming equipment. It looked like Thomas' was done filming. This should be a relief, as it was finally the end of the questions, but he felt nothing but cautious and just a little bit concerned.
"Where's Remus?" Janus asked. Thomas groaned and gestured towards the kitchen.
"Can you take care of him, please?" Thomas practically begged. He sounded almost as tired as Janus felt. "He won't leave. He's just lying behind the couch, moaning. I don't dare to see what he's up to back there."
Janus sighed, adjusted his cape, and made his way around the back of the couch. "Remus, I am most definitely in the mood to be dealing with your chaotic little games. It's time to go home."
The only sound he got in response was a raspy groan. Janus frowned. Remus was on his back, sprawled on the ground. Janus could see the other's chest moving harshly with every raspy breath he took, but other than that he was completely motionless. It wasn't like Remus at all, and Janus found his concern increasing, though he wasn't about to let the others know as much.
"Come on, Remus." Janus walked up to the other and kicked his side, trying to get a reaction. "Don't make me get out the spray bottle."
Remus made a harsh huff that Janus recognized as his pained laugh, though it didn't normally sound this bad. Thomas, who was watching them cautiously, frowned slightly at Janus' words.
"Oh, the bottle's empty." Thomas said.
"You had to use it that often?" Janus raised an eyebrow. He'd left Thomas with the spray bottle, just in case he needed to use it again, though he hadn't thought he would use it at all, let alone so much.
"No, he, uh," Thomas sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "He drank it."
Janus felt like his insides turned to ice. "He did what?!" Thomas didn't seem concerned, just annoyed and slightly ill, like he always did when he interacted with Remus. Thomas probably thought that this was the same as any other of Remus' little tricks. That this lying on the ground and moaning was just a call for attention.
Janus had spent enough time with Remus that he knew better. He could see the subtle difference between Remus just trying to get a reaction for the fun of it, because he was bored, and Remus in genuine trouble.
Janus knelt on the ground next to Remus, pulling his head up on his lap. Janus grabbed Remus' hands to keep him from scratching at his face. He summoned his additional hands so he could adjust Remus' outfit and get it away from his skin. He opened Remus' mouth more and positioned his head so it might make it a little easier to breathe. It did little good. Remus was still wheezing.
"You stupid, useless, infuriating...I've been gone for, what, ten minutes?" Janus hissed. He tried to force himself to be angry, because it was better than being anxiously concerned. "Could you really not restrain from trying to kill yourself for that long?"
Janus felt a stab of guilt when Remus whimpered and started to shy away from him. He tightened his hold on Remus and began to run one of his hands through his far too greasy hair.
"I'm sorry, Cephy." Janus said quietly. He hoped it was soft enough that Thomas didn't hear him. He had a reputation, one that he'd worked really hard to build up, and he didn't want to ruin it, but Remus needed soft words right now. Janus would scold him later, when Remus didn't look like he was being suffocated by his own swollen throat.
"Janus?" Thomas called from the other side of the couch. He almost sounded concerned, though Janus couldn't imagine why. He knew that Thomas didn't care for Remus at all. Why should he be worried about him? Perhaps Thomas was just worried about what trouble Remus was causing. "Is everything okay over there?"
"Yes," Janus hissed in frustration. "This is exactly how I want things to be."
Thomas slowly peeked his head over the back of the couch. He made an alarmed sound and leaned forward, nearly falling over the couch. "What's he doing? What's wrong?"
"Clearly this isn't an allergic reaction." Janus said. Thomas' eyes widened in alarm.
"An allergic reaction? But...but how?" Thomas asked. He actually sounded concerned. Janus wondered if he was actually worried about Remus, or if this was Thomas' innate goodness coming through and he didn't like to see anybody in pain, no matter how much he didn't like them.
"Patton's allergic to cats." Janus pointed out. "Clearly it's possible for a side to have an allergy."
"Yeah, but I'm allergic to cats." Thomas said. "It...it makes sense."
"Yes, because Remus is known for making sense." Janus gave Thomas an annoyed look. "Are you going to continue sitting there, staring, or will you help me?"
"Uh, yeah, yeah, hang on." Thomas climbed up over the edge of the couch. "What are we supposed to do? Does he have, like, an EpiPen or something?"
"Where do you believe Remus would get something like that?" Janus asked. "From the numerous doctors dancing around your head?"
"Well, what can we do?" Thomas asked nervously.
"Try to keep him from suffocating." Janus said. As sides, they didn't necessarily need air to survive. They wouldn't die without it, but they could certainly fall unconscious. Perhaps Remus would be easier to deal with if he was unconscious, but Janus didn't want it to get that bad. "This probably won't wear off given time."
At least, Janus hoped that it would wear off. He'd never seen Remus have an allergic reaction this bad, and he'd never ingested soap before. The closest he'd gotten had been when he was really young and Patton had tried to wash his mouth out with soap. But Remus hadn't swallowed that soap, it had just swollen his tongue up so much that he couldn't speak properly for a week.
"I'll take him home and make sure he isn't as comfortable as possible." Janus was already dreading it. When Remus got badly hurt or needed to be taken care of he took all of Janus' attention. He had to give Remus his complete focus, without a break, and it was exhausting.
If Janus didn't know for a fact that Remus would just spiral and get worse if left alone, or if he thought that Remus was doing this kind of thing on purpose because he was feeling particularly attention-starved, then he would leave him on his own until he got over his childish behavior.
Thomas looked conflicted for a moment before he seemed to come to a decision. "You...you guys can stay here for a bit. I can help you take care of Remus."
Janus gave Thomas a careful look. "And why would you do such a thing?"
Thomas knelt next to them. There was an odd look in his eyes as he looked at Remus. "I know I'm not his biggest fan, but Remus is still a part of me. He should have somebody that cares about him. I know he has you, but I also know how much you don't like taking care of people, and that's fine." Thomas assured him. "There's nothing wrong with having boundaries."
Janus gave Thomas an unimpressed look. "What a novel idea. I wonder where you learned that little tidbit." He did not appreciate having his own advice thrown back at him, like he wasn't already aware of it.
"Look, the point is, Remus shouldn't have to deal with this alone, and you shouldn't have to be alone in helping him." Thomas said. "So I'm offering to help you help Remus. Unless, of course, you don't want my help." Thomas now looked slightly nervous. He had far too much influence from Patton, Virgil, and Roman if he looked this uneasy about his help being unwelcome. "If you'd rather one of the other's helped-"
"Oh, yes, because the others are just lining up to take care of Remus." Janus said. The others would probably be incredibly helpful. Patton thrived in taking care of people. Virgil knew so many breathing exercises he'd probably be able to figure out how to help Remus get past his wheezing. Logan could probably logic away Remus' allergic reaction, or maybe even create a makeshift EpiPen. As for Roman, whether he liked it or not, he was Remus' brother. They were two sides of the same coin. Roman would probably instinctively know how to help Remus.
But just because they could help didn't mean that they would. Roman hated his brother. Patton never wanted to step within ten feet of Remus. And the idea of Virgil willingly doing something for the sake of the so-called dark sides was laughable.
Logan would probably be the most willing to help, but at the moment he was probably incapable of doing so thanks to all that wine he'd had during the interview process. If Logan wasn't completely hammered right now, he'd be sound asleep.
"Yeah, you're probably right." Thomas rubbed the back of his head as he stood up. "Let's get him upstairs. My bed is probably a lot more comfortable than the floor."
"Are you sure?" Janus asked quietly. If he allowed Thomas to help him just because he would feel too guilty if he didn't help someone in need then that would just make Janus a hypocrite. He was the one who was trying to encourage Thomas to be selfish when he needed to, and to put his own needs and wants over someone else's every once and awhile. It wouldn't exactly be fair for Janus to expect Thomas to not follow that advice just because it benefitted him.
Thomas gave him a small smile. "I'm sure." Janus could taste the truth in that statement. Thomas actually wanted to help, and Janus didn't think it was just because he felt he had to.
With the help of his additional limbs, Janus pulled Remus close and got to his feet, lifting the other up. Remus gasped as much as he could and squeezed Janus' hands. He squeezed Remus' hands back. He followed Thomas as he led the way upstairs
Thomas opened the door to his bedroom, giving his bed a slightly regretful grimace before he forced a smile and looked back at them. "I've been planning on washing my sheets anyway." It wasn't exactly a lie, but merely a stretching of the truth. Thomas had been planning on washing his sheets, though he'd been planning on doing so, and then putting it off, for about a month. Logan would probably be pleased that Thomas was finding some incentive to do his basic chores.
Janus was about to lay Remus down on the bed, but then he lurched in a way that he was far too familiar with. Janus immediately made his way back into the hall and towards the bathroom instead. He set Remus in the bathtub, quickly turned on the water, and stepped back to allow Remus room to turn into an octopus.
Remus' octopus form was often quite large, rarely ever smaller than a giant pacific octopus. Janus had expected that Remus' form would be a little bit smaller right now, both because he was weak and so he'd be able to fit in the bathtub. Janus was surprised, and concerned, to see Remus take on a very small octopus form, one that could be held in the palm of one hand.
Janus was barely able to see Remus' vibrant green coloring before he inked so much that all of the water already in the bathtub turned black, hiding his small form. Janus sighed and leaned against the wall as the tub continued to fill, though it failed to dilute the ink. He wasn't in the mood to be dealing with this today.
Thomas knocked on the door, though it was open. Janus tiredly turned to see his host standing awkwardly outside the door.
"Is, uh, is everything okay in here?" Thomas asked.
"Oh, yes, everything's fine." Janus gestured towards the tub. "It's not like Remus inked, which means that he's either very unwell or very scared.
"Inked? What do you-?" Thomas cautiously stepped into the bathroom and looked into the tub. He grimaced when he saw his tub. "Where's Remus?"
"Oh, he's in there." Janus looked into the murky water. He couldn't actually see his friend. "Hey, Remus, would you be so kind as to illuminate yourself? It certainly wouldn't make everything easier."
There was a moment of pause before a dim glow began to light up, breaking through the ink. It wasn't as bright as it should be, but if Remus had the energy to make the suckers on his tentacles glow, which actually took conscious effort for him, then perhaps he wasn't as bad off as Janus had first feared.
Thomas peered into the tub, equal parts curious and terrified. "Is that an octopus?"
"He finds this form relaxing." Janus said. "And I find his ink much easier to clean up than his vomit."
Thomas was starting to look a little nauseous himself. "Is he okay like that though? I mean, is he still having a reaction?"
Janus frowned. "I'm not sure." He admitted. He took one of his gloves off and put his hand in the water near the glow. The tentacles began to squirm as Remus scuttled back. "Cephy? I need to see your form. You can get right back in the water afterwards." Remus was still for a long moment before he slowly crawled onto Janus' hand. He lifted him out of the water. And brought him to eye-level so he could closely examine him.
Remus' octopus form looked a bit paler than usual, and he somehow looked swollen, just like he'd been in his human form. He was also curling in on himself, confirming Janus' suspicion that he was feeling particularly vulnerable for one reason or another. Remus wasn't struggling to breathe anymore, though that was probably because he didn't need to breathe at all as an octopus.
Well, this was one way to stop the suffocation problem.
Thomas' eyes widened. He leaned in to get a closer look at the octopus. "Is...is that really Remus?"
Janus sighed in annoyance. "No, Thomas, it's Patton. Didn't you know that he could turn into any aquatic animal?"
"Right, right, of course it's Remus." Thomas said sheepishly. "I've just never seen him so small and, well, cute."
Remus glared at Thomas and quickly began to scramble across Janus' hands to try to reach him. Janus tightened his grip on Remus, grateful not for the first time that he had so much practice in octopus wrangling.
"Remus, no." Janus hissed. "You're unwell. Thomas is exhausted from filming all day. The last thing either of you need right now is for you to bite him." Remus could share intrusive thoughts effortlessly, but when he was in octopus form his venom came in the form of intense intrusive thoughts.
Janus imagined that it would affect Thomas more than any of the rest of them. Remus had been begging to be able to test that theory, and some days Janus was close to giving in, but today was not that day.
Remus' tentacles flashed in a bright glow. Janus' eyes widened in alarm when the glow went from green to a vibrant teal, and then to a blue. "Remus," Janus accidentally tightened his grip around Remus, which only alarmed the other side further. Remus squirmed around. Janus flinched when he felt the slight poke of Remus' beak.
"Don't you dare." Janus warned. His words were barely out of his mouth when he suddenly saw images flash in his mind.
Choking on his own tongue while those that he cared about just stood there and watched.
Drowning while in the bath, buried by the bubbles, never to be found.
Getting soap in his eyes and going blind.
Being surrounded by darkness with no possible way out.
Janus gasped and felt his grip on Remus loosen. The octopus dropped to the ground. Janus could hear as he scurried off. He knew that he should go get Remus, either to keep him from causing mischief, or to help him before he landed himself in any other trouble. Janus couldn't move though. The only movement he managed was sinking down to the ground, and that only happened because his legs completely gave out beneath him.
Janus shuddered and pressed his palms against his eyes. He was used to Remus' intrusive thoughts. Most of his days ultimately boiled down to listening to Remus ramble on and on about whatever nonsense was going through his head. He'd been on the receiving end of Remus' intrusive thoughts, but they weren't normally as vivid as these thoughts were. Janus had actually felt his air escape him, the wetness of the water, the stinging of the soap, and the cold of the shadows.
Between being interviewed and worrying about Remus, Janus was far too exhausted to brush off the intrusive thoughts like he normally would. He felt like he should be able to get past this, and he was kicking himself for being so weak and vulnerable like this. He was supposed to be Remus' rock, the one that grounded him, and yet he had dropped Remus, lost him, and was too startled to go after him.
"Janus!" Thomas knelt next to him. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? What happened?"
"I'm fine." Janus pushed away Thomas' concern. His claim was only a bit of a lie. Janus wasn't really okay, but he would be. He wasn't the one that needed Thomas' help. "Find Remus."
"I'm not leaving you alone." Thomas said stubbornly. How very noble, and selfish, of him.
"He needs you more." Janus hissed. Remus didn't tap into his inner blue-ringed octopus lightly. He only glowed that vibrant blue when he was panicking or upset and his octopus instincts to bite came out. Janus didn't know whether Remus' distress was because of him, or if he'd just been the victim of Remus' overwhelmed outburst.
Thomas still looked reluctant to move. Janus needed to resort to the most manipulative tactic he knew.
"Remus needs help." Janus said quietly. He hated resorting to this. "Please."
Thomas looked taken aback at Janus' plea. He stared at the side in shock for a long moment before he took a deep breath and nodded.
"Okay." Thomas said. "I-I'll find Remus. Just...just sit here, take some deep breaths, and I'll be back as soon as I can." Thomas ran out of the room, leaving Janus alone. He took a deep breath and rested his head in his hands. Today was just not his day.