Here's the next part. I wrote this instead of being productive and doing more than the absolute bare minimum of my homework because life sucks and this slimey boi is still apparently the only thing that currently gives me joy.

Which sounds pretty emo and perhaps melodramatic, but whatever, I'm essentially talking to a text document at the moment.

XXX

Janus slowly pulled his door open, having actually been a lot less stubborn than Virgil thought he would have been. Since retreating to his room, the dishonest man had changed his clothes. Instead of his usual hat-and-cape-get-up, he had changed into a pair of sweatpants and a hoodie that, if it weren't for the golden-toned color scheme, looked like it came from Virgil's closet. And this, while perhaps a slight surprise to the others since they never really saw Janus wear anything else, was a concern for Virgil. Virgil knew that Janus only wore that kind of stuff to bed, or- if it wasn't night yet- when he was upset. Well, it's not like Janus told him that or anything, but just about every time Virgil had reason to believe Janus was upset correlated with the only times he saw the man wearing this particular kind of outfit.

But stranger than the outfit itself, however, was the fact that Janus had actually answered the door while wearing it, when they were all standing there. Sure, there were a few times he opened the door for Virgil back before their fight, but the Janus from back then would have never done so for the Light Sides. Maybe that meant Janus actually wanted to talk to them more than he was trying to convey, but maybe that meant that Janus was more upset about this than they thought.

"Well? I didn't open the door," Janus spoke with an undercurrent of annoyance. "What don't you want?"

"Really, we just want to have a little chat," Patton reassured him. "Actually, we should probably also include Thomas in this. Roman, could you go get him and meet us in the Commons?"

"... Sure, Padre."

And with that, Roman sank out of the mindscape to retrieve their host. Janus let out a huff.

"So, we aren't going to the common room, then?" he questioned.

"Well, I just figured that it would be more comfortable to sit on the couches and maybe have some hot chocolate instead of standing in the hallway," Patton explained. "Is that okay?"

Janus shrugged but stepped out of his room and went to close the door behind him. This seemed to appease Patton who, now that he knew the way, started to lead them back to the Commons. The four of them remained silent, with Patton's silence being significantly less tense than the silence between Janus and Virgil, and Logan just being quiet as a matter of course.

Virgil wasn't sure if he should be glad for the silence or not. On the one hand, it gave his mind the opportunity to start coming up with worst-case scenarios, but on the other, it allowed him to delay having to actually say anything else to Janus for just a bit longer.

XXX

He followed the Light Sides and Virgil down the hall and into the commons living room, feeling even more annoyed now that he was seeing the others face-to-face. This whole thing was stupid. They were just putting on some kind of act to lessen their guilt and soothe their bruised egos. Virgil said that this discussion was for listening to him, but he doubted it. And even if it was, one discussion wasn't really going to change anything. They just needed to try the tiniest bit so that they wouldn't feel so bad when they inevitably went back to doing the same thing as before.

As they entered the commons, Patton went to the kitchen to boil water, and Janus sat on the couch, making sure he wasn't sitting next to either Logan or Virgil. This resulted in him sitting about as far away from the two of them as he could, and maybe he did so with a bit more drama than necessary, but if he was anything, he was dramatic.

What was taking Princey so long? If Thomas was busy and couldn't join the discussion, they could just drop it and leave him alone. Though, maybe Roman didn't want to have this discussion, or at least, didn't want to involve Thomas in it. He knew that the princely side was a bit fickle with his opinion on him. He usually didn't like Janus at all, as evidenced by earlier, but he did like when Janus gave him compliments, even if those compliments were only sweet-sounding lies. Though, the false compliment tactic had gotten much less effective after that whole courtroom scene. Which was inconvenient, but oh well. It was just another example of how his attempts to help Thomas blew up in his face.

But, well, think of the Devil, and he shall appear, because Roman popped back in right then, bringing Thomas with him.

"Uh, hey guys," Thomas greeted them awkwardly.

"Thomas. I trust that Roman filled you in on what's going on?" Logan asked.

"Yeah," Thomas confirmed. "Uh… Hi, Janus."

"Hello, Thomas," Janus returned the greeting. "It's absolutely horrible to see you."

Silently, he cursed the greeting because it was obviously a lie, and that told the others that he was likely glad to have Thomas there. Which was the truth- of course he had a soft spot for their host- but he didn't want to let the other sides in on that. Because he was still very much upset; it was just hard to stay too upset with Thomas in particular.

And then Patton returned with a tray of mugs.

"Hi there, Thomas!" Patton greeted. "Looks like everyone's here!"

Janus almost pointed out that Remus was, in fact, not there, and he almost pointed out that having a conversation about not excluding someone was a bit ironic when you were excluding someone else, but he held his tongue on that one. He did, after all, know that Remus would probably end up derailing the conversation and that the Dark Side was probably off making mischief in the imagination right now, anyway. The fact that the others had apparently decided to exclude Remus without even having to actually think about it, however, very much irked Janus. But no matter. This conversation wasn't going to lead anywhere, anyway, so might as well not intrude on Remus's playtime.

"So," Patton started speaking, also starting to hand out the mugs. "Janus, we… we had a chat about what you said earlier, and we're sorry for excluding you all the time."

Patton handed him a mug. He could feel the warmth of it through his gloves, and he could smell the sweet liquid within.

He raised an eyebrow.

"I just… Well, I think we all know at this point that I can get a bit… strict with Thomas at times, and I don't really like lying…," said Patton.

And wow, that was like a slap to the face. But Patton didn't even seem to realize that what he'd said was very much an insult because he kept talking.

"But I know now that lying isn't all bad all the time, and you do more than just lie," he continued.

Patton fiddled with his cardigan, avoiding Janus's eyes.

"I feel bad about what happened when we were kids," he admitted finally. "I thought you were bad, so you ended up alone, and I didn't even realize that was wrong until recently. I'm… I'm really sorry about that, Janus…"

This time, Patton's words did more than sting. They felt like a sword had been plunged into his heart. And worse than the words themselves was that they were completely truthful. Patton, precious, good little Patton had taken this long to feel bad about what happened when they were children. He clenched his fists.

"You-!" Janus hissed. "Do you know what it was like to not be alone for all those years?! I only didn't eventually have people to talk to because you all didn't reject Virgil and Remus, too!"

Patton looked heartbroken.

"I'm sorry. I really am," he replied shakily. "But I was scared back then… I think we all were… I thought that the Dark Sides were going to hurt Thomas, but after we started talking to Virgil… I realized that wasn't true. You guys are part of Thomas, too, and you aren't all bad. Just like we aren't all good…"

Janus wanted to yell at Patton, yell that the side should have said that a long time ago if he wanted it to matter, but his snake slithered out of his hood and rested its head on his shoulder. So, instead of yelling, he let out a huff and reached up to stroke the reptile's scales.

"... Has your snake been in there this whole time?" Roman asked.

"No, Roman, I absolutely haven't had my snake in my hood," Janus answered.

The room fell into awkward silence. Surprisingly, Roman was actually the one who broke it again.

"I suppose… while we're on that topic…," the prince spoke, clearly uncomfortable. "I should apologize for my actions back then as well. If I hadn't actually driven you off… Look, I must admit that earlier, I didn't even agree with having this conversation, and I'm still wary about it now, but… giving Virgil a chance actually turned out to be for the best for everyone… And I guess… we haven't been entirely fair to you… So, I'm sorry as well…"

Deceit blinked at the prince. It was another honest confession/apology. Granted, it was clear that Roman wasn't entirely on board with this, but considering the way Roman could get, it was rather surprising that he had apologized at all.

"I've actually been thinking that we should try to include you more, Janus," Thomas told him. "I didn't always know you existed, but I know that you've tried to help me, and I'm grateful for that. So thank you."

Okay, first apologies, and now thanks? Something was clearly wrong here. Or else he was dreaming a strange, strange dream. Remus better not be messing with him and giving him weird dreams again.

"It would likely be beneficial to have your input," Logan interjected. "I said this earlier, but you weren't here, so I will repeat it. You offer an opposing viewpoint and help offset Patton. You keep the balance from tipping too far to one side, and help make sure Thomas takes care of himself."

Janus was actually at a loss for words at this point. Sure, there was the fact that the room was absolutely oozing with honesty, sickening honesty, but he also just truly didn't know what to say for once. As such, he finally lifted the mug to his lips and took a long sip of the now significantly-cooler hot chocolate. But a sip only lasted so long, and he still didn't have anything sorted out by its end. This situation was… rather unexpected. He could tell that these were the others' true thoughts because he would know if they were lies, and they weren't, but how could he possibly believe any of it? How could their opinion of him have possibly changed so quickly? Had it? Was he just interpreting things wrong, or was all this really a recent epiphany? How much of this was because of them, and how much was on him?

But everyone was looking at him now, clearly waiting for him to say something, to react. So, Janus just decided to admit to it.

"I… know exactly what to say about this…"

Okay, admit as well as he could. He was still on compulsive-lie mode, and the others would understand what he meant.

"Alright. How 'bout I say something, then?" Virgil spoke up.

Crap. Virgil. Virgil had been completely silent since they left Janus's doorway, and he had assumed that Virgil decided to sit this conversation out as much as possible. He had assumed that Virgil didn't want to talk to him and only did so at the door because the others had dragged him into this. But maybe that wasn't the case either? Or maybe it was but it changed too? For lies' sake, how was he supposed to tell when something became the truth?

Virgil sighed deeply.

"Look… I'm not completely over what happened, and I don't think you are, either," Virgil continued, knowing that Janus would understand what exactly he was referring to. "But… We both said things we didn't mean."

"When do I ever mean what I say?" Janus quietly questioned out of habit.

Virgil rolled his eyes.

"You know what I mean," he said. "We both said a lot of stupid and hurtful things, and it was dumb to let all this go on for so long."

Janus tensed as he waited for Virgil's next words, not wanting to let himself get too hopeful. Virgil rubbed the back of his neck and looked away, taking in a deep breath.

"Ugh, I'm sorry, okay?" Virgil managed to tell him. "I shouldn't have called you a lying snake, and I shouldn't have said I hated you. 'Cuz I don't, not really, I was just mad, you know…?"

Janus's chest felt tight.

"... But you didn't mean it… I know you didn't…," Janus mumbled.

"No, I thought I did in the moment, but I didn't really mean it," Virgil rejected.

So that was it then? Virgil didn't hate him? None of them really hated him? Was this really all his fault then? Was it all because of his lies and deception? Was it because he kept holding onto grudges? Was it just him?

Janus felt tears prickle at the corner of his eyes, and he quickly tried to rub them away. No, he was not going to start crying in front of the others. Hadn't he made enough of a fool of himself already?

"Hey, bud, are you okay?" Thomas asked, obviously having noticed that Janus was crying.

As in, he was currently crying because his attempts to rub the tears away were absolutely failing. Feeling his face growing red in embarrassment, Janus buried his face in his hands and curled inward a bit, which was embarrassing in itself, but at least they couldn't see his face anymore. At that point, he was hoping that the others would just leave so he could be alone to deal with himself and eventually slink off to his room.

And then he felt arms, hesitant arms, wrap around him slowly, and he knew from the familiar way it felt that it was Virgil. Virgil… Virgil really didn't hate him, then? Virgil was actually hugging him, and apparently the others didn't hate him as much as he thought they did, didn't outright hate him at all, and this was all too much.

Janus couldn't stop himself from gripping onto Virgil, burying his face in the other man's hoodie as he lost his hold over his tears. He wasn't a loud crier- no, this was one of the only areas in which he preferred to ditch the theatrics- but his body shook, and the tears soaked into Virgil's shoulder. And sure, maybe Virgil hadn't forgiven him completely, but the possibility was there again now, and he had forgiven him enough to do this.

No one said anything while Janus cried himself out, remaining silent and apparently trying not to stare at him too much. But of course, Janus's tears eventually ceased, and it didn't take as long as it could have. And as the crying finally ended, Janus removed himself from Virgil's embrace and rubbed the remaining wetness from his cheeks.

He breathed deeply and slowly for a few beats before he finally managed to string together the words he finally figured out to say.

"I…," he started. "It seems it isn't my turn, then."

No one tried to interrupt him, so he continued, smoothing out his clothes in an effort to make himself look more presentable, which was a rather pointless lie at this point.

"I'm not sorry for acting so villainous this whole time, or for giving Thomas bad advice. And Virgil…," he took another deep breath. "I'm not sorry for calling you a traitor and trying to control what you did…"

He said the part for Virgil just a bit quieter as shame slowly rose within him. He had known that what he said and did back then was wrong… He'd just assumed that Virgil would eventually forgive him for it. And now that he partially had that, he finally realized how stupid it was to assume that he would get it, that things would just return to normal without him even actually attempting to fix anything.

What now? It seemed like everyone had said their piece for the time-being, and even though there would probably be more discussions down the line, it seemed like this one was done for now.

"So…," Roman spoke eventually. "Are we really going to end this discussion without talking about the snake in Janus's hood?"

XXX

And that's the end of this part of the story. I have more ideas for additional parts, though. I have somehow started another series…. without finishing my other stuff first… again… whoops.

Anyway, if you're reading this on FFN (is anyone?), I'll just keep posting everything under the same story. If you're reading this on AO3, the story will be separated into parts by chunks. Ya'll know how that works on here, so I probably don't have to explain that…

Anyway, thanks for reading :3 Hope to see you in the next part~