Janus soaked for an hour, enjoying the heat. He could never get enough heat, and baths were a favorite pastime of his. But the water eventually cooled past his tolerance and he got out of the tub and grabbed a towel. Then he paused. He would have to ask for help.

"Um, Logan?" Janus called.

"Yes?" Logan asked.

"I… I need a bit of help drying off. Could you…?"

"Certainly."

Logan said nothing about the strangeness of gently patting off his scales and wiping the water from his human skin, and Janus was grateful. He quickly dressed himself in his boxers again then slunk into the room. Roman was fanning himself with a book, and Patton was snacking on brownies. Janus was all interest.

"Is that what I think it is?"

Patton turned and smiled. "Maybe I got bored and needed to cool off."

Janus licked his lips. "May I have one? Or twelve?"

Patton laughed and pointed to a plate. "Have some. I made them for you."

Within a second, Janus was over by the plate and biting into one of Patton's chocolate chip brownies. He hummed at the rich, gooey chocolate and felt tears welling in his eyes again. He hated himself as he began to cry. Roman blinked then grinned.

"Geez, Patton, you must have put something horrible in there. Can't think of any other reason he'd be crying…"

"Shut up," Janus hiccuped. "It's just…" He sobbed. "Patton cares about me so much! And he shouldn't!"

He took another bite and turned away, trying to hide his tears. Patton skipped over and hugged him. "It's okay, Jan. I love you. And you love me."

Janus nodded and finished off the brownie. Then he reached down and plucked at the scales on his hand. Panic appeared in his eyes, and he twisted to pick at his ribs and shoulder.

"#%*&."

"I take it that it's time?" Logan asked.

"Yes," Janus ground out.

"Okay then. What do we do?" Roman asked.

Janus went over and sat on the bed, reluctance in every step. He wished Remus and Virgil were there to explain. But it was just him.

"Come here and pick lightly at them."

"Why?" Logan asked.

"So you understand why I say they're ready to come off."

Logan strode over at once and placed a hand on his human shoulder then reached over and gently plucked at the skin. "Oh!" He leaned down and peered at the scales. "My goodness, that's fascinating. It's like you have two layers of skin, and one is peeling away."

Janus snorted. "Maybe because that's exactly what's happening?" he asked dryly.

Logan looked embarrassed. "Ah. That is true."

Patton stepped over and picked at the scales. "That's really so cool."

Roman took his turn. "And a bit gross," he admitted.

Janus blushed. "Yes, well that can't be helped."

"It's not a bad thing," Roman said. "It's just… we have to skin you. Ugh! I sound like Remus!"

Janus relaxed and laughed. "Yes. You do. But that's not bad."

"So what do we do?" Logan asked.

Janus turned to face them and held up his hand. Using his nail, he carefully dug under his human skin and curled his finger to peel up the edges of his snake skin. He methodically did that around the whole scale then grasped an edge and pulled. It came away smoothly, revealing a shiny new scale.

"It's going to take awhile," Janus admitted. "And the larger patches don't come away in one piece."

Roman frowned, but Logan nodded. "Excellent. May I?"

Janus placed his hand in Logan's and watched as he began to work at the scales. He paused when the human skin began to redden. "Is this wrong?"

"Irritation is to be expected," Janus assured him. "You don't have any practice. But it needs to come off. So I'll handle it."

Logan nodded and carefully picked and peeled until the dead skin came off in his hand. He studied it. "Fascinating."

Patton took his turn, his face a mask of concentration as he gently worked the edges free. "Neat," he said, looking up and grinning.

Janus glanced away, but he held out his hand for Roman to try. Roman was surprisingly more delicate than either Logan or Patton, and he stripped the dead skin off relatively quickly. Then Janus squirmed.

"Okay. Time to do the patches. Do the smaller ones first."

"Why?" Patton asked.

"Because the bigger ones are a pain in the #$&," Janus replied.

Roman watched as Patton and Logan began working at two different patches, one on Janus's arm and the other on Janus's lower back. The scales were flakey and wouldn't come off all together. This would take forever, and Janus looked miserable. How could he solve this? Roman looked down at his own carefully manicured hand and an idea flashed into his mind. Without a word, he turned and bolted out the door.

Janus was wounded when he saw Roman turn and run away. He knew shedding was strange, but he'd seemed so accepting, if not weirded out. Tears stung his eyes and he began to cry softly. Patton stopped picking at his dead skin to squeeze him then he went back to it. Several minutes later, Roman strutted back into the room.

"I have an idea!" he proclaimed.

Logan and Patton turned to gaze at him, and Janus glared through his tears. "Wouldn't want to make you uncomfortable. Might want to leave again."

"What?" Roman peered at him. "I had to go back upstairs. It's hard for me to conjure in the Subconscious."

"You didn't leave because I'm disgusting?" Janus challenged.

"No. I had an idea."

"Well, what is it?" Logan asked, pushing his glasses up his sweaty nose.

Roman held out something small in his palm and grinned.

"It's… a rock," Logan said slowly.

"How will this help?" Patton asked.

"Ugh, don't you know anything? It's a pumice stone! It removes dead skin." Roman waited to be praised then rolled his eyes when none was forthcoming. "Just let me try something. I think it'll be worth it."

Janus peered at him then shrugged. "Fine."

Roman skipped over and pushed past Logan and Patton. "Tell me if this hurts, okay?"

Janus grunted and Roman began to scrape the pumice stone over the dead scales. It made a strange scratching noise, and Janus shuddered. Roman immediately stopped.

"Does it hurt?"

"No. It just feels odd," Janus looked down at his arm. "The top skin is dead. I can't feel normal sensation from it."

Roman nodded and began to work at the scales, rubbing the stone around the edges of the patch and then across the middle. Then he set aside the stone.

"Let's see if this works."

"I don't know what you hope to accomplish— Roman!"

Janus finished the sentence with a shout as Roman effortlessly peeled away the rest of the patch of scales in one piece. A shiver raced up his spine and he gasped at the sudden relief of having the dead skin peeled away. Roman grinned.

"It worked!"

"Do it again," Janus hissed. "Please! Get it off of me!"

"Let me try!" Patton commanded.

Roman handed over the stone and showed Patton how to use it. Janus sat still, enjoying the rough rock firmly pressing into his snake skin. Patton worked methodically, carefully, and when he was done, he grasped the edges of the patch and pulled. Janus whined, his body rigid as the unbearable itch was relieved as the dead skin pulled away.

"I love you, Roman. And your #%*&ing rock," Janus whispered.

Roman chortled. "Hey, what can I say? I'm fantastic."

Logan took his turn, working at the patch on his back until it, too, could be smoothly pulled away. Janus was openly weeping at that point, completely overwhelmed by his shed.

"Go get a couple more," Logan ordered. "We can finish faster if we're all doing it."

Roman ran up to the Conscious and came back down a minute later. He shoved a stone in Patton's hand and they went to work. Within twenty minutes, they had peeled away most of the dead skin, leaving only the large patch on his shoulder and the one on his face.

"Okay. Hold still. We're nearly done," Roman encouraged.

Janus hiccuped and nodded, tears still streaming down his cheeks. "Get it off, please," he begged. Relief was in sight and he wanted it.

They carefully worked at the large patch, rubbing the stones on his shoulder, down his back, and around his ribs. Janus squirmed, but they kept working. And then there was a shout.

"What the #%*&?!"

They all started and looked up to see Virgil and Remus standing in the doorway, looking shocked.

"You're shedding, Janny?" Remus demanded.

"And you decided not to tell us?" Virgil looked upset.

Janus burst into tears yet again, and Virgil threw aside what looked to be something made of gold and hurried over. He scanned Janus's face.

"You haven't done your face yet. But you've gotten everything else?" He sounded surprised.

"It takes us hours to do that. And we haven't been gone that long," Remus said suspiciously.

"Pumice stone," Roman said smugly. "Watch this."

After going over the dead skin to make sure it was loose, Roman set aside the stone and grasped the skin at Janus's shoulder. In one smooth movement, he pulled the skin off. Virgil and Remus gaped at him as Janus wailed and shivered.

"#%*&, that feels so good," Janus breathed.

"Hot #&$%," Remus said.

"It's in one piece," Virgil muttered.

"Yep. Now we just have to do your face, Jan," Roman said.

"I will do his face," Virgil said firmly, reaching out for the stone. "Show me how to use this thing."

Roman did so, and Virgil delicately worked it around Janus's eye, across his face and down his chin. Then he gingerly grasped the edges and peeled away the last bit of skin. Janus shivered and sighed then reached up to his eye and blinked rapidly. The blue skin fell off and he set it on the pile of skin.

"#&$%, that really does work!" Remus said. "Where'd you come up with that stone thingy, Jan?"

Janus gestured to Roman. "Your twin thought it would help."

Remus suddenly went cold. "Ah. Yeah. That makes sense."

Roman flinched and looked at the skin, desperate to change the subject. "What do we do with all of this?"

"Give it to Remus. He makes things out of it," Janus said, and he suddenly stifled a yawn. "Oh, #&$%, I could sleep for a week."

"Really?" Logan asked. "Is that normal as well?"

Janus leveled his face on him, and the Light Sides all saw his typical aloofness come down as he smirked. "Oh yes. That's seriously such a plausible idea."

Patton grinned. "Jan! You're okay."

"Not quite," Virgil said teasingly. "See, he'll still burst out with the truth over the next few days before his hormones settle down."

Janus's human cheek turned red. "Watch it, trash panda."

Virgil snorted. "Whatever, snake boy."

Janus glared at Virgil. "I wasn't kidding."

"Oh." Virgil shrugged and wrapped an arm around Janus. "Sorry Jan. But it is funny."

"Not to me. It's humiliating. The things I've told you during those times are too much for my pride to bear. And it's already too much to have to live with the fact that they've seen me like this."

"Janny, you're telling the truth," Remus said tentatively.

"I know. But I might as well talk about it while I'm still #%*&ed up on hormones." Tears filled his eyes and he brushed them away. "I don't know how I'll act tomorrow. It was so awkward around Virgil and Remus after they found out about my shedding. But I want to thank you for helping before I… can't. At least, not in a usual, sincere way. Thank you for not leaving. Even after all I've done. You are all far too kind to a beast."

"You're not a beast," Patton said firmly. "You're just Janus."

Janus sobbed quietly and turned his face away. Patton reached over and tenderly wiped the tears away, his fingers lingering on the fresh, bright scales.

"It's okay, Jan," Patton said. "We'll get through it."

"Promise me I can take care of you tomorrow," Janus said, reaching his fingers up to press over the puncture wounds on Patton's neck.

"If it'll make you feel better, sure," Patton replied.

"Thank you. Now I'm going to sleep. Please close the door on the way out. Oh, and take a cool shower, drink water, and have something salty."

"All excellent suggestions," Logan said. "Sleep well, Janus."

"See you tomorrow, kiddo," Patton said.

"I'm still upset you didn't tell us," Virgil grumbled.

"Technically, I was avoiding everybody," Janus said.

"True. We'll talk later, Jan. Night."

Roman looked up at his brother as everybody else left, hesitation in his eyes. "Ah, Remus? How would you like to go on an adventure tomorrow? We could slay a dragon or hunt a witch or… or whatever you want."

Remus stared coolly at his brother and walked over until he was right in Roman's face. "You know what? I'm busy. I'll get back to you later."

Roman flinched and shrank away. He knew those words. He'd said them to Remus over a hundred times growing up. And he'd 'get back to him' less and less as time went on. Until one day, he'd stopped. And never looked back.

"Excuse me, bro," Remus said, his eyes twinkling in the dim lights like two stars. "Gotta get my snake skin."

Roman stepped aside and Remus picked up the pile. "This will be great for my project, Jan. Lots of possibilities with them all in one piece."

"Remus," Jan said gently, his eyes flicking toward Roman.

"Gotta go work on my project," Remus said. "Enjoy slumberland, Janny."

And he turned and walked out the door. Roman stood there, his eyes bright with unshed tears, but he refused to let them fall. He deserved to feel like this. After all he'd done to Remus and Virgil and Janus and Logan and Patton, he deserved to suffer.

"Roman?"

"I'd better go," Roman said, his bottom lip trembling. "I hope you have the best dreams, Jan."

Roman waved then shut the door behind him, leaving Janus alone in his muggy room. He stretched out on the bed, relishing how light and un-itchy he was, and he pondered Roman and Remus. Janus knew what Remus was doing, and he wasn't going to fight it just yet. Remus had been so wounded by Roman turning to other adventures and forgetting about him that he wasn't willing to risk getting close again. He loved Roman, really and truly he did, but after such a devastating betrayal, he guarded his wounded heart more zealously than before.

What concerned Janus was that Remus had purposefully said something to needle under Roman's skin. It was a personal wound instead of one of his broad-range attacks. And when Remus got personal, things could get messy. While Janus and Virgil scrapped like dogs when they were angry, Remus had far more unorthodox ways of coping with stress and pain. But Janus was just too tired to think straight, so he turned and wrote out a note for himself to check on Remus tomorrow morning before rolling over and falling into a deep sleep.