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The orange glow slowly broke through the darkness, lighting up his surroundings with what should have been a comforting warmth but instead made his heart beat fast with a trepidation he was far too used to feeling. It took only a moment for the glow to explode into a blazing inferno, the heat already burning with its intensity despite the flames not yet contacting his skin.

He tried to stand up, stumbling over his own feet, so he could open the door. He reached out, grasping, but he couldn't get his hand to grab the doorknob quite right, his hand twisting only in a way that made the task impossible.

He banged on the door, screaming, begging for someone to help him- for someone to just hear him. He needed to escape, but he couldn't do it on his own.

Then, suddenly, he was running through the building, passing burning room after burning room, the images of melting dolls- melting faces- scorching themselves into his mind as he ran.

He came up to a staircase and started running down it, but it never seemed to end. It just stretched on and on and turned and turned around and the flames were licking at his heels and the smoke was getting thicker, and he could barely even breathe.

He ran down another hallway, still no exit in sight, and there was a shrieking surrounding him, telling him that he should just hide somewhere and hope the flames couldn't get to him.

And then he tripped, and a piece of the ceiling fell down and collapsed on top of him and he couldn't get up, couldn't escape from the crushing weight.

"Jan?"

Just as his vision began to dim and the smoke clogged his lungs, he could see a figure approaching him from the burning wreckage.

"Jaaaaan."

Any momentary hope he felt was smothered as soon as the figure emerged from the smoke.

The figure was a man made of fire and ash, his body glowing bright with flame, with heat. He stood tall, an imposing figure that reached up and brushed the ceiling with one flaming hand. He spread the fire, helping it along in its attempts to burn the building down and bring him down with it.

"Hey, Janus?"

"Januuuuuuuus."

The figure hissed out his name, hissed it like it was the most disgusting of curses.

"Janus!"

"Janus!"

And the figure reached out, with that same fiery hand that started the blaze, and inched ever closer to his face-

Janus shot awake to the feeling of someone grabbing his shoulder, shaking him, and even though the touch was light, he jerked away from it with a flinch. He had to take a moment to shake himself out of the nightmare, remind himself that the events of his dream weren't real, hadn't ever been real, before he could truly tune in to the world around him.

Once he was finally more aware, though still shaky, he looked up and found his brother standing over him, and further back, Roman. His brother's expression clearly displayed worry, and Roman appeared to be confused. Janus didn't particularly care for either expression, and he especially didn't care for having Roman in their house and watching him while he slept.

A voice in the back of his mind did pipe up, telling him that he shouldn't be so surprised that people were in the same room as him when he'd taken a nap in the living room (even if unintentionally), but he told it to shut up.

"What do you want?" Janus asked, not really sure which of the two he was directing the question at.

Maybe it was both of them.

Patton's eyebrows crinkled, and his head tilted.

"You okay, Jan?" he questioned.

Janus rolled his eyes. Patton knew he had nightmares, and he knew that Janus was as fine as he ever was after waking up from one. Patton should have also known that, even on the slightest off-chance that he would want to talk to him about it this time, he wasn't going to discuss it with Roman watching them.

"I'm fine, Patton," he answered harshly. "Now, what do you want?"

"Jan, are you sure you're okay-"

"Patton," Janus hissed, trying to get his brother to drop the subject. "Tell me what you want. Or did you just wake me up for shits and giggles?"

"Hey, don't talk to him like that!"

Roman stepped forward, his eyes sharp, and Janus had to hold back another flinch. It was only Roman, just Roman.

"Piss off, Princey," Janus growled, shooting his own formidable glare back at the other teen.

"Ro, please," Patton spoke imploringly.

"No, Pat, we're all tired of how he treats you!" Roman denied. "If he's gonna be an asshole, I'm gonna call him out on it!"

This was far from anything Janus felt like dealing with right now. He just wanted to scurry off into his room, lock the door, and hide under the covers. It seemed, however, that Roman wanted to speak his mind, and he doubted he'd be able to escape until after Roman finished saying his piece.

Janus figured he was right when Roman directed his attention back toward him.

"Why do you always have to be such an asshole, all the time?" Roman questioned angrily. "Patton only ever tries to be nice to you, and all you do is act like a jerk to him! He doesn't deserve that!"

I'm well aware of that.

"Oh, please do continue spouting off things that everyone knows already," Janus drawled, ignoring the hint of surprise that crossed Roman's features. "I'll ask again, so we can stop wasting all of our time: What do you want?"

Patton looked conflicted, while Roman seemed to set his anger into stone.

"Ugh!" Roman exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air. "Fine! Keep being an asshole!"

Janus tensed at the gesturing but said nothing, still waiting for Roman to finally tell him what he wanted.

"Look, you never gave me your damn phone number, you refuse to contact me, and you ignore me at school!" Roman yelled, his frustration clear. "So I had to come over to ask you to- I don't know- Actually attempt to work on our project together? I mean, for Pete's sake, do you want to fail this assignment?!"

Janus grimaced for a moment before putting a fake smile on his face.

"Bold of you to assume I give a shit whether I fail or not."

Roman put his hands on his hips, his eyes narrowing.

"Well, I do care whether I fail or not, so."

"So, what?"

Janus could still feel his heart thumping in his chest, the anger mixing with the anxiety to create a storm within himself. He wanted to escape, but he also wanted to make Roman angrier- even if he knew making people angrier never ended well for him.

"So, you're going to work on our project!" Roman shouted incredulously.

"Oh, am I?" Janus replied, false lightness in his voice. "And how are you going to make me? Go ahead and tell the teacher I'm not cooperating if you want."

"Jan."

"I don't believe you're part of this, Patton dear."

"You," Roman spoke, his voice hard. "Are the most infuriating person I ever met, and I lived with Remus for most of our lives."

"Ooo, do throw Remus under the bus, why don't you?"

Roman then mumbled something that sounded quite a lot like 'Says the one who's ignoring him', but Janus didn't respond to it. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and looked Roman in the eye.

"Okay, why don't we all just calm down a little?" Patton suggested.

"I'm not the one yelling, Patton," Janus pointed out.

"I wouldn't be yelling if you weren't-!"

"Excuses, excuses."

And apparently, this was the last straw, because Roman took the last few steps needed so he was standing in front of him, and before Janus could even react, Roman had grabbed him by the shoulders, leaning down to look him in the eye. The grip wasn't hard enough to hurt, but it still made Janus's heart roar, the anxiety winning out over the anger and filling his body.

"Look. I get that you don't care about your grades, but I do, and there isn't anyone else for me to partner with," Roman told him, his voice level with a dangerous anger underneath. "So you're going to work with me here, whether you want to or not. Understand?"

I'm in the living room. He isn't here. This is Roman, and even if Roman gets mad, he doesn't get violent. Not like that.

Janus only barely tried to push down the anxiety before he pushed Roman away and stood up from the couch.

"Fine. Whatever. I'll help with the assignment," Janus agreed, speaking quickly. "Now, fuck off."

Then, he tried to storm out of the room, but he found Patton, as always, following after him.

"Wait, Jan, please," Patton called out, reaching forward to grab his brother's sleeve.

Janus pulled out of his grip and kept walking, but Patton apparently didn't get the hint and continued to follow him as he walked (ran) up the stairs, catching him again before Janus could enter his room.

"Janus, please," Patton begged. "Don't- Don't lock yourself in your room. I'm worried about you."

Shooting him a glare, Janus attempted to make Patton leave through sheer will alone, but that had never worked, so he didn't expect it to work now.

"I've already agreed to cooperate with your little friend, Patton," Janus reminded him, his voice filled with emotion. "You got what you wanted. Now. Leave. Me. Alone."

And with that, Janus pulled away again and shot into his room, locking the door behind him.

Patton didn't even try knocking this time.

XXX