XXX

Roman was surprised, and even more surprising was the fact that he was pleasantly surprised. After his conversation (read: fight) with Janus, he really had started working on their project, even if he insisted on mostly working together over Boogle Docs so they didn't have to meet up in person. Still, it wasn't like nobody else did that, and they didn't need to be in the same room together to write the script (even though it would have been a bit easier than leaving each other comments to read later since they rarely seemed to work on it at the same time). But, Janus did appear to be putting actual effort into it, and his criticisms of Roman's ideas were a little more constructive, at least.

Actually, at first Roman had thought that Patton might have decided to impersonate Janus so he didn't have to work on the project by himself, but Patton had insisted that he wasn't, and Patton wasn't really one to lie (he'd also caught Janus working on it once while Patton was over at his house watching TV, so even if someone else was working on it, it wasn't Patton). Eventually, he accepted that it really was Janus working with him, since, really, the criticisms of his wonderful ideas were too much like him to be anyone else.

He wasn't entirely sure why his yelling at Janus about it had apparently been effective (in fact, after it was done, he'd half-expected the boy to help even less somehow out of spite), but he was glad for it. It certainly made doing the project a lot easier, and if he was being honest, more pleasant.

As it was, they'd gotten their script finished and turned in on time, even if Roman wasn't entirely happy with it (mostly because Janus had denied his every attempt at adding even a hint of romance into the script, which Roman had only reluctantly agreed with him on once Janus reminded him that they had to play any characters they wrote into the script and. That would have just been awkward).

XXX

"Okay, everyone," announced their teacher. "I'm going to be handing back your scripts now. Most of them were pretty good, so you shouldn't need to do any serious edits. I've given suggestions where I think you could improve, though."

They began to hand the scripts back, and Janus noticed that the teacher had written 'Keep up the good work! :)' on the final page of his copy, and Janus had the feeling that this was the teacher's attempt at tactfully encouraging him to turn in more of his assignments (which was a good laugh and a half, since he turned in more assignments for this class than any other).

"Now, for class today, I want you guys to begin practicing your scripts," they continued. "It's okay that you haven't had a chance to edit them yet- this is more just so you can start to get a feel for how your performance is going to go. Actually, I'd encourage you to maybe try running different versions of the lines so you can see which ones sound better or have more impact."

Janus looked through the other comments on the script, almost bored as the teacher droned on and on and on, until the teacher told them that they were going to be sent to various portions of the hallways to practice.

Just great.

Janus hadn't slept well- though, it wasn't like he ever really did- and he had more-or-less been hoping that this would be a lesson he could tune out of. He wasn't exactly overjoyed about being told to go out and practice their crappy script, which was something he had to, at minimum, stand up and speak for. Which he really didn't feel like doing at the moment.

Well, at least it was better than a pop quiz.

XXX

He and Janus had been told to practice in one of the hallways close to the library. No one was really supposed to be there at the moment, so it shouldn't cause too much trouble if they made a little noise.

Janus had been dragging his feet and behaving generally unenthusiastic about the entire thing, which, while not unexpected, was kind of annoying.

"Oh, Bartholomieu, how can you be gone?" Janus spoke in monotone. "You were so full of life only yesterday."

Roman sighed.

"I wish I could say the same for your acting," he commented under his breath before increasing the volume of his voice. "Come on, put some emotion into it! You're an actor, aren't you?"

Janus shot him a glare.

"Considering the fact that I haven't been on stage since my fourth grade class play, no, I don't think I am," Janus replied with a sigh.

Roman blinked at him.

"Well, you're in theatre class, right? So maybe you can act like you're an actor."

"You do realize I have a C in this class, right?" Janus laughed dryly.

"Don't you have a C in every class?" Roman shot back.

And Roman knew he shouldn't have said that. Patton had told him that Janus was struggling in his classes, and he really shouldn't have used that knowledge to insult him. But he was still mad at the other boy, and even if Janus had helped write their script (which he should have done without being yelled at), it didn't mean that all of Roman's past anger was suddenly washed away.

"Oh, you flatter me," Janus responded, his voice harsh. "I'll have you know that theatre is my best class."

Roman also knew that he should have really dropped the subject and just tried to continue practicing, but, well, no one could deny that Roman was a bit of a hothead at times.

"If this is you at your best, I'd hate to see you at your worst," he replied instead, rolling his eyes in annoyance.

"I'm sure you would," agreed Janus. "Though, if you have the time to critique how I deliver my lines, I'm sure you have time to work on your own delivery."

"Excuse me?! What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Oh, Dolly, I'm afraid I must leave you now," Janus spoke in a high-pitched mocking tone. "Alas, for I have been stabbed!"

Roman's cheeks flushed.

"I don't sound like that!"

"Don't you, though?"

"Even if I did, it's better than your monotone!"

"Well, my eardrums would say otherwise!"

"Oh, would you come off it?!"

"Hm, no, I'd much rather stay on it, I'm afraid."

Roman let out a frustrated growl, getting angrier.

"You think you're funny, don't you?!"

In response, Janus rolled his eyes.

"Yes, but don't worry- I'm not going to steal your clown makeup, Roman."

"Why, have enough of your own already?"

The thing was, even as angry as he was just then, and even in bringing up things he knew he shouldn't have, Roman still hadn't intended to say anything about Janus's scar. He had no idea where it came from, but when someone had a huge scar covering half of their face- especially one that had likely been painful to receive- you didn't just casually insult them with it. That was a particularly low blow, and it hadn't been Roman's intention. But when he saw the way Janus's eyes widened in shock, then narrowed into a particularly hateful glare, he'd realized he'd messed up.

Because, even though Roman had just been shooting back whatever Janus said to him- Roman didn't use caked-on makeup to try to cover such a scar.

Janus did.

"You know," Janus spoke, his voice deadly calm at first, before shifting to a roar. "I might need makeup to cover up how ugly I am, but at least I'm not pretending! At least I'm not trying to cover up all my insecurities because I'm so insecure that I need constant validation from everyone around me!"

And Roman may have hit Janus with a low blow, but Janus didn't pull his punches, and he'd be a real big liar if he claimed that Janus's words didn't hurt. Because Janus had apparently figured out enough about him to know exactly what to say to prod at all of his weak points- and when people hit Roman's weak points, he would cry, but before that, he would strike back as well.

"Oh, I'm insecure?! So what if I want people to like me?! You spend all your time going out of your way to make people not like you! How the hell is that better than what I do?! At least I'm not hurting everyone I come in contact with!" Roman roared back. "How many damn times have people tried to be nice to you, just to have you hurt them in return?! What, you think people are gonna put up with that forever?! Virgil didn't, and the only reason Patton still does is because he's too sweet to do anything mean to anyone, even if they deserve it! Sometimes, I don't even understand how Remus can still be friends with you! Like, seriously, what is your problem?!"

After finishing his tirade, Roman stopped talking, breathing heavily. His first thought was that he was surprised that no one had heard them fighting and summoned a teacher. His second was that, though they were both breathing heavily, Janus's breathing was a lot heavier, and it only seemed to be getting faster and more ragged.

It took another few moments for Janus to reach full-on hyperventilating, the teen raising his gloved hands to cover his mouth, which certainly didn't make it any easier to breathe.

Instantly, Roman's rage simmered down enough for it to be placed on the back-burner.

He'd been friends with Virgil long enough to recognize what was happening, and even though he was still angry with Janus, he silently cursed himself for making him have a panic attack over a stupid argument. Like a lot of the things he'd said and done in this situation, he hadn't entirely meant it, and if he'd known that this was going to happen, he would have tried to back off a bit sooner.

He was suddenly slammed with a wave of guilt. He'd gone too far. He'd known he'd gone too far, known that he was poking into things he shouldn't have touched. And when Janus poked him back, he'd taken the opportunity to dig his claws in.

That… That wasn't the kind of person Roman wanted to be, and it wasn't the person he usually was. His anger had gotten the better of him, but now he had to put that aside.

"Hey… Janus, I…"

Roman called out to the other boy, who had started slowly backing away from him, and to Roman's surprise, Janus looked afraid- terrified.

He didn't know what he was supposed to do. If this was Virgil, he would know exactly what to do, but Janus wasn't Virgil, and Roman didn't usually cause Virgil's panic attacks. He didn't know what would help and what would make the situation worse.

But Janus suddenly turned and tried to bolt, and without even thinking about it, Roman dashed after him and grabbed him by the arm, fingers encircling his wrist. Janus yelped, roughly pulling his arm free, before screaming:

"STAY AWAY FROM ME!"

And then he ran down the hall, leaving Roman alone to figure out just how badly he'd screwed up.

XXX