Twenty-six years old, successful, famous. No one knows they're a chosen family, no one knows the bonds they forged through terrible lives. But now, it's all being pulled up. And none of them are ready.
Sanders Sides fic
#1 in romanxvirgil on October...
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Note: thank you!! Remus would be very proud XD
Trigger Warning: referenced sexual stuff, guns, knife, paranoia, hinted at violence, potential fight
Word Count: 1,698
Roman seems surprised when Janus calls him to ask to come with him to Dice's shop, but gushes about the wedding and how they really deserve it and all that sappy stuff so Janus thinks he's okay. Especially because he's about to break it to Roman about how he will be his brother's best man, not walking him down the aisle. "So, finally decided to take me up on my offer to help you pick out an outfit?" Roman asks when Janus meets up with him outside the shop.
"Hmm, something like that," Janus replies. Truth be told, he's here to ask for Dice's opinion on the collection of outfits he's bought and how to connect them all into one. Oh, and the best man news to Roman of course. "Shall we go in?"
"Probably," Roman laughs, opening the door. "Dice can get a little... rude to people who loiter."
"Ah, a man after my heart." He walks in, letting the door close behind him as he gazes around the shop. It's not big, but not small either. Premade clothes hang in racks around the front room, with bolts of fabric lining the walls from ceiling to a foot above the ground, cabinets taking up the rest of the space. There's a desk in front of a portion of the fabric, grand, but not over the top. Clearly Dice has good taste, if he made almost everyone's wedding outfits and has good taste in interior design.
Of course Roman's glancing around like he's about to be jumped, so perhaps it's too soon to say. "Alright Roman, why exactly do you seem to think we're about to be killed?" Janus asks, roaming over to the yellow fabric along the wall. It's an impressive collection, from the finest silk he's seen in a long time to soft cotton and some intriguing polyester fabric, the type that usually makes up common athletic wear nowadays.
"I am not!" Roman cries indignantly, following after him. "It's just weird... usually Dice is out here terrorizing people or about to criticize everything about someone, or obsessively moving things around to fit with his never ending changes in taste. I swear, the layout changes every five days..."
Janus fights down the hair-rising feeling at the back of his neck, thankful for his constant layers that keep anyone from noticing the slightest tension that enters his body. He has tried so hard to keep his work life out of his personal life, wearing snake scales on half his face or a birthmark if he has to be more secretive, always using accents and changing his way of speaking to hide as much about him as he can. But there are some things that can't be dropped as soon as he returns home to his family, things that aren't as easy to get rid of with a makeup wipe. Scars that aren't just physical, or never were.
Paranoia can always be a tool for a spy, but it can also be a spy's downfall. Trust too much, the operation falls apart. Trust too little, and soon no one trusts you either. It's a fine line of balance, that often bleeds not only into missions, but paperwork, life, family, even love. He's done all he can to keep it from tainting his family, from tainting Remus, but it bleeds over anyway.
