The Aberrations of S.I.D.E.

No. 28: Talking Things Out

"Morning, Virgil," Janus said, poking his head into the guest room. "Are you up yet?"

Virgil responded by covering his head with a pillow.

"Understandable. Look, you, ah, might not want to come out for a bit. The twins have decided to start verbally reenacting the most iconic moment of their namesakes's story."

"Tell them that I refuse to pick sides," Virgil mumbled.

Janus hesitated. "You're... not going to weigh in?"

"No. Both decisions are dumb."

"Oh." Janus tapped his fingers against the doorframe. "It's just---I was kind of hoping that you'd side with Roman."

Virgil lifted his head. "Why?"

"I think Remus might listen more if his brother, best friend, and boyfriend oppose him on this."

"Wait, you oppose him on something? I thought you guys agreed on everything."

"If we did, our relationship would be incredibly dull," Janus said, walking in and sitting down in the black plush chair in the corner. "We don't fight often. We have differences of opinion on occasion, yes, but they're usually settled via talking it out and coming to a compromise. However, when there's a serious matter and one of us isn't handling it well, that is when we tend to actually argue. And this is one of these times."

Virgil sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Anything else you guys have actually fought over?"

Janus rubbed his forearm. "Well. My approach to the whole... fire situation was something that Remus didn't quite agree with."

"By which you mean, you keeping literally everyone except him and Patton in the dark about Augustus pulling a fucking Ozai on you?"

"Yes, very apt, Virgil," Janus said dryly. "I feel so much better about my team leader burning me and not even being sorry for it."

"Eh, you never know. We haven't seen him in a while." Virgil yawned. "How d'you think he is, anyways?"

"I truly and honestly do not give a single flying fuck, and that's not what we should be focusing on at the moment." Janus leaned forward, propping his chin on his hand. "Why aren't you against this?"

"Because it's not my business," Virgil responded. "It's between Roman and Remus. And besides, even if she was lying---"

"Oh, she wasn't."

Virgil paused. "I'm sorry, what?"

"Maybe it was due to the fact that it was prerecorded, but my lietaste didn't come at any point during Francesca's voicemail," Janus told him. "I think... I think she genuinely wants to reconnect. I'd have to see her in person to know for sure, but she was always the better of Roman and Remus's parents, so it's not that far a stretch."

"Logan told me that she was worse than their dad."

Janus laughed slightly. "She's determined to be a good host to anyone who visits, especially if they're a friend of the twins. And Logan does not appreciate constantly getting checked up on and receiving needless attention, so that's probably where his opinion on Fran comes from."

"So..." Virgil looked up. "How come you're against it?"

"Because I don't think that Xavier is as willing to accept his children as Fran is," he answered. "Please remember, I have met the man, and I know full well that he refuses to change. If Fran was intending on meeting up somewhere else, or if she wanted to come here, or even if she left Xavier, then I wouldn't have any reservations, but with him in the picture..." Janus shook his head. "I don't want to put Remus in a dangerous situation."