TW:  Near dr0wning

Janus arrived home, unaccompanied by his parents. As usual.

It was dusk, the blue becoming a shadowy hue in the sky above, that was tentatively being lit by stars. Servants were rushing around, like they usually were when his parents were gone. With the Lord and Lady out of the house, they could finally do all the 'dirty work' that they didn't like to see. Virgil was waiting for him.

"Hello," His friend beamed, offering out an arm. "How was the party?"

Janus groaned, fanning himself lightly. "Terrible!" He whined, politely ignoring the glare the stablehand at his carriage shot into the back of his side as he linked his arm with Virgil's. "There was this boy, there. Ali Castlefire, his name was. A mainland boy!"

"Terrible, huh?" Virgil's eyes widened. "I thought you liked the mainland boys..."

The feeling of Ali's eyes boring into his soul made Janus shudder. "Not this one. He was weird."

Virgil hummed. "Well, what about everything else?"

Janus smiled, closing his fan. "The rest was the same as usual."

"Dull as fuck?"

"You guessed it," Janus's small smile became a grin. "Logan was there, of course. At least Valerie was around. She had the most lovely bracelet, you know! Rubies and rose-gold! It had little transparent diamonds too, that kept catching the colours. It was quite quaint, really."

A brief surge of jealousy swelled in Virgil but he forced it down. "'Quaint'?" He echoed.

"Well, you could say that," Janus continued, with a delicate shrug. "Compared to my things, it was a little bit too modest for such an evening, I think."

Virgil gave a thin smile which he quickly turned into a real one. "Wanna pop down to the Ivory Bridge? We can stay there for a bit."

Janus smiled. "Sure."

People worked hard all around them but Virgil was completely excused from it. The benefits of being friends with the young Master, he supposed. The sky was darker now but still not dark enough, and the lingering heat was still in the air.

Virgil was leaning on the thick, stone rails, plucking a flower-weed's petals and tossing them into the deep water below. Janus was walking along the railing, barefooted, chatting loudly about some social equittey he hated. He had been fanning himself quiet a bit and there were moments when he had to suck in a deep breath but, other than that, he seemed to be fine.

Eventually, he ran out of things to talk about and turned to Virgil with a knwing look.

"Okay," He said. "I know there's something you're not telling me."

"How did you-?" Virgil spluttered, dropping the weed in shock. Then he saw the triumphant smirk on Janus's face and he flushed. "Oh..."

Janus shook his head, grinning. "Honestly, Virgil, I'm always gonna know. You're not too good at keeping secrets, y'know."

Virgil swallowed. "So... you know?"

"No, not yet," Janus answered with a shrug, beginning to pace along the railing again. "But I know there's something. What is it?"

The servant hesitated, looking at his beautiful friend worryingly. "Are you sure you want me to say?"

"Of course," Janus started fanning himself a little harder, sliding a free finger down his corset as he sucked in a short breath. "I'd rather you told me these things. I don't wanna find stuff out at a bad time."

Virgil hesitated, watching his friend reach the end of the rail and turn around again, beginning to walk towards him. "So now's a good time?"

"Well, no one's dying, are they?"

The servant looked down at his hands. "Yeah..."

Janus carefully stepped over Virgil's arms, finally stopping his pacing just outside Virgil's peripherile vision. His breathing was slightly shallow - maybe he was anxious to find out.

With a sigh, Virgil prepared himself. "Janus," He started slowly.

"Yes?" The answer was breathless and short.

"I..." Virgil swallowed. It shouldn't be so hard to say it, but... But Janus was lonely and prideful. How could Virgil guess how he'd take it? He sensed movement to his side and decided it was now or never. "Janus, I have a boyfriend-"

A splash shut him up and he instantly looked into the river. Where petals had once floated, a mess of water and ripples rose, waves and droplets leaping from below. Virgil stared dumbly for a moment before snapping his head to the side. Janus wasn't there - his fan cluttered ungracefully to the stone bridge. He looked back to the river and felt his heart stop when he saw a singular lock of brown hair with golden streaks sinking below water.

"Janus?!" He screamed loudly, paling.

Gardeners were already running over at the splash but their pace seemed to double upon hearing Virgil's cry.

"What happened?" Terrence asked, appearing quickly at Virgil's side.

"H-He fell-! I don't-! Janus!" Virgil knew he was probably crying right now.

"Who can swim?!" Terrence started shouting. "Anyone?! Who can swim?! Master Adders has fallen into the river!"

Virgil started climbing onto the railing, almost hysterical. "Janus!" He yelled out, but hands grabbed him.

"Virge, you can't swim! Stay here!" Terrence ordered. "Someone, get in there-"

Another splash sounded but Virgil hadn't seen what it was. Someone had dived in. There was a second of utter silence from horrorfied observers, the only noise being the river splashing. Then, the someone had lifted Janus into the air, high above the water. Virgil screamed in relief and fear when he saw his friend - relieved he was out of the water but terrified when he didn't move.

Remus's head broke the water soon afterwards and he started to hoist Janus to the riverbank on Virgil's right. Gardeners and other servants were already prepared to save the young master and his rescuer. Virgil ran down the side of the bridge, kneeling close to the bank and reaching out for Janus desperately, helping to pull him carefully onto solid ground.

"Janus? Jan? Please, Janus, start moving!" Virgil begged.

Terrence started taking charge again. "Hey, you! Go and tell Cook about this, she's gotta know! Someone get Remus out of the water! Virgil, is he alright?"

"I-I don't know!" Virgil cried, frantically patting at Janus's arms and chest, unsure of what to do. His friend looked oddly peaceful, his hair flattened against his forehead and lips slightly parted. The water made his clothes cling to him and his jewellery sparkle. Of course you could trust Janus to look beautiful after nearly drowning...

Remus was out of the water now, crawling over quickly. "Gimme that!" He barked, snatching a pair of large scissors from a gardener - they were delicate scissors, but good enough to cut thick stems. He carefully cut the strings along the back in half - they didn't look too expensive, they just looked like black string, so Remus didn't feel at all guilty.

"H-He's still not-!" Virgil gasped between teary breaths, "He's still not moving!"

"Gimme a minute!" Remus grunted back, lying Janus back down on the floor. He knotted his hands together and pushed hard on Janus's chest and, almost instantly, the pretty boy sat up, coughing up a mouthful of water onto the floor, spluttering ungracefully.

"Janus!" Virgil cried in relief, instantly wrapping his arms around him. "Oh, thank the Gods! You're okay!"

Janus pushed Virgil away briefly to spit out some more water. "That's salty," He grimaced, making Virgil smile slightly - his friend was gonna be fine. Good.

Terrence started taking charge again. "He's okay, everyone! Who's fetching Cook, again? Someone go after her, make sure Cook has a warm towel ready! You two," He pointed to Remus and Virgil. "Keep him safe!" With that, he quickly walked away, issuing more orders.

Virgil turned to Janus, worry in his eyes. "Are you okay?"

"I'm cold," Janus muttered bitterly.

"You fainted into a river," Virgil smiled pitifully. "I'm pretty sure that would make anyone cold."

Janus gave Virgil a calculating look. "I thought you couldn't swim?"

"Huh?"

"Didn't you pull me out?"

Virgil hesitated. "Uh, no. That was Remus."

Janus frowned. "What-?"

"I saved you!" Remus cried dramatically, falling into Janus's lap. "I dived in after you, my beautiful demon!"

Janus glared. "It's 'beautiful angel', dipshit."

Remus grinned. "You don't act much like an angel, though, sugar."

"Urgh, you're gross," Huffed Janus, rolling his eyes.

The stable boy pouted. "I didn't even say anything that bad!"

"Look, whatever, just..." Janus hesitated, sighed and then avoided the two servant's eyes. "Thanks. For saving me, or whatever."

Virgil gasped in shock, jaw dropping, and Remus stared stupidly.

"Eh?" He said, when his brain came back online. "You can say 'thank you'?!"

"Oh, shut up!" Hissed Janus, flushing. "You're still stupid!"

Virgil glanced from Remus to Janus, mind thinking rapidly. "Y'know, Jan," He began carefully, "Remus was actually the one to get the water out of your lungs." He smirked slightly, Janus groaned and Remus jumped onto the opportunity.

"Yeah, I did! Will you thank me for that, too?" He grinned, leaning in close and fluttering his eyelashes.

Janus glared. "No."

"But I had to cut open your little belt thing or whatever to save you!" Remus whined.

Janus stiffened. "What?"

Virgil winced. "Uhm, yeah. Remus cut the strings of your corset to get the water out of your lungs. Sorry."

Janus looked around. "Where is it?" He noticed it and pulled it towards him, cradling  it between his hands. He looked up at Virgil worriedly. "How am I going to explain this to my parents?"

Virgil shrugged. "I think they'd be more worried that you nearly drowned."

The noble boy looked down at the corset in his hands and sighed. "Yeah, you're right. Can we... go inside, for a bit?"

Virgil nodded, standing up and helping up his beautiful friend.

Remus gasped dramatically. "But I saved you! Doesn't your handsome hero get a kiss, my beautiful demon?"

"If I had a handsome hero," Janus answered, with a hint of a smirk, "Then of course he would."