"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fu-"

"Once you've finished swearing, Rem, can we please try and find a place to stay tonight?" Janus asked, interrupting Remus' pacing and use of profanities. Remus looked up at Janus.

"Thought you'd be less okay with this, Blondie. Don't you wanna get back to Auridon too?" Janus shrugged and stopped fiddling with his gloves.

"I mean, I guess. But if there's no way off the Isle until someone from Auridon comes here, we might as well get used to it, right?"

"Get used to- Get used to it? Blondie, I've been stuck here my whole fucking life and the excitement about being back home is well and truly gone now. I want to get away as soon as I can."

"Well we can't do anything until we get a night's rest. I mean look at you. You look like you might collapse or throw up or both." Janus' eyes searched Remus'. "Please Rem. I don't want you getting hurt."

Remus sighed. "Fine. I'll, um, I'll check if anyone's got a free bed or cupboard or something for the night and then we'll work out a plan tomorrow. Okay?"

Janus smiled with relief. "Thank you, Rem."

Remus laughed slightly, turning away so that Janus wouldn't see the slight pink tint to his cheeks. "Don't thank me yet. Hey!" He yelled further down the alleyway. "Abandonies!"

"What?" Joanna yelled back. Remus rolled his eyes and ran up to his friends.

"Okay, we're not yelling this whole conversation. Blondie and I need a place to stay. We can't go to my mother's, she'd flip. Anyone got a free bed or something?"

Joanna shook her head. "You've already pissed off my mum. No can do."

"Dad's got a guy over-" Luella started.

"But that doesn't mean the spare room's full up." Jessie said.

"Yeah but dad's got a guy over." Luella said to her younger brother, trying to make him get the gist before looking back at Janus and Remus. "So we can't help there."

"Dad's been pretty shitty with royalty after the whole... well, everything." Silvia said, smiling apologetically. Eveline sighed.

"I guess I could find you a space at dad's. You'd need to be careful, though. He's gonna do everything to get Janus here to agree to a deal."

Remus shook his head, moving slightly in front of Janus protectively. "I'm not putting Blondie in danger."

"You do realise I'm not stupid, right?"

"Yeah but this is the Isle." Luella explained. "You're not used to our tricks."

Remus sighed. "Well we're screwed then."

"I mean," Silvia said, thinking hard, "there's always one place."

Remus took a few seconds to catch on before his eyes widened. "No. There is no way in Hell I'm putting Blondie through that."

"Hey Rem, where are we going?" Janus asked fearfully, looking around at the twisted and run-down buildings with eyes full of fear and wonder. Remus looked at Janus before training his eyes back in front of himself.

"Somewhere to stay. I can't promise that it's safe but it's the only place we've got. We'll get a bed for the night for free and maybe something to eat if we wake up early enough."

"Yes but where is-" Janus stopped short. "Did you hear that?" He asked, his trembling voice dropped to a whisper. Remus stopped, listening.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son. The jaws that bite, the claws that catch. Beware the Jub-Jub bird. And shun the frumious Bandersnatch." A sing-song voice whined, the sound emitting from an alleyway. The voice broke into mad gales of painful laughter, sounding as if the owner of this voice was trying to tear their throat from the inside-out. Remus tugged on Janus' hand, urging him to move on.

"It's just a loon from Heart Institute. Security is, well, non-existent there so it's easy for people to escape."

"Loon?"

"Someone who's batshit crazy."

"I know what it means I just..." Janus trailed off, biting his lip. "Aren't they dangerous?" The voice could've belonged to a scared child. Remus' laugh died in his throat.

"I was meant to be dangerous, wasn't I? Now come on. We're nearly there." Janus kept a tight hold on Remus' hand, trying to memorize his surroundings.

"We're here." Remus said in a soft voice, still making Janus jump. He looked up at the building they were standing in front of and his heart nearly stopped.

The walls had been painted with a peeling white-wash, the dirty red brick showing through. The tall tower-like structure leaned slightly to the side as if it was drunk and all the windows along the walls were like half-lidded eyes, broken with half the shutters missing. The door was barely anywhere to speak off but what was left of it was a dirty gold and muddy brown. There was a wonky, hand-painted sign above the door, painted with gold and red paint, half of which had peeled off or washed away. But the words were legible enough. Mother Knows Best (B&B).

"We're staying... here?"

"We don't have to if you don't want to." Remus said quickly before glancing at the structure. "But here, as scary as it may be, will be a lot safer than out on the streets."

Janus took a breath, refusing to look at the sign and instead trained his eyes on the ground. "Okay."

"You wanna try sleep here for a night?" Janus nodded. "Okay. I'll try and bargain a room from Gothel."

Janus seemed to shrink into himself as they crossed the threshold. It hurt Remus to see it. The walls were grey and the floor was littered with dead marigolds and yellow flowers. They followed the sound of faint humming to a dark room, all reds and blacks. There was an old, frail woman standing by the cracked mantel piece, arranging some yellow flowers in a green glass bottle.

"Flower gleam and glow." She sang in a croaky, scratched voice. Janus sucked in a breath through gritted teeth. "Let your power shine. Make the clock reverse. Bring back what once was mine. What once was mine." The woman looked at the flowers expectedly and when nothing happened she picked them up and crushed them beneath her foot, muttering angrily to herself. Remus coughed slightly, drawing her attention.

"Remus Queen? Can it be so?" Remus nodded and the old woman's wrinkled face broke into a huge smile. "Oh, look how much you've grown. And who is this?" She asked, noticing Janus who was trying to hide himself behind Remus. Janus swallowed.

"Ja-Janus."

The woman raised her eyebrow. "Who're your parents? Don't think I've seen you around before."

"Amnesia." Remus jumped in quickly. "Janus suffers from amnesia. That's why we need a room, Mother Gothel. He can't remember who his parents are or where he lives."

Mother Gothel looked at Janus, who dropped his eyes to the ground and stayed silent. "Very well." She said slowly. "Third room on the second floor should be free. Make yourselves at home and leave whenever you want. There's no fee for a Queen." She said, grinning at Remus again who flashed a small smile back and ushered Janus away.

"Hey, you okay Blondie?" He whispered. Janus nodded but said nothing.

"Oh no, there's only one bed." Remus said in mock-disappointment before flashing a grin at Janus. "Guess we'll have to share."

Janus shook his head firmly. "Nu-uh, I'll sleep on the chair. You can take the bed."

Remus eyed the broken window. "But Blondie, you'll freeze."

"I've got a cape. That should be enough. You'll freeze if you don't sleep in the bed." Remus sighed, unhappy with the arrangements but begrudgingly agreed. "Hey, Rem?"

"Yeah Blondie?"

Janus bit his lip, unsure, before quickly swooping down and kissing Remus. Remus jumped but had no time to do anything else before Janus' lips were gone. Remus looked at Janus, who was as red as he was, before dropping his eyes to the floorboards.

"What, er, what was that for?" Remus asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

"It's a thank you. For taking my feelings into account."

"But isn't that a given?"

Janus shrugged. "I don't honestly know. It just... felt right."

Aaannnddd we've got our Demus. Are ya happy now? I mean sure, everything is burning in Hell about this story but we've got our Demus, right?
Bye,
Queenie