Janus had never really been very creative or social. He wasn't all that great with people younger then him. Like, what did kids at that age know? What were the allowed to know? What was he allowed to say? Obviously he wasn't going to go having a conversation with a six year old about how babies are made, but is that an okay conversation to have with a twelve year old? What bad words were they open to? Stupid was one of those low key ones, so was darn. But, what about 'hell' and 'shit'? Those were like, mid-teir swear words. Words that wasn't too terrible if a sixteen year old said them and maybe even fourteen year old could get away with it but could those younger than that say them?

It wasn't like Janus could just fall back on his past experiences because his past experiences weren't all that helpful or relatable. Even those that were, it seemed, weren't quite the real, society set, expectations people needed. So yeah, Janus tried to distance himself from kids younger than him. He didn't want to risk making any mistakes. He didn't want any upset parents coming to him angry that Janus had accidentally had a conversation that was maybe just a little to mature for little Billy Bob.

Virgil had always been the exception.

That kid could get Janus to do absolutely anything and all he needed to do was give Janus those puppy dog eyes, and a "Please [insert heartfelt nickname here]". Thats all it would take for Janus to tear the world apart for his brother. And that little shit knew that. Janus knew Virgil knew that because he would always get that look in his eyes before he broke out those puppy dog eyes. That 'Oh Really? Well, Let's See How You Feel About It Now' look that basically told Janus that there was not a single chance that he was going to win this.

Yet, Janus being aware that his brother took full advantage of this weakness did not mean the superpower suddenly stopped working. No, if anything, it worked even better. Because for some stupid ass reason, Janus always got strangely proud of his brother whenever he managed to snap out of his brothers seemingly hypnotic spell. Because Janus had helped make that manipulative yet innocent little brat. After all, who else would've taught the kid how to trick people? How to lie to them, and make them think whatever you want? That was all Janus, and the fact that his kid-brother was taking those skills and using them against him, well... Janus couldn't exactly say he was against the idea.

But, apparently, Virgil was not the only one who was able to drag janus into his childish shenanigans. Apparently, Virgil was a fan-fucking-tastic teacher and could pass on his 'Manipulating Janus Into Doing What I Want' knowledge to others by what was probably witchcraft. Apparently these twin demons were crazy fast learns. And apparently, Janus was easy pray against peer pressure as long as that peer pressure came in the form of a bunch of gremlin children.

Because that is exactly how Janus found himself stuck in a game of pretend featuring Janus as some sort, quote unquote, "Evil-Alien-Wizard-King" with "Super-Evil-and Scary-Demon-Powers". With Remus, that was apparently the twin in green, as his evil hench men, Roman, the other twin, as the prince/hero of the story and Virgil as the princes best friend whose also a "knight and he has really cool not evil demon powers because secretly he's the evil alien wizard kings brother except Virgil is a good guy cause if he's not then that's to many bad guys and I gotta win because evil never wins and good always does and I'm a good guy and Virgil's a good guy so we gotta win."

Oh! And let's not forget what they were fighting for, because how could Janus ever do something so silly and stupid, that would be just ridiculous now wouldn't? Bitey, who Janus now knew had been named by Virgil and was a weighted stuffed animal you could toss in the microwave to warm up and was specifically made to help people with anxiety, autism, panic disorder, and a few more, was Janus's hostage. Or according to Roman's much more specific and extravagant description he's "A prince from the bat kingdom whose secretly a vampire."

....?

Yeah, Janus wasn't all too sure either.

But what he did know was that right now he was wearing a plastic crown on his head, and had a blanket tied around his shoulders like a fake cape. He also knew he was doing an awesome job at making up an evil monologue (because Remus insisted all good bad guys had an evil monologue). And he most definitely had not gotten sucked into this game of pretend, nor was he even remotely interested in the plot of this story. Not in the slightest. Because what kinda sixteen year old would ever get sucked into a game of pretend led by two twelve year olds he barely knew and his nine year old brother.

Not this one.

Nope, not at all.

"Sneak attack!" Virgil yelled loudly, a foam sword in hand as he interrupted Janus's evil monologue, sprinting at the eldest boy full speed and jumping at him. Janus barely managed to catch the kid, who thanked him by smacking him the face with the foam sword, before Roman came charging out from underneath his bed with his own sword.

"Virgil! It's not a sneak attack if you tell him," The boy whined, tackling Janus by attaching himself to his legs, causing Janus to lose his balance and trip.

"Dog pile, yes!" Remus shouted, belly flopping on top of them.

Janus hissed, biting his tongue to prevent himself from swearing, "I never agreed to this."

"Silence foul villain!" Roman ordered, hitting Janus with his foam sword, "Knight Virgil and I have decimated your armies and beseeched your castle. Your henchmen has turned against you and is working alongside us now. You are trapped and there is nowhere for you to go. Surrender now and die an honorable death."

"Wow you are really dramatic for a twelve-year-old, okay, give me a second to think uhm... oh, here we go: uh, you can never defeat me, prince Roman, for you see, I still have a trick up my sleeve. Your faithful knight is secretly my brother, and his loyalty lies with me."

"No it doesn't, he's my best friend."

"Yeah well, blood is thicker than water so yeah," Janus replied with a shrug, "Virgil, attack Roman and Remus."

"I can't, they're bigger than me," Virgil said with a frown and a pout.

Janus sighed tiredly, "Okay, smack them with your sword till they get off me."

Virgil smiled widely and gave a determined nod, "Okay!" he said as he turned to face the twins ad smacked them both with the sword until they did exactly that. Janus got off the ground as soon as he was able to, picking Virgil up and putting him on his back.

"Okay, now let's attack Roman and Remus."

"Yay!" Virgil exclaimed excitedly.

"No!" Roman whined, "Good is supposed to win. Good always wins."

"Tell that to my history textbook," was all Janus said before he started chasing the twins around the room with Virgil using the sword to bop them on the head whenever they got close enough. Several minutes passed like that, all four of them shrieking with laughter and giggling away in a way Janus had never done before.

Eventually though, as Janus and Virgil were chasing Roman around, Remus's voice stopped them all, "I found the prince!" He said with a large smile, as he waved the hand holding the stuffed bat in the air.

"Throw him on the bed Remus!" Roman shouted, "Thats the bat kingdom." Remus nodded and tossed the bat on Roman's bed.

"Oh drat, foiled again. It seems I am no match for the mortals on earth. Come brother and let us return to space where we- ow! What is with you three and tackling me, you do realize I have a living person on me right?"

Janus was rewarded with a foam smack in the chest, "Shush you evil tyrant. For the crimes of kidnapping a prince and taking away my best friend, I sentence you to death."

"Oh, but it is not me who it as at fault, but the cruel world that shaped me," Janus said, fully aware that this 'cruel world' he spoke of was just the combined brain cells and imagination of three children, "Such a cruel world will continue to create monsters like me until the system is changed and bettered in a way where there is no evil for monsters like me to be created from."

"Wrong! Cause evil always loses to good and I am good." Roman declared before 'stabbing' Janus with the sword square in the chest.

Janus gasped as his dramatic death scene began (because if he was going to die, he was going to die with style goddammit), saying things like 'oh the agony' and 'Is that a light I see at the end of the tunnel' etc, etc, until all three younger boys were giggling then, and only then, did Janus fall limp to the ground, but not before gathering all three of them in his arms and bringing them down with him, even going as far as pinning them underneath. The laughter continued as the boys put minimal effort into trying to escape, Janus smiling smugly the whole time.

He looked up at the door only to freeze when he caught side of Patton standing at the entrance with wide eyes and a hand to his heart. Janus was quick to scramble off everyone, though still careful not to injure them, "No one was hurt I swear," he raced to say when Patton realized he had been caught, "It was all pretend."

Patton looked around the room and gave a shrug, "Okay, you kiddo's ready for dinner? Papa made chicken Alfredo."

The twins cheared and Virgil, caught up in all the excitement, jumped up and down along with them before following the twins as they all made a dash to the dining room leaving Janus alone with Patton. Janus was slightly stiff as he made his way out of the twin's bedroom.

"You looked like you were having fun," Patton commented on their way.

"Uh, yeah..." He mumbled, there was a pause in conversation that lasted barely five seconds before Janus spoke up again, "You're not mad?"

"That you were playing with your brother and the twins? Of course not."

"But... I'm sixteen, I'm too old for pretend and I'm a lot bigger than them."

Patton gave a shrug of indifference, "When the twins learn to trust us, Lo and I were constantly getting roped into games of pretend. I think I've been forced to play the princess at least a hundred times by now. And I'm sure you're aware of your strength, no one got hurt, like you said."

"But-"

"It's good to indulge your inner child every once in a while Janus," Patton told him with a smile as they were about to reach the dining room, "Especially with a life such as yours, where you've had to grow up so fast. You're more than welcome to hang out with your brother or the twins whenever you want as long as they don't mind including you."

Janus stopped in his tracks, "Really?"

"Of course," Patton said, turning back to face him, "Why wouldn't you be?"

The teenager gave what must have seemed like a pathetic shrug, "Just, I don't know. Ryan said that I'd be allowed to visit Virgil if he got adopted but then a month passed and it still hadn't happened and no one was telling me anything. I had kinda just assumed you guys weren't gonna let me because you wanted Virgil all to yourselves or wanted to erase me from his memory or something."

Patton looked heartbroken at Janus's honesty, "Kiddo of course we wouldn't do that! We would never! Logan and I didn't even know Virgil had a brother until today."

"Yeah, I-I know that now," Janus said as he rubbed at his arm, "Sorry?"

"You have no reason to be sorry Janus," Patton assured him, "Look, Kiddo, I know this doesn't mean much right now, and I know that it might take us a while to prove it to you, but Logan and I would never, and I mean never separate you and Virgil from each other. Okay? And we're going to make absolutely sure that you two stay together. Alright? Sound good?"

They weren't going to separate them? But, did that mean they were getting rid of Virgil? Of course it did, Ryan already told him they were only looking for one kid. Not only that, but they were looking for a kid younger than fourteen. And Janus hadn't exactly made the best first impression, had he? Not to mention every single other reason people had decided not to adopt the two of them, Virgil's brain, Janus's scars, too much for most people to handle. So of course that's what it meant.

Janus sighed, great. As happy as he was that he and Virgil were going to be kept together he did feel slightly guilty for causing Virgil to lose this. He could tell his brother was happy here, even if Logan and Patton had said he hadn't said anything until Janus came for him. Somehow, despite his lack of talking, he still got along with those twins splendidly. Roman and Remus actively included Virgil too, they slowed things down when he needed it and went at his pace. Not many people had ever done that for his brother. Logan was able to explain things to Virgil, able to make things click in his brain so he not only knew how to do something but understood it. Janus had been helping Virgil with homework since he first started and Virgil was never able to understand. Patton was so sweet and kind to the little gremlin, he didn't bat an eye at Virgil's weird quirks or get mad when Virgil made a mistake. And they all knew how to take care of him, of his anxiety, of his brain. They got him things to help him, they were really good people. Was Janus really willing to take that all away from him? Was he really that selfish?

"Janus?" Patton asked after getting no response, "Okay?"

Janus nodded, "Okay," he mumbled, forcing a smile on his face to match Patton's, "Thank you."

The Sander's had already made their decision to get rid of Virgil. He just had to accept that he was wrong, that Virgil had it good here and hadn't needed him after all, and that he had just made another catastrophic mistake.

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