Wait before the chapter starts imagine with me Patton singing my boy (by Billie Eilish don't @ me) like: 'My boy's an ugly crier but he's such a pretty liar and by that I mean he said he'd change. My boy, my boy, my boy don't love me like he promised'

....Lo is 2 steps away from becoming a sugar daddy (friend? Sugar friend? sure) in this chapter and that's very valid of him 👁️👄👁️ 

Logan was nervously waiting in the living room. He tried to focus on doing his work for university but the moment he heard the door open he couldn't help but get up and nearly run out into the entrance.

"How did the therapy session go?" He asked. He'd finally convinced Janus to go to one. Remy had told them about a good one named Picani which they went to as well.

"It went absolutely horrible" Jan lied and he made the lie obvious.

Logan pulled him into a hug and they both spun around while embracing each other tightly. "That's good- I mean adequate" He quickly put on a more neutral expression as they moved away from one another "I'm proud of you" His voice was as gentle as honey.

"Well thank you specs" He chuckled while looking away, to embarrassed to meet his eyes "I definitely did not spend almost the entire time staring into my hands without speaking. He made me write down what I thought was hardest in my life right now and I told him about the times I get flashbacks. Apparently I am showing signs of c-ptsd. It's like ptsd but the trauma happened over a long period of time"

"I already knew that"

"I can most definitely not believe that" Janus moved to take off his jacket but Logan stopped him.

"You mentioned before that you wished to visit the zoo correct?" Lo got a nod in response "We could do that today, as a kind of reward"

"Ok you have to take a coat with a lot of pockets with you then because we're stealing all the snakes!"

"We are not breaking the law" The nerd objected while changing from his casual clothes to outside clothes (Jan turned away when he changed pants).

"Just a tiny break of the law" He moved his fingers so they were nearly colliding to show how little they would break it.

"No" He replied while locking the door behind them.

Logan's car was an old one he'd inherited from his dad. Whenever Patton would drive Janus anywhere the snake would curl up close to the window and make himself as small as possible. He would feel trapped which he was, he knew that at any moment a hand could grab onto his thigh and he knew that it wouldn't let go even if he asked and if he did it could get worse, the hand could move up-

Now when he was with Logan he leaned close to his friend while they chatted. Even though he had no way of getting out he didn't feel trapped. He knew that Lo would stop if he asked him to. There was a part of him that yelled about being in danger but he could ignore it and focus on his friend rambling about space.

"I could pay for my ticket you know" Janus muttered when they stood in line to get into the zoo.

"No offense but your economy is in shambles which I know isn't your fault and therefore I can accommodate you by paying for this"

"Whatever"

He took off his hat and hid his face behind it when he saw that the lady behind the cash register was one of his former coworkers. He didn't want to be recognized and asked about his scar since then Logan would know that the injury didn't actually come from a tiger.

Once they got inside Janus had a hay day with ranting about all of the animal facts he knew and which way was the best way to take care of them. When they looked at the penguins he told his friend about how they would try to steal fish. When they looked at the wolfs he talked about how he could sit among them and rub their stomaches. When they got to the rats he talked about how Remus had made him send more photos of them than he could count.

Logan listened intently. Even if he hadn't been interested in the facts (which he was) seeing his friend smile was enough to keep him engaged.

"Take my hand" Janus suddenly instructed when they were on their way into the aquatic animals building.

"What?" Logan did a double take and told himself he'd heard wrong.

"Take my hand. I want to piss homophobes off and hiss at them when they sneer at us" He explained.

"That is-"

"Stupid? Darling I know. It's my personal way to flip of an unjust society"

With a sigh Logan took his hand and intertwined their fingers in a comfortable grip.

Inside the cooled down building their was an aquarium hallway. It consisted of a small passaway with fishes and shark swimming on both sides. Even the ceiling was an aquarium. Lo gasped when a stingray passed right over his head.

'I wish he wasn't wearing those gloves so there wouldn't be any fabric between us' Logan thought. Immediatly after he shook his head and explained the silly thought away as him not thinking straight because of lack of sleep. He was sure he didn't actually mean it.

They'd stopped in front of a flock of colorful fishes. The water colored them both blue. Logan looked over at the other man but he kept his gaze on the fishes. Janus pressed his free hand against the glass while leaning his forehead against it.

"I've missed being at this place. It definitely wasn't like this..I mean the zoo was my sanctum" He murmured "I mostly worked alone so I got to be away from people for just a little while. I loved talking to the animals......I'm pretty sure the snakes know all of my secrets"

"I despise my job" Lo replied which made Janus chuckle "Did you know that some people enjoy leaving....certain white bodily fluids behind on the sheets or on the tv just because they think the cleaning ladies finding it would be 'hot'. I usually try to take those rooms so my lady coworkers don't have to but it's quite tiring" That actually happens.

"Aww you're a gentleman" Janus said with only a hint of mocking in his tone. He squeezed Logan's hand as he said it.

"I wouldn't say that exactly. I simply-"

"Geeeennntttllleeemmmaann" He nearly sang it out, his tone was full of mockery now.

"Overly emotional reptilian" Logan muttered back.

Janus let out an overly dramatic gasp "Such vile talk coming from your pre- your mouth"

"Where else would it come from? That's not how anatomy works"

"You're so stupid and so smart at the same time but all together you are adorable, do you know that" The snake smirked while turning to his friend "That was a rhetoric question, I know you have a problem with those"

While they walked out of the building Janus let go of the other man's hand and instead wrapped his arms around the upper part of Logan's arm. He leaned his head against his shoulder while talking about turtles and sharks. They fit together like two puzzle pieces. It was as if Lo's shoulder was made for the moments Dee would lean on it.

"Look! The snakes!" Janus suddenly exclaimed while pointing at a building with a snake sign on it.

He speed up their pace so that they would get their quickly. Once they got inside he let go of Lo completely and ran up to the glass which the snakes were behind. He shot his arms out and, there is no better words to describe it but he hugged the glass.

When Logan walked up next to him he could hear him mumble to the snakes. Short sentences including 'My babies!' and 'I've missed you' and 'Sorry for being gone for so long'. For some reason Lo's heart warmed at seeing his friend be so caring.

"I didn't used to be the snake expert, Have I ever told you that?" He asked with a big goofy grin. It was such an unusual look for him it didn't seem to fit him "I've held so many mini tours about these big babies. So many kids have tried to do like Harry Potter or whatever and talk to them"

"That sounds annoying" Logan didn't exactly enjoy children's presence.

"Indeed. I've gotten to name a lot of them. Look" He gestured to a snake slowly getting up from being buried under sand "That's Remy. Getting up at 3 pm like usual I see" He tsk-ed before pointing at 2 smaller snakes who seemed to be fighting "That's Roman and Remus. They're twins and they're always bickering, y'know like the real ones...and the ones from the mythology"

"Did you name all of them after your friends?" He found it kind of cute to be honest.

"I'm good at a lot of things but being good at naming isn't one of them. Look that's Virgil!" The snake hissed at them when he saw them looking "And that's Logan! He's really smart, he figured out how to steal treats from me even though I kept changing where I kept them"

"Should I be flattered?" He held back a smirk.

"Only if you want to be" He pointed at the largest snake who was slithering around across a fake mini castle "That's the biggest cuddliest snake, he always wanted to trap me in hugs. His name is Pa....Patton....it's Patton" His expression slowly changed from happy to absolutely miserable as he said it.

Logan gently patted his shoulder while saying "Well I think he seems much nicer than that pesky human Patton, what a bad knock off. This is clearly the original, how vile to steal a snake's name"

Janus couldn't help but smile, it was a small smile but it was something. He continued to stare down into the ground while biting his lip.

He looked up when he felt Logan take his hand again. Before he could say anything he got pulled to move. Snake exhibits wasn't the only thing in the room. Along the walls were also things to buy. Such as books or small souvenirs or plushies.

Logan grabbed a long yellow and green plush snake and laid it around Janus' shoulders. He was careful so it was on his shoulders and not wrapped around his neck.

"Darling if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing?" The (human) snake asked while crossing his arms.

"There was no snake named after yourself so I thought this could be it. I hereby name this plush snake...Ethan 'Janus Deceit' Betrug. You have different first names so it doesn't get weird or confusing" He explained.

Janus smirked up at him while patting the head of the stuffed animal "Well how horribly mean of you. I'll accept it at one condition. We steal it!"

"I see your offer and I raise you that I pay for it and a shared ice cream and we don't steal anything at all" He held out his hand to solidify the deal.

"Ssssure, deal" He shook his hand.

Logan got a smug look on his face as he for just a second or two traced his finger tip over Janus' bottom lip "And if you want to please keep smiling, it makes you look less...dead in the inside. Is the right usage correct?"

He nodded. He took the plush snake in his arms and continued to pat it as if it was a cat as he started to walk towards the exit of the building "Sure but I'll get the first lick of that shared ice cream"

The other man stayed behind for a moment. For some reason he got the urge to press the same finger that had touched Janus' lip against his own. He did what the urge wanted him to and a faint taste of lemon stayed on his lip. 

Logan shone up into an unusually big smile as he ran up to walk besides his friend. He didn't even know why he was suddenly so very happy but he didn't want the feeling to end.