No ship.

Type: Fluff (mostly)

Janus is wandering around the Dark Sides area. It's the same as the Lights, only it feels as though a shadow has been cast around it. But other than that, it's a carbon copy of Thomas's living room.

He is bored. Remus is off doing who-knows-what, and their orange side friend is nowhere to be found. Which isn't unusual, as he likes to hide.

Janus stops when he hears a noise coming from the kitchen. Assuming it's just another one of Remus's creations that got loose.

He goes into the kitchen but is surprised to see not a demented creation, but a small child. With a purple streak in his hair. The last side.

Janus is overjoyed that the last one is a Dark Side. Because now they had another side, and because he won the bet with Patton.

"Hey there, little guy," Janus says.

The toddler turns around. He's pale, with eyeshadow and a black hoodie. Janus immediately thinks he's adorable.

He giggles a bit and turns back to the fridge. Janus notices him digging through it, taking the jars Crofters. He grabs a few and runs off.

"Hey!" Janus says, "Get back here!"

He chases after the toddler, running through the Mindpalace. The toddler disappears into his room, making Janus run straight into his door.

"Ow,"

He rubs his nose.

"Hey there, JJ," Remus says, walking up behind him.

Janus jumps a little.

"Hello, Remus. You didn't scare me," He says.

"Re-painting your door?" Remus asks.

"Yes. There isn't a new side," Janus says.

Remus perks up.

"Really? That's cool! What does he represent?" He asks.

Janus shrugs.

"I know,"

"Well, let's see him," Remus says, walking towards the door.

Janus steps aside and Remus walks straight into the door.

"Wha-"

"It's locked, you moron," Janus says.

"Well, no dip," Remus says.

He knocks on the door.

"Open up!" He says.

The toddler opens the door.

"Who're you?" He asks.

"Oh my god he's so cute," Remus whispers.

"I'm Janus," Janus says, "This is Remus,"

"Papa," The toddler says, pointing to Janus.

He hugs his legs and Janus smirks at Remus.

"Ha. Take that, Patton," He says.

Patton always said he was the better father figure.

"So what's your name, little one?" Janus asks.

"Ooh, maybe he's Insanity! It'd be nice to have someone like me," Remus says.

"One of you is enough," Janus says.

"Anxiety," The toddler mumbles.

"Well, it's about time," Janus mumbles, mostly to himself.

Janus picks up Anxiety and carries him back to the common room.

"So what do we do now?" Remus asks.

Janus shrugs.

"Take care of him, I guess," He says.

Anxiety pulls out the jar he had taken from the fridge and pops the lid off. He takes a handful and eats it.

"I thought Logan took all the Crofter's," Remus says.

"Oh no," Janus says.

Janus hands Anxiety to Remus, who walks behind the counter just as Logan enters the room.

"Who took my Crofter's?" He demands.

"It was me," Janus says.

"It was you, wasn't it?" Logan says.

"It wasn't him! It was-" Remus says.

Janus cuts him off.

"You took it! This is the last time I'm warning you not too," Logan says, turning his glare to Remus.

"Yeah yeah, now go away," Janus says, "We won't take your precious jam,"

"Good. Next time I won't be merciful," Logan says, leaving.

Once he does, Anxiety starts to cry.

"Why'd you do that?" Remus asks.

"I don't want them to take Anxiety," Janus says.

"Fair enough," Remus says, "So how do we make him stop? I like annoying noises but not this,"

Janus shrugs.

"Maybe he's hungry?"

"He just ate a whole jar of jam! How can he be hungry?" Remus asks.

"Well, you never seem to shut up after several hours of talking, maybe it's the same way," Janus says.

"Insult me again and I'll hit you in the spine so hard-"

"Please, spare the child's ears. He doesn't need to hear your nonsense now or ever," Janus says.

"You can't stop me," Remus says.

"I'm pretty sure I can," Janus says.

Remus gives Anxiety a cookie, calming him down. The two Dark Sides look at each other. Neither of them has any child care experience, but how hard can it be?

Very hard, it turns out. Anxiety has a habit of running off and getting himself into trouble. Which is why Janus is currently chasing after him, trying to keep him away from Remus's side of the imagination. There were some disturbing things in there, so say the least.

"Anxiety, no- get back here!" Janus shouts.

For someone with such tiny legs, Anxiety was fast.

When he finally caught up with the toddler, he scooped him up. He heard someone coming around the corner and quickly hid the toddler in the forest Remus made. He hoped it would be safe enough for a few minutes.

"Oh, hey Deceit!" Patton says, coming around the corner.

"Hello, Patton," He says, "I wasn't doing anything,"

"I know. Who were you chasing after?" Patton asks.

"I was chasing after someone," Janus says.

"So you were just shouting at the air?" Patton asks, a little confused.

"Yes," Janus says, "Now if you would excuse me, I have to go,"

Janus walks into the forest, hoping Patton wasn't suspicious of him. Janus looks around the forest, searching for Anxiety.

"Oh sh- Anxiety, step away from there!" Janus shouts.

The toddler was about to crawl into a bear trap.  Of course, it wasn't for bears but rather some of the hideous beasts Remus made.

Janus rushes to Anxiety, scooping him up again. But in the process, he got his leg trapped. Not in the teeth, but a little too close to them for his liking.

"Go get Remus, ok?" Janus tells the toddler, "Go get ReRe and bring him back here,"

Janus couldn't break free himself, as this was part of the imagination. Remus has total control here.

After about an hour, Anxiety comes back with Remus in tow.

"I like this kid, J," Remus says, "He's tough,"

"What did he do? Also, get me out," Janus says.

"Roman came by and this kid clocked him in the face. Then he ran off, but it was hilarious," He says.

Remus waves his hands and the trap disappeared, freeing Janus.

"Did he see him? Or ask questions?" Janus asks.

"Nope. He left too fast for that. Roman thought I did it, which I didn't deny," Remus says, "I also taught him a new word,"

This can't be good.

"What is it?" Janus asks.

"Asshole," Anxiety says proudly.

"Why am I not surprised it's a swear word?"  Janus asks.

"You want me to teach him more?" Remus asks, grinning.

"No thanks, let's get back to the common room," Janus says.

He grabs Anxiety and the three of the sink out. They reappear in the common room. Night has begun to fall, so Janus takes Anxiety to his room. He wouldn't admit it, but he was very protective of the young side. He didn't want him to get hurt.

During the middle of the night, Anxiety wakes up. He sees a small spider crawling around the room and out the door. He decides to follow it. It looked cool, and he liked spiders.

He followed it all the way to the Light Side of the Mindpalace, to their common room. Patton was up, making a midnight snack.

"Aaah! Spider!" He shrieks, slapping it with a spatula.

Anxiety saw this and started to cry. Patton whips around to the source of the noise and sees the toddler on the stairs.

"Aw, I'm sorry kiddo. Do you want a snack to feel better?" He asks, trying to comfort the child.

Patton wondered where he came from, and how long he had been here. He grabs a cookie and gives it to Anxiety.

"Poor thing. Who's taking care of you?" Patton asks.

Anxiety just looks at him.

"Asshole," He says.

"Watch your language, little guy. But it's Remus, isn't it?"

"Papa," Anxiety says.

"I am, little guy," Patton says.

Patton could hardly contain his joy. He really was a dad now, wasn't he?

Patton took the toddler back to his room, where he summoned a mini-bed for him to sleep in. He tucked Anxiety in and wished him good night.

The next morning, Janus awoke to the toddler missing. He searched all the rooms, the imagination, everywhere he could think of. He was nowhere. That left one option. He was taken by the Lights.

"Remus, get up. We're going on a rescue mission," Janus says, banging on Remus's door.

"Wake me up again and I'll rip off your toes one-"

"Shut it and get ready. They took Anxiety," Janus says.

Remus didn't know why this was so urgent, but Janus was in charge here. He was the only one who could rival Patton, so he listened.

They got ready and made their way to the Light Sides. They snuck into the common area, where Patton already was. Anxiety was there, sitting on the counter. Janus quietly walked up to him, picking up and cradling the toddler. They were about to leave when Patton turned around.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Patton demands.

"None of your business," Janus replies.

"I think it is my business what you do with my son!" Patton says.

Anxiety looks between the two of them.

"Papa," He says, pointing to Janus.

"See, he likes me more," Janus says.

"Dada," Anxiety says, pointing to Patton.

"Well, it looks like I'm his dad, so give him back!" Patton says, making a dash for the toddler.

"No!" Janus says, pulling Anxiety back, "He's my child. And on an unrelated note, you owe me 20 bucks,"

Anxiety looks back and forth and begins to cry. Janus and Patton are still arguing, so Remus picks him up.

"I'm just gonna go now," He says, slipping away.

Janus sank out not long after, leaving Patton to realize Anxiety was gone. He was heartbroken, he loved the little side. He hoped to see him again one day, but he knew now wasn't the time. If he went after the toddler, the already rocky relationship with the Darks would completely crumble.

Remus handed Janus the toddler, before running off.

"I don't want to be on the receiving end of Pat's wrath. Good luck," He says.

Janus rolls his eyes. He knew Patton wouldn't come, he was too scared of the darker side of the Mindpalace. Janus turns to the little toddler on the couch.

"I think you need a name, little one," Janus says.

Anxiety nods.

"Vi- Virgil," He stammers.

Janus smiles.

"Sounds perfect,"

Requests are still open! Peace out peeps!