Day 1: Rose

Warnings: no

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Janus shifted as he stood in his room, the door to the rest of the mindscape closed in front of him. He huffed at his hesitation, the paper around the bouquet of roses in his hand rustling slightly as he lowered his hand to hang by his side.

This was stupid, he was stupid. Actually, no, Roman was stupid, entirely oblivious to Janus attempts at flirting. How obvious was he supposed to need to be?

How was it not enough of a hint that he had agreed to have sword fights with Roman where they spent the entire time pinning each other to the ground or any nearby wall? How was it not enough that he kept calling him gorgeous and ravishing? How was it not enough that he kept complimenting his work and giving him small gifts and making excuses to lean against him during movie nights?

Honestly (ha), either Roman was actually blind or, which was more likely, he realized Janus feelings and did not return them and because of that pretended not to notice Janus attempts to get his attention.

Maybe Roman was just blushing when he complimented him because he wasn't used to praise? Maybe he just accepted the movie night cuddles because he felt bad?

Janus shook his head. He was starting to sound like Virgil and that was a sign, generally, that he needed to just get over himself.

He looked down at the bouquet of deeply red roses whose petals almost looked to be made from velvet. Just yesterday he had been talking to Roman, who had been gushing about Thomas and Nico and the fact that Nico had given their host a bouquet of flowers. As soon as Roman let it slip that he had never been given a bouquet of flowers...

Well, what else was Janus supposed to do than deliver Roman the bouquet of flowers that he deserved?

Except that at the moment Janus was feeling hesitant. If Roman was not interested in a romantic relationship with him, then maybe he should stop pushing? Of course flowers could be a gift from one friend to another but Janus knew very well that platonic love was not what was driving him to do this.

Janus double checked that he was wearing his hat and his gloves, then opened his door and stepped into the hallway. Roman's door was at the other end, right opposite of Remus' room and both their doors next to the door to the imagination that was at the end of the hall.

He walked all the way to Roman's door before hesitating again, clutching the large bouquet to his chest and wondering if he should knock and give Roman the flowers or just leave them on the floor for Roman to find in the morning.

He could get a vase to make sure they looked as elegant and fresh as they did now once Roman opened his door to walk downstairs for breakfast.

There was a note attached to the flowers which addressed them to Roman, so he would know he was the intended recipient, and it could save Janus embarrassment or possibly heartbreak, and as one of his tasks as a side was self care it was hard to resist.

He had just decided on conjuring up a vase and was trying to think of one extravagant enough when the door to Roman's room opened and then he was face to face with Roman, standing there in his pajamas and a robe the same red as his usual sash.

They both stared at the other, equally surprised to come face to face. Roman opened his mouth to speak, then laid eyes on the bouquet that Janus was holding and his eyes widened.

The little note he had tied to the flowers he had made sure to hang outside the paper that wrapped around the stems, clearly displaying Roman's name written in a golden cursive writing that, now that Janus thought about it, would have clearly showed who the flowers were from even if Janus had left them outside his door and then ran.

He and Roman were the only two who knew how to write in cursive.

"I totally did not get you these because you mentioned that no one had ever given you flowers." Janus said, extending Roman the bouquet. The creative side took them gingerly, hands brushing against Janus' gloved one and he was glad he was wearing his gloves because otherwise he might have dropped the flowers.

"For me?" He said, sounding far more surprised and confused than he should. He looked up at Janus with an expression of awe before focusing his attention on the roses once more. All the other sides had been fools not to get Roman flowers.

"No, they're for the other side named Roman." Janus said, inwardly cringing. He was certainly not incapable of speaking without the use of lies and sarcasm, but when he was feeling nervous or threatened it was a lot harder to keep his sentences truthful.

"Thank you so much, Janus. They're gorgeous." Roman said, smiling widely and beautifully.

"Fitting for you, then." Janus said, sending Roman a confident little smile that was pretty far from what he actually felt. Roman's face went a bit pink and he cleared his throat before turning around and walking back into his room.

"Come in, come in, I just gotta find a vase for these." He said and Janus followed, ignoring the part of him that wanted to excuse himself and return to his own room before Roman would realize the intent behind the flowers and feel the need to let him know that he didn't like Janus that way.

Roman's room was much more orderly than when Janus had seen it last, but the previous week Roman had been in one of his creative frenzies and that always had his room looking a mess. Of course it was nothing compared to what Remus' room would turn into when he got into his moods.

"Here we go." Roman mumbled to no one in particular, conjuring up a lovely crystal vase in one hand, then disappearing into his bathroom to fill it with water. He came out carrying the vase with the flowers in it, paper wrapping gone.

He set the flowers on his desk, smiling as he gently touched the roses, and Janus was just standing in the middle of Roman's room feeling uselessly gay.

"There are twelve roses. I assumed the red ones would be your favorite, as it is your color and all, and these were the ones that felt the most regal and elegant, which I think is fitting for a prince as yourself." Janus said.

"You're right, they're perfect." Roman said, cheeks having gone a darker red at Janus' words. Janus considered hitting his head against a wall. Roman was not showing any kind of understanding, even after he had given him those specifics, and he knew that Roman knew what those things meant, the two of them had done the research together as Thomas had learnt about the meanings of the flowers Nico had given him.

Red roses in itself was a declaration of love, the color of roses had different meanings, and red roses symbolized romantic love above all else. The number of them also had specific meanings, with twelve roses communicating 'be mine'.

Janus did not know how much more obvious he could be without outright telling Roman about his feelings, a choice that Janus had always dismissed as insanity to attempt, but at this point it was truly becoming frustrating and Janus was reaching his breaking point.

"Oh, for goodness sake, Roman, I'm in love with you!" Janus exclaimed, his hand then automatically coming up to press over his mouth at the admission, silencing himself too late.

It happened accidentally sometimes, when someone said something Janus didn't want anyone to know. This was the first time he was the idiot running his mouth, though.

Roman froze, which Janus did not see as a great sign. He sighed and shifted where he stood, uncomfortable with Roman's silence.

"You don't need to feel the same way, but either you have been oblivious to my flirting for the past few months, or you have just been ignoring it, and either way I am reaching my limit. I can't go on not knowing." Janus said, focusing on keeping his words truthful as to not create any kind of misunderstandings.

Roman tended to be the one having the hardest figuring out if he was lying or telling the truth, which was inconvenient when Janus was genuinely flirting with him.

"You're in love with me?" Roman said, still just standing there by his desk, staring at him with an expression that Janus didn't know how to read.

"Yes. I- Roman, I've totally been hiding it well." He said, feeling the part of his face that wasn't scales go warm. Patton had been gently teasing him for weeks about his feelings for Roman, and Remus had been gagging behind his back for months when seeing the two of them talking.

They stared at each other for another second, then Roman walked towards him, quickly, wrapping his arms around Janus in a tight hug before he even had the time to think of moving out of the way.

He stood stiffly in Roman's arms while assessing the situation, then carefully wrapped his arms around Roman, feeling his body relax even if it was not entirely clear what Roman was thinking.

"I'm in love with you too." Roman said, making it crystal clear that they were on the same page. "You've got no idea how often I've wanted to kiss you during those sword fights we have had."

"That was the whole point." Janus said with a chuckle, unable to resist burying his face into the crook on Roman's neck. The two of them stood there for another while, Janus wondering at what point it would fully sink in that Roman claimed to feel the same way.

"I know it's late, but do you want to have another sword fight? Do it the right way?" Roman wondered with a grin, carefully stepping back. It was very clear that Roman was asking to pin each other to the ground and then make out, which was the proper way any kind of sword fight should end, any gay person knew that.

"Show me what you've got." He said, offering Roman his hand to be taken to the arena-like place that they held their sword fights. They had a lot to discuss regarding the confessions they had just told but, well, just for now it could wait.

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Written: 8th May 2022
Published: 8th May 2022
Words: 1786

Idk if i know how to write janus but anyway hope u enjoyed