Deceit saw several perks in his... snakelike qualities. He didn't mind the scales, save the times Logan wanted to research them, and the extra arms were certainly not raising any complaints.

This portion of the ensemble, however, he loathed.

Janus was currently huddled beneath two blankets, cursing the fact that he was too short to shut the vent in the living room and stop the cold air blowing in. This was only October as well; it was bound to get worse. And I thought Florida was supposed to be warm, he thought to himself.

Just then, Virgil walked into the room, and Janus suddenly became aware of how non-threatening he looked. He was more like a pile of marshmallow fluff than anything. Still, he would do his best, shaking his head so his hat nearly covered his eyes as he glared at the other.

Virgil took a second to notice him, jumping when he did so before just staring curiously. "Uh, Deceit?"

"Yes, Racoon?" A little immature, sure, but he couldn't help it right then. It didn't get too much of a reaction from the other to his displeasure, who just simply tucked their phone into their pocket.

"Are you cold?"

Janus huffed, his hat moving down a little further as he did so. "And whatever gave you that idea, Virgil? If anything, I'm just dying from heat."

Virgil only sighed, and frankly it was starting to agitate Deceit. "Do you want me to start a fire maybe?"

"I am doing just fine, thank you very much. I don't need anything besides to be left alone." And maybe another blanket, he thought, but no one needed to know that besides himself. He shook his head resolutely, causing his hat to fall its last little distance over his eyes, leaving him in a field of darkness. Great, now I can't even tell when the racoon walks away.

Despite not being able to see, he listened closely to the surrounding area, and swore he could make out the sounds of footsteps walking away.

"Good," he mumbled to himself, burrowing further into the blanket pile and basically condensing himself into a ball. "I am just fine here by myself."

Still, as he sat there feeling the minutes tick away, it got a little less comfortable sitting up, in a ball, mobbed by cloth on all sides with his hat blocking the only source of light. That didn't mean he would move, but he did sort of wish he had set up shop on the couch instead of the living room rug. At the time he had been thinking of starting a fire, but emerging from his pile to do so seemed too difficult a task now.

Just as that thought concluded, he heard footsteps break the silence around him, stopping far too close to him for his liking. Especially since he couldn't see who it was.

Suddenly, the hat was removed from atop his covering, blinding him with light and causing him to blink rapidly in an attempt to adjust fast and see who had dared touch his hat.

"Of course, Virgil," he snarled, putting as threatening a face on as he could manage.

"Save it Snakey, I'm not alone and my companion might not like it if you start using strong language."

"What—" Deceit started questioning, his eyes darting around the room before landing on the other person.

"Hey Janus! Virgil said you were cold and wanted some cuddles!" Patton bounced on his toes as he spoke, waving to him before turning to grab some more blankets from a nearby closet. That drew Janus' attention back to the man in front of him, giving a look that clearly conveyed a message of "what the hell?"

"You were cold, but you're too stubborn an ass to admit it," Virgil spoke, dropping his voice so Patton couldn't hear him. "So I brought backup you can't say no to."

Before he could retort, Virgil moved to close the vent, and Patton plopped a pile of blankets next to him. "I'm gonna go grab a spooky movie to put on. Be right back Jan, help yourself to the pile."

Janus wanted to snarl, to shoot a remark at the man, but he couldn't. His energy was just too, excited. It had been a while since Janus had done anything with the others, so he could not blame Patton. And, he couldn't disappoint him either.

Grumpily, Janus grabbed onto a blanket, unfurling himself and rearranging so his back was leaning against the couch, and his legs were stretched out. He was cold for a moment before tossing a third blanket on top of him, and the warmth was enough for the time being. Not perfect, but he refused to grab another out of respect for himself.

Just then, Patton came back into the room, holding a DVD and popping it into the player before anyone could see what it was. He moved to sit right up against Janus' left, maneuvering to be underneath the pile of blankets as well. Before Deceit could even react, Virgil was on his right, not snuggled up quite so close, but where their arms were still brushing against one another's. He had his phone out, but you could tell it was more a shield than something he was actually paying attention to. Patton giggled, starting the film from a remote he had pulled from seemingly nowhere. Or maybe Janus just hadn't been paying attention.

Within seconds, the familiar Disney sound came out of the speakers, and the castle was appearing out of sparkles on the screen. Just as Janus thought he might be able to adjust to the two people on his sides, a scream came from the hallway.

"DO I HEAR DISNEY?" And suddenly, Roman was jumping onto the couch behind them all, splayed out across it so Janus could feel his hairs against Roman's hand.

"Really, Wroammin? Just hear it and come running?"

"Well of course, who am I to miss out on Disney and a cuddle session?"

"It's not a —"

"Oh, hush Bananaconda, you're not winning that argument."

"That is certainly what it looks like." Janus' head whirled around as a new voice entered the conversation, seeing Logan standing there, holding several bowls in his hands.

"Oh Logan, I didn't see you! Did you come to join us?" Patton spoke up, and Janus could feel him bouncing up and down against his side.

"Actually, Virgil texted me to bring popcorn, but I see no harm in joining." Logan shrugged, walking over and starting to pass out the bowls. "He also said this was to help Janus, I assume you got cold thanks to not being warm-blooded?"

"No, who said I was cold blooded? It's just... a chilly day is all. I'm not cold, the raccoon just insisted on this. And really, Virgil?" Janus snapped, only getting a snicker out of the emo whose eyes were now glued to the screen.

"Can we just start the movie?" Roman chimed in, and Janus could feel his hand impatiently tapping behind him.

"Hold on Kiddo, give Logan a second to get settled," Patton said calmly, his eyes fixed on the logical side. Logan had grabbed a separate blanket from the extras, taking a seat beside Patton and taking a moment to get comfortable. After he nodded to show he was ready, the movie started up, and everyone heard the opening notes of "This is Halloween" start to play.

"Nice one, Padre."

"Yeah, thanks Popstar."

"Thank you, Roman. And course Virge! This was your idea after all!"

They sat in silence for a moment, actually quieting down to start the film it seemed. But as that first "this is Halloween" came over the speakers, everyone found it difficult to hear over the screechy voice shouting it.

"Gosh JanJan, and you told me you didn't like cuddles." Remus had appeared from the chimney, head upside down and drawing everyone's attention to him.

'I don't," Janus hissed out, but even he knew the evidence wasn't very convincing right then. He wasn't necessarily enjoying the cuddles, it was just the first time all day he had been warm and, well, why ruin that opportunity?

"In or out Remus, either join us or leave. Either way, stop interrupting the movie," Roman huffed, clearly agitated about the song being cut short.

"Oh, I'm definitely in. How could I miss this family cuddle pile?" He dropped down onto his head, rolling out of the fireplace and throwing a match as he did so, causing the remaining logs to spark up. The flames started quickly, and a new wave of warmth swam over Janus, it really was impossible by this point for him to say it wasn't nice.

Remus threw himself on the legs of all those on the floor, his head facing the opposite direction of his brother's above him. Virgil let out a little grumble, and Logan exhaled especially deeply, but no one said anything. And Janus, well he was used to this by now, he wasn't going to let it bother him.

With everyone finally in place, and a guarantee that no one would interrupt again (Seeing as the house was out of people), the movie started up a third time. Any talking quickly died out, and the only sound in the space was Jack's voice and the crackling of the fire.

And Janus sat there, surrounded by all these people, slumped in blankets, and with his temperature practically doubled by this point.

He couldn't help but think he had found a new kind of warmth.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Yeah, I had fun with this one. Some platonic cuddles between the group was just too irresistible. Ah well, I'm not mad at it, and hopefully none of you are either. Plus, no angst today, just a big ol' pile of fluff.

Anywho my wonderful readers, a busy day awaits us all, and I certainly hope to do all right with mine, which means catching some Z's. Or maybe just staying up reading fanfiction, who knows? Nonetheless, I wish all of you a lovely day, and a very good morning to come.

~Dna