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hiiii idk if you're taking requests so feel free to ignore this, but i think it would be interesting to see a fic where logan and janus both have contingencies for each of the sides when they're in a bit of a negative spiral, and they find out thomas has been feeling less self-confident lately, so they try to help roman, but he avoids them bc he feels like he doesn't deserve it. – anon
”So, you haven’t seen him either?”
Logan’s sigh manages to work its way through the cracks in the closet door. Roman shifts as quietly as he can, pressing his hand over his mouth to keep himself quiet. “No, I haven’t.”
“Splendid.”
Roman closes his eyes and leans against the wall. He just had to wait for them to move on, then he can run.
“Well, there are only so many places he can be.” Janus’s cloak ruffles. “I’ll take upstairs, you take downstairs?”
“That makes sense to me.”
Two sets of footsteps move in opposite directions. There comes the creak of the stairs and Janus’s voice calls out as he moves down the hallway.
“Roman? Roman, where are you?”
Roman holds his breath for another moment, until the creak fades and the voice has turned a corner, before he slips through the closet door and hurries as quietly as he can toward his room. If he can just get to his room, he can lock the door and keep them from coming in—
“There you are.”
He whips his head around. Janus is right there. How the hell did he get back so fast? Whatever—no time to think about it, Roman runs.
“Wha—hey!”
He dodges away from the hands reaching after him and vaults over the pile of laundry left in the middle of the hall. Muffled curses from behind him and he makes it to the stairs—
Nope, because Logan heard that and now he’s coming up and Roman swerves at the last minute, knocking into the corner of the wall. His shoulder protests. he ignores it. He spares a quick glance behind him—since when is Logan so good at keeping up with him? He looks forward again and swerves around another corner—he may not be able to outrun Logan in a straightaway but he can make the hallways twist and turn enough to give him precious seconds.
He hears Logan stumble and slow and feels a pang of regret for hurting him, however unintentional. It’s drowned out by the relief when the footsteps fade into nothingness. He makes the corridor shift to his room but catches a glimpse of Janus’s cloak and doubles back.
Alright. To the Imagination it is.
His lungs begin to ache as he keeps running. His legs protest. The throbbing bruise on his shoulder hasn’t dulled yet. He pushes them to the back of his mind. Almost there, almost there.
The golden door gleams out of the corner of his eye and he pushes just a little further—
—and skids to a halt when he sees Logan standing right outside.
“How—“
“There were only so many places you could be going,” Logan says, not even sounding out of breath, how— “now, are we finished with this?”
Nope. Not if Roman has anything to say about it. He turns and goes to flee again and runs smack into Janus’s chest. Six arms wind tightly around him.
“Gotcha.”
Logan sighs behind him and starts walking toward them, away from the door. Janus is still holding him too tightly, but if he can make them think he’s done…
With an exhaustion that is not altogether dishonest, he makes himself sag into Janus’s hold. Janus chuckles, letting him.
“You gave yourself quite the workout, didn’t you?” A hand moves to card through his hair, but the others keep a tight hold of him. “Are you all tuckered out now?”
Roman doesn’t say anything. Out of the corner of his eye, he watches Logan come to stand at his shoulder, taking a notebook out and a pen from his pocket. Janus leans over to look at it and his grip loosens just slightly—
“Hey!”
But Roman’s gone, slipping through his hold and barreling through the door.
In the next instant, he’s falling. Tumbling down a rocky cliffside. He tucks his head and makes himself into a ball of limbs. Down and down he falls until he sprawls at the bottom in a thick bush.
Panting, he pulls himself free, wincing at the cuts and scrapes that make themselves known all over his aching body. He manages to look back up at the cliff, the tiniest hint of a smile touching the corners of his mouth. With how far he’s fallen, there’s no way they’d think to look for him down here, not if they try to come through the door. Still, though, it’d probably be best not to stay here too long.
He drags himself toward the forest. Darkness has already begun to weave its way through the branches, dripping from the leaves like heavy rain to pool into thick rivulets across the murky ground. Once or twice he stumbles over a hidden root as he makes his way through the trees. It’s difficult to hear anything over his own panting breaths, but he knows how he must look. A shuffling body, trailing scraps of red as it limps through the forest covered in white.
He is no stranger to stories, after all.
Up ahead, a break in the trees turns into a small clearing. The last of the dying light touches the bare grass, giving it the look of almost hallowed ground. Roman drags himself to a stop in the center, looking around at the fussy tree line. A bird calls out overhead. Far away, he hears the low burble of a river.
Something prickles across the back of his neck. He turns around.
”Hello, old friend.”
The wolf, massive enough as he is to block out the sky, simply exhales in greeting. His eyes gleam with the forgotten light as his head leans down. Roman lifts a hand to pat his nose but the wolf doesn’t let him make contact, instead sniffing at the scratches on his hand and arm. He looks at Roman.
“I fell. I was running.”
The wolf huffs again, before nudging Roman with his nose. He turns and starts to walk off into the forest. Roman follows. They walk for an eternity and no time at all before they arrive at what must be the wolf’s den. He comes to a stop just before it, letting Roman lean against his side and twist a hand into his thick fur.
“You want me to go it?”
The wolf nods, encouraging him to take a step forward. Roman falters, muscles instinctively moving to flee again, and the wolf lets out a single low growl. Not a threat, but a fact that there is nowhere in this forest Roman could go that he would not be found instantly. It’s not even a reprimand, and yet Roman finds himself curling reflexively into the wolf’s side, pressing his scratched and scuffed cheek into the dense fur. The wolf rumbles again and turns its head to breathe warm air over Roman’s hands. When Roman turns his head to look, the wolf raises its nose to point at something in the distance. He turns to follow it and sees the cliff far away in the distance.
The wolf waits patiently.
Roman looks back at the den and takes a step forward. The brief pause, however, has let his body catch up to how drained it is, and he nearly falls flat on his face. He would have too, had the wolf not kept his nose there to prop him up. Another growl—go slow—and bit by bit, he coaxes Roman into the den. There are no comforts here to speak of, but it is out of the wind and a patch of moss is soft as the wolf deposits Roman carefully atop it. He winces at the sting and pull of his body and the wolf blows warm air across him again.
“Thank you.”
The wolf snuffles against his chest. The soft pressure combined with the warmth of it makes Roman’s eyelids heavy. The wolf does it again, pressing his nose against Roman’s stomach, and he closes his eyes. Distantly, he registers the sounds of the wolf lying down. But he is tired, too tired, and the den slips away into the wolf’s dark fur and huffing breaths.
He’s just…so…tired…
…and his tired brain feels a hand carding gently through his hair.
With a nightly effort, he manages to open one eye, blinking in surprise at the fuzzy figures moving over him. There’s light again, a softer light, and the hand in his hair won’t stop threatening to send him back to sleep.
“—oman? Roman, are you awake, sweetie?”
Roman blinks. Janus’s smiling face swims into view, the hand in his hair moving to stroke delicately across his cheek.
“There he is,” Janus murmurs, “you gave us quite the fright, sweetie.”
“Wha…how…?”
“What do you remember?”
“Running. I went into the Imagination.” He frowns. “There…there was a cliff. I fell.”
Janus winces. “That would explain all the bumps and bruises. You poor thing.”
“Then I went into the woods…and found the wolf.”
“Ah, yes, I meant to ask about that. He came and found us too, you know. Is he one of yours?”
“Both. Sometimes he’s with me, sometimes with Re.”
“Mm. Well, he’s very nice, albeit terrifying.” Roman just hums. “Well, he can and found Logan and I. We were…as you might be able to imagine, thrilled at the prospect of following a giant wolf into a dark forest, and when we saw you…”
“There was a moment where we thought the worst,” comes Logan’s voice. He materializes out of the soft light—bathroom, Roman’s tired brain supplies, that’s the bathroom light. He takes a seat on the bed. “But he helped us get you back here and now, well, here we are.”
Right. Here they are.
Logan takes Roman’s hand in both of his, drawing it to sit in his lap. He runs his fingers over the unmarked skin.
“We didn’t mean to scare you,” he says softly, soft enough that it makes Roman’s tired brain want to cry, “I understand now that we might have…made you feel as though we were cornering you for some malicious reason, but I assure you: we aren’t mad, you’re not in trouble, we just want to help.”
Roman doesn’t say anything. Janus looks at him for a moment, eyes narrowed, before he hisses low in his throat. Logan hums in confusion. Janus raises an eyebrow, prompting Roman to answer. Shame bubbles up thickly in his throat and he looks away.
“I don’t believe Roman ever doubted our motivations were to help,” he hears Janus say, “but whether or not he was deserving of such efforts.”
The hands holding Roman’s twitch. “Oh, little one…”
“See, this is why I told you that we needed to bait the trap before we sprung it.”
“I’m not entertaining you describing our contingency plans as ‘traps,’ Janus. I asked you and not Remus for a reason.”
“Wait,” Roman mumbles, “contingency plans?”
They look back down at him. Logan smiles. “Yes, Roman, contingency plans. Because sometimes you push yourself too hard and we need to help you recover from it, but you can be quite stubborn about it.”
“Don’t you deny it,” Janus says as Roman pouts, “you know it’s true.”
“And we’ve accounted for it. So,” Logan says, tugging his hand, “let’s get you feeling better, shall we?”
”Wait, wait,” Roman mumbles, even as Janus helps hims it up, “wha—what’re we doing? What’s happening?”
“We’re going to take care of you,” Logan says, “starting with a bath. Actually…do you think you can manage to stay on your feet for a few minutes? If we can get the worst of the dirt off you in the shower?”
”Shame on you,” Janus says softly as they help Roman into the dimly-lit bathroom, “look at him, Logan, it would be a crime to ask him to remain upright for any longer than he absolutely has to.”
Logan chuckles. “I suppose you’re right. Let me take him—would you check the bath?”
Janus presses a gentle kiss to Roman’s shoulder and lets him be. Logan helps him prop himself against the counter, resting his hands on the tattered hem of Roman’s prince costume.
“Can I help you take this off?”
Roman nods and the two of them fumble—well, Roman fumbles, Logan moves with the same careful precision he does everything with—to get the shredded shirt off. He expects Logan to ask for pants next, but instead, Logan takes a soft cloth and gets it damp, wiping the dirt and mud from his bare arms, neck, and chest.
“I can put something on the scrapes after you’re out of the bath,” he says softly as he works, brow furrowed in concentration. “Does anything hurt very badly?”
Roman shakes his head. “Just bruised.”
”We’ll see about getting an ice pack if you want it.”
“Is he about ready?”
“Just about.” Logan drapes the cloth over the edge of the sink and settles his hands on Roman’s waist. “Do you think you can do the rest by yourself, or do you want help?”
“I can do it.”
Logan nods and steps away, going to join Janus by the tub. Roman struggles out of his pants and shoes, abandoning them next to his tattered shirt. He hesitates when it comes to his boxers, before he takes a towel from a nearby pile and wraps it around his waist.
“Okay.”
“Go ahead and get in, sweet,” Janus says, “we won’t look.”
“Can—uh—“
”Here.” He keeps his eyes averted but holds his arm out for Roman to grab. “Easy does it, now…”
A truly mortifying noise leaves Roman’s throat as he sinks into the warm water. There must be some sort of oils or something in here because it smells like he’s sinking into…god, lavender bushes with lemon trees overhead or something else his tired brain can’t quite picture. He hears soft chuckles and another hand cups his face, stroking his cheek.
“You can close your eyes if you want, sweetie. We’ll wake you up if something happens.”
“Don’t make it sound like a doomsday device, Janus.”
“Oh, ‘Doomsday Device?’ What is this, a bad action movie?”
Roman lets himself drift away to the sounds of their murmured conversation. The bubbles—right, there were bubbles in the bath, how had he not noticed that until now?—smell good too, bursting every so often as hands moved to wash his hair. Every so often, he’s coaxed to lift his head, or tilt it back, or do something guided by the gentle hands. He mumbles something about floating and being sleepy and someone kisses his cheek.
“Come on, then,” they coax—he’s pretty sure it’s Logan— “let’s get you out of there.”
The shock of the warm air instead of water rouses him a little. Logan—he was right—dries him off with a fluffy towel and wraps him in a pair of soft red pajamas. Janus comes up with another towel and dries his hair, ruffling it until it sticks up in all directions. He smiles at Roman’s bedraggled expression and chucks him lightly under the chin.
“Off to the bed with you, sweetie, Logan has snacks.”
“Snacks?” His stomach growls and Janus laughs.
“Yes, little prince. You’ve not been eating recently—don’t look so surprised, you think no one’s noticed you skipping meals? Go on, I’ll finish up here.”
He manages to get through to his room. They turned his pretty lights on. Logan’s waiting for him on the bed. There’s a tray on the bed. There are snacks on the tray. Logan’s standing up, holding his arms out. He walks into Logan’s arms and lets himself get sat on the bed with a roll of bread pushed into his hands.
“Eat,” Logan encourages, “it’s okay.”
Roman takes a bite of the bread. Life is too short not to eat good bread.
“I wish you didn’t have to fall down a cliff and be helped by a wolf for you to let us take care of you,” Logan says softly, giving him another snack when he finishes the bread, “but I understand that this is a work in progress.”
“You’re the ones with contingency plans,” Roman mumbles around his next bite. Logan chuckles.
“Yes, well, we know how prepared we have to be when it comes to taking care of you.”
“Though we will be recruiting the wolf next time,” Janus adds as he comes out of the bathroom.
“Yes, or at least attempting to.”
Roman finishes the second snack, taking the third from Logan. He looks at it for a moment. Janus’s hand settles on his elbow and he looks up to see the wordless are you alright?
“Was this the plan? Get me to rest and eat?”
‘The first part of it.” Logan reaches next to him where the first aid kit sits. “We’ve amended it to include treating any injuries you may have sustained.”
“Oh.”
“And then tomorrow—“
“Wait, tomorrow?”
Janus laughs. “You didn’t think this would just be a one-day thing, did you? We know better than to assume you’ll be right as rain after one evening of us spoiling you.”
“Tomorrow,” Logan continues, a matching smile on his face as he draws one of Roman’s arms into his lap, “we have nature documentaries to watch, you have an afternoon in the Imagination with Remus, and Patton and Virgil have cookies to make.”
No small part of Roman perks up at the thought of homemade chocolate-chip cookies. Even the slight sting as Logan starts treating the open scrapes isn’t enough to make it go away.
“You can work on some of your personal projects if you want to,” Janus adds, raising a finger when Roman looks at him in surprise, “but only the ones you are doing because you want to, so that’s your crafts or the poetry thing you’re doing with Logan.”
“I would be amenable to that.”
“And if it’s making you feel worse, then you stop. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that Patton will feel it and you will be smothered.”
Roman gestures bleakly around at whatever the hell this has become and Janus rolls his eyes.
“You know this is a far lesser fate than what Patton will subject you to.”
Roman shudders. This is true.
”Alright, enough with the doom and gloom, you two.” Logan pats Roman’s arm and switches to the other one. “You’ll have plenty of time to do that when you’re reacting to the nature documentaries tomorrow. And pretending they’re soap operas of the wild.”
“That cuttlefish should’ve given the other male a chance and you know it.”
Roman giggles as the two of them start playfully bickering again. His eyes drift to the window that looks into the Imagination, and he thinks he sees the wolf in the moonlight. It gives him a nod and walks off into the woods.
He has a feeling the Imagination has been part of the contingency plan the whole time.