Hopping Junebugs @hoppingjunebugs - Tumblr Blog

May 18

Mother Hen

Read on AO3 Word Count : 4,315 Prompt: Virgil's in trouble, Janus wants to help with "I refuse to trust you" nemeses to "LET ME CARE ABOUT YOU DAMMIT!" platonic.

Summary: Virgil and Janus are supposedly rivals, so why does Janus use Virgil being sick as a chance to test out his chicken noodle soup recipe?

Cowritten with @hoppingjunebugs for @virgeandhis-pocket-protector during @tss-camp-and-coffee's 2026 Dynamic Duos event

...

Virgil thought of Janus as his nemesis, and Janus kind of liked the ring of that. They were both merely college students, but the dramatic flare of the title? Commendable.

Of course, Janus had to live up to all the praise.

That is why he was currently sitting on the kitchen counter, sipping coffee out of Virgil's favorite purple mug to hide the smirk on his lips. He had let himself into Remus and Virgil's shared dorm five minutes ago with the copied key Remus had given him, and he wanted to see how long it took for Virgil to glance up from his homework.

The longer he watched, the more doubt started to worm its way into Janus mind. Virgil's teeth were clenched as he switched from blankly staring at his computer, to his scratch paper, and back to the computer. Every so often, he ran a hand through his hair aggressively as if that would be the key to jump-starting his thoughts in the correct direction.

Janus was half worried he would die of shock if Janus decided to speak up at this point, and what would be the fun in that? At this point, Janus thought that it would be better if he checked on how close Remus was to being ready rather than continuing to stare at his struggling nemesis any longer. Setting down his stolen mug, Janus prepared to sneak away.

Unfortunately, Virgil chose that exact moment to look up. Normally, Virgil would at the very least flinch slightly at his unexpected presence, but today? Virgil looked at him with tired eyes Janus weren't sure if their resemblance was closer to the eyes of a zombie's or a dead fish's more. It was a tad bit worrying.

Janus waited for the usual questions, such as how he got in (Remus of course, which wasn't technically a lie) or if that was his cup (does he expect him to use one of Remus'? None of them were clean!), but Virgil just continued to stare. His mouth opened, closed, and opened again, but no words came out.

"Yes?" Janus prompted, not letting concern color his tone.

Virgil's eye twitched.

"Why are you here?" Virgil asked in a tone that implied he wished that Janus had never shown up in the first place.

Janus considered lying, but his reason of the day would be shocking enough that Virgil likely wouldn't believe a word he said anyways.

"Me and Remus are going to debate club," Janus confessed.

Virgil raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his chair, his skepticism evident. "I can imagine you doing debate, but Remus?"

"Who else would know all of the tiny details about a topic that no one else cares about?" Janus rebuttaled with an innocent smile. Janus picked up a purple mug— one that Virgil was pretty sure was his.

Virgil's lip twitched as he saw Janus bring the mug to his mouth.

"Seriously?" Virgil asked dead pan.

"All of Remus' were dirty," Janus replied unrepentantly.

Virgil rolled his eyes. "No, you seriously think I'd buy Remus doing debate? I'm pretty sure Remus would find memorizing an article about windmills or whatever it is you talk about in debate mind numbing or something."

Janus shrugged and set the mug down next to him. It had already served its purpose.

At that moment, Remus stuck his head into the kitchen so he could add his piece. "Gotta know the rules to break them dark and stormy. Besides, some of those articles are insane. Did you know that it is illegal to sing in a public place while wearing a swim suit in Florida?"

Janus gestured over to Remus as if that little tidbit somehow proved his point.

"What does wearing swim suits have anything to do with debate?" Virgil groaned.

Remus grinned manically. "You'd be surprised." He turned to Janus. "Oh, and I should be good to go in five more minutes, Jannie Bananie."

Considering Remus loved to leave his things strewn away his and Virgil's shared room, Janus was skeptical of that estimate.

Janus adjusted his gloves smugly. "He remembers details most don't even see," Janus claimed.

"He thinks joking about murder is funny," Virgil corrected.

Janus smirked.

Virgil sighed. "If you are going to subject me to your presence, can you at least give me a hand on this physics problem?"

"Physics? Why would I know anything about that?" Janus said, batting his eyes. He was going to help him out, but he wanted to mess with him a bit first.

Virgil's eye twitched again. He should probably lay off all the coffee. In fact, Janus was probably doing the man a favor by stealing some of the coffee from his pot to fill his stolen mug.

"We share the same physics class," Virgil replied dead pan.

It was true, and Janus was always a model student. Janus even sat in the front, but that was mostly because he couldn't read the board from the back and glasses would ruin his aesthetic. Besides, it was easier for him to get answers to his questions and build rapport if the teacher could actually see him.

Janus did make a point of always sitting next to Virgil on the days they got any tests back in order to compare scores. Janus always did well, but Virgil gave him a run for his money sometimes. Janus knew that Virgil preferred working alone usually, which meant that Virgil was probably really struggling if he was asking for help now.

Considering the fact that Janus hadn't done the physics homework yet, working on it with Virgil would be mutually beneficial. He was probably already going to turn it in late, but he could normally convince the teacher to not take off points if he made the right excuse. But working on it together would at least give him a start.

Janus hopped down from the counter and began sashaying towards Virgil. "Well, how can I refuse when you ask so pitifully?"

Remus chose that exact moment to burst into the kitchen. "I'm ready to go!" Remus told Janus merrily.

All Janus could do was give an apologetic glance over his shoulder as Remus promptly pulled him out the door.

…

Once they were gone, Virgil stared at the closed door dejectedly.

Considering that half the things that Janus said were lies and half of the things Remus said were worthy of a restraining order, Virgil was pretty sure that weren't actually going to debate club.

Even if Janus was smart enough to ace physics with seemingly no effort while he was left floundering.

Virgil groaned and looked back down at his homework. His head ached, but he had to figure out physics somehow if he wanted to maintain his GPA and not lose his scholarship. He had been so inexplicably tired lately, so Virgil had procrastinated both homework and studying much longer than usual.

Now, he was running out of time to figure out how on earth he was supposed to solve problem 1 of 15 when the entire assignment was due at midnight. Maybe there would be some Indian dude on YouTube who could explain how to calculate the distance an apple would travel if it was thrown into the air but began to fall back down, because Virgil's math was not quite mathing at the moment.

Before he started on his homework again, Virgil got up to refill his coffee, only to find the pot empty. Next to it was his purple mug, still a quarter filled with now cold coffee. Glaring, he knew exactly who to blame.

It was 11:58 when he finished, and Virgil actually thought he did pretty good. Yet when he turned in the assignment and saw the automatic grade, his heart to plummeted.

I'm screwed, Virgil thought. The midterm is in a week, how on earth am I going to learn this? For a moment, Virgil considered simply accepting that he would bomb the midterm and fail the class. Then the image of Janus showing off a near perfect score crossed his mind.

Virgil closed his laptop with a sense of finality as he began formulating a plan of attack for the week to come.

He was going to reteach himself this unit and he would ace the midterm. With or without Janus Slither's help—no matter how many long nights it took.

It was too bad that Virgil's body had other ideas.

Seriously, midterms were approaching far too fast, and Virgil had more classes than just physics to worry about, but his physics teacher didn't seem to get that memo. During the day, he was always so tired, and he couldn't get himself to do the hundreds of tasks he knew he should be doing. Then 10 pm would hit, and he would finally be able to start tackling his mountain of homework.

In other words? His sleep schedule was screwed, and Virgil was begging to feel burnt out. The only reason he was able to get up in the morning? Caffeine. In fact, Virgil swore that he had more coffee than blood in his veins at this point, but what college student wasn't addicted to caffeine?

Virgil was ploughing along, and he was going to make it.

On the day of his last physics class before the midterm, Virgil's head felt filled with static before he even opened his eyes. Once he did manage to pry them open and sit up with a yawn, Virgil realized that his throat felt dry and there was a persistent chill seeping into his bones.

Virgil stumbled his way into the kitchen despite his body begging him to lay back down.

"Roadkill seems like it is having a better day then you," Remus commented before taking a bite out of his ketchup covered cereal.

"Shuddup," Virgil grumbled elegantly.

"Actually though. I think you are sick," Remus commented with a frown.

"Doesn't matter. I already suck at physics Remus. I can't afford to miss class!" Virgil said, frustrated as he fumbled through the process of making some instant coffee. First he forgot to add the coffee packet, then he forgot his mug. And all in all Virgil just wished the fuzz in his mind would go away so he could actually think—

Remus watched Virgil struggle. He noticed Virgil's flushed cheeks and the fact that one of his blankets was still wrapped around his roommate's shoulders.

"You should stay home, V," Remus stated seriously.

Virgil brushed him off. "I'm fine," Virgil said before he proceeded to chug his entire mug of coffee.

"Do I need to call Dee on you?"

Virgil rolled his eyes. "What is Janus going to do? Stop me from going to class?"

"Maybe."

Virgil sighed. He did not have the energy for this. "I'm going to shower. Don't you dare call Janus."

"Then don't go to class," Remus said smugly.

"Remus," Virgil growled.

"Virgil," Remus replied cheerily.

When Virgil got out of the shower, he couldn't find his phone.

"Remus! Have you seen my phone?" Virgil called towards the kitchen as he searched his room desperately.

"Maybe~" Remus said from the doorway.

Virgil stared at him.

"Give it back," Virgil demanded weakly, already tired from simply getting ready.

"You are sick," Remus said simply.

"I've been worse. Now where is my phone?" Virgil asked, his voice almost a whine.

Remus raised an eyebrow at the uncharacteristic desperation. "You don't get it back until you get back in bed."

Virgil sighed. He was feeling far too crappy for this. "Fine, be like that then," Virgil grumbled. He snatched his backpack from the floor by his desk and stormed off, but the concerned Remus trailed behind.

Virgil didn't care. He didn't need his phone to go to class, and he did not have the brain power to spare on Remus' stupid games this morning.

"I'll sic Janus on you!" Remus promised cheerfully. Rolling his eyes, Virgil slammed the door in his roommate's face.

Sadly, Remus was not one to make empty threats.

Virgil barely made it on time since he walked slower than usual, and left late because of the whole phone shenanigan. And by barely on time, Virgil meant that he was only like nine minutes late and they didn't start talking about anything important yet. Which meant that Janus had already claimed his seat up front, nowhere near Virgil seat.

Virgil slid into a seat in the back and got out his notebook and pencil. He wrote the date in the top left corner and settled himself in for a long lecture. However, it wasn't long until his head grew fuzzy and his eyes felt heavy.

Paying attention during physics was never easy even on the best of days, but for some reason, that day it felt borderline impossible. His pencil was poised over the page, and he copied whatever the professor wrote on the board into his notebook, but he didn't have any of the normal explanations or connections he normally tried to jot down. He didn't even feel like doodling a spider on his page, which was the most convincing sign that Remus may have been right to think he was unfit for school that day.

Another pretty good sign? The fact that Virgil just about jumped out of his skin when he suddenly heard Janus whisper something right next to him.

"You awake?" Janus asked, amusement coloring his tone.

Virgil's head snapped up. "Since when did you get here?" Virgil muttered, still half asleep.

Janus tilted his head to the side. "Five minutes ago," Janus claimed. He glanced back to the teacher in the front and added something to his notes.

Virgil scoffed, sitting up more in his seat. "Don't lie to me. I would have noticed."

Janus rolled his eyes. "Obviously."

Virgil blinked at him, his mind failing to come up with a single retort. Sighing, Virgil looked at the board, and he had no clue what any of those equations were for. Virgil cursed beneath his breath.

Janus examined his nemesis curiously. Remus was right, Virgil really was sick if he was this out of it. And that simply would not do. How could Janus beat Virgil's score in good consciousness if he was too sick to take notes?

That thought gave Janus an excellent idea.

"Do you want me to take notes for you while you sleep?" Janus offered.

"No," Virgil told him as he blinked his weary eyes. He couldn't trust Janus to actually follow through, and physics was hard enough as is.

"Why not?" Janus asked, incredulous.

Virgil huffed and reopened his notebook. "You won't actually do it."

"I will. Besides, its not like you are taking very good notes anyways."

Sadly, Janus was right. Whether Janus was willing to help or not, Virgil would not be creating any useful notes himself.

Defeated, Virgil laid his head back down onto his arms. Maybe I can learn something from osmosis just from being here, Virgil hoped as he drifted off to sleep to the scritch of pen on paper.

Next thing he knew, Virgil was getting shoved, disturbing him from his much needed nap. Well, it was more like a gentle shake but same difference.

"Go away," Virgil tried to mumble, but it came out unintelligible even to him. Virgil was nudged again.

"Come on, class is over," Janus stated, poking Virgil on the arm as he tried to close his eyes.

Clumsily, Virgil tried to swat Janus' hand away, only to miss.

Nose scrunching, Virgil blinked until he could see clearly, and the classroom was indeed empty except for him and Janus.

"Did you wait for me?" Virgil asked, his confusion on full display due to his broken brain to mouth filter.

Janus rolled his eyes as he looked down at the feverish idiot in front of him. "Remus would have been pissed if I didn't. Now come on, lets get you home," Janus said. He already had both his and Virgil's backpacks slung over his shoulders as he reached down and pulled Virgil to his feet.

"Home?" Virgil parroted, his glossy eyes unfocused.

"Yes, home. You are in no state to be walking around." Janus started guiding him to the door, but Virgil stopped and planting his feet.

"Why would you help me get home?" Virgil asked suspiciously.

"Because you are in no state to do that yourself? I'm pretty sure that your temperature has gone up since you first started napping."

"But I have other classes," Virgil protested weakly, his voice trailing off.

"And I'm sure someone will be able to provide you the notes," Janus stated matter of factly, not leaving his delirious companion any room to argue. "Now lets get going, because I'm sure everyone would be absolutely delighted if you got them sick right before midterms."

"I don't want to make anyone sick," Virgil said glumly. He looked like a kicked puppy, causing Janus to sigh. He had one other class later, but he resigned himself to skipping it if need be. What was the point of perfect attendance if he couldn't use his absences for good reasons? Besides, Remus had asked him to look out for Virgil since he wasn't looking well…

Janus pulled Virgil towards the exit once again, and this time Virgil let him. However, whenever they passed a fork in the road leading towards one of Virgil's other classes, Virgil would try to abandon Janus' gentle guidance and head that direction instead. Somehow, probably from skills gained from being the walking impersonation of ADHD's best friend, Janus managed to shepard Virgil back to his dorm.

Once there, Janus was ready to hand off his sickly rival and possibly still catch his next class. Yet when he knocked, there was no response, which meant that Remus was probably at class already and wouldn't get back until late since he preferred to do stuff on campus during his free time rather than doing stuff in the shared dorm.

Which meant that to get inside, he had to reveal his secret weapon: the fact that he had his own key. Janus shrugged. Virgil was probably too out of it to remember, and he was looking much paler after all of the walking around, so waiting for Remus wasn't much of an option.

Without a second thought, Janus pulled his key out and fumbled with it until he managed to shove it into the lock.

"So you do have a key!" Virgil said in an attempt at an accusatory tone.

Janus raised an eyebrow. "Says who?"

Virgil giggled—giggled!—and proceeded to stare into empty space.

"Alright, buddy. Lets get you to bed," Janus said as he pulled Virgil towards the bedroom.

Virgil hummed in agreement. "I need to go to class though," he said.

Janus suppressed an eye roll. He knew that Virgil cared about his grades, but he needed to teach that man about the magic of skipping class at some point. Not unnecessarily, but maybe at least when he was burning up with a fever.

"Sure you do. Now go to bed. You can go to class after your nap—if you are feeling better," Janus instructed with exasperation. (Not a smidge of fondness there. None at all, in fact. Besides, would you agree with Virgil's take on the matter? He was delirious!)

As Virgil was working on getting his shoes off, Janus left to go get him a water bottle. He wasn't quite sure what to do in this situation since he didn't want to drag Virgil to health clinic for antibiotics without knowing how much that would cost (they were both broke college students, sue him), but he did know that it was important for a sick person to drink lots of fluids.

As the water bottle filled up, he mildly wondered if coffee counted as a fluid or if only juice and water did in this case. Either way, coffee was probably the last thing Virgil needed at this point.

Janus brought the water bottle back to Virgil, and told him to make sure he drank as much as he could. Virgil nodded and took a sip before lying down, his eyes already fluttering closed. Janus retreated from the room, turning of the lights and softly closing the door behind him.

He could probably still make it to his class on time if he left right then, but a part of him hesitated. Virgil really wasn't doing well, was it really a good idea to leave him home alone? There probably wasn't even anything in the house that edible for him at this point!

He could imagine Remus teasing him about his mother hen mode activating, but Janus simply didn't care. Besides, he only acted that way towards friends, and Virgil certainly wasn't his friend. He couldn't think of a single conversation they've had where barbs weren't exchanged. It was simply the proper thing to do to take care of someone who was sick, especially if it was someone his best friend told him to look out for! Besides, he needed his rival in top shape before midterms rolled around.

Janus nodded to himself as the proper course of action became clear. Janus riffled through the fridge, and wrinkled his nose to find his earlier assessment right. Mind set, Janus set out to the store to get some ingredients.

…

Even after Virgil woke up, it was a battle to open his eyes. But his throat burned and his mouth felt prickly from dryness, so he pried them open to look around for a water bottle. He found it set right next to him on the night stand, but it wasn't the water bottle he normally used.

Greedily, Virgil snatched up the water bottle and began to drink. Once he had his fill, he wiped his mouth and put the cap back on the water bottle. He felt a bit embarrassed as he remembered how he ignored Remus' insistence that he stay home that morning, because his long nap definitely helped him feel better. Not healed, but better.

Wait. If he ignored Remus, how did he get home?

With some effort, Virgil slipped out of bed and found the answer to his question sitting in the living room, peacefully reading a detective novel as if he owned the place.

"Janus?" Virgil croaked. He winced slightly at how bad his voice sounded.

Janus looked up and deftly placed a book mark in and set his book to the side, as if signaling that he was giving Virgil his full attention. "You survived? How awful," Janus joked.

Virgil cleared his voice before speaking, and his voice came out much clearer, but still hoarse. "What are you still doing here? Don't you have class?" Virgil asked, his brow furrowed as his brain slowly processed the situation.

"The university exploded," Janus said dead pan. When Virgil only stared at him blankly, Janus rolled his eyes. "I actually just skipped class. I only had one, and my writing class doesn't count attendance anyways."

Virgil looked utterly lost, which was mildly amusing for Janus.

"I also made you soup," Janus told him cheerfully.

Virgil's jaw dropped, and he sputtered for a few moments. After a pregnant pause, Virgil stated in a matter of fact tone, "You don't like me."

Janus sighed theatrically and examined his nails. "Of course I'm not doing this for you, Virgil." Janus stared Virgil dead in the eye with a straight face, his image one of utter exasperation. "I just wanted to test out my chicken noodle soup recipe on someone who doesn't think that eating spaghetti a straw is normal."

Virgil looked at him, his own doubt and confusion about Janus' explanation evident.

"Besides, Remus doesn't like seeing you so miserable," Janus continued, as if it was perfectly reasonable to walk home and then proceed to make homemade soup for someone he supposedly hated just because he was friends with said person's roommate.

"Right. And why are you still here?" Virgil asked, and then he fell into a coughing fit, which really did not help his argument for wanting Janus gone.

"I had to tell you about the soup, obviously," Janus said solemnly after Virgil's cough's died down.

"Right," Virgil said as he accepted a glass of water Janus handed him.

Janus gestured to a seat, and Virgil was too worn out from standing to argue with him.

"But like, I don't want soup," Virgil said as Janus began dishing some admittedly delicious smelling soup into a bowel.

"Have you had my chicken noodle soup before? Its absolutely divine. If you take a couple of bites and don't feel up for having any more, I can always pack it up and put it in the fridge for later."

"What if I don't want you to?" Virgil asked.

"Well that's too bad, because I'm not going to let my soup go bad by leaving it out for too long."

With a sigh, Virgil ate a spoonful of soup, and Janus was right. That was a pretty fire chicken noodle soup. He eagerly ate half of a bowl before his appetite waned. Then, despite his protests, Janus shepherded Virgil back into bed.

And the next day when Virgil tried to claim he was well enough to go to classes? Janus and Remus' combined efforts were enough to prevent him. But that was fine.

At least in his physics notebook, there was a perfectly copied set of notes Virgil could go over, since apparently Janus was willing to take notes for him after all. For someone who Virgil found so infuriating, Janus wasn't half bad.

Well, until Virgil spotted Janus stealing his favorite mug again. Then Janus slid right back into the rival spot in Virgil's mind, even if Virgil did start joining Janus and Remus' movie nights more anyways.

....

Tag List: (Its been awhile since I've broken this bad boy out. As always, let me know if you want to be added or removed!): @deathbydumbass

#camp cartoon 2026 #virgil sanders #college au #janus sanders #:D