Catching up a bit with Day 2 of Dukeceit Week, run by @darksideweeks! This one I had a bit more inspiration for, but kinda crammed a lot in, hope it still makes sense and is fun to read 😉
Masterpost | Dukeceit Week 2025 Masterpost | Ao3
Summary: Janus has a dog named Remus. Said dog likes his friend Roman a lot. Roman doesn't like him back. There must be more to this, right?
Content Warnings: Supernatural Elements
~~*~~
Janus watched from his seat at the garden table as his dog Remus chased his friend Roman through the grass. They had gathered at Patton’s place for a barbecue and were currently waiting for their host to grill the meat to perfection.
“Janus! Call your beast back!” Roman cried as Remus yipped happily, pouncing and knocking Roman into the grass, licking his ear in delight. Janus considered for a moment but decided to acquiesce.
“Re! Come here!” he called followed by a sharp whistle. Remus’ head snapped to him though he took a moment, seemingly considering if he wanted to follow the command before trotting over and placing his head in Janus’ lap.
“I do not understand why you keep that flea infested monstrosity at your side,” Roman sneered as he came over, brushing dirt from his clothes. “I thought you would take in a more dignified pet.”
“He might be a bit… energetic, but he is a reliable guard and keeps unwanted people away from me quite effectively,” Janus grinned, scratching behind Remus’ ear.
“Still, there must’ve been better options.”
“Now, now, Roman,” Patton cut in, bringing a plate of grilled goods over, “let it rest. Janus adopted Remus two months ago, you won’t change his mind now.”
“I know! I just wish the beast would stop attacking me all of the time! I’ve done nothing to him, why is he so fixated on me?!”
“Maybe he just likes you!” Patton grinned. Roman looked anything but thrilled at the thought but didn’t comment further. Instead, he started talking about his new theater production, leading into their dinner with relaxing conversation.
~~*~~
A few hours later, Janus unlocked the door to his apartment, letting Remus run inside ahead of him. By the time he had toed off his shoes and hung up his jacket on the coat rack, his dog had vanished and been replaced by an almost as hairy man sitting on his couch.
“And? Any changes?” he asked casually, joining Remus on the couch.
“It’s getting weaker, that’s for sure,” the other hummed as he scraped his teeth with his finger, probably digging for any residue of the sausage Patton had thrown to him earlier that evening.
“So, what does that mean for him?”
“Not entirely sure. I grew up like this, I can’t really remember what it was like not being able to shift into whatever I wanted, but his power’s been sealed by that woman as soon as it manifested, so I can’t say what will happen now that she’s gone and unable to refresh the thing. My guess is that Roman’s going to start feeling a bit off, then small shifts might occur, something hardly noticeable unless you know what you’re looking for. Once we get to the bigger stuff… Well, that’s probably going to be a bigger problem, depending on when and how they happen. From what I’ve seen of my apparent brother dearest so far, makes me think he's going to freak out once he realizes.”
During his rant, Remus had spread out further, placing his head in Janus’ lap and gesturing wildly with his hands. Janus let him, gently brushing his fingers through the knotted brown locks decorating Remus’ skull. He knew most of what Remus was telling him already; he had gotten the explanation the first time he found the dog that had protected him from some uncouth men downtown and had then subsequently adopted missing from his bedroom in the middle of the night and instead been met with a naked man in his kitchen.
Remus was a shifter, a creature capable of taking on any form they desired and had been raised by a single father, also a shifter, out in the woods before he had been told when he came of age that he actually had a twin. Roman knew nothing of this as their mother was actually a monster huntress of some sort and had sealed Roman’s shifter genes with some sort of spell – Janus didn’t understand the details and frankly didn’t want to, the less he knew the better in his opinion.
What he had understood was that since the twins’ mother had passed away in an accident a few months ago, the seal-thingy keeping Roman unaware of his ancestry was slowly fading. Their father had kept an eye on Roman his entire life apparently and had sent Remus to make sure his brother’s new abilities wouldn’t traumatize him or others. Remus had then thought of the wild plan of becoming the pet of one of his brother’s friends, which is how he ended up with Janus, who wasn’t supposed to know any of this but well, now he did, so whatever.
“Roman has inherited quite a… judgmental mindset from his mother, so I do agree that this new development wouldn’t go over well with him. At least not in the beginning. If he thinks of it more like a kind of superpower, my guess is that he wouldn’t mind it all that much,” Janus commented, trying to untangle a knot of Remus’ hair.
“Yeah, I can see that. I’m still surprised that that woman didn’t indoctrinate him into that cult of hers.”
“Well, she knew he was partially a monster or whatever. Maybe she knew that training him to be a hunter would be cruel. Or she saw how uncoordinated he’s been since he was a kid and figured he had no talent for it.”
“No use wondering,” Remus huffed. He didn’t like speaking about his mother, to him she was more a monster than his dad and he could ever be. “Point is, things are gonna happen to Ro soon-ish.”
“And what are you gonna do about it?”
Remus was quiet for a moment.
“Dunno. When dad asked me to come here, I honestly didn’t think I’d care to help him in any way. But while he might be a bit of a stuck-up asshole…”
“…he is still your brother?” Janus concluded after Remus didn’t finish his sentence.
“Yeah, I guess. Somehow, I got attached to the priss. It’s annoying.”
“I understand you perfectly. I still don’t understand how I came to care for that overdramatic prince either.”
Remus chuckled and leaned up, pressing a kiss on Janus’ lips.
“We’ve got so much in common.”
“I suppose we do. Now, let’s go to bed, I’m tired. Let’s think about this tomorrow with a clear head.”
“I’d go to bed with you anytime, Jan, you know that,” Remus grinned, wriggling his eyebrows.
“I know. But I’m not sure if you were enough of a good boy to have earned a place on the bed,” Janus commented, elegantly slipping away from Remus, whose head fell onto the couch cushion, his mouth agape in disbelief.
“I’ve been a great boy!”
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah! But if you need more convincing, I can show you just how good a boy I can be~”
“Go and brush your teeth and I might just believe you,” Janus chuckled as he disappeared into the hallway towards his room, leaving a whining Remus behind.
He was very glad that he decided to take that wild and dirty dog home that night.
Heya! For the character asks, if you saved those to get suggestions and not as reference, Hard Mode ones, what do you think about 24, 25 and/or 40?
For any characters you feel would be fitting or generally interesting to analyse in such lense c:
Also hope you have a nice day!
Going to be answering these with 3 seperate OC's because you sent 3 questions :D
24- Marcella Agosti (warhammer 40k)
Marcella is very quick to trust. Because of the whole soul binding thing she can pick up if someone is Corrupted (with a captial C). Generally she gives people the benefit of the doubt and often ( sometimes naivly asusmes that people share her humble just a servant of the Emperor mindset)
25- Trakkus Ebroic- Warhammer 40k
Trakkus was always suspicious of people but after his wife's... Murder by inaction at the hands of fellow Inquisitors. He's definitely more suspecious of *Everyone* and especially Inquisitiors. He naturallly encourages younger Deathwatch Veterans to be suspicious and doubt everything and everyone except those that are part of their Kill-team. The flesh is weak, bonds of freindship and brotherhood are strong. (Usually)
And yes he makes exceptions for people he's close to. His wife was an Inquisitior. It took a lot of emotional strength to shove aside that natural suspecion to form a friendship let alone marry her. He's an Iron Hand, specifically their bullied kid group Clan Borggos so that natural gruffness that comes from the chapter culture is already adding a -100 to interaction rolls
40- Tychon Lelantos (Warhammer 40k)
Being a Cacharodon Astra, Tychon is naturally disturbingly courterus and formal with people. This isn't out of any particular regard for service staff, merely common decency. Like all sharks running around in space Tychon cares little for humans outside of a handful of individuals (like @rowscara 's Ostia and Bean), less so out of any malice and more the sin of omission. Most humans he's dealt with are chapter slaves and besides killing them anything goes with his Chapter's chattel. That colors his perception of things and how he interacs with baseline humans.
He would tip them well though and he certainly wouldn't be a stereotypical Karen. It would certainly be a surreal experience for the wait staff havjng a 7 foot tall transhuman killing machine slide two 20s in the tip jar though.
