Chapter Two
Warnings: Non-con, abusive behaviour, dissection/organ discussion
AO3
Thursday, October 19
“I’m late, fuck,” Janus mutters, pulling the trigger on the gas nozzle. He checks his watch every few seconds, moving quickly when his tank is full. Pulling his wallet from the cup holder, he walks inside to wait in the absurdly long line to pay.
Ten minutes later, Janus finally reaches the front of the line. He pays for his gas and the bag of Twin Snakes he picked up while he was waiting. The interaction goes quickly, and he walks out with his candy and receipt.
Janus returns to his car, banging his head on the steering wheel. He turns the key and drives off, checking his clock as he goes.
“God, he’s not going to pay me,” Janus mutters, pressing slightly more on the gas. Ten minutes pass, and he’s almost to his exit when he hears a rustling noise.
“Hey, where are we?” Janus swerves, earning three indignant honks from other drivers and a screech from the man in the backseat.
“Jesus fuck who are you?!” Janus shouts after he corrects himself.
“Oh, I’m Remus.”
“Okay, why the fuck are you in my car?” Janus checks the mirror and his eyes widen in shock at the sight that greets him. He turns quickly to glance at Remus to make sure his eyes aren’t deceiving him. They aren’t. A tanned man in leather, decked in necklaces and piercings with a bright green mohawk is, in fact, sitting in his backseat. Remus raises a hand in a wave.
“I was running from my friend Mitchell, I pissed him off by calling his friend a whale penis. I didn’t mean to, I just- Yeah. And your car was unlocked so I jumped in and locked the doors and then you got in and I figured you probably were less dangerous than Mitchell so here we are,” Remus says in one breath, looking out the window.
“I-” Janus checks his clock and swears. “I don’t have time for this bullshit. Look, I’m running late to a tutoring session. I don’t have time to drop you off anywhere, looks like you’re coming with me. My name is Janus, by the way.”
“Okay, I mean my roommate doesn’t want me back yet anyway, so.”
“At least you’re entertaining,” Janus mutters.
“Did you know Mount Everest has over two hundred dead bodies on it? They’re used as waypoints for climbers.”
“Jesus Christ.”
~~~
They pull up to the little coffee shop that Janus and Virgil had decided on yesterday. Janus hops out of the car and turns to look at Remus.
“Are you coming in or do you want to stay in the car?” Janus asks. Remus lights up, opening the door and climbing out. And he just keeps coming out of the car. Once he’s standing upright, he stands over a foot taller than Janus. Janus looks up at his face and down to the ground.
“Like what you see?”
“You’re so fucking tall, why are you wearing platform shoes?”
“Oh, I like the noises they make,” Remus says, jumping up and down to show off the clattering sounds.
“You’re going to break something, Remus!”
“Nah, I’ve had these for a year and haven’t injured myself yet. Let’s go in, though, you’re running late.” Remus opens the door and ushers Janus into the shop. They look around, Remus spotting Virgil and pointing him out after getting Janus’ attention.
“Okay, you need to chill a little though, the impression I’ve gotten from Virgil is that he’s fairly timid. Don’t freak him out too much, I’ll buy you lunch after the session.” Remus nods and fiddles with the bracelets on his wrist. They walk over and sit in the open side of the booth, introducing themselves to Virgil. Janus is relieved that Remus doesn’t tell Virgil that he broke into his car, especially since Virgil seems just as timid as Janus thought he would be.
Janus does his best to ease Virgil’s worries, but he can see Virgil tensing every time anyone moves. He speaks softly, matching Virgil’s tone to the best of his ability. Remus stays relatively quiet, but does have the occasional outburst.
Virgil shows him what he needs help with, though he seems ashamed of needing help. Remus interrupts them a few more times throughout the session, but seems mostly occupied by his phone and doodling away in a sketchbook.
~~~
They work on function graphs for the rest of the session, with Remus only butting in a few more times. Virgil seems to relax the longer they sit, even cracking a few jokes or snarking back at Remus when Remus makes innuendos. That is, until his phone buzzes.
Virgil leaves in a rush, knocking the table with his bag as he stands. Janus takes in Virgil’s height as he leaves, and Remus nudges him with an elbow.
“I’d climb that, how about you?” Janus squints at him.
“Dude. No.”
“Wait, are you straight? You don’t give off the straight vibe, Jan.”
“Remus, I’m very much in a heterosexual relationship.”
“Oh. My bad. Sorry for assuming.”
“It’s fine,” Janus lies. He can feel his heart aching upon insisting he’s straight and that he’s okay being with Lauren, but it’s what his parents want and they’re the ones paying his tuition. He doesn’t want to risk anyone finding out and the word getting back to them. Janus stands and directs Remus to the door. “We should get going, your roommate is probably wondering where you are.”
“I mean, he probably isn’t but we can go if you’re ready,” Remus says, opening the driver’s door and bowing, sweeping his arm out.
“You cheesy motherfucker,” Janus laughs, climbing into the car. Remus closes the door and opens the back door. “You can sit in the front, Remus. I would’ve let you earlier but I didn’t have time to pull over.”
“Wait, seriously? You don’t mind if I sit up here with you?”
“No, I obviously mind so much. Why would I mind if you were in the front with me?” Remus snorts, but closes the back door and walks around to the passenger’s door.
“Most people don’t let me in the front with them.” Janus turns to look at Remus.
“Huh. Their loss. I think you’re pretty cool. Funny, too.” Remus smiles.
“Really?”
“Yeah,” Janus says, turning back to the wheel and starting the car. He backs out of the space and drives out of the parking lot.
“In 1977 the average life expectancy in Cambodia was just under nineteen years.”
“Thanks. Where do you want to eat?”
~~~
“You know, this place is pretty nice. You have good taste, in restaurants and in cars,” Janus says, looking up from his menu and making eye contact with Remus.
“Thanks. Most people don’t think so, but they never let me choose so they don’t really know.” Remus fiddles with his bracelets.
“Your friends don’t seem very nice.”
“They’re nice when I’m sad, I guess. Quiet and sedate. Like my parents-” Remus is cut off by a waitress bouncing over to their table.
“Hello, I’m Valerie! I’ll be your server for today! Can I get you anything to drink?” she asks.
“I’ll take a tea, thanks.” Valerie turns to Remus.
“Coke, please.”
“Any starters?” Janus looks to Remus and raises an eyebrow.
“Calamari and garlic cheese knots?” Valerie jots down the order and nods.
“I’ll have that right out for you!”
“What were you saying, Remus?” Janus asks after Valerie leaves. Remus shrugs.
“Something that’s a little bit too personal, all things considered. Did you know butterflies taste with their hind feet?”
“Oh? I didn’t know that, that’s fascinating.”
“Snails can have twenty-five thousand teeth.”
“Wow. Where do you learn all these facts?”
“I always really liked learning, and would read every textbook I could get my hands on. I have a good memory.”
“That’s really cool. Any idea what we should order?”
“American veggie?”
“Oh yeah, I saw that. It looks good, good choice,” Janus says, flipping his menu closed and extending his hand for Remus’.
“You know, you’re really nice, Jan. A lot nicer than Mitchell.”
“Well I should hope I’m not mean enough to make you have to run and break into someone’s car.”
“You’re still upset about that?”
“Nah, I left it unlocked, I’m just glad it was you and not a murderer.”
“Bold of you to assume I’m not a murderer,” Remus laughs. Janus chuckles at him, rolling his eyes.
“Well, I guess I’ll just hope you’re not a murderer,” Janus says. Remus snorts. Valerie returns with their drinks and appetizers, setting them down and whipping out her notepad.
“Do you guys know what you want for your entrees?” she asks, pen at the ready.
“We’ll take an American veggie,” Janus says, handing Valerie their menus. She nods and heads off to the kitchen.
“You know, this is the most fun I’ve had since I was fifteen,” Remus says quietly. “It’s been rough since V moved out of the house. He was a hoot, when we weren’t working. I miss him. And Ro,” he trails off.
“Remus?” Remus shakes his head, looking at Janus.
“Must be a level five friend to unlock tragic backstory,” Remus mutters, shifting his gaze away again.
“Oh. That’s fair, I wouldn’t share my tragic backstory yet either. Maybe we can stick around with each other long enough to unlock our tragic backstories, yeah?”
“Maybe,” Remus snorts. “Did you know almonds are in the same family as peaches?”
~~~
After a fantastic lunch and lots of very strange conversation on every topic under the sun, Janus drops Remus off at his dormitory with his phone number and a promise to keep in touch. He heads back to his dorm, where he sees Patton sweeping.
“What are you- I swept this morning?” Janus cocks his head, dropping his bag onto the armchair closest to the door.
“Oh. I was just a little nervous, you got a phone call from Lauren that seemed important. Does she not have your phone number?”
“She does, I don’t know why she didn’t call me, probably clicked the wrong number,” Janus mutters. You know why she didn’t call you. She likes making sure you can’t be exactly where she wants when she wants because she gets to hit you afterwards. Janus snaps out of his thoughts, countering them. No, she just clicked the wrong number. It’s fine, no need to worry.
“Ah, makes sense. You should probably go see her, though. She was a little angry when I said you were out.” Janus sighs, picking his bag up and heading out.
“Okay. Well. Bye, I guess. I’ll be back when I can get here,” Janus says, closing the door softly and walking to his car. He puts his key in the car door and opens it, climbing in and driving to Lauren’s apartment.
When he arrives, he knocks on apartment 401’s door, knowing that he’ll be yelled at soon.
“Come on in, it’s open!” Janus pushes the door open, slipping his shoes off and placing them in the closet with his bag. He walks into the living room, where Lauren is sitting on the couch on her phone.
“Hi, Lauren. I’m sorry I missed your call earlier, I had-”
“No excuses! You don’t care about me! You only care about yourself! That’s why I have to fix you! Why your parents set us up! You only care about yourself!” she shouts, throwing her phone onto the couch. Janus shrinks back, hoping it will make her happier. It does not.
“Lauren, I’m sorry, I-”
“No! You’re just a fucking mistake like your parents said! I should break up with you, you don’t love me!”
“I do love you, I swear!”
“You’re only with me because you want my money!” That’s bullshit, but okay.
“Baby, no-” Lauren grabs a book off the table and hurls it at Janus. He dodges out of the way, breathing a sigh of relief when it clatters to the floor behind him.
“Come over here so we can talk,” she says, and Janus steps cautiously towards her. She grabs him by his sweater and pulls him to her, pressing a hard kiss to his lips. He steels himself under the bruising force, hoping she doesn’t leave marks this time. She notices that he’s not reciprocating and reaches up to knot her hands into his hair. He whimpers, and Lauren pulls him onto the couch.
“Honey, show me you love me,” she whispers, reaching for his pants.
“Yes, ma’am,” Janus says, thinking of anything but what’s happening. Why is it that every time I come over this happens. At least this time she told me before she started, I suppose.
Lauren unbuttons his slacks, and Janus puts his hand on hers.
“How about we just kiss today, okay?”
“You know it’s abuse not to sleep with me when I want to, right? You’re abusive, Janus. I should turn you in for domestic abuse.” Janus shrinks back, folding and letting her do as she pleases.
Maybe I can go home tonight.
~~~
Friday, October 20
When Janus wakes up, Lauren has trashed his small closet. His clothes and shoes are scattered about, his backpack upended and contents strewn across the hallway.
“Oh good, you’re awake. Clean up your shit, you left it everywhere.” Janus nods numbly and collects his things, reorganizing the closet while he’s at it.
“I’ve picked everything up, Lauren.”
“Good. Now get the fuck out of my house you fucking scumbag.” Janus walks silently out the front door, taking his bag and slipping his shoes on outside. He pulls his phone out of his pocket and only then realizes he’s shaking. He unlocks his phone and texts Remus.
> Hey it’s me, Janus 6:08 AM
> I know it’s early, but I need somewhere to stay for a little bit 6:09 AM
A response comes quickly, though it is a bit difficult to comprehend.
> eheyvnsn cijmoenb over i donr. njbd 6:10 AM
> is sbkdugt sosme ju did ie idby youd wna few soen whiken yours hered 6:10 AM
Janus, though confused, gets into his car and drives to Remus’ dormitory. He shoots Remus a message to ask for the room number, but doesn’t get a response. Walking into the lobby, he is met with a disgruntled Remus wearing nothing but a pair of red boxers with little cartoon knives on them.
“Good morning, Remus,” Janus says, waving a hand in front of Remus’ face. Remus doesn’t respond, just turns around and walks back towards the stairs. Janus’ eyes widen and he grabs Remus by the arm, steering them towards the elevator instead.
“The… The stairs are, uh, tha’ way?” Remus slurs, pointing over his shoulder towards the stairwell.
“Yes, but I doubt you could use the stairs so we’re taking the elevator instead. What floor?”
“Uh, three. Room 308. No one’s there, just me. And you now, I guess,” Remus says, seeming to wake up a little.
“Fantastic. Mind telling me what your message was about? I got the first one, but the second didn’t make sense.”
“Oh. Bought some juice yesterday. You can have some.”
“Oh, okay. Thanks. Why was that the first thing you thought to tell me?”
“I dunno, saw an empty glass by my phone. Probably that.” Remus holds up a wallet.
“What’s that?”
“M’ phone.”
“That’s a wallet, bud.”
“Oh. Where’s my phone?” Remus asks, patting himself down.
“It’s not on your person, you’re not wearing any clothes.”
“Wait, I’m what?”
“You’re only wearing your boxers, did you mean to put on clothes?”
“Huh? Oh, no. I just thought I had on a pair of shorts at least. Don’t care that I don’t but at least I know they didn’t change the temperature.”
“Oh.” The elevator dings and they walk out, Janus following Remus to room 308. Remus unlatches the door, pushing it open to reveal a remarkably disorganized room.
“Ignore the dissected squirrel, I found it dead outside and wanted to know about the insides.”
“My God, you would get along splendidly with my roommate’s boyfriend. He loves learning new things. Very hands on with his learning, too.”
“I’d love to meet him. You look rough, dude, what happened?”
“I missed a call from my girlfriend and had to make up for it. She was a lot nicer than usual, though. Told me what was going to happen before it happened.”
“That’s… A terrifying answer. I’m really sorry you had to deal with that, Jan. Do you want a hug or do you want to go sleep, whatever makes you feel safest. I can even head out, there’s an open shift I can go cover if you want space to yourself.” Janus scratches his neck, considering.
“Can you just tell me about something you’re studying? I can feel myself freaking out, and I want to avoid a full blown attack.”
“Sure thing. I was studying the squirrel bits, if you want to hear about that.” Janus nods, so Remus goes to collect the small containers of squirrel bits.
“You really went all out with your dissection, didn’t you.”
“Yeah.” Remus holds up a box. “This is the heart. It’s kinda small but nowhere near as tiny as the bladder, which is in” - Remus pauses, shuffling the boxes - “this box right here,” he says, holding up a box with a tiny organ in it. “Oh! I have some gloves if you want to hold them so you can look.” Janus nods. Remus disappears into the bathroom.
A moment later, Remus returns with two pairs of gloves, handing one pair to Janus and putting the other pair on himself.
“Okay, so this is the heart.” Remus opens the box and hands the heart to Janus, who squints at it, turning it over in his fingers.
“Fascinating.”
“It really is. The smallest organ I have is the bladder, at slightly under twenty millimeters in size. The largest is either the stomach or the large intestine. Wanna see those?” Janus shrugs, holding out the heart. Remus puts the heart back in its box, pulling two different boxes from the stack. He holds out one of the boxes, explaining that it’s the stomach, and dumping the content into Janus’ hands. Remus opens the other box and pulls out intestines, dangling them in the air.
“It’s astonishing how well preserved these are, any idea how the squirrel died?” Remus nods.
“I think it might have been poisoned by something, not sure what though. I’d have to do lab work to figure it out, which would mean explaining to at least one professor what I’m doing.”
“How did you preserve the squirrel without going to a lab?”
“Oh, I had formaldehyde in the cabinet under the sink. Opened a window and just went to work.” Janus’ eyes widen.
“You just had formaldehyde in your dorm?” Remus shrugs. “Why?”
“I figured if one of my roommates died I could save a step for the funeral home.”
“That’s a very morbid reason but I guess I see your point.”
“Exactly. If only my old roommates realized that.”
“What happened to your “old roommates” exactly?” Remus points over Janus’ shoulder. Janus turns to see a morningstar hanging from a hook by the door. He turns back to Remus and raises an eyebrow.
“I didn’t kill them, I was pointing at the door.”
~~~
After a thorough examination of the squirrel organs, Remus directs their attention to the television. He picks up the remote, passing it to Janus, and sets to work moving things off of the coffee table. The couch is surprisingly clear considering the disarray of the room, but the table is covered in textbooks, organ boxes, teeth, and bones.
“Ignore these organs, they’re from a frog I dissected last week, someone wanted the organs for a lecturer. They’re preserved too, don’t worry.” Janus nods and sits on the couch, flicking the TV on.
“Any input on what we watch?” Remus shrugs, absorbed in his clearing of the table. Janus flips through Netflix, landing on a documentary series that Remus must have been watching. “Round Planet sound good?” Remus nods, carrying the organ boxes to the fridge and setting the textbooks on a bookshelf. He plops down next to Janus, kicking his feet up onto the freshly cleared table.
“Oh cool I love this series!” Remus exclaims when the title sequence starts. Janus raises an eyebrow but chooses not to question Remus.
Remus falls asleep fairly quickly, evidently not used to being awake so early. Janus looks around the dorm, his eyes falling on the extremely cluttered bed. It hardly looks like anyone else lives here, and Janus wonders if Remus actually does have a roommate.
Janus gets up, looking to find the bathroom, and steps on a paper that crinkles as he moves his foot. He looks down, picking it up and glancing over it quickly.
Remus, you should have known no one could stay here. I know I won’t be the last person to move out, but I really will miss you. You were fun in small doses, but I couldn’t live with you, especially since your episodes last so long. Two weeks was too much, I haven’t slept since I moved in unless you were in class. I hope this note finds you well. Sincerely, Mike
Episodes? Janus thinks, scanning the note again. He sets it back down, walking to the bathroom quietly. The bathroom is fairly clean, save for the green-stained shower, a basket of clothes, and the razor blades by the sink. Janus wants to say something, but he knows he can’t. He’d be a hypocrite if he did.
He walks back out, getting some juice from the fridge before returning to the couch. Remus is snoring softly, and Janus smiles at him. I think he might be one of those ‘good ones’ I keep hearing about…
~~~
“Did you know there was a form of torture called goat’s tongue where they soaked someone’s feet in salt water and let a goat lick the feet until their flesh was gone.”
“That, my friend, was a horrifying thing to wake up to.” Remus grins, holding up a tongue.
“Goat’s tongue. I found it in the back of the fridge. Made me think of it,” he says. Janus rolls his eyes and gets off the couch. Remus reaches out to touch Janus with the tongue, but Janus dodges him.
“No, don’t touch me with that! It’s dead!”
“You weren’t complaining about the squirrel bits, Jan.”
“I didn’t touch those,” Janus exclaims. Remus frowns dramatically, but puts the tongue back into its box, placing the box back in the fridge. Janus shakes his head and walks towards the bookshelf.
“Oh, the books are organized by subject!” Remus says, reorganizing his organ fridge. Janus looks at the stacks of textbooks, the subjects varying from biology to physics to engineering. He picks up a psychology textbook, flipping through and reading the annotations.
“Did you annotate these?” Remus peeks around the corner with a smile.
“Yep! I have more, but they’re in storage right now. I bought them all from this really cheap discount site, that stack was forty dollars.” Janus looks at the stack of eight books incredulously.
“Really?” Remus nods. “Holy shit.”
“I know, right? My entire collection was about four grand, I have about a thousand. They have sales occasionally, so I’ll spend hundreds in one go and get a whole bunch of books.” Janus reads more of the annotations, his shock growing.
“You’re extremely intelligent, Remus, has anyone ever told you that? I’ve been studying psychology since I was fourteen, and I didn’t know half of the stuff you have written down here.”
“I just really like reading and learning new things. It means I can make new, more complex ideas.”
“You really would get along with Patton’s boyfriend. He’s quadruple majoring.”
“Woah, really?”
“Yeah. In astrophysics, chemical engineering, physics, and biology, I think. Plus he has a few minors because he says the best way to become amazing in your field is to incorporate other fields into your own.”
“I’m majoring in chemical engineering too, actually. I thought it looked interesting when I was signing up.”
“I’m majoring in psych, I want to be a therapist. Help others in a way I needed when I was a kid, you know?” Remus nods.
“Yeah, I get it. You’re pretty chill, I could have used a therapist like you as a kid. Hey wanna help me taxidermy this dead bird I found on the fire escape while you were sleeping?”
“Lead the way, Remus.”
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