This literally evolved from the lyric 'meet me behind the mall' in a Taylor Swift song.
Wow, I have a weird mind
WARNING: Mention of blood, mention of death

Janus pulled the thin material of his cape closer around his shoulders as he walked through the town square. Keeping to the shadows was pointless when there were no shadows so they pushed their shoulders back and tried to look like they belonged there.

Fitting in was a lot harder than it looked. Janus tried not to be too obvious as his eyes shifted from side to side.

Seven guards. Two on one roof, three patrolling up and down and two more causing a scene arresting someone. For stealing, it looked like.

Janus turned away in time to hear a thud and a strangled cry from the thief. They didn't bother to look back, they already knew there'd be blood. His hand tightened on a part of his cape as he heard another - slightly wetter - thud.

There was no cry this time.

Janus forced air in and out of their lungs. If he panicked here, he'd be dead. They were already a wanted man anywhere but the palace.

"Breathe." He told himself firmly. "There's nothing you can do for that poor soul now. You can't save everyone, Janus."

They took a deep breath and pulled their hair away from their face, using it as an excuse to look around. None of the guards were looking at him. Perfect. They tightened their ponytail and ducked down an alley, simply vanishing from anyone's view if anyone had cared to look.

"Rem?" He asked, his voice barely even a whisper.

"You're here." Remus said quietly before spinning Janus around and kissing them fiercely. Janus jumped and cupped Remus' face, his eyes slipping closed. They felt Remus pulled them closer, one hand on their shoulder and one in their hair. Janus probably shouldn't be letting his guard down in this area but he couldn't care less. All thoughts seemed to fall out of their mind at the feel of Remus' lips on theirs.

Remus pulled back, a little out of breath, and leaned his forehead against Janus'. "You're alright." It said breathlessly. "You're alright."

"I'm fine." Janus promised. He tilted Remus' chin up to get a good look at its face. "Are you?"

Remus turned his head to the side. "I'm alright." It muttered.

"Rem..." Janus said gently, cupping Remus' cheek. Remus leaned into the touch and turned his head towards Janus. "Does it still hurt?" Janus asked, trying to keep his voice from hitching.

Remus raised its hand to brush the eyepatch over its right eye. "Not anymore." He muttered. "It stopped hurting maybe Tuesday? It's gonna be fine, right?" It asked, the small attempt at hope in Remus' voice heart-breaking.

Janus hugged Remus tightly. "It's never gonna be the same." They said. "But it's going to be okay. You're going to be fine." White lies never hurt anyone except the one who was telling them. "I promise."

Janus kept his eyes on his and Remus' interlocked hands, which was probably the only thing keeping his conscious from floating away. They swallowed and looked up fleetingly as they both stopped.

Remus met Janus' eyes and tried for a reassuring smile, squeezing his hand. It looked up at the apparent wall.

"For the true king." He said confidently. A brick in the wall slid out of sight.

"May his reign be just as true." Came the reply. The wall opened inwards and Remus pulled Janus inside before they could change their mind.

Janus hunched his shoulders as he walked down the dimly lit corridors. There were a few people lurking here and there and they glared at Janus, their eyes glittering in the darkness.

"I take it people here aren't the biggest fan of strangers." They said, trying to make a sad excuse for a joke.

"They're going to love you, though." Remus said. "You've got brains and inside knowledge. You can help us."

Janus shook his head slightly. "How did I even get mixed up in this mess?"

"You fell for me and my wonderous charm." Remus said. Janus laughed a little, the sound strange in the dank corridor.

"Yeah, a little." They said. Remus nudged them.

"What d'you mean 'a little'?" He asked, offended. "You're smitten with me."

Janus shrugged. "Maybe." He said.

"Yeah, you are." Remus said. "Otherwise you wouldn't blush so much when I did this." It pressed a quick kiss to Janus' cheek, right by their ear. Janus nearly froze, his face turning bright red in the half-light.

"Now- Now, careful, Rem." They tried to say, half their voice gone. "Cause otherwise I won't have any voice left to show off my knowledge."

Remus giggled. "Fine." He said. Remus leaned it's head on Janus' shoulder. "You can get me back later." He whispered in Janus' ear. Janus covered his face with his hand.

"Stop it." Janus muttered, their voice catching on the 's' and drawing it out into a hiss. Remus giggled again.

"Fine, fine, fine." It said dismissively. "Now, come on. Everyone wants to meet you."

"Everyone wants to meet me, yeah sure." Janus thought sarcastically. He'd been promptly thrown into a corner of the planning room as soon as he and Remus had walked in. Yeah, planning room. Some room. Planning cupboard would be more accurate.

"No one wants to meet me." Janus thought, crossing their legs. "I could die right now and only Rem would notice."

"If we sneak in through this way," Joanna was saying, "through the kitchen, we'll have an easy path to the throne room."

"If you think easy is about seventy guards at every door, you're delusional." Janus said. Joanna turned around slowly to face him.

"Sorry, did we ask for your opinion?" She asked. Janus waved their hand.

"No," he stood up, "but you need it. Rem, a pen if you would."

Remus tried to hide a grin as he passed Janus a fountain pen.

"See, they've had most of the castle changed." Janus said, leaning over the map. "That's wrong." They said, crossing out a whole corridor. He slashed another room with black ink. "That's also wrong. That is too," they took out about half of the servant's rooms, "sorry, how old is this map?"

Joanna shrugged. "Couple years." She muttered. "They shouldn't be able to redecorate a whole castle in that time."

"You're right, they haven't." Janus said. He circled the throne room and two corridors beside it. "These are the only unchanged rooms." They stabbed the map with a finger. "I can get the guards to sleep, I can get you into the castle but you'll need to do the rest."

Joanna crossed her arms. "Forgive me if I don't trust you immediately Mx..." Joanna trailed off.

"Janus Dagger. Dee at the castle." Janus said.

"Mx Dagger," Joanna said, nodding once, "but what's your plan? How do we know you won't betray us?"

Janus shrugged and gestured to Remus. "There's your leverage." He said. "Anything that gets Remus safe, I'll happily do."

"So that's why you're here?" Joanna pressed. "Some whole chivalrous act of love? Love bends, Janus, and love breaks. We can't trust you just on that."

"Fine." Janus said. "Edin has hurt me." They said, their chin jutting out defiantly. "So has his sister and every single one of his friends. I didn't just get my scars from running into a fence." He turned back to the map, stabbing the throne room with the pen and watching the ink bleed. "I want him dead as much as anyone in this room."

"What's your plan, Janus?" Remus urged, before anyone else could speak. Janus looked up at him and a ghost of a smile passed their face.

"Simple." He said. "Guards trust me about as much as guards can."

"Why?" Joanna asked.

"I'm good in bed." Janus said. "Ask Rem for confirmation if you don't believe me."

Remus coughed and looked away, its face red.

"Sorry, you're telling me you've had the entire team of guards?" Someone else, Remus' brother, asked. Janus nodded. "That's over 1,000 guards."

"Yup." Janus said. "And I even had the captain twice. I'm no cheat, though." He said, glaring at the boy. "So don't even think of it. Anyway, they all trust me. I can get them drunk on a drug easy. Won't kill them, just put them to sleep for long enough for you to sneak in and do what you gotta do. Which is...?" He asked, motioning to Joanna.

Joanna sighed and rolled her eyes. "We plan to take the king's sister and ransom her for the price of the throne."

Janus shook their head. "Not good enough." He said. "Edin doesn't give two shits about Thalia beyond the fact that she looks pretty on display. He only keeps her around so she can lament about how great her brother the king is. No, go for his friends instead. Daniel and Freddie. They always come in a pair."

"We need details." Joanna said.

"And I'll give them to you." Janus said, putting his hands up. "As soon as you tell me what you plan to do next."

"That's up to his Highness." Joanna said.

"The true king?" Janus asked, scepticism creeping into his voice. Joanna nodded. "Is he here now? What does he say?"

"I say execute them." A voice from the back said, silencing the quiet buzz in the cupboard. A young man came forward, his glasses glinting in the light. "Execute Edin at least. He's the one who's done me the most wrong."

Janus gave a little half-bow. "Then that's what you'll do, your Highness." They said. "Now, Daniel and Freddie... can anyone here draw well?"

There was a small clamour of voices and eventually a short someone called Pat was selected. Over all the hubbub, Remus managed to catch Janus' eye. It grinned at him.

"I told you." He mouthed.

If I wrote this as a full story, there would be so much blood and I'm not mentally stable enough for that because if I start killing characters, where will I stop?
Bye,
Blaize