:January 31st, XX47; Friday.

:CONCLUSION.

•~~~~•

"Y'know, Emile, I never thought I'd regret building this rivalry up with Janus."

Remy trudged down the sidewalk that sat outside the forest surrounding his house, Emile at his side, holding his hand.

"Well, when you find him are you gonna try to be his friend?"

"Hah. Fuck no."

Remy still hated Janus's guts- that was certain. And Janus hated his right back. So it worked. But it didn't work when you promised your half-brother and his husband that you'd bring the husband's dead brother to a family gathering. Since... the dead brother was Janus.

"If I could just find the son of a bitch, this would all be so much easier," Remy continued.

"He might need a bit of convincing to come with you, y'know."

"Ugh, yeah. We'll cross that bridge when we- aaand there he is. Finally."

Remy spotted the ghost he was searching for on the other side of the sidewalk, not paying much attention to what was going on around him, only taking a quiet walk. With a sly grin, Remy squeezed his husband's hand and began to cross the street.

"Hey, bitch-ass! Janus!"

Janus glanced towards Remy. He blinked, furrowed his eyebrows, and continued walking. Remy rolled his eyes and just walked faster, Emile almost struggling to keep up.

"Leave me alone, Remy," Janus called out behind him.

"I don't wanna be talking to you either right now, so shut up," Remy continued on his trail.

"Then stop talking to me, perhaps?!"

"This is about Patton."

Janus stopped, and Remy halted himself as well before he could run into the man in front of him. The latter sighed and slowly turned around.

"...What about Patton?"

"God, finally- so, basically, one event lead to another and both him and Logan can see ghosts now."

"Uhm-"

"And Patton wanted to see you. So I promised I'd bring you over to their house tonight."

Janus nodded a bit, and he raised an eyebrow. "...What is your motive behind this lie, then?"

Remy rolled his eyes. "My god- why would I be lying about this?! Literally all you need to do is come with me to their house. They'll be able to see you."

"Could you explain to me why they can see ghosts, then?"

"That would take way too much time. Just come with me, we'll head over now."

Janus was silent for a moment. He took a deep breath, and then he sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"...God- fine. Alright."

"Finally. Alright, gimme a sec, I'll tell Logan we're on our way."

"When did you get his number?" Emile suddenly asked.

"Not important."

half-brother (/neg)
1:20 PM

i'm on my way with janus>

<Who is this?

your brother>

<How did you get this number?
<Also, if this is who I believe it is,
you're not my brother.

oml please stfu>
anyway>
i tracked down janus so tell
patton i'm on my way rn over
with him and emile>

<Alright then.

omg wait why do you text like that>

<What do you mean?

i->

<You're confusing me.

you're such a dry texter wtf>
who uses periods in texts these days>
those are only used when you're
like super fucking pissed at someone>
you rlly need to get with the program>

<Well, if periods are used in
text to indicate that you're
angry with someone, then
you shouldn't be surprised
I'm using them frequently
with you.

damn.>

•~~~~•

"Here we are."

It was a pretty long and boring walk over to the Croft house, especially considering every time Remy tried to say something, Janus would yell at him, and vice versa. Emile, of course, consistently tried to find some peace between the two, but it never did work.

"Ah," Janus stopped and stood in front of the house, as Remy and Emile were walking up to it. Remy stopped and looked back at him.

"...Are you coming?"

Janus sighed. "I will not be entering into a room at the same time as you."

"Oh my god."

"You will not be changing my mind on this."

"They're gonna think I lied about bringing you, y'know. What the fuck am I supposed to say when they ask where you are?"

"I'll come in soon after you? Remy, you should know how to give simple excuses for things. Or- oh, I'm sorry, you never graduated high school, did you?"

"I still went to college, bitch."

Emile sighed, and he squeezed Remy's hand. "Come on, we'll go in first."

"Ugh. Fine."

Remy and Emile turned back towards the house, and continued walking up to it, Remy making sure to subtly flip Janus off behind his back. Once the two got up to the house, Remy went ahead and walked right in, not bothering to knock.

"Guess who's here~!" he called out as he entered into their foyer. Logan and Patton were sitting on the couch, and both startled upon his sudden entrance, getting off the couch.

"Could you perhaps knock?" Logan asked, peering into the foyer. Patton walked nervously over next to him, blinking a few times at the door.

"That's a waste of time. And we're ghosts, we don't have to do that."

"...So, uh, where's Janus?" Patton asked. Remy sighed.

"Outside. He didn't want to come in at the same time as us for some reason. He'll be in after he stops being a petty-ass bitch," Remy walked a bit farther into the house, leaning against a nearby wall. Emile stood next to him, and Logan raised an eyebrow at the two.

"Well, I can clearly see the two of you don't like each other so I wouldn't be surprised if you're lying about him being here."

"That's the second time I've been accused of lying today, damn."

"...I hate to say it, but Remy is right about something for once."

Remy heard Janus's voice finally coming from where the door was. He saw Patton's eyes light up, and then the two made eye contact. Janus blinked in mild surprise, and then he smiled.

"JANUS!"

It was at this point that Patton started towards his brother, and Remy pursed his lips, knowing he would be disappointed when the two couldn't hug. But to Remy's surprise, the two did collide into a hug, almost knocking Janus onto the ground, both clearly holding onto the other for dear life. After only a few seconds of this, though, Janus took a sharp breath in, and Patton began slipping through him. The two ended up on the floor, Janus hunched over and breathing heavily, and Patton staring at him, mildly concerned but clearly crying at the same time.

"...G-God, I'm sorry, Patton," Janus said after a few moments, moving to a normal seating position. "I can't hug you for as long as I wish I could. It takes a lot- a lot of strength."

Patton sniffled. "It's okay, It- It's okay." He smiled, and Janus looked up at him, breath becoming steady. "You look exactly like I remember you did, Jan..."

"You don't look much different yourself... since I totally haven't checked in on you every now and then."

"You've been watching over us?"

"Of course I have. I'm your big brother. It's my job."

"Awwe... I-I just wish I could hug you for longer."

"I know. So do I."

The two sat in silence for a moment. Janus caught his breath enough to sit his hand on top of Patton's. Remy glanced at Logan, who was smiling a tad bit.

"...Patton?" Janus suddenly asked.

"Yeah, JJ?"

"Was I a good brother to you?"

"Oh, of course you were... I- you still are."

Janus let out a small laugh. After a moment the two began to finally stand up, and Remy leaned a bit towards Logan, who had been standing near him.

"...Did I miss some sort of relationship arc between those two?" He whispered.

"I don't believe that's any of your business," Logan whispered back. Remy glared at him.

"Jesus, fine."

After that decently emotional moment, time went on, and groups seemed to congregate together. After some time Emile and Patton joined each other in the kitchen and began cooking, working together to make lunch with Emile helping out the best he could. Remy spent a bit of time talking to the two of them- mainly Emile- while Logan and Janus talked to each other nearby. Eventually, Remy found himself leaning against a wall in the living room, by himself, everyone else off doing something else nearby.

It definitely felt a bit weird to be hanging out with all of them like this- but the weirdest part of it all was that he was genuinely enjoying himself. Sure, be had spent most of the time talking to his husband, but he hadn't minded the small words he shared with Patton and Logan as much as he might've before. It was almost like practically saving someone's life could make them enjoy your company, and vice versa, or something.

Weird.

Suddenly, Remy heard something next to him, and he saw that Logan was leaning on the same wall as him, to his right. He didn't say anything, he stared ahead of himself, and after looking at him for a moment Remy stared ahead, too.

"Well, someone's still cold as shit," Remy said after a moment.

"Do you mean that literally or figuratively?"

"I mean you're barely acknowledging my existence even though you're standing right next to me." He chuckled. "Not surprised you still hate me, even after all I've done for you."

It was only a sarcastic remark, but it made Logan blink to himself a bit. He glanced over to the kitchen area, where by then Janus, Patton, and Emile were all having a conversation. They were smiling and laughing together, something all three no-doubt hadn't been able to do often for a long while. Logan took a deep breath, and then he looked back ahead of himself.

"...I suppose that's just classic brotherly rivalry, then."

Remy blinked. He let out a breath, and he looked Logan up and down once or twice.

"You're... not denying that, for once, huh?"

"Don't make me regret it."

Remy smirked. "Hah- oh, shut up, my darling piss-for-brains."

"I said, don't make me regret it."

Everything's coming up roses.

•~~~~•
It's actually so weird to see them getting along but like,,, that's what relationship arcs are y'know

See ya in the next chapter!🗣
~Maxx(SanderShipper)