Arrangements (A Sanders Sides AU)

Chapter 6

Eight in the Evening

"Isn't this marvellous? This house must be magic, first the bear and now this." Janus marvelled as he allowed a butterfly to land on his gloved hand. "There's no such thing as magic." Logan lied as he stood up, looking around to see if he could find anything to safely capture and release the butterflies with. "Then explain where they came from." Janus challenged, laughing as one landed on his nose. Logan felt himself become irritated as he opened a box only for more butterflies to fly out of it.

"Perhaps they came from a hole in the wall, or an open window." Logan suggested, though both the windows in their room were closed, and he doubted there was significant enough damage done to the house for this many butterflies to come in. "Oh what a shame. My groom to be is a sceptic." Janus teased, walking towards Logan and hugging him from behind. The butterflies suddenly began to fly frantically, scattering around the room in specific yet random patterns. "I wonder..." Janus mused, causing a chill to race down Logan's spine. "Are they reacting to us?" Janus pondered, running his hands along Logan's torso. Logan felt his skin buzz, and the butterflies paused in mid air, fluttering their wings as if stuck in place.

"Hmm..." Janus hummed thoughtfully, turning Logan around to face him. He stopped, however, when he noticed Logan seemed frightened. Blinking, Janus backed away, studying Logan with a concerned expression. "It's nothing." Logan dismissed before Janus even asked what was wrong. He looked away, watching as the butterflies all landed and took a break from flying. As the atmosphere grew colder, many of them began to fade away.

"This is just all so new and alarming..." Logan murmured, walking over to sit on the bed. He rubbed his face, trying to calm these feelings down. Eventually, the room's atmosphere calmed down, and the butterflies faded away, causing Janus to look confused. "Did I do something wrong?" He asked before sitting beside Logan. He didn't receive an answer, however. Instead, Logan stayed silent. Janus didn't technically do anything wrong, but... He did something Logan was afraid he'd do.

Sure, Janus didn't know the magic came from Logan. However, he was still curious about the magic, and experimented with it by stirring Logan's emotions further. That was dangerous. What if something more dangerous than butterflies had spawned?

"Are you just trying to process the fact that magic exists?" Janus asked, his tone part playful, part hopeful. "Something like that..." Logan sighed, staring down at his gloved hands. Seems the gloves couldn't protect him from himself after all. "Perhaps you could get me back. For flustering you, that is. See if the butterflies react to me as well." Janus mused. Logan considered it, and had he not known the source of the butterflies, he would have taken Janus up on his offer alarmingly quickly. However, he didn't wish to bring to attention that it had only been Logan's emotions that the magic reacted to.

"I think it's been a long day. We should get some sleep." Logan decided. "But it's only eight thirty." Janus commented, looking at the clock that hung over their bedroom door. "I think that's a reasonable time for going to bed." Logan stated, putting his glasses down in his nightstand. "I could sleep on the floor if you prefer to have the bed." He then offered, causing Janus to feel worried. He thought he had gotten through to Logan, figured this out, but... It seemed Logan had been frightened all over again by something... He just didn't know what or how to get around it.

"No, we can share the bed... I promise I'll keep my hands to myself." Janus assured Logan, putting his hands up in surrender with a soft smile. "Alright..." Logan replied reluctantly before climbing under the blanket. Janus moved out of his way, climbing into the other side of the bed. "Goodnight, then, Janus." Logan stated, turning off his bedside lamp and turning away from Janus to sleep. "Good night, Logan..." Janus sighed, taking out a book to read while Logan retired for the night.