Self-Care at its finest

Game Day Pt. 2

As the game of Hungry hungry hippos progressed, Janus found Remus enjoyed this game solely for the fact he could hit at the toy over and over as hard as he wanted, eating as many as the little pellets the hippo could. It certainly fit his chaotic little rat, though Janus was growing concerned. The plastic toy wouldn't hold up to all this punching.

"Darling," Janus croons after a round or so, his tone a bit exasperated. "We need to be gentle with the game. We could break it."

Remus, unfazed by the gentle reminder, peered up with a sharp grin. "That's the point!"

Janus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Remus, if we break the game, we can't play it anymore." He continues, hoping to drive through his point, but Remus shrugged.

"Then that means I won!" He squeals out excitingly, scooping a great big handful of all the little plastic balls. Catching onto his idea, Janus tried to hurry to grab at his wrist to stop him, but it was too late. He had already thrown the little plastic balls up into the air like confetti.

"Remus-" Janus groaned as they scattered across the living room, bouncing every which way and rolling under furniture, never to resurface until the next deep cleaning. He gave a defeated sigh, glancing at Remus, who seemed quite pleased at himself, pulling a fond grin to his lips. How could he be upset with him when all he was doing was having fun? "You cheeky Possum, c'mon, you made the mess you clean it."

Remus just giggled, beginning to crawl around and scoop up the small toys as they rolled, unfazed by having to clean up. Janus merely shook his head and packed away the rest of the game, peering over at the other three who seemed bewitched by Minecraft. Janus admits he never got into it, no matter how many times he had each of them babbling about it to him and whatnot. He supposed if building things from blocks made them happy, it was no harm to him, that is, if they get along while doing it.

"Roman! What the fuck!"

Roman shrunk back at Virgils sudden, angry tone and scowled. "It was an accident! I was just-"

"You ruined my house!"

"Hey," Janus cuts in. "Virgil that's not how we-"

"Shut up!" He snaps, his lips curled into a sneer before he tensed up realizing he had yelled at Janus, whose expression was impassive, a single eyebrow raised, as if challenging Virgil to continue his outburst. He wisely sunk into his hoodie and tossed his controller down with a huff.

"Virgil, come here please," Janus insists, climbing off the ground, the atmosphere rather tense. Roman slowly placed his controller down as well, fidgeting with his sleeves as he watched Virgil get up in a huff and walk out of the room into the kitchen. Janus followed after him, lingering in the doorway for a moment as he peered down at his littlest ones. "Why don't you four pick out a game to play hm? Well, Patton may not join but try and include him anyway," He tells them, tone soft as he knows the tension and the yelling can be rather off putting.

He got a few nods in response, and satisfied with said reaction for now, he turned, in which he was met with a scowling Virgil whose eyes were firmly planted on the floor. His hands curled into the bottom of his jacket, sinking into himself like a scared kitten. Janus could even see a few tears welling up in his eyes.

"Spiderling," He murmurs, keeping his distance yet still stepping closer. "What's got you so upset, hm?" He asks, wanting to understand why he was just so angry.

He watched his press his lips together, open them, close them, and lightly kick at the ground. "Cause- I just- I don't know!" He stumbled out, snapping at the end and glaring at Janus as a lump formed in his throat. "I'm just- I'm just mad! Roman messed up my house!"