The Life of A Royal

What It Means To Remember

      Remus was glad to be out of the ballroom, he was glad to be in his own room again. The ball was a nightmare and his Father yelled at him afterwards for the stunt he pulled with Janus saying that they would talk more later when the castle wasn't full of guests. "Never again, if my mother asks me to go to another ball I'm respectfully saying no." His hands struggled to undo the ribbon but as they finally undid it he flung the mask into the corner of the room feeling a bit of satisfaction watching it shatter completely as it hit the wall as he flopped down backwards into his bed. He didn't even get a chance to relax for a moment before Janus snickered as he grabbed Remus's feet and pulled him hard. Remus complained but he knew Janus just wanted him sitting so he sat on the edge of the bed. Janus wasn't looking up at Remus but instead focused on getting him ready for bed for the night undoing the buttons on Remus's vest. "You're lucky you're pretty because there's nothing in that brain of yours. You're the Prince, you can't just not show up to things. Especially things like this where they're held in your honor, Your Majesty." He said "Your Majesty" in a teasing voice. He took off Remus's shoes next before being able to pull his pants off. His night ended when Remus was asleep but first in order for that to happen he had to help him get him changed, clean, and into bed, although most nights Remus would cancel out the first two by calling Janus into bed with him. Janus had gotten Remus' pants and vest off, and was now focusing on his shirt buttons. "Besides, if you were to do as you pleased every time you wanted to get out of something, I wouldn't be able to lie down for a week. And I quite like being able to, you know." Remus went quiet at that, ever since he learned that Janus got whipped for his actions he hated it. He hated himself because how could he have not realized that Janus would get punished for his actions. It wasn't like he could get away scott free for what he did half the time, and no one dared touch him so of course Janus was the person who'd get in trouble. He just refused to let Janus get hurt because of him anymore now that he realized. Janus stopped for a second when he realized Remus had gone silent, which was highly unusual, for his normal self was snarky and loud, and highly annoying whenever he got the chance. "What is it?"

      Remus's hand went under Janus's arm to the small of his back knowing that's where the most scars laid, "How many were-" "Were because of you?" Remus nodded, and now it was Janus who went quiet. He had to think about it if he was being honest, "Do you want to know how many times it was because of you or how many lashes I ended up getting because of you?" Remus looked shocked that those were two different things. His face fell a little as he answered, "Both, if it's not going to upset you." Janus nodded and he stood up to sit on the bed next to Remus. This was so different then what they normally did, the two of them were never close, they never talked through issues like this before. Most of the time they worked out their problems through sex. That was what was familiar to them, this was something entirely foreign. It was uncharted territory and Janus knew that after they crossed into it there was no going back to what they had before.

    Janus lifted up the back of his shirt turning ever so slightly so that Remus could see. His entire back was scarred. Hundreds of raised marks crisscross across his back overtop the burn scars, some deeply scared over from repeated hittings. He'd seen those multiple times never questioning where they had come from until now. Remus was fairly upset to see fifteen brand new still bleeding marks over all the old ones. They were freshly made, not even an hour old, Remus was surprised he hadn't noticed them when Janus was walking in considering they had been bleeding through Janus' shirt. But then again he hadn't seen Janus since the ball had ended at 10, he hadn't come to find Remus until half past 11 when they headed to his room together. He got up from the bed and Janus watched as he walked into the bathroom connected to his room. When Remus had come back he had a small container and bandages in his hands. He sat down and when he opened the jar Janus realized what it was, he had to get it for Remus sometimes when he got hurt during sword lessons. It was a very expensive medical salve that was very hard to make and get. It worked wonderfully well but since it was so hard to get it was reserved for royalty, even the highest nobles couldn't get it. He was often reprimanded if he wasn't careful enough when he was carrying it up to Remus's room because of how much it cost for one bottle. Janus backed away when he realized that Remus was planning to use it on him.