Baited~ Book 2

38

"So... are you punishing him..." Janus tensed as Logan spoke softly. Roman's eyes darkened as he sat on the edge of the tub. "...Or yourself?"

"What do you mean?" Roman never looked up at them. He just sat there staring at the floor. One good thing... his head wasn't trying to mess with him right now. Roman found it ironic considering how easy it would be at this point.

"Virgil..." Roman smiled sadly as he glanced over towards the door. He could feel Virgil's guilt tearing through him like an overheated fire poker to the skin. "He was standing right there and yet..."

"I don't know what you're talking about." Janus's eyes went wide as Roman's started to glow purple. "My love hasn't been here in forever. I'm afraid you're just imagining things, Logan."

"No, I'm not. I am not..." Janus gripped his hands tightly cutting the older off as he met Roman's eyes. 

"Virgil doesn't want me to see him..." Roman smiled sadly as he looked away. "So, I didn't see him."

"That's not entirely true." Roman sighed in understanding as he hugged himself a bit. Janus's voice shook as he tried to ignore the way his head pounded. "Virgil wanted to show himself a while ago but... He couldn't. It just wasn't the right time."

"Janus, it's fine." The snake felt his heart drop seeing the tears falling from Roman's eyes. "It's fine."

"No, it's not." The two flinched slightly at Logan's tone. "It's not ok. You're not ok. You need to talk to Virgil and not..." Logan gestured at Roman who just scoffed. "...whatever this is."

"Logan, I love you. You're a very protective brother and I'm glad to see you care but... shut the fuck up." Logan faltered as Roman's smile widened a tad. "I'm not punishing either one of us. Me not immediately running over to pull him into a hug isn't me trying to hurt him."

"That... wasn't exactly what I meant..." Roman rolled his eyes playfully before the started to darken and he sighed.

"I'm giving him time. Either he doesn't want to be with me yet or we have to sit and talk... I want that to be something he decides not... not something I force on him. I'm giving him space. I love him. I just... don't know if he loves... me."

"Of course he loves..." Janus froze up as he caught Roman's eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."

"Stop apologizing. Virgil and I will get through this. One way or another but..." Roman seemed to freeze up catching the other's attention as his eyes narrowed. "Somethings wrong."

"What do you mean?" Roman shook his head as he slowly got to his feet. His eyes shine dangerously as seemed to take everything in. Janus and Logan both tensed up as Roman started to smirk. "Roman?"

"Someone's here... and they are not here for Patton's cookies." Logan flared as Roman shot him this look. "What do think, Lo? Should I..." There was a sudden blast and Roman's eyes lit up. "Nope... I'll take that as an answer."

"What the fuck?!" Virgil growled viscously as he pressed his foot against this man's trachea. Remus was frozen in shock over the fact that someone was there in the first place. "Who the fuck is..." There was a crunch and Remus sighed seeing Virgil step back with a frown. "Did you have to do that?"

"Yes. Yes, I did." Virgil's eyes darkened as he glanced down at his side. "Better I do it than Roman."

"Shit, I forgot..." Virgil laughed as he pressed a hand to his side and shook his head. Fire sparked from his hand burning his exposed skin as he cauterized the wound. Remus cringed as they saw the blood coating Virgil's hand. "Roman isn't going to be happy."

"We were distracted. It's fine."

"We're demons, Virgil. Either one of us should have noticed..."

"We were distracted. It's fine." Virgil repeated as he felt his hand drop showing the burns on his side. "I'm more concerned with the fact that it happened in general. It means something..."

"It means they've made their move." Both men froze up as they turned to see Patton standing there with this frown. "Are you ok kiddo?"

"I'm ok. Janus?" Patton smiled as he shrugged. 

"Logan healed him, so I know he's ok physically." Virgil's eyes flashed as Patton sighed. "Roman knows." Virgil nodded even though he knew it wasn't a question. "Good. With what's coming... Roman needed to know. I'm more concerned about you, Virgil."

"I'm fine. The dude snuck up on me is all." Even with his eyes covered with that cloth, Virgil could still see the look he was giving him and he cringed. "Ok. I'll ask Logan to heal me too. Happy?"

"Not quite... but it's a start." Virgil chuckled as he let Remus lead him back only to freeze up seeing everyone standing there. Janus ran over hugging the two of them much to Remus's surprise who's head was repetitively saying Janus didn't care about him. Virgil's eyes were solely on Roman. He watched as the shield glanced down at his side and frowned as he walked away. He just walked away. He didn't say anything or did anything. Virgil just watched as Roman turned away and walked off back into the house with his arms crossed. 

"Ah... I see now." Virgil smiled through the tears that welled up in him. He couldn't feel anything from Roman. All he felt was his own pain. It was like he just got this numbness over the connection. His heart actually broke. "I fucked up."

"No, you didn't." Janus frowned as he squeezed Virgil's hand tighter. "Trust me, Virgie. You didn't mess anything up. You just... have to figure out what you want."

"But Roman, he..." Janus smiled only to laugh as Remus pulled him in closer to himself as if trying to latch onto him. The snake leaned into the demon and sighed happily as Remus actually started to smile a bit. Virgil just stood there staring off at Roman. "What the hell is going on here?"

"That's what where I come in..." Logan sighed as he shook his head, eyeing the corpse far behind them all. "Let's go sit in the living room. I can... I can explain everything there."