The Academy of S.I.D.E.

No. 42: Communication, Respect, and Trust

Logan knocked on the door to Janus's and Remus's dorm, kind of regretting his decision at this point. The regret grew when a very rumpled-looking Remus opened the door.

"Oh, it's just you," Remus said, scratching the back of his neck. "What do you want?"

"I would like to speak with Janus, unless the two of you are, ah, busy at the moment," Logan answered, craning his head to see an equally rumpled-looking Janus sitting in one of the chairs.

"That rather depends, if I'm being honest," Janus said, raising an eyebrow. "What's on our mind?"

Logan exhaled. "Well, seeing as you are his closest friend, I would like to speak to you about Patton."

Janus paused, then sighed. "All right, then, come in and take a seat."

He walked in, then looked over at Remus. "I was hoping to speak to your boyfriend alone."

"Don't be ridiculous, Logan," Janus chided. "Anything you have to say to me, you're free to say in front of Remus."

"You... you are aware of how the two of us interact, correct?"

"I am." He rested his chin on his hands. "What about Patton would you like to speak to me about?"

Logan decided to ignore Remus. "Well... I was wondering if you had any advice about how to properly go about being in a relationship with him."

Janus blinked, surprised. "Me? Last time I checked, I was never his boyfriend."

"Yes, but you know him better than anyone. You know what his boundaries are."

"I think you'd better take a step back here," Janus cut in, holding up a hand. "What are you so worried about, exactly? You two are perfect."

"That doesn't mean I'm not worried that I'll hurt him by accident," Logan said softly.

Janus stared at him for a few minutes.

"Look, I... I only really know how to be friends with him," he explained, running a hand through his hair. "I have no idea what his boundaries are with relationships, and I don't want to do anything that'll make him uncomfortable."

"Oh." Janus looked down at his lap. "You... you do know that intimacy is probably going to be off the table for the two of you, ri---"

"I know that!" Logan exclaimed. "I'm perfectly fine with that! I would actually prefer a relationship where there's a less than ten percent chance of us being intimate! But I don't know---I don't know what---" He buried his head in his hands. "I don't know."

Remus let out a heavy sigh. "You want my advice?"

"I'd rather not---"

"Listen here, Brainiac, I'm a grey-aro guy who's been in a healthy and stable relationship with an alloromantic dude for almost two years now," Remus snapped. "Like it or not, I'm the best person here to ask for advice on this sort of thing, so put aside your irritation for me and take it."

Logan scooted away from him slightly. "All right then."

Remus sat down on one of the beds. "So, the key thing about any kind of relationship---romantic, queerplatonic, whatever---is communication. If you're worried about making Patton feel uncomfortable, then you need to talk with him about it. That's a non-negotiable thing."

"Communication," Logan muttered under his breath, taking out a pen and jotting it down in his notebook. "What else?"

"Respect, obviously. If your partner tells you what their boundaries are, then you gotta respect those boundaries. It defeats the whole purpose of them telling you if you're just gonna ignore them."