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Janus was lying on the floor coloring as a soft tak tak tak sound ran across the bedroom walls which turned into a small metallic squeaking. Janus got up and walked towards the sound of Sacagawea running on her wheel in her glass tank FAST. Janus watched with balled hands stimming happily since she loved watching her pet enjoy all the trinkets she got her, her favorite being her wheel. Once Sacagawea noticed Janus she stopped running and ran towards the glass jumping up and down. Jan removed the lid and gently scooped her up as well as a kid could.

She booped Wea's nose before sitting at her kid's table covered in various snacks and crafts. She grabbed a paper plate with apple slices on it and broke off small pieces to gently feed Sacagawea. Janus had a giddy smile at how cute Wea's cheeks were all stuffed with apples. She only gave her a couple of slices before putting her in a temporary tank on the table so Wea could watch Jan draw and color, one of the two's favorite activities together. Janus colored a few pages and held them up to the tank for approval which always got an enthusiastic bunch of squeaks in response. Her coloring switched to sheets based on Patton.

She held up the first which was a teddy bear colored baby blue with a cloud pattern across its tummy. "Think he like it?" Another batch of squeaks that made Janus proudly smile. "This one?" It was Kuromi colored blue with her hat Janus' bright yellow. Wea's squeaks were somehow louder than before which caused an even bigger, toothier smile. After a bit, Janus stopped and put Wea back in her actual tank that was connected to various tubes along the wall before hanging up her new colored pages and taking down the old ones. She put the old ones in a half-filled box before sitting on her bed.

She turned on the TV and quietly watched Hello Kitty's Furry Tale Theater knowing Sacagawea was in a tube next to her. Janus would occasionally talk to her but it was mostly quiet just like the two liked.

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Virgil was hiding in his room with noise-cancelling headphones on trying to ignore all the yelling from the dining room. It wasn't angry yelling but it still triggered his regression out of fear.

Remus and Roman had been discussing what the best movie was, and it devolved from there, but Virgil didn't care; he just wanted to calm down. He was rocking himself back and forth on the floor while fiddling with the tag on his shirt, a paci in his mouth.

He waited to go back out, but they just kept yelling. He couldn't understand what was being said, which was no doubt just angry words meant to rile Roman up from Remus.

A sudden rumble from Virgil's stomach made him realize he hadn't finished his dinner. The only solution was to eat one of his bedroom snacks that he knew Patton wouldn't approve of but at this point seemed like a non-issue. He got up and opened a dresser door revealing numerous snacks but he only paid attention to the macaroons. He grabbed a small package of them and sat on the floor as he pulled up PBS on his phone to watch Daniel Tiger but as he was about to press play the yelling suddenly spiked in terms of volume.

The single macaroon he had grabbed was crushed as he jumped getting the frosting all over his hand. That plus the yelling was causing overstimulation that could easily spiral into a panic attack. He negated that by wiping the frosting off and quickly hiding under the bed.

For a while, he just stayed there. Eyes pinched closed lying on his stomach just breathing.

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"Mommy!" Roman ran around the mind palace in his footed jammies. He had been calling out for Janus for a few minutes but to the little prince felt like ages. At this point he was frustrated and sleepy.

Janus was laying an arm across Logan's chest after she had wrestled the tyke down onto his bed for a nap. She was unable to move or even call out to Roman out of fear of waking Logan so now she got to play the waiting game, based on the stomping and doors slamming open it wouldn't be a long round.

Roman soon opened Logan's door and was ready to screech at Janus but when he saw Logan stopped before anything came out. With a thoughtful but confused expression, he walked closer to Janus in hopes of an answer, to which he got a simple one. "Logan needed a nap." When it clicked for Roman his mouth turned into a little 'o' before he started climbing into Logan's bed and essentially tucking himself in.

"I suppose that solves our problem." Janus chuckled before kissing Roman's forehead. The prince wrapped his arms around Logan and hid his face in his shoulder.

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"What are you doing kiddo?" Patton asked as Virgil sat in his dark room with his knees pulled up to his chest and his face hidden against his kneecaps. It was usually at least dimly lit but now there was nothing and it was concerning to the cores. Virgil, without moving, just grunted out a "Go away." That made Patton hesitate, but left the room planning to come back later.

Virgil looked at the closed door and let out a sigh of relief. Now he'd be left alone for at least 2 hours. He moved his pillow and searched its filling for a certain paci, one that he couldn't just keep with his regular ones. He pulled out the yellow paci that was decorated with a simple bee shaker on its button and a short beaded string for fidgeting on its handle.

He couldn't help but miss his mama as he suckled on the paci specially made for him. The cores were good at comforting and caring for him, but nothing could compare to Janus knowing exactly what to do without being told. The way they knew how to handle him better than he did. His thoughts spiraled as he hugged himself and imagined how things used to be.

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There it was, the toy aisles. So many different options but so childish. Virgil tried avoiding eye contact with the rows of toys, but when Roman shouted to him it was unavoidable. "I think I found something you'll like!" He rolled his eyes but walked over and looked at the aisle.

"Dolls?" he asked, unamused. Little him loved a variety of toys, but dolls like Barbie never caught his eye. "Not just any dolls. Monster High dolls!" Roman held up a Frankie and Draculara, Virgil's favorite characters. He hesitantly grabbed them, trying to hide how badly he wanted them. He wanted to dress them up and brush their hair and-

"OOO They have Clawdeen too!" Roman held up the special edition doll in Virgil's face, who rolled his eyes fondly. "A diva with a diva. Who could've seen it coming." Roman puffs his chest out defensively. "What can I say, she always has the best outfits." As much as Virgil wanted to correct him that some of Clawdeen's designs were unanimously agreed to be ugly, he just appreciated the enthusiasm.

Roman gently took the dolls from Virgil's hands and put all of them in the cart before leading them to the next aisle. "A small start but a start. Now Bluey." Virgil hated how well Roman knew what he liked. The Bluey aisle is filled to the brim with plushes, play figures, and even clothes lining the shelves. "Favorite Bluey outfit go!" "What?" "You know the granny outfits, the animal onesies, fairy outfits-" "Ok, ok, I get it. Hm. I guess I like Bluey's Halloween outfit, that was a vampire." "How unexpected." Roman joked while Virgil shrugged. "I just like the classic outfits, but the little fangs and cape on her are cute but not too much."

Roman mindlessly tossed Bluey items into the cart as he responded. "Mhm, totally why you like it, definitely not because that's about the edgiest thing to happen in that show." Virgil groaned in slight annoyance since Janus said the exact thing. "Screw you and Janus." That caused a 'tch' to leave the other and make his smile grow wider.

The two walked through more aisles getting more things than Roman initially planned, but Virgil picked them out, and how could he say no, all of it was free but most importantly, Virgil wanted it. He deserved it.

The two left the grocery store to find their car in the empty lot. Once they got to it, Virgil tried to help put the bags in the trunk, but Roman shooed him away. "Ro-" "No. This is your shopping trip! All you have to do is pick stuff out!" Roman took his hand and took him to the passenger side. "Roman, come on. It's not a big deal-" Roman then opened the door and forced him to sit and buckled him up. "I am in charge of this trip ACCORDING TO YOU, so please listen." His voice had no bite; if anything it was more desperation to be listened to. Virgil looked up at him and nodded as he processed how he felt about all of this.

Roman went back to stuffing the trunk before sitting in the driver's seat. "Ready?" "Mhm." Once the drive started, Virgil just stared out the window, thinking over the day. He had fun and liked letting Roman take charge. As he thought about it all, he realized he felt slightly little, something that only happened after hours of preparation...maybe letting the others try to help him wasn't a bad idea...except Remus. His thoughts were interrupted by Roman. "Have fun?" Virgil couldn't help but smile. "I did. Thanks, Ro."

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The first thing Virgil noticed when he woke up was his door cracked open, but the second thing he noticed was a sniffling sound coming from beside him. He turned his head and jumped at Janus standing there crying? He rubbed his eyes and sat up, finally processing everything. Janus was holding her childhood stuffie while crying in her bee onesie.

He picked her up and cradled her on his lap. "What happened?" Janus wiped her nose only making the mess worse which made Virgil cringe but he held back any comments. "Ree was too rough wif Alex." She hugged the alligator stuffie tight. 'Great, of course. Remus just had to be rough with Alex out of all the stuffies.' Virgil mentally groaned. "Can I see him?" She handed the plush over reluctantly. "Careful." "I will be honey." He opened his nightstand and pulled out a small sewing kit before setting Janus next to him. She cuddled up to his side to watch intently.

Virgil carefully focused on the alligator that was on his lap and the open gash on his stomach. He was slow and gentle with his stitching, treating it like an actual wound that would actually hurt the gator. He always did this with Janus' plushes when they inevitably got damaged, a "feature" when living with Remus. He knows that ultimately, as long as the plushes get fixed, he doesn't need to really care for them or pretend with them, but seeing Janus' childishly concerned eyes, he can't help but want to reassure her that they will be ok.

He fixes the plush and even fluffs it up before making it kiss Janus's nose. Janus smiles and giggles happily. "Alex!" She snatches him and hugs him tightly. "Thanks!" "You're welcome." He lies back down as Janus continues hanging out on his bed.