Janus cleared his throat awkwardly. 

It was the day that Remus and he were supposed to work on the swords. Roman had helped them settle the date, since the two of them were determined to continue not talking to each other. 

Of course, they couldn’t avoid each other forever, if today was any indication. 

Janus was sitting at the park now, waiting for Remus to arrive so that they could go shopping for supplies. He couldn’t deny that he was nervous. Janus wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and die, but he needed this project to boost his grade. 

He cursed fate momentarily for putting him in this position. Working on a project with his ex, how awkward was that?

Janus shifted anxiously, hearing his heart pounding in his chest. It wasn’t like this was a personal thing. They were just working on a project together as classmates. Classmates with a rather personal history, but classmates nonetheless. 

“You’re being stupid.” He mumbled to himself. There was no reason for him to be this nervous. It wasn’t like Remus was going to hit him or anything. They were just going shopping.

He glanced down at his watch. Remus was supposed to be there five minutes ago. Where on earth was he? 

Janus snorted. He shouldn’t be surprised, Remus had never been one to show up on time. Even to events that were important to him.

Not that this was important to him. No, they would just be shopping.

"Janus!"

He turned, spotting Remus running towards him. 

Janus’ breath caught in his throat.

Remus’ hair was messy and floofy as it fell in his face. He messed with it as he stopped in front of Janus, attempting to tame the fluffiness. He was failing.

He was wearing that same green jacket from before, though he seemed to be contemplating removing it as he breathed heavily.

“Sorry, I woke up late.” Remus bowed his head apologetically. “I hope I didn’t keep you waiting too long.”

“Mhm.” Janus mumbled unintelligently, the only thing on his mind being messy hair, messy hair, his hair is messy and fluffy, he looks so cute--

He blinked, remembering himself. Not his boyfriend anymore. 

“So, uh,” Janus tore his eyes away from Remus, face turning red in embarrassment “swords, yes. We need supplies...to make swords.”

“Yeah.” Remus tilted his head, clearly confused about Janus’ behavior. “Have any places in mind that we could go to?”

He smiled, though it was forced. He was trying too hard to be casual, Janus thought. It was only making things more awkward.

“Uh, yeah.” Janus looked back at him. “I know a place we can check out. Did Roman say anything specific about the swords? Like what material he wants them to be made out of?”

“Nope.” Remus shook his head, popping the p. “Should I have asked?”

“Probably. Can you call him? We could--” 

“No, he’s with Patton right now. They’re painting. Roman always has his phone on silent when he’s painting. Says it ‘breaks his concentration’ or something.” Remus rolled his eyes. 

“Well, guess we’re on our own for that one.” Janus shrugged. “Come on.” 

He turned his back to Remus and began walking. He heard the teen following him a second later. 

---

It was pretty (COMPLETELY) awkward walking to the store in silence. Janus thought about starting up a conversation, but ultimately thought against it. He would probably end up making a fool of himself anyway. 

Besides, talking would probably make the situation worse. 

Remus hadn’t moved to walk next to him, trailing behind Janus like a dog. This was the most ideal way to avoid conversation, Janus recognized. He had told Remus that he didn’t like talking to people when they walked behind him. He wanted to be able to take in every detail of their expression as he talked.

Remus didn’t wanna be there either, Janus surmised.

“This is the place.” Janus mumbled, stopping in front of an arts and crafts store. 

Remus moved to stand next to him. “You think they’ll have stuff?”

“Probably.” Janus replied.

An awkward pause. 

After a few painful moments of silence, Janus cleared his throat and walked into the shop. 

Immediately, he was hit with the smell of glue, paint, and paper. It smelled like an arts and crafts store was supposed to, so Janus wasn’t surprised in the slightest. “Would Roman be alright with cardboard?”

“That’s what the canons are made of, so probably.” Remus said. “Though, we can make it out of something else?”

“Like what?” Janus rose a brow. “This is for a ten minute long high school play, it doesn’t need to be Broadway quality.” He snorted, walking towards the cardboard section. 

“That’s true, I guess.” Remus mumbled, then they fell into another uncomfortable silence. 

Janus scanned the cardboard section, thinking about what he wanted the sword to look like. Remus would handle the painting, but Janus wanted to handle the materials at least. Cardboard just seemed a little childish, in his opinion.

Then again, what else could he make it out of? Metal wasn’t an option, obviously. Roman wanted this to be handmade, so he couldn’t just buy one at a toy store. Cardboard seemed to be the only option that was easily accessible and school friendly.

Janus hummed, unless they did paper mache. There were probably a bunch of Youtube tutorials online. That could turn out pretty good. 

There was a large crash behind him, and Janus’ whipped around just as Remus released a loud curse. 

Remus had accidentally knocked over a yarn display, and had apparently knocked himself down with it. He was on the ground, muttering words that were too foul for Janus to repeat. 

Janus stared for a solid ten seconds, before he burst into laughter. “What the hell?” He shook his head, offering Remus a hand. “How did you even fall, idiot?” 

Remus blinked at him in surprise, before accepting the hand that Janus was offering. “I was looking at my phone.” He said, before chuckling a bit as well. Janus laughed again, and an exaggerated look of annoyance flashed across Remus’ face. “Don’t laugh!”

“You’re such an idiot!” Janus told him, already moving to pick the display case up. “This is why you watch where you’re going!” He snickered. 

“Well--I--” Remus stammered. 

“Come on, I’m thinking we do paper mache. We need glue.” Janus turned, walking to a different aisle. 

He didn’t see the proud smile on Remus’ face.

---

"Jan, look!"

Janus turned, spotting Remus putting on a plastic dog mask. He snorted, walking over to him. “Where did you get that?”

“I’ll never tell~” Remus leaned down in front of him, which looked incredibly ridiculous. Janus laughed, raising a brow. 

“Let me guess, that aisle over there?” He pointed at the neighboring aisle, where multiple masks were displayed. Remus’ head swiveled over to the aisle, before slowly returning to Janus.

"Woof?"

“You’re such an idiot.” Janus shook his head, laughing lightly. He reached a hand into Remus’ messy hair, ruffling it lightly. “Who’s a good boy?”

Remus spluttered, before perking up. “Me! Me! I’m a good boy!” 

A woman in a nearby aisle gave them a strange look. 

“How did you find that but not glue?” Janus asked incredulously, retracting his hand. 

A man has his ways.” Remus shrugged, taking the mask off and smirking at Janus. “And I did find glue, I’ll have you know.” 

"And you didn't grab it--?"

---

“It’s over now, I know inside~” Remus sang passionately, one hand on his chest and the other reaching up toward the sky.

“Remus,” Janus snickered, “paint. We’re looking for paint.”

“No one must ever know~” He continued, paying the shorter male no mind. 

“Oh my god.” Janus sighed, an incredulous smile on his face. 

They had been at this store for a couple of hours now, having found the glue long ago. Remus had insisted that they look for paint pens, silver, gold, and black paint, and mechanical pencils.

He glanced up at Remus, who was staring at him expectantly. “What?”

“I know you know the words.” Remus placed one hand on his hip. 

Janus rolled his eyes. “The sorry tale of Edward Hyde~”

“YES! And those who died~” Remus slung an arm around Janus’ shoulders. “No one must ever know~”

Janus snorted, crossing his arms. “What is wrong with you today?” 

“I’ll tell you what’s wrong.” A somber expression crossed over Remus’ face, and Janus furrowed his brow.

"Yeah?"

“You see…” Remus sighed. “...They’d only see the tragedy~”

“Oh, fuck off!” Janus laughed, shoving him away.

---

“--is the song that doesn’t end~!” Remus was sitting in the shopping cart that Janus was pushing, waving his arms around in the air. “It just goes on and on, my friend~!” 

“Shut up!” Janus exclaimed, bright red in embarrassment. “People are staring!”

“Some people started singing it, not knowing what it was~!” Remus gave Janus a sarcastic smile. “And they’ll continue singing it forever just because~”

“Jesus Christ.” Janus huffed, pulling the hood of his hoodie up. “You are such a child!”

“You know you love me.” Remus winked, before pausing. A delighted smile overtook his face. “You know you love me~! I know you care~!”

Janus groaned loudly.

---

“How are we going to get all this back to your house?” Janus asked, holding up the bags in his arms. “Do we even need all of this?”

“Of course we do!” Remus replied indignantly. “We need the glue for the paper mache, we need the paint to--well, paint--we need the paint pens for details, and we need the pencils for placement!” 

“Touchy.” Janus grumbled. “I can ask Logan to pick us up, but I think he’s working on the costumes with Virgil today.”

“Bummer.” Remus huffed. “Well, I know someone who can pick us up.” Remus told him. “It’s--oh.” He went pale. “Well, uh, maybe I shouldn’t ask him.”

"Who?" Janus tilted his head.

"...Remy."

Janus pursed his lips, suddenly remembering who he was, and his history with Remus. “...Oh. Right.” 

“We can just walk.” Remus told him.

“Yeah.” Janus replied.

And the awkward silence returned.

A/N: