Reptile - Janus Angst

At 11am that morning, the recording of the QnA was done. It had gone quite well, all things considered. Janus, admittedly, had not been willing to answer some of the more personal questions he was asked but he had honestly had a good time.

Remus had popped in, uninvited, to just be chaotic as per usual. This had halted work a little bit but Logan had quickly gotten him to leave which Janus thought was strange. Remus usually didn't listen to anyone.

"Nice going, guys," Thomas told them with a grin.

Patton quickly went around the room giving everyone a hug. Thomas, then Logan, then Roman, then Virgil, then...

He hesitated at Janus, arms half outstretched, and looked into his eyes with a questioning look in his own.

Janus also hesitated, but slowly brought his own arms up, inviting a hug and attempting a smile.

Patton almost squealed. Was Janus starting to warm up to them?

Well, at the very least, his body temperature wasn't.

Patton was shocked at just how cold Janus felt. Even his clothes felt like there was a thin layer of frost on them, making his hair stand on end.

"Janus, you're freezing!" Patton said in a stunned voice.

Janus quickly pulled away from Patton, folding his arms.

"It's... not exactly warm today," he said, avoiding eye contact.

The others looked at him with surprise.

"It's 13 degrees Celsius. Surely that's warm enough?" Logan stated.

Damn him and his knowledge.

"Or could it be you're cold blooded and need the temperature to be much higher?" Logan's voice now had evident curiosity in it.

Damn him and his questions and love of learning.

"No no, I'm not cold blooded," Janus said stiffly.

He wasn't, to his knowledge, but maybe he was? If he could suddenly gain the ability to shed, whose to say he couldn't suddenly gain the ability to live everyday like he was in the Arctic?

He noticed the slight disappointment on Logan's face and smiled a little. Then remembered the concerned Patton in front of him and frowned again.

"Cold blooded or not, you're freezing. C'mon," Patton said as he grabbed Janus' wrist and started to sink out with him.

"Roman, would you come with us?" he called.

Roman quickly followed, sinking down into the floor, leaving a confused Thomas, Logan, and Virgil standing in the living room.

"What are they doing?" Thomas asked.

"We're just as in the dark as you on this one," said Logan, and Virgil nodded in agreement.

Janus walked numbly, shocked from Patton's sudden assertive nature. He had a determined energy about him.

Roman was tagging along just behind them.

Janus finally found what he wanted to say.

"Wow, you guys are doing so great on backing off out of my personal space. Was the note a lie? You do realise that that's my job," he drawled.

The other two didn't respond.

Though his tone was sarcastic and his face was blank, his heart was racing in his chest. What was happening here?

Roman jogged until he was alongside Patton with Janus now being the one a little behind.

"Is it time? Are we giving it to him?" Janus heard him whisper.