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Chapter Text

"Alright, my pretty pup, are you ready?" Patton asks, hands on Virgil's shoulders to steady his slight swaying.

"Yes, daddy." Virgil nods, tilting his head back to allow Patton to clip his leash onto his collar.

"Awh, don't you look the sweetest, pet?" Roman coos from where he stands at the top of the stairs. "Everyone at the event is going to want to fuck you, I can feel it." He taunts, buttoning the top two buttons of his shirt up as he descends. "But we won't let them, obviously."

Virgil preens from where he stands by the door. He's wearing a tight-fitting sleeveless purple top underneath his black leather harness. He's also got on a pair of high-waisted, black, tight shiny leather shorts that go down to just under his ass, having fishnets underneath until they reach his black boots.

His owners had originally picked out for him to wear a skirt, but he had very sheepishly voiced that he wasn't too comfortable wearing something so skimpy in public, and they'd given him the shorts instead.

His collar also had a name tag attached, which had his name on one side and an inscription of 'If lost, return to:' followed by Patton, Roman, and Logan's names.

And of course, he was wearing his fluffy puppy ears, and a clip-on tail that was attached to the back of his shorts.

"No, of course not." Logan added, adjusting his tie in the mirror. "I might have you suck me off in the back of the car, puppy."

"Thank you, Master." Virgil giggled, hands coming up to rest against his collar.

"We're gonna be late, guys." Patton says, hands coming to his hips as he smiles at the two of his boyfriends who are still getting ready.

"You can't be late to an event like this, Pat, it goes on all night." Roman rolls his eyes.

"I refuse to wait an hour for a room in the dungeon again, if we're getting there, we're getting there as soon as." Logan says. "So, Patton's right. Let's go."

Roman scoffs playfully. "Can I at least take his leash?"

Patton nods softly, handing the handle over to Roman, who tugs on it to pull Virgil into a kiss.

"You remember all your safewords, don't you?" Roman mumbled into their embrace.

"Yeah." Virgil nods. "I'm excited."

"You should be." Roman whispers back. "Now, come on, we're gonna get left behind."

---

The event is busier than Virgil had anticipated, and so he spends the first half of the evening clinging to Logan (who looks incredibly business-like, and nobody would dare approach him when he's with) like his life depends on it.

They gather around to watch some pole dancing at one point, and the dominants give up on the idea of dragging Virgil down to the dungeons just because of how busy it is.

"Um," Virgil says, turning to Logan as they watch someone performing a routine with a sub on the little stage area. "Do you mind if I go to the bathroom?"

Logan nods, rubbing up and down Virgil's thigh with his free hand. "Yes, I'll take you, and then we can locate your Sir and Daddy, wherever they've gone off to."

Patton and Roman, were in fact off somewhere else. They'd gone to the bathroom originally (since neither of the four liked to be alone at these events), and then ended up making out for a while, and then were eventually heading back to Logan and Virgil when-

There was a man in the corner of one of the rooms, and being the young adults that they were, he was about their age. His hair was blonde and ruffled, eye makeup adorned over his beautiful skin.

But, there were two things that really caught their attention. One, being that he was wearing the cutest pair of cat ears they'd ever seen, and two being that he was alone.

What was a pretty little kitty like that doing all alone at a party like this?

"Hello!" Patton grinned, striding over without even looking to Roman for approval first.

"Oh, um, hello." The other man waved back somewhat awkwardly.

"My name is Patton. And, this is one of my boyfriends, Roman." He gestures.

"Janus." The other man, Janus, replies smoothly, holding out his hand. Patton shakes it, then Roman.

"You're very attractive, Janus, you know that?" Roman asks. "What were you hoping to get out of being here tonight?"

Janus blushes, but he doesn't mention the first comment as he smiles. "Well, I've been coming to the play parties here for years, since I turned eighteen, basically. I'm, um, I'm twenty now. Almost twenty-one. I just kind of like to see where the night takes me. Sometimes I have great times here with guys, and sometimes I go home with them."

"He could come home with us." Roman mumbles into Patton's ear, and Patton whacks him a little.

"And, are you a kitty, Janus? I can't help but notice your ears." Patton giggles.

"Uh, haha, yeah. I- um, I like, I'm into pet stuff. Being called "Kitten", and being treated accordingly, you know. That stuff." He says, somewhat awkwardly.

Patton gasps out. "That's so perfect! We have a puppy, don't we, Ro?"

"We do." Roman affirms. "Maybe you'd like to speak to him, he's around somewhere."

Janus laughs, and it's the prettiest thing in the world. "Okay." He says. "Sorry, you're just very excitable."

"I get that a lot." Patton smiles.

In the lull of silence that formed, Logan and Virgil were just heading out of the bathroom when they caught the infliction of Roman's boisterous laugh coming from the corner of the room.

Virgil turned to look at them, and was walking over in an instant. It was almost like he was dragging Logan by the leash, boots clicking against the floor as he approached.

He made it to stand behind them, and noticed fully that it was just Patton and Roman having a conversation. A conversation with a very attractive young man.

He was taller than Virgil, only by a little, but was wearing heeled boots rather than the flats that Virgil had on, so that was probably it. He wore a very sheer, yellow-tinged dress shirt that tucked very nicely into a short black skirt.

"Oh." He said, looking the man up and down.

"Virgil! Logan!" Patton smiled to them, stepping outwards to expand the circle they'd formed. "This is Janus. Janus, our other boyfriends, Logan and Virgil." He gestured to them in turn. Logan held his hand out and Janus shook it warmly.

"Say hello, pet." Logan whispered to Virgil, not quiet enough that the whole circle didn't hear.

Virgil bristled a little, not realising that it was his turn to speak and feeling a little embarrassed as a result.

"Um, hi." He said. "You look nice."

Janus nodded, raking his eyes over Virgil's body, and Virgil suddenly felt very vulnerable standing there in his revealing outfit.

"Likewise."

Virgil shuffled on his feet for a moment as the four others continued to partake in small talk that he had no interest in. That was one of the best things about being an owned sub at play parties like this. He didn't have to speak if he didn't need to, because he knew that his doms would take care of everything for him.

"Hey, um, this might be a long shot," Janus began, and that definitely had Virgil perking up to listen. "But I've actually got a private room booked in like five minutes."

Virgil had to stop himself from walking away right then. It was partially because he had some semblance of self-restraint left, and also because Logan was quite literally holding onto his leash, and he'd probably choke himself if he walked off.

The audacity! To ask his doms if they wanted to take him back to a private room? In front of Virgil? He couldn't believe someone could be so-

"Maybe if you're all okay with it, I could come and watch you four play for a bit, to get a feel for your dynamic."

"What?" Virgil asked dumbly, it being the first thing he'd said in about ten minutes.

"I was just thinking that it might be beneficial to watch you guys do some stuff together before I think about asking to get involved." He says again, more lightly, and Virgil blinked.

"Oh." He said for the second time that evening, looking around to find any traces of hope in the eyes of his doms.

"I think that would be wonderful." Roman grins, taking Janus' hand and kissing it as he bows down like a prince. Roman was the first of all three of them that Virgil had met, and he'd done the exact same thing to him, too.

"Um, yeah." Patton grins. "Lo?"

"Sounds good." Logan agrees, turning to Virgil with a silently caring expression. "Is that okay, Vee?"

Virgil swallowed, all eyes on him. They were in the corner of a pretty busy room, and he suddenly felt very small.

"Can we- um, can we talk first?" He asked meekly, right hand coming up to fiddle with the charm on his collar. "Like, us."

Janus raised his eyebrows, seemingly caught off guard by the hesitance. "Um, why don't I give you the room number? And, you guys can go there now, have a chat, decide what you wanna do, how you want to do it, and stuff, and I can come in, say, ten minutes. If you'd like to carry on, we can, but no pressure."

And.. that actually sounded okay. The dread rising up Virgil's spine was receding.

"Okay." Virgil nodded. "Thanks."

"Awesome!" Patton smiled, putting an arm around Virgil's shoulder.

---

"I didn't really like that." Virgil expressed quite loudly pretty much as soon as the door to their room had closed and been locked.

"What do you mean, honeybee?" Patton asked sadly, sitting down on one of the couches and opening his arms for Virgil to crawl into. He'd had his leash taken off, and so was free to do just that.

"Well, I didn't know that we were thinking about adding to our relationship, but you practically just proposed to that man. That stranger." He pouted, snuggling up into Patton's arms despite his annoyed tone.

"I'm sorry, puppy, but it would've been rude to walk away from him during the conversation. That's why we came here."

Virgil rolls himself to be lying on his back in Patton's lap, crossing his outstretched legs over the end of the sofa whilst pouting up at his Daddy.

"So, I take it you don't want to do a scene for him?" Roman asks, sitting down on the bed in the centre of the room opposite the two of them. "Which is fine, by the way."

"I just didn't know that we were looking for another partner."

"Virgil." Logan says, kneeling down by the sofa and pressing a kiss to his puppy's head. "I promise you, we didn't come here with the intention of playing with another submissive, or replacing you, or anything like that. Sometimes we just meet people, and we get along with them. This doesn't mean that he's joining our relationship."

"Exactly!" Roman beams. "I mean, we would never have met Patton if we just decided to never speak to people, and you love him, Virge!"

"I guess."

"Virgil." Logan says, a little sterner this time. "We're sorry if our behaviour has upset you, but we can't figure it out if you won't have a conversation with us."

Virgil sat up a little, finding it hard to be bent at the waist in his tight-fitting shorts, so he stood up entirely. "Okay. I'm sorry, I- I do want to show him our dynamic and stuff. I just-" He cut himself off to sigh. "I know it's stupid. But, I need you to promise that you don't like him more than me."

Patton stands up at that, frowning as he pulls Virgil into his body for a prolonged hug. "Oh, Darling." He whispered. "Of course not."

"Come on, come here, pup." Logan says, hugging him from the other side. Damn, okay. Logan was not usually the hugging type.

"Oh, group hug!" Roman grinned, joining in too. "You'll let us know if you feel upset, okay, honey?"

"Yeah." Virgil whispers, overwhelmed by the care towards him.

"Alright." Logan says, being the first to step away from the group. "Would you still like to do the scene for Janus?"

"Yeah, yeah. I would." Virgil nods. It's been too long since he's let his owners show him off to another person of people. Maybe he could use this as an opportunity to show Janus just how great of a sub he was, how he was better.

"Okay. Right. Let's sit down and-"

"Can I lie on someone's lap?" Virgil interrupts. "Sorry. I cannot be at ninety degrees in these shorts."

Roman laughs, loud and boisterous. "Damn, that's half of our plans for tonight down the drain."

"I won't be wearing the shorts if you've bent me over in that context, dumbass."

"Watch your tone and your manners, Pup." Logan says light-heartedly. "You can lie on my lap, come here. Let's discuss our intentions for tonight."

---

Janus gave the four of them fifteen minutes, knowing it might have taken a little longer to figure out their plans.

When he did eventually head to the room, he knocked against the door twice, and was greeted with a swift "Come in!".

The inside of the room was quite a sight.

Virgil was on his knees on the ground, staring up at the bed. Behind his back, his hands were cuffed, and Janus noticed how his right hand was absentmidedly fidgeting with the fluff on his tail.

He was still fully clothed in the same outfit he'd been in earlier, only his collar seemed tighter, and was being held on a very short, very tight tether by Logan. He looked beautiful.

"Hi, Janus." Patton smiled. "Oh! Ignore the puppy, he's trying very hard at the moment."

Janus squinted, turning back to watch Virgil, who was, upon further inspection, tapping his fingers together behind his back, eyes wide and intent on Logan, who was sat on the bed, leaning forward and staring down at him, snapping his fingers rhythmically.

Virgil's eyes flicked towards Janus for a split second.

"Don't look at him, bitch." Logan spat, snapping his fingers three times in quick succession. "Behave, mutt." He instructs with another tug of Virgil's collar that had him gasping.

"Awh," Roman coos, bending down to get in Virgil's face. Logan snaps his fingers many times whilst Roman is speaking. "You're awfully hard, puppy-boy. Fucking straining to get out of those shorts, aren't you?"

Janus takes Patton's hand and sits down on the sofa, giving him a perfect view of what was going on before him.

"I said, aren't you?" Roman repeats, grabbing onto Virgil's hair and pulling his head back a little. Virgil gasps.

"Yes, Sir, yes." He rambles out, and Logan pulls on his collar with real strength that has Virgil yelping and struggling to stay on balance.

"Did I say you could fucking speak, puppy?" Logan asks, continuing to snap with his free hand very absentmindedly.

A timer goes off on Logan's phone, and he releases Virgil's leash, who sighs in relief. At the same time, Roman unlocks the handcuffs and removes those too, kissing Virgil's wrists as he checks for any marks that have been left.

"Okay, pet." Logan says, voice softer. "Give me a number. You have permission to speak."

"What's he trying to give a number for?" Janus whispers to Patton.

"Clicks." Patton replies in an equally as quiet tone. "They were going at that for five minutes."

Virgil places his hands in his lap, taking a minute to think, thoughts whirring. Well, it- it was 112 when Janus came in, and- and at least 130 when Sir pulled his hair. And then Master did four at once whilst swearing at him and-

"A hundred and forty five?"

"Are you asking me or telling me, little mongrel?"

"That's Logan, right?" Janus whispers to Patton.
"Sure is."
"He's scary." Janus mutters.

"He can be." Patton agrees. "But, if you decide to get to know us, you'll notice that the three of us all have very different styles of domming, which is what we think makes us work so well together."

"Yeah."

"And, if there's any part of his dominant persona that you'd rather not experience, you just have to let us know. Virgil's very receptive, he doesn't have all that many hard limits, but if you operate differently, it's no issue."

Janus nods, eyes drifting back over to where Virgil's chest is heaving up and down with the weight of his breaths. He spends a few moments appreciating Virgil's boner, which is very visible through his shorts, and then he goes back to the sight before him.

"Telling you, Master." Virgil nods. "It's a hundred and forty five."

Logan scoffs, leaning back where he's sat. "Stupid, dumb little mutt." He insults. "You know, you're lucky you're pretty."

Roman kneels beside Virgil, running a hand through his hair in contrast to Logan's words.

"I snapped at you a hundred and thirty six times." He states. "Janus, how far off was Virgil?"

Janus stammered a little at being called upon in such a voice.

"Nine." He replies anyway.

"Nine." Logan repeats. "How does that sound, pup?"

"Good, Master." Virgil replies, sounding a little dazed.

Logan turns around, head gesturing towards Patton, and then flicking his gaze over to Virgil.

"I'm going to join in, are you okay to sit here?"
"Yeah." Janus nods.

Patton smiles, standing up from the sofa and perching on the edge of the bed, facing Janus. "Come lie down across Daddy's lap, Puppy."

Virgil goes to stand, but he stumbles as he makes the attempt, dropping back down to his knees with a pained noise.

Roman's hands are on him in an instant, being the closest, steadying his shoulders. "Hey, hey, you're okay. What do you need? You can speak."

Virgil takes a breath. "Can I have some water?" He asks, and there's a bottle in his hands in five seconds.

"Good boy." Logan praises softly as he drinks it.

Virgil then goes to stand again, and does so successfully, but with a slightly discomforted look on his face. His owners are very attentive.

"What is it, baby?" Patton asks, holding his hand out.

"No, it's just- my shoes. They're digging."

"Do you need to take them off?" Logan asks, standing to walk around to where Virgil has sat down on the bed beside Patton.

"Is that okay?"

"Of course."

And so, Virgil unlaces his boots and lets Logan slide them off.

"I think it's really great how you noticed that." Janus pipes up from the sofa. "I mean, how good you are at recognising his needs. I've been with doms who haven't even noticed or cared when I've bled. It's, um, it's nice to see."

Virgil makes understanding eye contact with Janus and nods. "Yeah, they're good."

"We learnt to be, to be honest." Patton says, patting his lap to instruct Virgil to lie down over it. "When Virgil first started playing with us, he used to downright refuse to voice his discomfort out of worry that we'd be upset at him, or it would break the mood and ruin the scene."

"And he still does." Logan says with a bit of a humorous infliction.

"We're working on it, aren't we Pup?" Roman asks, placing a hand on Virgil's arm.

"Yes, Sir."

"Okay, get yourself comfy, doggy." Patton giggles, and Virgil lays himself down so that his crotch is pressed against Patton's. He can feel his Daddy's hard-on pressing into his thigh. "Nine, okay? Is he having my hand or a paddle?"

"Awh, he did try very hard to get the number of clicks right." Roman points out.

"Nine off is pretty poor, though." Logan refutes.

"What if you were wrong?" Janus suddenly pipes up from the sofa. Everyone looks at him, and Virgil breaks out into an ear-splitting grin. "Like, what if Logan counted his snaps wrong? Surely it's hard to speak whilst doing that."

Virgil looks up from his position face-down on the bed, smug. "Last time I suggested that possibility, I didn't come for a week." He explains with a drawling tone.

"Shit!" The sub suddenly cries out as a hand smacks down on his ass with incredible force. His hand comes right to his mouth, as if to take back the curse word.

"Excuse me?" Patton asked, eyes wide. "The bratty tone that you just used was enough to warrant my irritation, and then I hear that from your mouth?"

"I'm sorry, Daddy, I won't do it again." He says on a whine.

"No, you won't." Patton replies, smacking him again. "That's two."

"I think you should take his shorts off of him. Spank his bare ass as a consequence for that potty mouth." Roman grins.

"Would you like to do the honours?" Patton asks, turning to him."

Roman grins, approaching Virgil and kissing between his shoulder blades. "Lift your hips." He whispers, and Virgil does, giving Roman the leeway to unzip his shorts and slide them off of his hips, leaving them bunched up around his knees. With his shorts came his tail, which was only clipped on to the back of them.

Janus nearly chokes on the sight of Virgil's dark purple, lacy panties.

"Three." Patton then exclaims, bringing his hand down again. There's a red, blotchy handprint forming on Virgil's ass cheek, and he keeps his head buried in his arms against the bed.

Five more smacks later, Virgil is crying softly, although he'd checked in with his colour as green, and he takes a deep breath.

He looks right into the eyes of the sub sitting on the sofa in front of him, and is met with a pair of eyes that understands exactly how he feels.

"Daddy?" He whispers.

"Yes, puppy?"

"Can I hold his hand?"

Patton seems to melt, nodding at Virgil, who instantly reaches his hand out towards Janus. The other man has to get off the sofa to kneel at the foot of the bed and take the hand, which he does so in both of his, and Virgil squeezes onto him, crying out at the last smack being delivered.

"Nine." Patton finishes. "Well done, puppy, so beautiful."

Virgil doesn't say anything, but he doesn't need to. He keeps his hand locked like a vice around Janus', even as his shorts are pulled back up his legs and he starts getting peppered with kisses.

---

"Alright." Roman says softly as he leaves the room last. "How are we feeling?"

Virgil nods, both of his hands wrapped around Roman's right arm as he clings onto the man like he'll disappear if he lets go. "Good." He says. "Spacey."

"I know, puppy, we're going home soon, don't worry."

He leans into Roman's body, legs shifting beneath him with a whine.

"We'll get you off, don't worry, baby." Patton reassures. "How are you, Janus?"

"I'm well." Janus nods. "Thank you. I enjoyed watching you all."

"Yes." Logan agrees. "I thought it was productive. Do you think you'd be interested in involving yourself in a scene with us at some point?"

"I think I would. Are you all okay with that?"

"Yeah!"
"We are."
"Mhm!"

"Virgil?" Janus asks.

"Huh? What? Oh, oh, yeah. Yeah, I liked you there."

"I apologise," Logan says. "We need to give him some sugar usually after scenes, but of course we have none here. There's juice in the car, and we'll ask him again when he's more aware."

"Okay. Thank you." Janus nods.

"But," Logan continues. "Preliminarily, how about we arrange that you might come to our house one evening this week? We could have a sit down, the five of us, and discuss what we're hoping to gain from our scenes together, our kinks, our limits."

"Oh. Yeah, that sounds like it would be great. Can I give one of you my number?"

"Of course." Roman grins, taking his phone out. "Oh, and don't worry about dressing up or anything unless it's how you feel comfy. We won't, so no pressure either way."

"Oh? You mean to say that you don't usually dress your boyfriend in fishnets and harnesses casually?" Janus jokes, and Virgil laughs along with everyone else.

Maybe he could make this work.

Chapter Text

Janus bounced on his heels outside of the address he'd been given. He was three minutes early, standing on the doorstep in his black jeans and silk shirt.

The door swung open very suddenly, and he was met with a very smiley Patton.

"Janus!" The man smiled. "Come in, come in."

Now, he didn't know what he was expecting with their house, maybe a sex swing or two at least, but it just looked ..normal.

The door opened up onto their living room, which was large and open plan with the kitchen.

The walls were beige, and they had a couple paintings up alongside shelves of books. Logan was standing in the kitchen, filling up his coffee machine. Roman was sat at the breakfast bar, writing in a notebook.

Virgil was curled up on the sofa, staring down at his phone with a pair of light blue jeans and a baggy t-shirt on. He had a pair of wired earphones in, too. It was awfully domestic, save for the very obvious dog collar around his neck, and Janus was a little caught off guard at how different they all seemed.

Having said that, there was a fluffy grey dog bed in the corner of the living room, right beside a large cage with various purple blankets laid at the bottom, and even some fairy lights. Janus doubted they had a real animal that those items were used for.

"Yeah, feel free to leave your shoes on the rack here." Patton instructs, beckoning him further into the house.

"Virge?" Roman asked from behind him, leaning over the counter a little.

Virgil didn't react, still watching something on his phone, and so Roman repeated his name a little louder.

Patton giggled a little, stepping over towards Virgil and placing a hand underneath his chin, dragging his head upwards to make eye contact. Virgil blinked in surprise and hesitantly reached to take one side of his earphones out.

"Welcome back." Patton grinned, ruffling his hair.

"Sorry," Virgil said sheepishly. "New season of Our Flag Means Death came out last week." He explained, pointing down at his device.

"Oh! I love that show." Janus exclaimed excitedly, walking further into the room. "I finished the new season the other day."

"No spoilers, I'm begging you." Virgil refuted, taking the other earphone out and sitting up a little more proper.

"He does a lot of begging." Logan mutters, not quiet enough for the whole room to miss it. Virgil blushed a little, but didn't have time to be truly embarrassed as Roman called his name again.

"Virge," He repeated.

"Yep?"

"Are you on wine, coffee, or tea tonight?" He asked, hand dancing half-way between their mugs and their glasses.

"Is it red or white wine?"

"Uh, it's.." Roman dawdles, opening their alcohol cupboard. "Oh. We have both."

"Fuck yeah. I'm on white, then."

"Language." Patton mutters at him.

"Sorry, Daddy." Virgil replies in an extremely sarcastic tone, clearly making fun of the title.

Patton raises his eyebrows. "Maybe you will be." He mutters as he walks over towards the kitchen. "Do you talk to your dominants like that, Janus?"

Virgil rolls his eyes playfully as Janus blinks. "Um, well, I've never lived with any of them, so I suppose I've never had the chance?"

"Good answer." Roman holds a thumb up. "Do you want a drink, Janus? And if so, I can offer you coffee, tea, white, or red. Oh, or lemonade?"

"A glass of red wine would be lovely, thanks." He answers.

It's then that Virgil stands from the sofa, tucking his phone into his pocket. "Come on, let's go sit down at the table. They'll come through in a second." He says, gesturing for Janus to follow him towards their dining table.

They sat down together, at either ends of the table as Virgil had suggested they did.
"You look different." Janus says softly after a moment's silence. "You know, when you're not in your puppy get-up. Not in a bad way, just, like, different."

Virgil nods a little. "Yeah, I guess. I dress up a lot for those play parties, though. Outfits that tight take a lot of persuasion from those three. But, um, Roman really gets off on dressing his subs up, so watch out for that if you play with him."

"Watch out for what?" Logan asks as he approaches the table. He's holding two glasses of red wine in one hand, and pulls his chair our with another.

"Oh, Roman's dress-up fetish."

"Title of your sex tape." Patton says, holding his own mug of tea as he sits down beside Janus.

Logan slides one of the glasses over to Janus as Roman enters last, taking the final seat between Virgil and Janus. He hands Virgil a glass of his own drink, and then places the same in front of himself, too.

"Okay." Logan nods. "I suppose we should start by telling you a little about our dynamic and how we might involve you in it, Janus. Did you have any questions about anything we showed you at the event last week?"

Janus thinks for a moment. "Not to do with the event, and maybe a little off track, but, um, do you sleep in that cage, Virgil? Or, is it, like, just for playful threat?"

Virgil allows a smirk to slip onto his face. "It's, like, for punishment, I guess? Or just for fun. This is gonna sound stupid, but enclosed spaces help me feel grounded with my anxiety and stuff. So, sometimes I just like to sit it in on my phone, is that weird?" He asks himself, leaning back in his chair.

"Not weird, don't worry." Janus replies. "Thanks."

"Yeah." Virgil nods. "We should talk about titles, probably." He then adds, taking a sip of his wine.

"Yes." Logan nods.

"Well, um, correct me if I'm wrong," Janus starts, "but, at least in Virgil's case, he calls you Daddy, Master, and Sir, right?" He asks, pointing at each of them.

"You'd be right. Are those titles that you also want to refer to us using?" Logan asks, and Janus nods.

"Yeah. That's fine. Better than calling all three of you the same thing, right? Would get confusing otherwise."

"It defintely would." Virgil agrees. "Do you have a thing, Janus? That you like to be called."

"Well, this is kind of moving over to the kink side of things, but I'm really into pet play, as I'm inferring that Virgil is, too."

"Yeah!" Patton exclaims. "He is, and we have a lot of different nicknames for Vee, um, let me think. Puppy, pup, doggy, mutt, mongrel, hound. But, a lot of those make him sound a lot more tough than he really is. He's just a shy little puppy dog really."

Virgil whines a little at that, dropping his head onto the table in his arms. "Stop it." He mumbles into the table. "That's patronising."

"You complain as if you aren't rubbing your thighs together under the table, puppy." Roman says jestfully. "I digress. You prefer cat-themed play, right, Janus?"

"Um, yeah." Janus nods. "I like being called things like Kitty, Kitten, Tomcat. There's surprisingly less nicknames for cats than dogs, but I'll take endearing stuff like Baby, Darling, stuff like that."

"Good to know, kitten." Roman winks across the table.

"Oh! Speaking of," Patton adds. "We don't do total power exchange 24/7, but we do let our dynamic influence our relationship outside of scenes and sex and stuff. Like, you might notice that we casually use titles, or we might boss Virgil around a bit, but it's kind of just how we operate."

"Yeah," Virgil says, pointing at Patton as he looks back up. "And I wear this ownership collar, like, all the time. When we go out, like, shopping and stuff, we usually swap it for one that's a bit less glaringly obviously BDSM gear."

"Is wearing a collar during our scenes something you're interested in?" Logan asks.

"Yeah, for sure."

"Awesome." Virgil drawls. "Do we wanna go around, do a things we're in to and thing's we're not rotation?"

"Our kinks and our limits, is what he means." Logan corrects. "I can begin. Kinks, I enjoy masochism, bondage, showing my submissives off. I'm sure Virgil will be happy to tell you some anecdotes. I like having total power and control, as well, getting submissives to follow exact orders. Those are the main things. And, as for soft limits, public stuff. Hard limits are things that are quite extreme, things like scat and non-consent. I think we all have a consensus with those two."

"Yep." Virgil agrees.

"Okay, um, my turn, I guess!" Patton giggles. "I like brat taming, teasing, edging. I like tying Virgil down and using him as a dildo, that's always fun. And, I like spanking, also. And taking care of subs, too. Praising them when they do well. I think that's it. Limits are basically the same as Logan's."

"Shall I go?" Virgil asks. "Or do we want to do all of you three, then us two?"

"I think we should do all of the dominants first." Logan says, and Virgil nods, look to Roman.

"Huzzah, okay." Roman exclaims. "Well, I love to humiliate. Especially with sexy outfits. And, I'm into exhibitionism, doing it in risky places."

"Ooh." Janus interrupts. "What's the worst place you've ever had sex in?"

Roman laughs aloud, eyes going towards Virgil, who also has the decency to blush. "Worst place would be the park in town, but there was one time that Virgil and I got asked to leave the cinema."

"And asked to never return." Virgil mumbles.

"Yeah, we're bad boys." Roman jokes, patting Virgil on the back. "Anyway! To continue, I think somnophilia is really hot, but obviously we discuss that a lot beforehand. And being rough, putting subs in their places." He lists, and Janus notices how Virgil presses his legs together under the table, clearly thinking about some past memories.

"Then, limits other than our group ones are physically hurting people. I'm not into hitting him as much as he would enjoy it. You're up, Vee."

"Um," He stutters. "Oh, god, this is embarrassing."

"You're okay." Roman says, taking his hand.

"Okay." He breathes in. "Well, obviously the puppy stuff. I like being degraded, and praised, actually, too. Being gagged. I'm a bit of a sadist. I like being owned, and I'm really into free use. Like, the idea that I'm their property and they can just use me whenever they want. I'm into doing the somno stuff with Ro for the same reasons. Bratting, and the punishments that come with it, getting tied up. My general rule is that I'll try everything at least once. They used to call me "Virgil 'Up for Anything' Storm" at the club I used to go to before I met these three."

"That sounds slightly damaging." Janus says a little worriedly. "Most subs that I know that claim to be 'up for anything' are just too scared to express their limits and then just end up getting taken advantage of."

Virgil shrugs, leaning back in his chair. "You wouldn't be wrong. When I first got into the kink scene, I had very low self-esteem, and I thought I had to make up for not being attractive by letting people do whatever they wanted to me."

Roman holds his arm out, and Virgil slumps into his side. "It's okay now, though." Virgil says. "Um, I do have a few hard limits. Insults that aren't sexual. Like, calling me a whore is fine, but I don't like being called anything actually mean. Like ugly or stuff. And, the furthest I will play with consent is the somno stuff, I don't do CNC and I don't do anything at all without both spoken and non-verbal safewords. I think that's it."

"Well done, my love." Roman praises, running his hand through Virgil's hair.

"Okay. It's my turn then, I guess." Janus nods. He takes a sip of his wine before continuing. "I like the pet play stuff as well. I'm more into praise than degradation. I like giving pleasure to my doms, and I like to wear sexy outfits. Bondage is always fun, to an extent. We're getting into limits, but I don't wanna be tied up and then left alone for ages or anything. I need attention or else I'll just drop. I'm into behaving really well and getting rewarded for it, bratting isn't my thing as much. I'm fine with the casual titles and stuff, too. That's that, I think."

"Noted." Logan says. "Thank you for sharing. Any other questions about any of that?"

"Uh," Janus begins, humming in thought. "Just circling back a little. Do you guys have a free use agreement, like, all the time?"

"Puppy," Logan says suddenly, tone of voice much clearer now. "Knees."

Virgil's eyes flick to Janus for a moment before he's sliding off his chair and dropping to the ground with a light thud. Janus watches him disappear under the table, and he sees the motion of Logan unzipping his fly, but that's all.

"We do, yes." Logan answers, seeming to not react at all to the scene that Janus is imagining under the table. "But it took us a lot of patience and trust to arrive at this point in our relationship, so there's no expectation of anything from you. That actually brings me to another question that I have for you."

"Okay, shoot."

"What is your expectation of us moving forward? Would you like to be soley somebody that we occasionally do scenes with, or is the idea of joining our arrangement something you'd be interested in?" He asks. "Oh, fuck, pup." He mumbles into his hand. "Swallow."

Patton pushes his chair back and tilts his head to watch the scene unfolding. Janus doesn't dare, not having gained that level of trust with Virgil quite yet, and not wanting to violate him in any way.

"Awh, good boy." Patton smiles. "Come here."

Being sat right next to Patton, Janus could see a lot better this time as Virgil crawled over.

"Get yourself off, hump my leg like a mutt in heat."

Janus blushes at the words, even though they're not directed at him, and looks away. "Um," He begins, turning back to Logan. "Either. Depends what you guys want." He states plainly, stopping his words when he finds it hard to speak over Virgil's breathy gasps and whimpers.

Logan rolls his eyes and kicks Virgil's side under the table. "Be quiet about it or you get left needy." He scolds. "Sorry, carry on." He gestures to Janus.

"Well, I'm kind of in-between houses right now. Staying with a friend. So, being welcomed into your household is an option, it just depends if that's something you're wanting as well."

"Sure. It'd be a bit of a commitment, but we'd be willing to help you adjust." Roman adds. "We spoke about it this morning, and we'd all be happy to have you."

Virgil gasped under the table, and Janus thought it was remarkable how all of his doms managed to completely ignore it. The puppy's hand reached up to Patton's shirt, tugging on it with a whimper.

Patton looked down, as if this was the first he was hearing of Virgil's situation, and nodded. "Go on then, if you must. Ruin your boxers for me, dirty pup."

Virgil gasped again, breathing out an extended moan of pleasure as he so clearly orgasmed under the table.

"Can you be any louder about it?" Roman asks sarcastically. "Sit back down whilst we're still letting you walk on two legs."

It's about two seconds later when Virgil re-emerges from under the table, cheeks flushed out of embarrassment as he sheepishly sat back down in his seat and took a very large helping of his wine.

"As I was saying," Roman restarts, but it cut off once more.

"Um," Virgil pipes up. "Can I please go and change out of these jeans?"

"You can, but watch your manners. That's the second time this week." Logan says.

Virgil stands, scampering off almost instantly, probably because he felt humiliated in front of Janus.

"Actually," Said man brings up. "I did want to speak to Virgil alone at some point, can I go up with him?"

"Yeah. You don't need to ask just yet, no worries." Patton says with a warm smile, and Janus nods, heading upstairs in the same direction that Virgil went.

He trapsed up the stairs, a little worried about finding the other man until he saw what was obviously a bedroom door ajar. He approached it slowly, knocking on the side of the doorframe without entering in case Virgil was getting changed and didn't want to be creeped on.

Virgil hummed at the sound, and Janus appeared in the doorway. He saw that Virgil was in fact getting changed, rummaging around through his closet in only his black boxers and t-shirt.

"Oh, hi. The bathroom's on the right down there." He said absentmindedly, flicking his hand in that direction.

"No, actually, I wanted to speak to you, Virgil." He says softly.

"Argh!" Virgil exclaims suddenly, throwing a piece of black fabric to the ground. "I don't have any fucking jeans clean."

Janus nods, entering the room and picking up the article of clothing, which he found was a black miniskirt.

"Sorry." Virgil apologises. "Daddy doesn't like it when I swear."

"Well, I'm not your Daddy, you can curse around me as much as you want." He replies, sitting down on the large bed in the room. "Are you okay?"

Virgil turns to look at Janus and then shakes his head. "I don't have anything to wear."

"Physically or mentally?" He asked, pointing down at the skirt.

"Both. I don't want to wear any dressy-uppy outfits, but I can't dress down either."

"Why can't you dress down?"

"They like it when I wear nice clothes. It's like five-pm, I can't wear joggers or pyjamas, it'd let them down."

"I did want to talk to you, actually." Janus says. "Come sit down? Or, maybe when you've changed out of your cum-soaked boxers."

Virgil blushes, tugging his t-shirt down as if he's only just realised that he was standing there in his boxers, with the evidence of his orgasm visible on the front.
"Uh, yeah." He says, quickly walking over to the bed, where he retrieved a pair of plaid pyjama bottoms from underneath one of the pillows.

Two minutes later, he had been to the bathroom and back, and was now wearing the pyjamas, probably out of convenience.

"Kay. What's the haps?" He sighed, sitting down beside Janus.

"Well, I just wanted to check that you're okay with this."

"Yea, Ro said we're all okay, so we're okay."

"No, I mean- Like, I know that sometimes as subs, we go along with things that please our doms even if it's not exactly what we want. Do you actually want to bring another submissive into your dynamic, or are you just letting it happen because they want it?"

Virgil breathes in a little. "It's not you." He says hesitantly. "I have anxiety, I've been with them for so long, and I love how it is now." He admits. "I'm worried, I guess, that you're going to throw what we have off balance."

"There's not much balance, puppy, you have three dominants all to yourself." Janus says in an amused tone.

"And I like it that way, kitty-cat." He fires back, flopping down onto the bed. "Like I say, it's not you, it's my anxiety. You seem like a good guy and and an even better sub. I mean, my owners like you, so you're doing something right."

"Tell me about them." Janus changes the subject quickly. "In your own experience."

"Yeesh, uh, okay." He accepts, one hand coming to slip between his collar and his neck. "Well, Logan's a mean dom. You might have gathered that. He likes playing rough, making me suffer. And he's a horny bastard when you get to know him; we have sex a lot. Like, a lot. He also likes to just pull on my collar, or put me on a leash and tie me up. Once he tied my leash to one of the kitchen cabinets and then left me alone there for hours until I literally pissed myself."

"Ah."

"Mhm. It's control, for him, mainly. He loves to be in charge. The three of them get in fights, playfully, over me a lot. Maybe you'll help with that."

"He seemed quite.. scary, almost? When you were doing that scene at the play party."

"He is. He loves giving out punishments, and they're always more harsh than I deserve. But, he'll tone it down if you need him to."

"What about Patton?"

"Oh, Patton's the opposite. He's a total sweetheart, and he loves to take care of his subs. He has a lot of fun with teasing, and when I brat out, it's almost always for him, because he loves to put me in my place. He's still quite commanding, though. I mean, he literally just made me come in my boxers like a teenager."

"How old are you, actually? I realise I don't know, but you look semi-young."

"Old enough." Virgil replies. "I turned twenty last week."

"Oh, happy birthday."

"Thanks."

Janus giggles to himself. "Two weeks out of actually being a teenager coming in your boxers."

"Nineteen is not a teenager." Virgil scoffs back lightly.

"It's literally in the title."

"Yeah, but nobody actually thinks it is."

"Agree to disagree. How old are the others?"

"Uh, oh god, I'm not good with ages." Virgil bluffs. "Roman is twenty-two. Uh, I think Logan is twenty-four. Maybe twenty-three? Patton's the oldest. He's definitely twenty-four."

"When did you meet them?"

"I was eighteen when I met Ro, and I pet Patton and Logan like six months later, but I was nineteen then."

"Oh. I assumed they came as a package deal."

"Nah. Actually, Roman and I dated for like four months before we even met those two. Logan met Roman separately and then caught feelings, so he introduced us, and then we met Patton at a similar event to how we met you."

"So you and Roman must have a different connection?" Janus observes.

"A little. Roman's an interesting one. Obviously, we told you about the cinema incident, that was his idea. He likes to show me off a lot, and that means public fucking occasionally. Once he was feeling really possessive over me, and he dragged me downstairs and fucked the shit out of me in front of Patton and Logan to show them that he was the best top."

"And is he?" Janus smirks.

"Eh. Logan's cock is the biggest. But, I think it's your call."

"If you don't mind me saying, Virgil, you're not exactly small down there yourself."

"Mm." Virgil hums. "Patton's the only one who bottoms, too. He uses me as a dildo a lot, so I must be doing something right. I won't read into the fact that you've clearly been staring at my dick all evening."

Janus laughs. "It's not like that, just an observation. I'd pay good money to take your cock."

"Jesus, buy me a drink first." Virgil smirks. There's a moment between them where a spark begins to form.

Janus' hand finds its way to Virgil's thigh.

"Okay, pup. Maybe I will."

"Christ." Virgil mutters. "You're a flirt, you know that?"

"Maybe." He smirks.

Virgil finds himself short of breath as he sits so close to Janus.

"I really want to kiss you right now. Is that weird?" Virgil breathes.

"No." Janus says back.

"I'll get in trouble." Virgil voices. "I'm not meant to."

"What they don't know can't hurt them." Janus whispers. It's like they're the only two people in the world.

"I thought you said that you like behaving."

"Within reason." Janus smirks, and suddenly they're kissing.

It's hot and passionate. Virgil absolutely drinks in Janus' moans, grinding against the other man whist they make out.

---

Janus and Virgil scamper downstairs very sheepishly ten minutes later. It seemed okay that they were yet to return, because the three men downstairs were in the middle of laughing about something together.

"Oh, what have you two been up to?" Roman asks, leaning back in his chair. "Oh!" He repeats, with a scandalous tone of voice. "What have you two been up to?"

Patton turns to look at them as well, eyes widening. "Come here, puppy dog." He says, tone commanding and leaving no room for argument.

Virgil swallows, hard, and looks back at Janus.
"Daddy-"

"No. Come here."

Virgil walks over slowly, and the moment that he's in range of Patton's hand, he's grabbed by the collar and pulled onto Patton's lap.

The man grabs the underside of Virgil's chin, eyes studying his face, and then he harshly shoves two fingers into Virgil's mouth.

"Did you do anything more than kiss him hello?" Patton asks, shoving his fingers deeper down Virgil's throat so that he gags.

"How do you know we were kissing?" Janus asks softly. Logan raises his eyebrows.

"Firstly," Roman snorts with laughter. "Virgil came down the stairs with a semi. His lips are swollen, so are yours."

"Also," Patton adds, tone of voice intentionally overly sweet. "He gets this look in his eyes, when he wants a good pounding. Which makes me extremely relieved to assume that he hasn't actually had sex with you. Has he?"

Virgil whines, shifting backward in Patton's lap.

"Um, well- we did some grinding, and- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to get him in trouble."

"You didn't." Patton says, pulling his fingers out of Virgil's mouth, leaving a string of saliva on his fingers. "He gets himself in trouble. You don't know the rules, he does. We expect better, mutt."

"I'm sorry, Daddy." Virgil whispers. "You told me you wanted me to get along with him."

"If we want you to whore around, pet, we'll let you know." Logan hums, finishing his glass of wine and standing. "Janus, are you interested in staying here tonight?"

"I mean," Janus says, breath hitching. "I need to get home to my friend tonight. But, I'd really like to see where this goes." He hedges, gesturing to Virgil.

Logan chuckles, walking towards Virgil and Patton. He picks Virgil up by his underarms like an unruly child, and drags him off of Patton's lap. The sub whines petulantly as he's put down on his dog bed.

"Oh, quit whining." Logan scoffs. "We're in scene now. You don't speak unless it's to express a safeword, and all other rules we usually implement when you're a disobedient mutt. Is that understood?"

Virgil nods profusely, keeping his mouth shut and staring up at Logan from his position on the ground.

"You're taking charge on this, then, Lo?" Roman asks, standing up.

"If you two don't mind."

"Not at all! I'll go fetch the box." Patton smiles before disappearing up the stairs.

"Janus, do you consent to watching this?" Logan asks.

"Of course." Janus nods. "Maybe I could get involved?"

Roman grins. "Yes! Oh! Maybe, we let Logan and Patton take care of the naughty doggy, and we could have our own fun, maybe watch them whilst we do so."

Janus goes breathless, nodding softly. "Please, sir."

Roman winks, taking him by the hand. "We use the traffic light system here. Are you familiar?"

"Yes."

"Brilliant. I think we're about to get a very nice view of the puppy getting punished." Roman whispers, taking Janus over to the sofa. "Come sit down, Kitten. I'll make you feel good."

Janus watches as Virgil is manhandled out of his shirt. For what it's worth, he's a well-behaved pup when he wants to be.

"Virgil, are you okay doing this in front of Janus?" Logan asks softly. "You can speak."

"Yeah, that's fine." Virgil nods.

"Good." Logan says, grinning sadistically down at his sub.

It was probably going to be a long night for him.

Chapter Text

Patton made it back down the stairs in record time. In his hands was a box - and it was one that had Virgil whimpering as it was placed down in front of him.

It was incredibly typical for Virgil to not be permitted to speak during their scenes, since "pets don't speak", in the same way that they don't walk on two legs or get up on the furniture.

Because of this, he had learned to become very expressive in other ways. His most frequently used method of communication was his whining and whimpering.

Which is exactly what he was doing now, blinking at Patton to try and earn some sympathy.

"Shh, shh, puppy, be quiet. It's okay." Patton whispers, placing his hand over Virgil's mouth. The man was sat on his ass, legs spread and outstretched as Patton knelt between them. He was shirtless, and leant back on his hands as he looked up at his Daddy. "Be a good boy, won't you?"

"Alright." Logan says cutting through the moment. "Your choice, pet, because I'm feeling lenient. Do you want to be gagged or blindfolded?"

He thought about it for a moment, ideas hazy because of his subspace. He was basically already unable to speak, so surely being gagged wouldn't be much worse?

Master hadn't given him permission to talk, so he just pointed lazily to his mouth.

Logan nods, taking the lid off the box and rummaging around a little. He pulled out a classic red ball gag, as well as Virgil's puppy ears.

"This is going to be tight." Logan says. "Open wide."

Virgil obeys, trying not to think too hard about the fact that Janus was watching his every move.

The dominant man pushes the ball gag into Virgil's mouth, allowing him to bite down onto it. "Let us know if this starts to actually hurt." He commands, pulling on the straps to fasten it tightly around Virgil's head.

He then placed the ears onto Virgil's head, who sunk down a little to lie back on his elbows on his dog bed.

From the sofa, he watches Janus and Roman make out. Janus is straddling Roman's lap, hands on Roman's neck and chin as they kiss. It looks natural and passionate, like they were meant to be together. Virgil got this horrible ache in his chest, unable to look away but not wanting to watch at all as his boyfriend got it on with another man right in front of-

"Pay attention, bitch." Logan says loudly, and Virgil's head snaps back to meet Logan's eyes. Patton rubs a hand up and down Virgil's thigh comfortingly.

"Come on kitten, want me to fuck you?" Roman whispers, not quiet enough that Virgil doesn't hear it. "Yeah?"

"Please, Sir, please fuck me." Janus whispers, letting Roman take his shirt off him.

"For the last time, mutt, eyes on me." Logan commands, rummaging around in the box.

Virgil nods, eyes snapping away from Roman and Janus. Master knew what was best for him. This was what his doms wanted.

"Okay," Logan begins. "Here's what's going to happen. Be grateful I'm telling you. Firstly, your Daddy and I are going to use you. If you're so eager to slut around, maybe you need reminding who you belong to. Because only we make you feel these things, do you understand?"

Virgil nods.

"You won't come. If you do, it'll be the last time for a month, and I mean that. Once we've had our fun with you, we're gonna leave you with our come dripping out of your stretched-out hole, with a vibrator wrapped around your little cock."

Virgil whines, kicking his legs a little in protest.

"I'm not done, pup." Logan reprimands. "We'll leave you there for as long as we see fit, and you will come this time. You'll come as many times as we want you to. If you're so eager to be fucked and to orgasm, you'll get what you want. And you'll keep coming until you're crying, begging to be let off."

Virgil scrunched his eyebrows down, fighting the urge to kick his legs and whine like a child. This was not fair! All he did was kiss someone that they had invited into their home under the pretense of kissing! ...And other stuff, but still!

"Strip." Logan commands absentmindedly. "Do you want to fuck him first or shall I?" He asks Patton.

"I will." Patton grins. "You always stretch him out too much, he's so loose when Ro and I get to him. I want him tight. Or, as tight as he can be after taking us so much." Patton giggles, and Logan rolls his eyes.

"Look at him." Logan comments. "He loves it when we talk about him like he's not in the room."

"Did your Master not tell you to strip about thirty seconds ago?" Patton asks, turning to where Virgil is frozen listening to the two of them. His cock is impossibly hard between his legs.

Virgil blinks, as if just realising then that he'd been given a command, and teases the waistband of his pyjamas with his right hand.

He worries for a moment about getting completely naked in front of Janus, but when he glances over, the sub is too busy sucking Roman off to even look at him.

Not wanting to get in any more trouble, Virgil kicks his pyjama bottoms off and is left naked on his dog bed.

"Look at you drooling around that gag like a dirty little dog." Patton coos at Virgil, using his thumb to spread Virgil's lips and wipe the drool away. It's an obscene sight. "Present, puppy."

Virgil spins around in an instant, dropping his head to the ground and getting into the appropriately named puppy position. His knees are on the ground, shoulders touching the floor with his head nearby.

This leaves his ass in the air, hands out in front of him as a cushion for his head. Patton lubes his fingers up and pushes two into Virgil's hole in one go.

"Remember that you're not allowed to come." He reminds Virgil as he starts scissoring his fingers. Virgil whines around his gag, hips canting backwards, which earns him a slap on the ass.

Virgil moans like a pornstar when Patton pushes into him. It makes both Roman and Janus look over at him, and Virgil hopes deep down that Roman is jealous.

Janus makes direct eye contact with Virgil as he starts getting fucked into, and Janus too whines as Roman fingers him against the sofa.

"Are you okay if I take his gag off him for a moment?" Patton asks, looking to Logan. "I want to hear the puppy scream."

"Of course." Logan permits.

Patton delivers one harsh thrust, and then he's drooping his body over Virgil's to undo the strap on the gag. He pulls it out and leaves it to the side.

From where he's draped over Virgil's back, Patton continues to thrust, slow and deep. Virgil gasps at it, and Patton leans down and quickly licks the side of Virgil's face.

"You're not talking, but you're going to beg." Patton whispers.

Virgil whines, high-pitched and quick. His Daddy groans into his ear, and Virgil repeats the noise again, whimpering in short bursts.

Daddy begins to thrust, knowing just how to get Virgil going, to the point where he's digging his hands into the carpet and gasping with closeness within minutes.

Virgil's eyes roll back in his head as Patton abuses his prostate, and fuck- fuck, this feels like more of a reward than a punishment, spread out on his dog bed and taking cock like a good boy.

He was overwhelmed with the pure undeniable feelings of good, good. So good, so close, he loved every moment of this and-

"Pull out." Logan says suddenly. "He's close."

And then the feeling was gone.

He whined again, like a disobedient mutt. He was left empty and exposed in his position of presentation. It didn't help that he could hear Janus' moans all the while.

"Daddy-" He murmured in upset, unable to stop himself.

He was slapped on his thigh at that, hard. Virgil yelped, and then yelped again as his hair was tugged on.

Just the angry breaths on the back of his neck could tell him that this was Logan he was now dealing with.

"Wow!" Logan exclaims, anger seeping through his tone. "You really have no fucking idea how to behave, do you?"

Virgil's breaths are quick and heavy as his head is dropped back onto the pillow.

"You can speak, since you want to so much."

"I'm sorry, Master, I'm sorry-"

"Yeah, I fucking bet you're sorry." Logan grits to him. "Dumb little slut, you don't know how to do anything but lie down and take cocks in your ass, do you?"

At those words, Logan's tip is poking at his entrance.

"You'll be speaking this time, mutt. In fact, I don't want any silence from you for longer than a second. If you're quiet, it should be because you're breathing, and that's all. Every second, a word is going to come out of your mouth. All of your dumb little thoughts are going to come straight out of your mouth until I see fit that you stop."

"Yes, Master, yes." Virgil agrees.

"From now, bitch." Logan says, hands gripping into Virgil's hips so hard that he's sure he'll bruise. The idea has his cock jumping again. He starts to push in, and Virgil does as he's been told.

"Master, Master, want you." He rambles, not even sure of what's he's saying as Logan thrusts into him. "Want you so bad, want your cock, your- fuck, fuck, your big cock stretching me open, making me feel good, so good."

"Good boy." Logan praises sparsely, increasing his speed and roughly pounding into Virgil below him.

"Yours," Virgil continues. "Always yours, your puppy. Love you, love you, fuck, fuck me, fuck me please- Christ, fuck, fuck, feels so good, you're so big inside me, and-"

Virgil's eyes wander.

Janus is lying down against the sofa, face in a pillow. He's naked, and Roman is slowly, gently, so lovingly pleasuring him, fucking into him with care and appreciation, like Roman does, like he always has. Just like he did to him on their first date.

The stream of words falls out of Virgil's mouth.

"And?" Logan prompts with a harsh thrust.

Virgil blinks as he realises that he's meant to be speaking. There are words in his mouth, words to be said, but they don't translate verbally.

"Roman." He whispers.

Roman doesn't hear him, instead whispering Praises into Janus' ears.

"Virge?" Logan's asking, having stilled inside of him. "Can you give me a colour?"

Right, fuck, Logan.

"Green." He answers instantly. He didn't want anything to change, he was just letting his mind wander too much. It was a lot, seeing them right there and- "Actually," He whispers, secure in the knowledge that Logan is listening. "Can I have my blindfold?"

"Of course you can."

And so, Virgil's eyes move away, and he gently closes them with a deep exhale. He feels Logan pull out, and then there's a black band of fabric being placed over his eyes and tied behind the back of his head. Logan's hand lingers on his collar for a moment.

"You all okay now?" He asks.
"Yes, master."

"Okay, Pup."

Logan pushes back in, and Virgil gasps. Without his sight, he's forced to feel every little sensation, and, oh, oh, fuck.

"Master-" He moans needily.

"Shut up." Master replies, resuming his thrusts at a rate just as harsh as before. "This isn't for your pleasure, puppy, it's for mine. You're nothing but a little fleshlight, a sex toy, don't forget that."

Virgil lets himself go slack, dropping into the dog bed with his ass still up in the air, back arched as he gasps and whines.

Logan's hand comes down to start stroking Virgil's cock rhythmically. He gasps, and lets out an exaggerated moan. He's getting close, and he wants to come so bad, so bad, but if he does, he'll be in so much trouble it's unfathomable.

"Close-" He whispers.

"I know you are, mutt, you're gonna hang on a little longer."

Virgil pouts. This wasn't fair, he's being good now!

"Master, I can't-"
"Yes you can. Don't be pathetic, puppy." He scoffs, speeding up his movements.

Virgil's stomach twists with pleasure, building, building, and he's so close- he squeezes his eyes shut with the strain to stop himself from coming, if he can just hold on a little longer it'll be fine.

And then all of the pleasure is gone. He chases Logan's cock with his hips, but obviously has little control over the situation.

It's just when all of the affects of being so close to orgasm have faded away that Patton pushes back in. He can tell it's him from the soft caresses along his back, the soft giggle at his pathetic state, and the gentle entrance during which he is definitely looking for signs of discomfort from Virgil.

The puppy whines, just the way that he knows Patton loves to hear, and that gets him thrusting hard.

Virgil knows they're trying to tease him. Logan and Patton still haven't come yet, so they must intend on keeping going for a while.

Three times he's fucked by each of them, feeling so good stretched out on their cocks, but every time he's about to come, the feeling goes away.

He's crying by the time he's close for the seventh time. Patton gently works his cock with a fleshlight whilst fucking into him from behind. Logan is knelt down in front of his face, whispering harsh degradation and praise at him whilst stroking his cock.

Virgil shifts, and Patton hits him right where it feels incredible, and he cries out with a whine, hands grasping at Logan's jeans.

"Master, master, master, this time, please, need it." He rambles.

Logan scoffs.

"Well, I suppose. If you're so needy."

And Virgil's coming instantly.

He gasped, choking on his own pleasure as he dirties his dog bed with his own semen. It must have been his moans that pushed Logan over, because it was then that the man was coming all over Virgil's face and shoulders as he gasped again.

He was exhausted, having been edged for the better part of an hour.

Daddy was still thrusting into him, and then he gasped and twitched as he shot his seed into Virgil's hole, pulling out instantly so it was dripping out of him.

Virgil groaned, face down in his dog bed, still blindfolded and covered in cum from both ends.

He's ready to sleep, quite honestly, but his hands are grabbed and he's roughly pulled up to be sitting on his haunches.

There are handcuffs put on him, probably by Logan, and then there's a vibrator pushing into his ass, being lodged right against his prostate. It's not turned on yet, and neither is the mechanical fleshlight fastened to his cock.

"Close your eyes." He hears Logan's voice say, and his hands are on the back of his blindfold. "The room is going to feel bright when this comes off."

He does as he's told, and the blindfold comes off.

When he opens his eyes to the living room, his eyes go right to the sofa.

Janus is lying on his back. His hands are together above his head, which is thrown back in pleasure as Roman kisses him, three fingers deep in Janus' wet cunt at the same time.

They're both naked, and their couch is stained with come. Roman's cock is hard between his legs, but he's not worried about his own pleasure. The three discarded condoms on the sofa arm tell Virgil enough about what happened whilst he was blindfolded.

"Such a good little kitten, so good, beautiful." Roman whispers, and Virgil has to focus hard to hear it.

The vibrator turns on at the same time as the fleshlight does, and Virgil gasps, body spasming.

"Okay." Logan says, slapping Virgil's thigh. "I don't care how much you squirm or whine or beg, puppy, just stay on your bed. You'll come once for each time we edged you. Do you remember, or is your dumb little puppy brain too stupid to think?"

Virgil can't find the words. It's not as if he knows anyway.

"Six times, pup. You'll come six times until we let you off. Okay?"

"Yes, master." He sniffles. "I'm sorry."

"I know. Alright, let's leave him be." Logan says, directed at Patton.

Virgil turns around just to see his Daddy turning up the vibrations on both to their highest settings. He feels it a second later, and collapses onto his dog bed, into his own jizz, gasping and squirming from the feeling.

His dog bed was on the other side of the room from the sofa.

Virgil watched as his Daddy and Master walked along over to the sofa and started doting on Janus too.

All three of them, surrounding him. Patton kisses his forehead as Janus sucks Roman off. Logan's fingers are working over Janus' clit, sucking hickeys into his skin.

Janus looks pathetic. Fuck, is that what he looked like? Virgil comes again at the thought, squealing. He was hoping that one of them would pay him some attention, even acknowledge his orgasm, but none of them even batted an eye.

His dominants work so carefully together to treat Janus so nicely. Virgil feels like he's watching porn. He can't take his eyes off them. Janus moans and pleas at them. He calls the three men by the same titles as Virgil.

The puppy closes his eyes and listens to the words of his doms, pretending they're being said to him rather than Janus.

"So good, good boy, good good boy. You're so beautiful, so lovely for us." He hears his Daddy say.

Virgil's third orgasm of the evening hits him like a truck, and it's suddenly a lot. The overstimulation has finally set in, and he can't stop himself from whining loudly, back arching up off the dog bed.

"Mm, Daddy, Daddy, Sir, Master. Love you, fuck me please." He whispers to himself. He's too far away for any of them to hear.

He's horrendously sensitive, and the vibrations don't help. Virgil comes again, and again, and again.

By the time he's nearing his final orgasm, his hands are shaking and he's crying. It's so much, the feeling is so much.

Logan is fucking Janus on the sofa, rough and sexy and just how he likes it, and the sight has Virgil orgasming.

It's a pathetic orgasm, and doesn't even feel that good for Virgil after so many. He's sweating and shaking, and still having it about him to acknowledge that that was number six, his head drops to the side to look at his doms.

But they aren't looking at him.

All of their eyes are on Janus.

"Master-" He gasps. "Master!"

Logan is fucking into Janus recklessly, drinking in Janus' moans. The other two are watching and stroking their own cocks.

"Logan!" Virgil says loudly.

Logan's eyes flicker over to him for a moment, and then widen as if he'd only just remembered Virgil was even there.

"Oh!" Logan says, stilling inside Janus. "Was that six, baby?"

Virgil nods, eyes rolling back in his head as the sensations continued. He was still handcuffed and moaning in pleasure, making desperate eye contact with his master.

Logan curses under his breath and gives Janus a kiss on the forehead. "Wait here kitten, Daddy and Sir will take care of you." He whispers.

"Okay, Master." Janus breaths lightly.

Logan pulls out, completely naked as he whispers something to Roman and Patton before heading over to Virgil.

The puppy is a whining mess, mouth falling open in a gasp as Logan approaches.

"I'm so sorry puppy, I got a bit distracted with the kitten over there." He apologises. "Such a good boy for waiting so patiently."

The vibrator inside of him is turned off and then removed, as is the fleshlight taken off his cock.

"You're still hard, pup, do you want master to get you off, or would you rather leave it? Up to you."

Virgil takes a deep breath in, processing his feelings now he was no longer being so constantly pleasured.

"I'll- um, I'll sort it out, master."

"Will you?"

"If that's okay?"

Logan raises an eyebrow. "Ask me that properly, pet." He commands.

Virgil sits up, leaning back on his handcuffed wrists.

"Please can I get myself off, please, master?"

Logan hums. "Alright. Remind me why you're in trouble today, first."

"I kissed Janus without permission, master." Virgil relays. "But it- It's not fair."

Logan sits down and gently pulls Virgil into his lap. "What's not fair, pretty pup?"

"He- we both-" Virgil's words fell out of his mouth as he looked up at his master. He was irritated that he'd done the exact same thing as Janus, and the kitten had been rewarded, whilst he had been punished.

But then he realised that complaint would get him nowhere. If anything, it would get him in more trouble.

"Nothing, master, I'm sorry. I trust your judgement."

"Good boy." He praises, kissing Virgil's forehead. "Shall we go upstairs?" He asks, uncuffing Virgil gently. "Have some aftercare and cuddling?"

Virgil looks back over at the sofa. Janus is grinding against Patton's leg, whining and whimpering. Roman has his hands on Janus' hips behind him, sucking hickeys into his neck. Virgil can't help but notice that Logan looks too.

"No, that's okay." Virgil says softly. "Get back to looking after him, I'm exhausted, I think I'm just gonna crash."

"Are you sure?" Logan asks. "It's no issue. I can come and just lie down with you."

Virgil shakes his head. "No, I'm sure. Now, go, he looks needy." Virgil giggles. Logan smiles and ruffles his hair.

"Alright. Goodnight, Virgil."

"Night."

Logan gets up, and is gone back to dote over Janus in an instant. Virgil watches the four of them for about thirty seconds before getting up.

He walks over to find his pyjama bottoms and t-shirt discarded on the floor, and wordlessly picks them up to head upstairs.

His puppy ears go back in their play box, and he's hiding away from the world under the duvet the second he's in the room.

Having been a couple minutes, his cock is achingly hard for touch now, and knowing that he has permission, Virgil grips his cock under the duvet.

It might be a little hard without anything to go off of, but he tugs at his cock anyway. He closes his eyes and breathes quickly. Maybe it's unfair to his other boyfriends, but whenever he doesn't know what to think about whilst masturbating, he goes right to Roman.

Roman whispering sweet praises in his ear, Roman fucking into him lovingly, sucking hickeys into his neck. Roman showing him off around the house, out in public. Roman waking him up by sucking him off, eating him out. Blinking awake to his hard cock in his mouth, choking on it in his sleep-induced haze. Roman, roman, fuck, his first real love. He hadn't lost his virginity to Roman, but it'd been the first time he'd realised what sex was meant to feel like. The man who treated him so gently, who promised to marry him and kiss him everyday. Roman, roman, god. The man who loved him first, the man who he loved first, the man who was fucking into another man with the same look of adoration that he's used to. The man who didn't even look in his direction during the scene today.

Virgil comes with a gasp, shooting his seed all over the duvet.

And everything is gone.

The feelings of arousal that he had disappear as his cock softens in his hand. They're replaced with a different feeling, a worse one. Jealousy, yes, but- but he feels ...alone. In the dark under his duvet, his three boyfriends having sex with another man downstairs, he feels alone. Maybe he's dropping, maybe that's it. He needs to go and find one of his boyfriends.

But they're busy. He doesn't want to annoy them. He wants to be good.

Right hand still covered in his own semen, he exhales, eyes watering.

He needs to shower.

The moment he gets into the bathroom, he locks the door behind him, and it all comes crashing down.

Back against the door, and face buried in the hoodie he'd thrown on, Virgil allows himself to cry.

And cry he does.

Chapter Text

Sunlight against Virgil's face brought him to awareness.

He groaned, not yet willing to open his eyes and face the day.

The pair of arms wrapped around his waist squeezed a little, pulling him closer into their chest.

"You awake, mi amor?" Roman whispers softly, kissing his shoulder.

"If I say no, will you believe me?" He murmurs into his pillow. Roman chuckles lowly, rolling Virgil over to kiss his forehead.

Virgil pouts as Roman tells him they need to get up.

He sits up slowly, seeing that other than the two of them, their bed is very much empty.

"Where're the others?" He asks groggily.

"Downstairs on breakfast duty. Didn't want you to wake up alone, and you look like you needed the sleep."

"Gee, thanks."

"Um, Vee-" Roman begins, his left hand falling onto Virgil's shoulder. "Can I ask you something?"

"I'm too young to wed, Ro." Virgil replies in dry sarcasm.

"You weren't upset last night, were you?" He cuts right to the chase.

Virgil blinks. "Um, what makes you ask that?"

"Oh, it's just- well, we kind of started the scene and then I didn't get to see you much. And we finished with Janus, and we did aftercare with him, and by the time he'd left and we came upstairs you were out like a light."

"You've just given me a breakdown of events, love." He drawls.

"It's just that usually we talk about our scenes afterwards. And Logan told me you said you didn't want aftercare, which isn't like you at all."

Virgil rolls his eyes and slides off the bed. "I was tired, Ro, can I not be tired?"

"I'm trying to talk to you, Virgil." Roman sighs, crossing his legs on the bed.

"I'm not trying to not talk to you, I'm just telling you I was tired last night. Is that okay?" He asks, sarcasm and annoyance dripping from his voice.

Roman stands from the bed. "I don't know where this attitude is coming from, puppy." He sighs, opening his arms. "C'mere."

Virgil blinks for a moment and then he drops into Roman's embrace, holding him tightly. He didn't know why he was so upset last night, he was fine. Roman was hugging him and taking care of him. Virgil bet Roman didn't hug Janus like this.

"We're going to talk about this later." Roman whispers.

"No, it's fine. I'm sorry I was annoying, it's okay. I genuinely was just tired. I mean, I came, like, eight times. Cut me some slack."

"Alright." Roman nods, kissing him on the forehead again. "Let's go downstairs before Pat and Lo worry."

When the two make it downstairs, they're greeted with the smell of cooking toast and brewing coffee.

"Morning." Roman said with a smile. He walked over and pecked Patton's cheek.

"Morning, boys." Patton greets. "Was starting to think you were never gonna wake up, Vee."

Virgil nods, taking his usual seat at the breakfast bar. "You could'a woken me up, you know. I wouldn't have minded. Thanks." He mumbles, taking the cup of tea that he was offered from Logan. He used to drink coffee, but it made his anxiety worsen, so he was trying to wane off of it.

"Oh," Roman pouts. "But you look so pretty when you're asleep."

"Yeah, you would say that." Virgil rolls his eyes.

"Play nice, Virge." Logan hums, walking around to sit next to him on a stool with his own mug of coffee.

"Speaking of playing," Patton says, and Virgil looks up from his drink with curiosity. "Or, rather, lack thereof. I was thinking that, after how well last night went, we could go out with Janus, as ourselves rather than doms and subs, to get to know him a little better."

"Yeah, maybe at some point." Virgil replies.

"We aren't doing anything today." Roman suggests.

"Do you have the energy to go out today, Virgil? I imagine you're feeling fatigued following your punishment last night." Logan asks for his input.

"A little, yeah. But, I think I'd be fine." He says.

"I sense a bit of hesitance behind those beautiful brown eyes." Roman says softly.

Virgil blushes and hides his face in his tea, before clearing his throat. "Okay. I- agh, I guess I don't really know how I feel. About Janus."

The three other men in the room seem to still for a moment, and Virgil feels this horrible pit in his stomach.

"Never mind." He says instantly. "Sorry, ignore me."

"No," Logan says sternly. "No, please elaborate."

"It's stupid."

"I'm sure it's not, love." Patton chastises.

"Just, like, he was really nice to my face, and then he got me in trouble."

"Aww, poor baby." Roman coos mockingly. Patton smacks him upside the back of his head, and he yelps.

"He's sharing his feelings, Roman, be kind."

"Sorry," Roman pouts. "Go on, Vee."

Virgil doesn't really know what else to say. He wants to be honest with his boyfriends, he really does, but it's easier said than done. They just seem so.. happy with Janus. He can't ruin that. And, it's not even as if he dislikes Janus. It was just the nature of that one scene.

"Well, it-" Ach, no. He can't say this. This is bad. It's bad, it's a bad thing to say. "It's, like, I-"

I felt like Janus flirted with me to get me in trouble so he could have you three all to himself.

"It just made me feel like-"

I felt unseen when he was in the room.

"Like he- he wanted me to-"

I felt like you three liked him more than you like me.

"Sorry." Virgil splutters. "I don't know what I was going to say. I think I'm just jealous that I got punished and he didn't."

"Can I give you a logical reason for that one, puppy?" Logan asks, standing to put his finished mug of coffee in the dishwasher.

"Okay."

"We haven't built that kind of trust with Janus quite yet. We're only able to do what we do to you because we've got that relationship with you. It would have been a lot for him if our first scene was a punishment. Next time, we'll outline the rules properly, and we'll dabble in that kind of scene if it's what we all desire."

Oh.

Yeah, that made sense. Virgil knew he was just being irrational.

"Right." Virgil nods. "So, are we going somewhere with him? Today?"

"Well, I certainly think we should ask." Roman grins.

----

Janus, they find, is in fact free.

Logan drives them to the mall, where they plan to meet him, right on the speed limit.

For the first few minutes of the journey, Virgil had laid in Patton's lap, having his hair played with. But then Logan had seen them in the rear-view mirror and started a rant about how unsafe the position is if they were to get in an accident.

So Virgil sat up with a pout. He was wearing an outfit that his doms had picked out for him, and he was pleased that he would be able to show it off to Janus.

They'd switched his usual collar (which was so obviously kink gear to anyone that saw it) with a much more subtle, thin leather one that operated like a choker, but felt like a dog collar around Virgil's neck. He also wore a black tank top underneath a white crocheted top that only extended over his arms and collarbones before stopping, as well as a purple pleated skirt.

The skirt had taken some persuasion, but he was also wearing shorts under it, and quite masculine doc marten boots that made it feel better.

The walk up the car park stairs was incredibly tiring, and it meant that Virgil could weave his way into getting Roman to carry him into the shopping mall.

Something that Virgil had learned quite quickly was that he had to ignore the way other people looked at him. He was a lanky, quite feminine and therefore visibly gay young man who cross-dressed, and was often doted over in public. It got him quite a few stares in his time, and he hates it, so when Roman carries him, he buries his face in Roman's chest to not have to look at anyone.

"We're here, baby boy. I'm gonna set you down." Roman whispers after some trekking, and Virgil pouts as he's placed on the ground again. He wobbles, and Roman puts his hands on his hips to steady him. Virgil can't help but blush, although the touch is fleeting and doesn't last long.

"Janus!" Patton squeals upon seeing the man, who leans against a storefront on his phone. Janus looks up, and his expression splits into a grin.

He's wearing a yellow crop-top that does nothing to hide his stomach muscles with a beige, knitted cardigan that drapes down over his dark grey mom jeans.

Virgil's eyes linger on his exposed skin, and then they draw back up to see that Janus was also looking at him, and had totally noticed him ogling.

The man in question approaches the group with an excited grin, and greets Logan first with a hug.
"Good morning, Janus." Logan says.
"Yeah, hi." He giggles back, and then hugs Roman, and Patton, too.

Janus hesitates when he gets to Virgil.

They hadn't, like, fucked or anything. They were just in the same room during a sexual experience. Does that warrant a hug? But they did kiss. And grind against eachother for a solid ten minutes. Although Virgil's been feeling quite betrayed about it, to be honest.

Virgil sees the struggle behind Janus' eyes and just steps forward to give him a hug hello.

"Um, nice to see you." Virgil says quietly.
"Yeah."

Roman clears his throat. "Okay! Is there anywhere we should go in particular, d'you reckon?"

"Well, I have one place." Logan smirks. He's, of course, referring to the sex toy store across the road from the shopping centre. They make a point to stop in every time they're in town, just to check it out.

"No," Virgil whines. "I want to go there last. Otherwise I'll just be thinking about sex the whole time we're out, and getting a semi in the shopping mall is not a good look."

"Seconded." Janus says. He's familiar with the layout of the town, and can infer what they're talking about.

Virgil thinks for a moment, and then he gasps. "Oh my god! Can we go to the pet store?"

"You don't wanna go to the adult boutique but you'll go to the pet store?" Patton giggles.

"No, that's unfair," Virgil replies, crossing his arms. "We haven't been in so long, and I've been so well-behaved recently, I deserve new stuff,"

"Do you?" Janus smirks.

"Yes," Virgil replies, gritting his teeth. "And we could go to get Janus some stuff, too, if he wants it." He continues, trying to gain the favour of his doms.

"Actually, that's a good question." Logan realises, turning to Janus. "Virgil's puppy headspace isn't sexual all of the time, sometimes we have days where he just behaves like a dog, usually when he's been very anxious, and it allows him to lose control and forget. Is your headspace similar, or is it just a sexual desire?"

Virgil grabs onto Patton's arm as he listens, feeling a bit dizzy as he tries to stay grounded during this type of conversation.

"I- Huh," Janus says. "I guess I don't know? I've never really had the chance to explore it non-sexually."

"Then we can do that, if you'd like. I think you've won, Virgil, we'll go to the pet store."

Virgil giggles and detaches from Patton, already on the move in the direction of the place.

"He's going to be the death of us," Roman smiles, striding away after Virgil, having to do a little jog to catch up with him.

"If you see something you like, Janus, let us know." Logan says as they enter the store. "Between you and me, my family is quite wealthy, and so money isn't too much of a problem. If you want something, we can get it."

"Thanks."

Janus had never actually been in this pet store before. He's never had a reason. He didn't consider that it was also a possibility to buy stuff for his cat headspace here.

There are walls covered in leashes and harnesses with entice him, but Patton tells him that they get stuff like that from actual BDSM sites to be safe.

There's one point where Patton, Logan, Roman, and Janus lose track of Virgil, who is exploring the store somewhere.

"If only it was socially acceptable to keep him on a leash." Logan laments, looking around in all directions. "Where is that boy?"

"Oh, look at this!" Patton suddenly giggles, picking something up off the shelf. It's an electronic mouse that is remote controlled. "This is so cute, do you want this?"

Janus raises his eyebrows. "I think you forget that my strides are considerably larger than a real cat's. I doubt that can go fast enough, but I appreciate the sentiment.

"Wait, here." Roman beams, showing off a laser pointer.

"Yeah, alright. That works." Janus concedes.

"Do you want a bed, like Vee has? Whilst we're here." Roman asks.

Janus goes to reply, but there's a squeaky noise from a few isles down. Like someone is squeezing into a dog's chew toy.

Everyone goes rapt on it, and Logan gets a pretty good idea of where Virgil is, and sets off in that direction.

He's right, and finds Virgil on his knees, hand clasped around a rubbery spider toy, and eyes intent on it as he compresses it again, and it squeaks.

"Yes, dear, we know what it sounds like. People are trying to shop." Logan says, hooking his arms under Virgil's, and pulling him to his feet from behind.

"I like him." Virgil says quietly, staring down at the spider.

"I know, give it to me." Logan tries, but Virgil whimpers and steps away.

Logan sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He's found a toy he likes." He announces to the others.

He was well aware that he was letting Virgil play a dangerous game. It was clear to everyone (except maybe Virgil himself) that the youngest man had slipped close to his headspace. It wasn't going to get across well to him that this wasn't socially acceptable, so they have to figure it out some other way.

"Clearly." Roman snorts. Virgil holds the spider up to his chest, looking incredibly on guard at the other men.

Logan sighs, walking up and down the isle to check that no member of the public is within hearing distance. He whispers anyway.

"Be a good boy, puppy. Give master the toy."

Virgil shakes his head. "You're gonna take him."

"I'm going to hold onto him. Come on, I know you can be a good boy. Your toy isn't going anywhere apart from my hands."

Virgil blinks, and he hesitantly hands the toy to Logan, before breaking into a run towards Patton, who he throws himself onto for a hug.

"It's okay, Virgil, you'll get it back."

"Him." Virgil grumbles.

"You're right, I'm sorry. You'll get him back. Come on, why don't you hold my hand whilst we look around some more?"

Virgil nods, taking Patton's hand and walking with him.

Janus strides alongside Logan and Patton, and he can't help but lower his voice to a mumble. "I've never- um, I've never seen that happen before."

Roman hums. "The thing about Virgil is that he's very emotional, and he slips very easily. He'll be 100% with us by the time we leave the store, but he just needs a moment."

"Why did you take the toy?" Janus asks, turning to Logan with his head and looking at the spider.

"Well, we're trying to bring him out of headspace. Allowing him to keep the item that triggered it would be unproductive."

"Right, yeah." Janus nods. He gets that.

"How about that bed, Jan?" Roman asks when they make it to the aisle.

"Oh, uh, I think I'm okay actually. I wouldn't really wanna sleep downstairs or anything."

"Sure, but, it's not entirely like that. Virgil only sleeps on his when we drag it upstairs to be at the foot of our bed."

"I'm sure, but thanks anyway. Can we look at the collar tags? I've never had one, but I found myself really admiring Virgil's."

Logan smirks. "Of course. I'm afraid I'm not too clear on the layout of this store, though."

Roman turns around, walking backwards. "Virge, where are the collar tags in here?"

Virgil was previously staring at the ground, focusing on the grain in the wood on the floor to ground himself, and so he looks up. It takes a moment for him to register the question, but he does.

"Like, near the back. Back right."

"Thank you, lovely."

When they get there, Janus is impressed by all the different shapes. There are loads shaped like circles, and squares. Virgil's is shaped like a bone, and so Janus doesn't go for any of those ones out of respect for their induviduality. And also, that one's clearly made towards dogs. However, he does find one shaped like a stereotypical fish, which he thinks is cute.

"This one? Please?" He asks, picking it up.

"Awh, that's adorable!" Patton coos. "Do you want to get it engraved?"

"With what?"

"Mine has, like, their names on one side, and then mine on the other." Virgil supplies. "But, actually, we did that when they started.. owning me, so maybe it's a bit much for right now."

"Yeah," Janus nods. "Maybe we can hold off a little on that front."

"No worries." Patton smiles. "Is that all we wanted from here?"

There's silence for a few seconds. "Ah," Logan realises. "Actually, there was one thing. I was planning to get it from the superstore, but I imagine they've better brands here. I'll be right back."

Virgil sucks in a deep breath as Logan walks away. "This is going to be something bad, isn't it?"

"Most likely." Roman replies. "He'll meet us at the checkout, I think."

"He better." Virgil mumbles. "He has my spider."

Logan makes it back to the checkout to meet them a couple minutes later, with both Virgil's toy and the item he'd grabbed. It takes the group a few moments to recognise it, but when they do, Virgil goes red with embarrassment, and squeaks.

Roman and Janus simultaneously burst out laughing, and Virgil hits Roman on his arm.

On to the counter, Logan places Virgil's spider, Janus' tag, and also a five-pack of those puppy potty training mats.

"Can someone remind me not to misbehave around him for a few weeks?" Virgil whispers. Roman and Janus are still hysterical with laughter.

"It's okay, Virge, he only wants to humiliate you." Patton says, running a hand through Virgil's hair.

"I can tell!"

"Shopping purchased." Logan confirms after paying. They head towards the exit of the store, and Virgil speeds up to catch up with him.

"Uh, Lo?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask.. um, why you've bought.."

"The toilet training pads?"

"Yeah, that."

"Because I have a puppy that needs toilet training, obviously." He scoffs playfully, speeding up.

"No, you don't!" Virgil calls after him playfully. "Lo!"

There's a hand on the small of his back, and then Roman is stood next to him with a smirk. "If he's already planning something, we can't stop him now." He says with a chuckle.

"I hate everything." Virgil pouts.

After that, they did a few loops round some clothes shops, and every member of the group bought at least one thing. They settle down in a booth at an Italian restaurant for lunch time, at which point Virgil is tired, and leans against Logan's shoulder with his eyes shut.

The meal goes well, and they chat to Janus about his interests, and theirs, for a good hour. Virgil will admit that he takes a bit of a backseat role, but it's because he's sleepy. Logan lets him hold the spider they'd bought under the pretence that he'll give it back if he feels spacey.

Towards the end of the meal, Virgil excuses himself to go to the bathroom.

When he's washing his hands, he stares down at the sink, and the door opens, but he pays no mind.

It's only when there are hands gripping his hips suddenly that he looks up.

"Hello, baby." Roman coos, breathing onto the back of Virgil's neck. "What're you doing all alone here?"

Roman shifts, and presses Virgil against the counter with his own body.

"Ro, that door is not locked." Virgil reminds him, looking up and making eye contact with Roman in the mirror.

"I know. Now bend over the sink like a good whore." He encourages, a hand going to Virgil's back, and lightly pushing on it. "There you go, good puppy." He praises as Virgil lets himself be pushed into a right angle. He might have been short, but he wasn't short enough that his legs didn't reach the ground. If anything, he had to bend them a little.

"God, fuck." Roman mutters, hands hooking into the waistband of Virgil's shorts and boxers. "Looked so hot prancing around in that skirt. When you bent over to look at something on the bottom shelf, I thought about how easy it would be to just slip my cock into you. Nearly dragged you to the dressing rooms in all those clothes shops a million times."

Roman slips his shorts and boxers down, down to his mid-thigh, and groans. "Fuck, your ass is so perfect."

Virgil squirms in his exposed state. "Oh, oh, shit, Ro- this is dangerous. Someone could come in."

"Shh, not your job to worry about that. Just lay there. Good pet."

Then there are two fingers penetrating him, quickly and roughly fucking him. They don't have time to waste right now.

"Ngh- ah- Sir,"

Then there's a hand over his mouth, forcing his head up as Roman pulls his fingers out and pushes into him.

"Look at yourself, mutt. Getting fucked raw in a bathroom, this is a new low, even for a slut like you."

Virgil moans into Roman's hand, body jerking with the thrusts.

In the position he is, Virgil is forced to look at himself and Roman. And, he looks absolutely pathetic. His eyes are wide, and his face is sweaty. Roman is behind him, full of lust as he just fucks into him with no mercy.

Roman's hand is reaching into his pocket, and then pulling out his phone.

Virgil sees the moment that Roman starts recording. He films the mirror, which is a great view of their activities. Virgil gasps at the idea that he'll probably send it to his other boyfriends.

And then the door opens.

Roman grabs Virgil around his waist and yanks him up on his cock. Virgil yelps as Roman drags him into one of the stalls and locks the door. They're lucky as fuck that the bathroom as a little hallway, so they were hidden before anyone came in.

Roman sits down on the closed toilet and holds Virgil in his lap, still impaled on his cock. Virgil looks up at him vulnerably, hand still over his mouth.

Virgil hugs into Roman's chest. The person that's come in spends about a minute in the bathroom, and then leaves.

"He didn't even wash his hands." Roman mutters, acting like he's not balls deep in someone as he removes his hand from Virgil's face.

"Roman, I fucking swear to god." Virgil hisses.

Roman chuckles, standing back up. Virgil gasps out.

Within ten seconds, they're back at the sinks.

Roman resumes his pace instantly, like they were never interrupted. The skirt gives for incredibly easy access.

The top bends over Virgil's back and starts to kiss his neck. Virgil gasps and whimpers, and he makes so many little noises as he's pleasured that neither notice when the door opens once more.

"What the fuck- you guys!" Janus exclaims.

Virgil looks over at Janus and registers that they've been caught.

"Fuck!" He cries out, orgasm hitting him like a truck as Roman pounds him still.

He makes direct eye contact with Janus during these moments, whose eyes are wide and rapidly glancing back to the door, and then them.

Roman comes into him very soon after, and then he pulls out with a series of pants.

"Janus, hi." Roman says, tucking his cock back into his jeans. "I'm sorry, you- uh, you shouldn't have had to walk in on that."

Virgil groans into the counter, and Janus swallows.

"No, uh, I was kind of expecting it. Logan bet Patton five dollars you were having sex, and then they sent me to come find out. It was just- You guys speaking about fucking in public is different to you actually doing it. Just, caught off guard, I guess. I mean, I could've been anyone."

"We're practiced at it." Roman shrugs.

"Ro.." Virgil whispers, still very much bent over the counter and not very able to move.

"Ah, sorry, mi amor." He says, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a shiny metal butt plug, which he slips into Virgil's gaping hole comfortably. He then pulls Virgil's boxers and shorts back up and lifts him onto his feet.

Virgil shifts a little, wincing as he tries to find his bearings.

"Can we fuck off from this bathroom, please?" He mumbles, and Janus laughs.

"Gladly." Roman agrees. "And, hey, maybe next time, you'll be the one against the counter, kitten."

Janus hums amusedly as they exit the bathroom.

Virgil feels awkward as he sits back down. Everyone at the table is incredibly aware of the events of the past ten minutes.

The plug shifts inside of him, and Virgil bites his lip.

"Oh, you owe me five dollars, look at him."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Virgil asks, crossing his arms.

"Please don't make me explain in front of everyone what your fucked-out look is."

Virgil rolls his eyes. "Can we go to the good store now?"

"Patience." He's told, and he drops his head onto Patton's shoulder for the remainder of the meal.

----

By the time they get to the adult boutique, Virgil has had a glass of apple juice, and therefore had perked up a little.

Roman laughs as both Virgil and Janus get asked for ID upon entry. I mean, Janus, Virgil gets, but the four of them come here all the time!

Either way, they show the employee their IDs and get allowed in. The store isn't too big, but it's big enough to have everything they could possibly desire.

Logan heads over to the area with most of the bondage gear, and he steps back to see if they've had anything new in.

He sets his eyes on a new type of harness. It has a thick collar, and then a silver chain that goes down from the collar to meet with more leather that weaves around the body, able to constrict a person's arms and legs. There's a space at the part which is supposed to go through the crotch where a dildo can be attached.

Logan has several ideas.

He also sees that they've got in some new fluffy handcuffs in an array of colours. Virgil, he knows, prefers genuine handcuffs, because he gets off on the way they dig into his wrists and constantly remind him that he's owned. But, Janus? This could work.

"Janus?" He calls, and the man is standing near him within five seconds. "What's your favourite colour?"

Janus' eyes drift over to the handcuffs, each with different colour fluff.

"Uh, it's yellow." He answers breathlessly.

"Good. Thank you." Logan grabs a pair of the yellow ones, adding it to his basket alongside the bondage gear.

Janus nods, walking away. He looks at the floor as he goes past all of the vibrators and such. If he looks, he might see one he likes, and then he'd have to ask for it, and that'd be both awkward and embarrassing.

But he stops when he practically walks into a wall, and when he looks up, he sees a bunch of dildos, made specifically to fit into strap-ons.

He glances towards Virgil at the other end of the aisle, who is squinting and holding a paddle in front of him like it's a mirror, clearly trying to read the inscription in the dark light of the store.

"Virgil?" He beckons. Virgil turns towards him and places the paddle back on the shelf before skittishly heading over to Janus.

"Yeah?" He says upon arrival. Janus gestures with his head back to the wall.

Virgil's mouth goes dry at the implication. "Oh- you- in me?"

Janus giggles a little. "Well, yeah, who else?"

"Right. Um, sure."

"Getting flustered, are you, puppy?"

Virgil blinks a few times. "You talk awfully dom-y for a sub."

"I don't talk 'dom-y', I just know how to flirt. Do you want to choose?"

"Uh, sure." Virgil nods. "So, do you top often or are you exploring your options?"

"I mean, I've topped before. But, it's not as good. Getting fucked is way better. Especially by your boyfriends, I mean, Jesus."

"Yeah, I know." Virgil nods. He liked that Janus was recognising that Virgil was dating them and he was not. He knows they aren't the same. Virgil is loved by them, and Janus is just a sex side peice. Yeah, that felt better to think about.

"Did you come to a conclusion about who was the best?" Virgil asks, making the conversation more light-hearted.

"Eh, I mean, I was with Roman for most of the night. So, I guess I'm a little biased towards him. Did you pick one?"

Virgil blinked as he realised he hadn't. He had.. enjoyed talking to Janus, and let himself forget he had a task to do. He probably shouldn't make a habit out of that, especially with Logan as his master.

"No, uh, what do you think?"

"What do I think? Hm, I guess- well, do you know how big Logan is? Size-wise. I know you said he was the biggest, but I wouldn't wanna pick one that'd be too much for you."

"It wouldn't be." Virgil replied instantly. "I've had all three of them at once before."

Janus raises his eyebrows. "In.. the same hole?"

"Yeah."

"Christ. Surely that.. hurts? I don't really do anal anyway because it hurts like a motherfucker, I don't know how you manage."

"Well, they stretch me properly. And, it's worth it."

"Alright." Janus says, seemingly pleased. "We won't hold back then."

He then grabs a dildo off the shelf, and hands it to Virgil. It's a neon yellow colour, and it's ..big. Much bigger than Virgil, and bigger than Logan, even.

"What?" Janus asks, crossing his arms. "Worried it won't fit?"

"Fuck off." Virgil scoffs. "As if you could even think about taking this."

"Trust me, I'm thinking about it."

Virgil rolls his eyes. "Fine. Get it."

"Ten dollars says you can't take it." Janus says smugly.

Virgil's breath hitches for a moment. He knows it would be incredibly wrong to accept a bet to do with something that could hurt him. But, it's playful. It's not like he wouldn't safeword over it, he's just a little competitive. And, he wants to show Janus how good of a bottom he is. Better than him, at least.

"Okay. Fine." Virgil stands his ground. They shake hands, and then Virgil prances off to continue his tour of the store as usual.

When he gets to the gags, which are all on one shelf, he gasps.

"Oh my god!" He grins, maybe a little too loud, because the worker eyes him up suspiciously. He turns to look for any of his three boyfriends, and finds Patton not far away. "Daddy!" He calls out, overwhelmed with excitement.

The worker looks at him again, possibly more mortified, and Virgil puts a hand over his mouth.

Patton looks entertained as he quietly apologises to the worker, and then strides towards Virgil.

"Yes, baby?" He asks on a laugh.

"Look!" Virgil exclaims, gesturing to one specific type of gag.

It was a silicone one, with a leather strap around the back. But, the part that Virgil was most excited about was the actual gag part.

It was a bright-coloured silicone bone shape, where the person would bite down on the centre of the bone, and then the leather was attatched to each end.

Virgil had had this exact one when he first met his three boyfriends. It had been his favourite, and he'd used it in like eighty-percent of their scenes.

And then they'd taken it to a play party, and hadn't come home with it.

Virgil still runs with the narrative that someone took it, because he had it with him, and then he went to the bathroom and it was gone. He searched everywhere with the help of his boyfriends, and then cried in the back of the car home.

He'd been promised that they'd get him a new one, but when they came back here, they were told it had been discontinued. Virgil had cried again.

That was about a year ago now, and he was just about over it.

But now, he was so incredibly ecstatic to see the brand again. He bounced on the balls of his feet, grinning.

"Oh!" Patton exclaimed too. "Oh, baby, they have your thing back!"

"Can we get two?" Virgil asks, moving boxes around to look at the different colours.

"We can get three."

"Thank you! I love you." Virgil giggles, finding the purple one, which was the exact same as he had had before. He also chooses a plain white one, and, maybe a little biased by Patton's presence, he picks a light blue one.

"Alright, pet, I'm gonna go and look at the paddles. Do you want to come?"

"No thanks, I wanna show this to Ro and Logan." He grins, holding the purple one in his hands before dashing off. Patton giggles at his enthusiasm and heads over to where he was before.

He finds Roman looking at some of the costume pieces, which is right beside the paddles.

"Virgil's looking for you, by the way." He says.

"Oh, yeah?" Roman asks, intrigued.

"He's very excited, they've started making the silicone bone gags again."

"Oh, shit! No way! He must be ecstatic."

"Yeah," Patton nods. "Whatcha lookin' at?"

"Outfits. Ugh, Pat, you have no idea how much it's been getting me off that he's been walking around all day wearing an outfit I put him in."

"I have a very good idea, considering how he's been walking funny since lunch." Patton rolls his eyes. "Are you gonna wanna start dressing Janus up, too?"

"If he'll let me. I think he'd look great in a maid dress." Roman says, and he's only half-joking. "Oh, look!" He then exclaims. "Shall we get the pets some more ears? They've got quite a few."

"Ah, yeah. I've been meaning to get Virgil some clip-ons that we can put on his hair."

"Nice." Roman says, grabbing those dog ears, and then also a pair of clip-on cat ears and the same in headband form. His eyes wander down.

"Jan?" Roman calls, and Janus appears a few moments later. He has the same dildo from before with him, as well as a strap-on harness and one of those vibrators that has parts for a person's clit and entrance.

"Mhm?"

"Do you have a tail?"

"Like, a cat tail?" Janus asks, a little amused.

"Yeah. Do you have or want one?"

"Don't have one. I will admit I did think Virgil's was cute at the play party."

"What of mine was cute?" Virgil asks, coming around the corner, holding hands with Logan, who had a basket full of all the stuff the two had accumulated. "Ro, I found the-"

"Yes, honey, I was told."

"Oh, your tail." Janus says offhandedly.

"Mm, I like my tail. 'S fluffy."

Logan looks on at Virgil fondly. "He'll be gone the second we're in the car."

"Oh, for sure."

"He'll be gone?" Janus asks.

"With the fairies." Patton whispers. "He's been teetering on the edge of puppy-space all day. The second we're in private he'll be gone, I promise you."

Virgil whines, leaning into Logan's side. "It doesn't help that you're talkin' 'bout me like I'm not here. Makes me feel like a pet. Your pet."

"Yes, honey, you are." Roman smiles. All three of Virgil's boyfriends knew that he really needed to just be a puppy for an evening. He'd been stressed recently, and this was the best way to get him out of his head and carefree. "Why don't we head out?"

"Yeah." Patton agrees. "You coming home with us, Jan?"

Janus thinks for a moment. He hasn't got anywhere better to be. "If that's okay."

"Of course." Logan replies. "And, if you're up for it, this could be an opportunity for you to explore your own pet headspace alongside Virgil's regression."

The yellow-wearing sub agrees, actually quite intrigued, and they pay for all their items before piling back in the car.

Logan and Roman sit in the front, and Virgil sits in the middle of the back with Patton to his left and Janus to his right. He tears the silicone bone gag out of the box, and Patton helps him disconnect the bone from the leather strap, so that he's just got the purple bone in his hands for the ride home.

Janus has never seen anyone into pet play act like a pet outside of sex, and so it feels kind of foreign to him.

Virgil holds the bone with both hands, chewing on the end of it. He loses interest in about three minutes, and drops the bone to the floor. He jerks forward suddenly, and his seatbelt stops his movement as he whines.

"Sit back, pup. We're almost home."

Virgil whimpers, moving his hands around something that isn't there.

"Um, I think he wants the squeaky toy." Janus says slowly. Virgil nods, nuzzling into Janus' side as a thank you for his understanding. Janus giggles at the affection. It's cute.

"Ah, I'm afraid not, Virge." Logan says. "If I give that to you, you'll make a lot of noise that will cause distraction to Roman, who is driving a car."

Virgil pouts, and just leans all the way back in his seat.

"You can have it when we get home, pet." Patton whispers.

And Virgil can't wait.

Chapter Text

Virgil giggles in Patton's arms, in a bridal carry as he's placed down in the living room.

"Alright," Roman yawns. "He needs a shower. He still smells like sex in a way that's honestly scandalous to public appearance."

"As if it isn't your doing." Janus rolls his eyes playfully.

"No," Virgil whines, low and long as he rolls onto his back. "Water's.. wet."

Patton laughs, outright, as Virgil brings his knees to his chest, letting the skirt fall away and exposing the shorts he was wearing underneath as he whines.

"Right," Patton sighs on his amusement, "Let's get these shoes off you, puppy."

Virgil rolls onto his stomach in the middle of the living room, kicking his legs and whining when Patton approached.

"No!" Patton says clearly. It's not a yell, but it's assertive. "We do not kick."

Virgil whimpers a little as his legs stop moving, and it's taken as an apology by Patton, who unties the laces on his left boot. Roman goes to help with the other one, and Janus blinks at the scene.

"Apologies, Janus. It's unlikely we would've invited you over if we were aware he would require this much attention."

"Uh, no, it's fine. Interesting, even. Can I- well, can I ask you some stuff? About Virgil. And this."

Virgil's head perks up a little at the use of his name, but when he turns and sees Logan and Janus having a conversation that is of no interest to him, he drops his head again and lets himself be undressed.

"Of course." Logan replies. "I think those two will likely take him upstairs for a shower before we let Virgil play down here, so we could take that opportunity for a discussion if you'd like."

Janus nods. "Yeah, yeah. Thanks."

When Virgil is left only in his t-shirt and shorts, Roman picks him up again despite his protest, and the three head upstairs.

Logan sits down on the sofa with Janus, who ends up falling into Logan's lap naturally.

"Sorry if this is a stupid question," Janus fronts. "But- is that- was that- age regression, or something?"

"Eh," Logan hums. "We tend to refer to it as his puppy headspace. If anything, it's pet regression, but, maybe there's a little bit of age regression too."

"Right."

"As much as the puppy thing is a kink, it's very much a part of his personality. His anxiety is often soothed when he behaves this way. He kind of dabbed in it when we had our discussion last night, but the things that we have for him like his cage- that isn't sexual. It's something that grounds him into his headspace."

"I guess I don't- I've never thought about it like that."

"Well, if you wanted to explore it, now is the time."

"I suppose it is." Janus hums, leaning further into Logan's side.

----

"Virgil, stop it!" Roman laughs, holding his hand over his face to protect himself from the splashing water.

"We're almost done, puppy, behave." Patton says, a little more intensely as Virgil shakes his head, making the water from his hair splash around. They'd got him upstairs, undressed him, taken the plug out of his ass and cleaned him up, and were now trying their best to get him into some clothes.

"Wanna play." Virgil pouts, and it's a very quiet, very low mumble that is barely hearable.

"I know, pet, but we need you in at least some shorts before we can."

It does take five minutes, but they manage to get the same rather short cargo shorts as before onto Virgil, as well as his t-shirt with slightly more struggle. Then, Virgil gets carried downstairs once more.

They're sure to stop by the bedroom and get him his ears and tail first, of course.

He's on all fours the second he's let down, and he bounds over to Logan, putting his elbows up on the sofa.

"Down, boy. Not on the furniture." Logan says. "Awh, I'm sorry, I know, I know. It's so hard, isn't it?" Logan pouts, mocking Virgil a little, who growls slightly as he sits back down onto his haunches.

Then, Janus walks into the room, having gone to get a pair of the cat ears they bought that day.

Virgil narrows his eyes at him. And the whole room goes silent.

"Hi, puppy." Janus says, waving a little with his right hand.

Virgil's still for a moment. Then another.

And then he whimpers, spinning around and bounding backwards into his open cage. It's large enough for him to roll into a little, and then he moves with his back facing the back of the cage, on all fours as he whines at Janus.

Janus goes still.

Did he- did he do something wrong?

"Oh, come on, Virgil, don't be shy." Logan chastises.

Virgil hides his face in his blankets.

"Did I do something?" Janus asks quietly. He feels guilty and he doesn't even know what he's done.

"No, honey, don't worry. It's because you're a new person." Patton reassures.

"He's known me for a little bit already, though."

"Yes, but, his instincts are different here."

His instinct is to hide away like he's scared of Janus? Ouch.

"Maybe, um, he might be scared because you're a pet, like him, but you're standing like an owner." Roman hedges. "He's confused, I think."

"Right." Janus nods. "Should I, like, get down?"

Logan hums. "Only if you're comfortable."

Janus considers it for a moment. He wants to fit in in this dynamic, and he wants to explore his own potential headspace too. He supposes he can indulge.

And so, feeling a little silly, Janus gets down onto his knees, and then moves forward onto his hands, too.

Virgil looks up at him and blinks a few times.

Janus moves a little closer, tilting his head to the side at Virgil, who barks.

He actually thinks this is quite fun.

And so, he meows back, and then Virgil barks a little louder.

Only seconds later, Virgil has pounced out of the cage, and ends up face to face with Janus.

None of the three men watching say anything, too intrigued.

The puppy growls, deep in his throat.

Janus takes a moment to consider his options, and then he hisses at Virgil, tilting his head up.

And suddenly they're play fighting.

Virgil practically jumps onto Janus, yapping, and Janus is quick to react.

They're both short young men, so it's not an unfair fight as they roll around on the floor. Virgil wins for the first five seconds, and then he's pinned to the ground by Janus and starts to whimper at having been overpowered.

Janus laughs to himself, and is a little caught off-guard when Virgil gets the upper hand again.

He leaps onto the sofa in record time, and Virgil stops at the foot of it, whining.

"Clever boy." Logan hums, amused. "Dogs aren't allowed on the sofa. Cats are." He recalls, looking at the other two, who seem also impressed.

Virgil barks, annoyed. He's gone completely non-verbal, and starts pouting at Janus, who sighs.

He has a lot of fun as he gets back off the sofa, and they continue their charade for a couple more minutes until they're both tired out. There's one point where Janus gets completely on top of Virgil, and the puppy gets hard, but nobody in the room, even the mutt himself, pays any mind. That's not what they're doing this for, and it's not what they want to be doing it for, either.

Eventually, they're exhausted, and they both give in at the same time, and end up lying on the floor.

Janus looks up at the sky, breathing out happily. That was kind of.. good. He felt good. Free, even.

Suddenly Virgil is yapping down at him, and then licking his collarbones and neck in a way that has Janus grimacing.

"Okay, pup, that's it- that's enough." Janus laughs, pushing him away.

Very quickly, Logan is stood behind Virgil with a hand hooked in his collar, pulling him backwards.

Virgil whines as he's dragged away from his playmate.

"I know, pet, but the kitten's had enough of playing. Daddy'll play with you, okay?"

And the puppy is back to grinning like he was never interrupted, leaping over Janus towards Patton, who is waiting with his bone on the other side of the room.

Janus takes Logan's hand to help him get up, and then sits on the sofa with both him and Roman.

"So," Logan says. "How are you feeling?"

"Uh," Janus takes a moment. "Dizzy. Weird. I kinda- it felt like I got a bit lost in behaving that way."

Roman chuckles under his breath. "In a good way? Or not?"

"No, it was good. I think Virgil-" He says, glancing over to the pup. Virgil is sitting in Patton's lap, rocking back and forth as he chews on the edges of his silicone bone. Patton rubs a hand up and down his back, clearly trying to calm him down a little by doing that and whispering things to him that Janus can't make out.

"Virgil is nice to be around. I've never met anyone quite like him before." Janus says, eyes focusing on Virgil. He rubs his bare legs together out of need to move, despite the fact that Patton has him restricted to his lap space.

"Amen." Roman agrees. "But, we're talking about you. Did you enjoy behaving like a cat like that, or is it purely a sexual desire? 'Cause it's fine if it is."

"Can I be honest? I'm not sure. I mean- it was fun, but I don't see myself slipping like Virgil did."

"Which is understandable." Logan replies. "It's unique to each individual. I did a lot of research on this type of scenario when I became sexually acquainted with Virgil."

Speaking of, there's a sudden loud squeak from the other corner of the room.

Virgil's eyes are wide, and he gazes down at the squeaky spider toy in his hands like it's golden.

"Oh, no-" Patton says, and then he's cut off by another squeak. And another. And another. And-

Virgil leaps off of Patton's lap. The man makes a grab for his waist, but misses, and then Virgil's back in the middle of the room, running in circles with the squeaky toy in his mouth.

"You know, you were just getting him to calm down, too." Logan says, and he actually smirks at Virgil's behaviour.

"It's nap time, puppy." Patton grits his teeth. "Go to bed."

Virgil whines, moving back to get away from Patton and his demands.

"Is he always this badly behaved?" Janus asks.

"He's only a puppy." Roman frowns. "He doesn't know any better."

Virgil continues to squeak the toy about at that, squeaking and squeaking until-

"Wait, puppy, stop." Logan says suddenly, and Virgil does so just based on the tone of voice. Now that the sound is gone, they can hear the buzzing of someone's phone.

Patton, being the one standing, finds the phone on the floor, which is Virgil's.

"Oh, uh, it's his dad."

Roman grimaces. "Hand it to me, I'll answer it."

"Hello, Mr Storm." Roman says.
"Oh. Roman. Where's Virgil?"

Virgil looks up at his name, and his eyes come into focus a little.

"Sleeping. Do you want me to ask him to call you back, or is it something I can pass on?" Roman asks, voice nervous.

On the floor, Virgil squeezes his eyes shut, and then opens them again. He sways softly, and then, in a very harsh movement, Virgil slaps himself around the face.

The whole room flinches, and then Virgil very shakily hauls himself to his knees, then to his feet. There are tears in his eyes as he gestures for Roman to give him the phone.

"Hey, dad." He says.

"Virgil. You okay?"

"Fine, yeah. Sorry. Just woke up, so, you know."

There's some silence, and then a breath.

"Well, I just called because we've been sent the RSVP for Catalina and Sam's wedding in June, and I need you to confirm with me that you're free so that I can send it back."

Virgil squints at the phone, as if to say 'really?' and then sighs.

"Pretty sure I haven't made any commitments for seven months time, Dad."

"Alright. The tenth, okay? Mark it out. Or, get Roman to do it, or something."

"Yep. Will do."

"Okay. Thanks. I love you."

"Love you too." Virgil mumbles, and then he hangs the phone up and just stands there for a moment.

"Alright, puppy, alright." Roman whispers, stepping to Virgil and taking him into his arms. Virgil's head goes against Roman's shoulder, and he closes his eyes. "There we go, you're okay."

"I hope you know that wasn't a productive method of coming out of headspace, Virge." Logan says. "Please refrain from doing that again."

"It was- was my dad, Lo."

"I know, but- Actually, we'll continue this conversation at a more optimal time."

"Sorry." Virgil mumbles. "I'm- um- I want to sleep."

"Of course." Roman whispers. "Upstairs or on your dog bed?"

"Dog bed. Wanna be a puppy a bit longer."

"Alright, my love, you can be a puppy for as long as you want." Roman says, scooping him up and placing him down in his bed.

Logan stands off of the sofa and gives Roman a hug once his hands are free. "Are you okay?"
"Fine, yeah. I'm annoyed. He was so relaxed and in his headspace and then that had to happen. Sorry, Janus."

"No, don't." Janus replies quickly. "I want to see every part of your dynamic, not just when it's perfect. Will he be okay?"

"He will." Logan reassures. "It's not the first time he's yanked himself out of headspace, and it won't be the last."

Janus nods. "I suppose this is about when I head out." He laughs to himself. "Let me know what's going on, yeah?"

"Yeah!" Patton exclaims. "Can we- well, maybe it's a bad time, but maybe we could do another scene soon?"

"We can message about it." Logan says. "Thank you for today."

There's a little bit of an awkward moment on the doorstep, and then Logan and Janus kiss. After that, Janus kisses the other two as well. It makes butterflies well up in his stomach.

Janus leaves, and then the three men end up standing in the living room, looking down at Virgil as he sleeps.
"Reckon you can carry him upstairs without him waking up?" Patton asks Roman on a giggle. "I think we all need a good cuddle."

"For certain."

Chapter Text

It starts simple.

Roman's hand on his thigh.

Virgil shuffles closer to the touch, dropping his head onto Roman's shoulder, who hums.

It's a touchy day for Virgil. Not touchy as in, hard to approach, but like, he's been wanting a lot of physical touch that has left him clinging to his boyfriends like glue.

They haven't seen Janus for two days, and Virgil hasn't even bottomed for any of them during this time, either. He sucked Roman and Logan off both at different points, and each time, he'd been left hard. The first time he'd gone to Patton, who had just hugged him and told him he'd be okay. The second time he'd just gone to their bedroom and watched TikTok in bed until his boner went away.

"Ro," He hums softly.

"Yes, starlight?"

"Can we have sex later?"

Roman turns towards him and pulls him into his shoulder. "So, uh, we're actually waiting."

"Waiting?"

"Yeah." Roman nods. "Janus is coming over tomorrow. We wanted to wait until then. Since, we're his only sexual partners right now, it wouldn't be fair to him if you got to have sex in the days when he doesn't."

Virgil looks up at Roman, a little bewildered.

"Roman, we live together. We're in a relationship."

"Yeah?"

"So, I feel like maybe there should be different standards. Do I never get to have sex with you ever again unless Janus is here?" He asks, scooting away from Roman in his annoyance. Roman frowns deeply.

"No, honey. It's not like that. You're just both our subs, and it's only fair to him that if he has to wait, so do you. Otherwise we'd be treating you differently, and that could upset Janus."

Virgil blinks at Roman, trying desperately not to cry. This wasn't fair.

"You- you own me. But, I- I'm your boyfriend before anything else. He isn't your boyfriend."

Roman looks fractionally guilty. "Maybe he will be one day, Virge, we don't know." He mumbles, and Virgil feels worse than he has in a long time. "And if we treat you two unfairly, it'll only cause upset."

"Yeah." Virgil says, irritation and upset clear in his voice. "God fucking forbid you upset Janus." He spits, unable to get up and walk away because he thinks if he moves, he might burst into tears.

Roman furrows his eyebrows, and then his eyes soften hugely as he realises how Virgil is feeling.

"Oh, baby, I-"

"No. Fuck off." Virgil mumbles into his sleeve, wiping his face as if it'll stop him from crying.

"You- you were upset on Friday, weren't you?"

Virgil feels awful as he catches a sob in his throat. He supposes he's communicating now.

"Well, you shoved me away to the other side of the room and then not one of you even fucking looked at me for like twenty minutes! Because you were too busy making love to a different guy! How the fuck do you think I felt?"

"Oh, darling- We didn't- We didn't realise. Why didn't you tell us?"

Virgil sniffles, glancing up at Roman with tears in his eyes. "I didn't want to ruin everything. You like Janus. A lot. I can tell you do."

"Baby?" Patton's voice comes, where's just made it down the stairs. His eyes widen, and he glances between Roman and Virgil desperately. "What's going on?"

Roman takes a deep breath in. "Virgil? Do you want me to tell him, or would you like to?"

"I-" Virgil sniffles. "I just want everything to go back to normal." He wails suddenly, crying like a child into his hoodie.

Patton is frozen for a moment. "Right." He says executively. "Logan! We're having a family meeting! Now!"

----

Despite the fact that his face is wet, and the skin around his eyes is red and blotchy, Virgil feels relieved.

He hadn't meant for everything to come out to Roman like it had, but he's secretly a little glad for it.

He sits at the dining table with a mug of tea, staring down at it as Logan, Patton, and Roman do the same.

They've been sat there in silence for a good three minutes now. Nobody really knows how to start this conversation.

"Okay, fine, I'll be the mature one, I guess." Virgil says suddenly, absolutely sick of the anxious feeling that the silence is giving him. "Excuse my language, but I feel like I'm being demoted to your side hoe every time Janus walks in the room. 'Cause like, he's more fun, and prettier, and he doesn't cry over stupid things, or whatever. But whatever it is, you three clearly like him more than me, and I'm feel shit about it."

There's more silence, and then Logan draws in a breath.

"Thank you for telling us you feel that way. I can promise you that we don't favour Janus over you."

"You sure act like it." Virgil mumbles as he takes a sip of his tea.

"And, we're going to correct the behaviours that have led you to feel this way."

"I think-" Roman interrupts. "And correct me if I'm wrong, I think maybe it's all been a bit sudden for you, Virge. One day it was just us, and then a week later you're not allowed to have sex without him also getting the same. I, kind of, we should have considered how strong that comes on towards you."

"..Yeah." Virgil sighs.

"Okay." Patton smiles reassuringly at Virgil. "I think we should break this down into two parts. Firstly, Virge, your feelings towards Janus. And then, the scene on Friday."

"Can I have something to hold?" Virgil whispers, feeling bad for prolonging the conversation, but he wants to be comfortable. A minute later, Logan is back with one of Virgil's stuffed animals from the bedroom. It's a racoon that he takes into his arms with thanks.

"Okay. So, uh, Janus." Virgil swallows. He's nervous as he looks at his boyfriends. "He's nice. And hot. And fun to be around. I- uh- maybe this is a bad time to tell you guys this, but I had a sex dream about him the other night."

(It had been very embarrassing when he had woken up and realised what had happened).

"Oh!" Roman exclaims. "So, you do like him?"

"I like him. Sexually." Virgil confirms. "I don't like the way his presence makes me feel."

And it's silent, and awkward again.

"And how is that, Vee?" Logan whispers.

"I just feel like maybe you're bored of me, I don't know." Virgil whispers. "It's been a year and a bit for you two, and longer for Roman. Maybe you're bored, and you want someone new. Like Janus, you know."

"Honey," Patton says in the sweetest, and also saddest, voice ever. "We could never."

"And I feel like I know that deep down, which makes this worse. I feel like a whiny child now, being literally two years younger than the youngest of you. I slip into headspace, and then come out of headspace and all I can do is complain - I feel like you just see me as too much work. Janus isn't much work."

"We don't know Janus very well, Virgil, he might be a lot of work, too." Roman jumps to reassure him.

"So you admit I'm a lot of work?"

"Yes. But that's one of the things we love about you. We love to take care of you, darling."

"Agreed. We fell in love with you being who you are. Nothing can change that." Logan supplies.

"Thanks." Virgil sniffles. "I do like Janus. I just need reassurance, I guess."

"Of course."

"Now, what is it about the nature of Friday evening that wasn't good for you?" Logan cuts to, sensing that they were getting into that territory anyway with the 'Janus' conversation.

Virgil sighs, squeezing his racoon into his chest. "I think the biggest part was that you left me alone. And- before you say anything, I know that I've been left alone before, for way longer, but it was just that you left me alone to fuck Janus or whatever. Like you were choosing him over me. I mean, Usually, you're the doms that notice when my shoes are rubbing, but I literally had to yell Logan's name to get him to even look in my direction. It was shit."

"I understand." Logan nods. "I'm upset that I failed to recognise your needs, and I apologise."

"I think the issue was that we'd never really discussed our limits or feelings about playing with Janus. We spoke about our own personal stuff, but we should've realised that it would be different with another submissive there as well." Roman articulates.

Virgil nods. "Yeah."

"And, Virgil? We would appreciate if you would come to us with your emotions at the time that you're feeling them. None of us want you to feel that way, and it's upsetting to imagine that you've been in anguish for the past few days."

Virgil nods. "I will, yeah."

"Alright." Patton claps his hands together in front of him. "So, I think Roman told you, we had planned for Janus to come over tomorrow."

"Oh, yeah. That's another thing, actually." Virgil says. "I would kinda prefer if I was involved in those kind of decisions, rather than just 'oh, he's coming over.' In future."

"Ah." Roman cringes. "Yeah. Sorry. Noted."

"So there is a future, though?" Patton asks.

"Yeah. I'm happy for him to stick around, just think we need to reapproach how we do it." Virgil shrugs.

"Yeah. Agreed. So, he's coming over tomorrow still?" Logan asks.

Virgil nods. "Sure. Can I just clarify that by 'coming over', you mean we're gonna do a scene?"

"Yeah." Roman tells him. "We were thinking we could do negotiations beforehand, so maybe that would be a good time for a conversation about limits when he's there."

"Okay." Virgil says. "Thank you guys. Sorry for being moody about it, Ro."

They sit in silence for a moment, and then Roman gets up from his chair and walks over to Virgil, holding his arms out for a hug, which Virgil accepts gingerly. Then there are two more pairs of arms around him. Virgil sighs out, sagging into the embrace of his boyfriends. He feels loved.

"Vee?" Roman whispers.

"Mhm?"

"Did you still want to have sex tonight? I'd love to make this up to you."

Virgil looks up at Roman and lets a smirk slip onto his face. "Alright, Princey. Do your worst."

----

Virgil has had sex in a lot of strange places. Bathrooms, fields, alleyways, cars, in his cage, over the kitchen counter, in clubs, in more clubs.

And as much as he does indulge in things like that, the bedroom is always his favourite.

It's the soft duvet under his body, and the pure intimacy of the situation.

He leans against the headboard, pyjamas on and scrolling on his phone as he waits for his boyfriends.

The door creaks open, and Roman comes in in only his jeans, followed by Patton, who just wears boxers, and Logan, who is still fully clothed.

"Such a patient boy." Patton coos, marching over and pressing a kiss to Virgil's temple. "Thank you for waiting." He says, hooking his arms onto Virgil's t-shirt and pulling it off. He kisses Virgil's collarbone once, and then moves away, taking Virgil's phone with him and placing it on the bedside table.

Roman comes in his place, and kisses Virgil on the lips. "So beautiful." He mutters, moving to Virgil's collarbones, where he starts to suck hickeys into them from where he straddles Virgil on the bed.

"Mm, ngh- Ro, ah, ah, oh, mm-" He whines, pressing his legs together as he gets hard from the simple touches.

"Fuck, so perfect." Roman mumbles, doubling the intensity in which he's sucking and kissing Virgil's upper body. The man himself is lost in the sensation, letting out an unending stream of 'oh's and 'ah's that have Roman groaning.

"Love you." Roman says, moving away. "Gonna make love to you so passionately, fuck."

"Roman-" Virgil moans, chasing the touches, but he's shushed and pushed back down onto the bed by his shoulders. His head rests on one of the pillows, and his back arches off the bed as Logan begins running his hands down Virgil's sides.

His fingers tease the waistband of his pyjamas, hooking into them. Logan looks up at Virgil for confirmation.

"Please," Virgil whines, nodding at the same time.

The article of clothing is peeled off of him, leaving him naked and blushing.

Logan moves to the end of the bed, stripping, and then he wraps his two hands around Virgil's ankles and pushes upwards, forcing Virgil's thighs into a right angle against his torso, although his legs are slightly bent.

Virgil squeaks, and then squeaks again as Logan keeps pushing his legs back, so that his whole rear end is on perfect display. He reaches out towards Patton, who takes his hand and squeezes it.

"I think we forget how flexible you are sometimes." Logan hums, rubbing his hand up and down Virgil's thighs.

"Please, Lo. Don't tease-"

Logan chuckles to himself, stepping around the bed whilst still holding Virgil's ankles, giving Roman the perfect presentation to start stretching Virgil out with his lubed up fingers.

Virgil gasps as two fingers are pushed into him, and then the hand of Patton's that isn't holding his is stroking his hair.

"Oh- oh," Virgil whispers out his moans, and they only increase in volume as Roman adds more and more fingers into him. Eventually, Roman pulls his fingers away, and Virgil takes a deep breath with anticipation.

His legs are then leg go of, and they fall to the bed. Instinctively, he goes to turn onto his stomach, because that's the position they usually have sex in, but Roman's hand on his waist stops him.

"Ah," Roman says. "Stay here. Wanna look you in the eyes as I fuck you."

And those words send the butterflies in Virgil's stomach fluttering, and he whimpers whilst nodding.

He watches as Roman steps out of his jeans and boxers at the same time.

The older man wastes no time in penetrating Virgil's entrance with his hard cock, leaning over Virgil's body as the younger man brings his legs back and spread to allow him access.

"Please," Virgil whispers.

Roman leans down and is kissing Virgil instantly, pushing all the way in at the same time. Virgil moans into the kiss as he's thrusted into.

When the man pulls away, he looks right into Virgil's eyes whilst still fucking him, and smiles. "Love of my life, my everything." He whispers, free hand going to stroke Virgil's cock in time with his movement.

"Love you." Virgil replies easily. "Love you, feel so good- fuck- fuck, Ro."

"I know, mi amor, I know." Roman whispers, pounding harder into Virgil until the bottom's eyes grow wide and his breath grows rapid.

"Ro, Ro- gonna come- shit-"

"Come on, baby, come for me. I love you so much. We all do." He whispers right into Virgil's ear, and the younger man cries out Roman's name as he reaches climax all over his boyfriend's hand. Roman comes just two thrusts later.

Virgil pants, breathless as Roman pulls out. He looks to his right, where Logan is standing on watching fondly.

He blinks, tiredness encapsulating him as he bathes in his post-orgasm haze.

"I think it might be time for bed, honeybee." Patton whispers, crouching down beside the bed to be at his eye height. "It's been a long day, huh?"

"Mhm." Virgil hums. "But- only Roman got to-"

"Don't worry, lovely, that doesn't matter." Logan whispers. "How do you feel?"

"Good." Virgil whispers. "Cuddle?"

"Of course, baby."

Logan undresses down to his boxers, and then his arms are around Virgil's waist from one side, and Patton hugs him from another. Roman comes back from having washed the come off his hand, and then joins in, flicking their bedroom light off and getting under the duvet, too.

Virgil hums, shifting into the embraces of his boyfriends. It's exactly what he needs.

Chapter Text

The day has been dragging on.

When you've got a scene later, it's hard to focus on things, Virgil finds. He's done a lot of doomscrolling, and so it's a relief when he's walking to the kitchen and he gets an update.

"Alright, he shall be here at five o'clock." Logan announces, staring down at his phone.

"Oh?" Virgil asks. "Has he texted you?"

"Yes, on our group chat." He says off-handedly, and Virgil furrows his eyebrows.

"Group chat?"

"Mhm."

"You three and Janus?" Virgil asks, raising his eyebrows at the man.

"Correct."

Virgil blinks, looking over at Patton, who is on the sofa, for reassurance that he wasn't going crazy. Patton offers him a slightly concerned look.

"Okay," Virgil says sternly, crossing his arms. "Why am I not on this group chat?"

"Well, because you prefer when we figure things out and just let you know."

"Don't tell me what I prefer." Virgil states plainly, rolling his eyes. "I don't wanna get annoyed at you, Lo, but that's irritating. Add me to the group chat."

"I'm confused." Logan replies. "You're aware that myself, Patton, and Roman have a group chat excluding you. Have your feelings changed on the matter?"

Virgil blinks. "No, that's fine. It's different, though. You three having one with him that I'm not on. It feels a bit cheat-y. Not to mention that you didn't think you had to let me know about it."

"I'm sensing that you're upset." Logan says slowly. "Would you like to talk about it?"

"I would like," Virgil begins, mocking the words, "to not be excluded from your interactions with Janus."

Logan nods, tapping about on his phone, and then Virgil gets a ping to say he's been added to the group chat. He can't see any previous messages, which does make him mildly anxious, but he trusts his boyfriends.
"Understood."

And then Logan walks away like that's the end of the conversation. A breath catches in Virgil's throat, and he marches into the living room, where both Patton and Roman are also, so that all four of them are in the same room.

"Okay." Virgil says, crossing his arms. He refuses to ignore his feelings like last time. "Just because I'm submissive doesn't mean I don't want to be involved in doing things and making decisions and being as much of a member of this household as you three. Okay? Last time I checked, I pay a quarter of the rent, so maybe we could stop treating me like a child incapable of making choices all the time."

There's silence for a few moments, and then Patton holds his arms out. "Okay. Come sit on my lap, baby, deep breaths."

Virgil caves instantly at the tone of voice, and maybe it's a bit ironic, his bottom lip wobbling as he moves to sit on Patton's lap, being pulled into his chest.

"What's going on, honey? You've always liked it when we look after you."

"Yeah," Roman says, taking one of Virgil's hands in his and brushing his thumb over his knuckles. "I mean, we were your owners before your boyfriends. It's always kind of been that that's come first. Would you prefer if we stopped treating you like a submissive outside of sex?"

Virgil shakes his head. "No. No, I like being your pet, or else I wouldn't do it. That's what's annoying. I love our dynamic, but I think adding Janus to it is throwing me off. He's- I- I don't want to be excluded. I'm worried you'll be too busy for me."

"I think this is something we need to talk about with Janus, too. Before we negotiate our scene later, maybe?" Logan asks. "Because this is meant to be enjoyable for all of us, and if it isn't, then we clearly need to change some things."

Virgil nods. "I'm not unhappy." He mumbles, shifting further into Patton's hold. "I just feel pushed out."

"We're sorry, puppy." Patton whispers. "We're trying our best, and I'm sorry if we mess some things up whilst we're figuring it all out. Thank you for being patient, though."

Virgil hums to himself, eyes focusing on the TV. "Thanks." He says. "Are we watching something?"

"Yes!" Roman beams. "Frozen is on in a couple minutes!"

Virgil laughs at the enthusiasm. "You're insufferable." He says. Virgil shifts so that he's lying all the way across his boyfriends, with his head and arms that he's leaning on in Roman's lap, and his legs in Logan's, with Patton in the middle.

The film starts, and about ten minutes in, Virgil moves slightly, and Roman exhales in a strained manner, beginning to stroke Virgil's hair.

"Baby?" He whispers, leaning down and then kissing Virgil on the head.

"Mhm?" Virgil hums.

"Any chance you wanna suck me off?" He asks, on a bit of a giggle, because it's a funny situation.

Virgil looks up at him with unimpressed eyes, and when he moves, he can feel Roman's boner growing under his arms.

"During Frozen, Ro? Really?" Virgil whispers back, trying not to laugh. "I wanna watch this right now. But, if I fall asleep during the film, which I might, you have my consent fuck my throat or whatever you call it."

"Language." Patton murmurs, as if they're having a completely normal conversation aside from the curse word.

"With the intent of you waking up to a cock in your mouth, or just entirely whilst you're out, so you won't even really notice?" Roman asks, leaning down against the arm rest to look Virgil in the eyes.

"Either. But don't come down my throat if I'm asleep, 'cause I do not want my legacy to be that I died by choking on come." He jokes. "But, yeah, I don't mind. If you finish and I'm still asleep, don't wake me up, but if I wake up, it's fine. Anyway, this is hypothetical, 'cause I might not even fall asleep."

"Of course." Roman acknowledges. "Now, I'll let you get back to the film, puppy, sorry for interrupting." He says, punctuating his sentence with a kiss to Virgil's hair.

Virgil hums, focusing back on the film.

It's not his fault that lying in his boyfriends' laps makes him sleepy. And it's not his fault either that he closes his eyes to listen to the songs, because it's just oh so hard to keep your eyes open when Roman is playing with your hair and rubbing circles into your back.

He's asleep before we even reach the midpoint of the film.

Roman spends the first ten minutes of Virgil's slumber just admiring him. He's so pretty, Roman thinks, all innocent and breathing lightly as he sleeps, eyes closed and mind unaware.

Agh, fuck, what Roman would give to fuck his ass like this. But, that can wait for another time. Right now it's about his throat. The way his lips are slightly parted as he sleeps, fuck.

Roman turns his head to Patton next to him, and then leans forward so that Logan can see him too.

"Do you guys mind if I...?" He trails off, looking down at Virgil then to his other boyfriends.

Logan rolls his eyes. "Provided he's consented prior, no, I have no objection."

"Yeah. Not too loud, though, we are watching a film after all." Patton chastises slightly, and Roman nods.

With the permission of everyone, Roman's hands go right to his fly, which he unzips, and then Roman pulls his boner out of his boxers so that it rests against Virgil's cheek.

Roman starts by slipping two fingers into Virgil's mouth, and then scissoring them to help Virgil's jaw go slack for easier access.

"Fuck." Roman mutters to himself as he lines his cock up with Virgil's mouth.

His hands then go to either side of Virgil's face, and Roman shifts so that it isn't an awkward position before he starts fucking into Virgil's throat recklessly.

At first, Virgil doesn't react in his sleep. Then, after a few moments, his body shifts a little. Roman pays zero attention to Virgil's reactions, just gasping and groaning as he fucks Virgil's face.

There's more miscellaneous noises from Virgil in his sleep through the messy sex, if you can even call it that.

This isn't the first time Virgil's been fucked in his sleep, and it definitely won't be the last. So, he's quite experienced in the art of not waking up.

However, there's really only so much that can happen when your boyfriend is jerking your whole body with how hard he's fucking your throat.

Virgil stirs, blinking away his grogginess. He has no time to process the fact that he's awake, because he gags on the cock instantly.

"Oh, you're awake." Roman whispers, not ceasing his movement. "Not gentle enough to keep you asleep?"

Virgil whimpers, eyes rolling back in his head as he's fucked and unable to speak because of the cock gagging his throat. His right hand flicks around until Patton takes it, rubbing circles into his palm in an incredibly gentle contrast to how Roman is behaving.

"Virge," Roman groans. "If you're awake now, can I come down your throat? You'll swallow like a good boy, won't you?"

Virgil moans around the dick, nodding. Fuck, he'll be good, he'll be so good.

Only seconds after he's given permission, Roman is coming in Virgil's mouth, holding his head in place to prevent him from pulling off. Virgil gasps and moans, body squirming.

When Roman's finished with him, he pulls out, breathing heavily.

"Jesus, fuck, so good to me, Virgil." He whispers. "Do you need anything?"

Virgil breathes out, wiping the excess come from his mouth and cuddling all the way into Roman's chest.
"No, s' good. Gonna- gonna go back to sleep. Wake m'up before Janus gets here."

"Alright, Princess, go back to sleep." Roman permits, running his hand through Virgil's hair.

And Virgil does just that.

---

"Honey. It's time to wake up." Patton whispers, lightly shaking his shoulders.

Virgil groans, hiding his head in a pillow to shut out the world for a little longer.

"Come on, up we get."

"Daddy," Virgil whines petulantly. "Still tired."

There's a sigh, and then Patton's hands disappear. "Well, okay. If you don't want any sex tonight, I suppose."

And Virgil groans louder, rolling over and squinting up at Patton. "No, I do, I do."

"Then I suppose it's time to be a good pup and get out of bed, isn't it?"

Virgil sits up a little, noticing that he's in their bed, and he's been changed into pyjamas as well. "Carry me downstairs?" He asks with his best puppy eyes, and Patton can't help but smile.

"You're pushing your luck tonight, but okay. Just checking you don't wanna get changed before Janus gets here?"

Virgil looks down at his clothes. "I mean, they're coming off anyway, right?"

"In theory, but we're talking first, remember?"

"Oh, right."

"We don't mind, but I just want to make sure you didn't want to."

Janus has seen him in his bedclothes before. And, dressing up would feel redundant, Virgil decides. "Nah, it's fine. Carry me?"

Patton rolls his eyes playfully, but reaches down to pick Virgil up in a bridal carry. Together, they leave the bedroom and head downstairs, where Roman is the first to see them and wolf whistle.

Virgil yelps as he's put down on the couch, simply from the drop, and he lets his head fall back onto the cushion with a whine. "Is it okay if I don't give anyone head tonight?" He asks. "My jaw hurts."

"Awh, poor thing." Roman pouts mockingly, hitting him lightly yet affectionately on his jaw. "Of course. We'll just have to find other ways for you to pleasure us."

"Mm." Virgil hums. "What time is it?"

"Quarter to five, lovely." Patton informs. "Wanted to give you time to wake up. Do you want a drink or snack or anything?"

"Water?" He asks meekly, and then he sits up. "Actually, I'll get it. Not gonna wake up by lying down."

When he gets into the kitchen, Logan is writing a shopping list on the edge of the counter. "Ah, Virgil. I was about to come and ask, anything from the supermarket?"

"Um, those mint ice creams maybe?"

"Sure thing." Logan replies, writing it down. "And, that flavoured lube we tried last week. Yay or nay?"

Virgil fills up his glass of water as they talk. "Uh, it tasted good. But I don't think it did as good of a job at being lube as the basic stuff does."

"Noted." Logan nods. "We'll get the normal stuff. Safety first, after all."

Virgil laughs under his breath, and takes a sip of his water. It's just then that the doorbell rings.

"Oh!" Patton calls. "He's early."

Virgil steps out into the hall, which leads to their open-plan living room and dining table, just in time for Patton to open the door. Janus has his hood up all the way, clearly cold due to the fact that he's dressed in shorts under his hoodie. He grins and is immediately taken into Patton's arms.

Janus locks eyes onto Virgil next, and they hug somewhat awkwardly before the man who has just arrived hugs Roman and Logan, too.

"Okay." Janus says as they've finished their greetings. "Negotiations?"

"Yes." Logan says, gesturing to the table, which all five men sit around. "Now, it's become apparent over the past few days that we need to go over how our boundaries might be different when playing with an additional person."

Janus nods, looking over at Virgil. The latter feels a bit embarrassed that Janus must have instantly known this was to do with him, but he doesn't show it on his face as he too nods.

"Yeah, I just- Um, I had some issues with the scene on Friday that were entirely preventable if we'd talked beforehand."

Nobody says anything to that, just intently focused on Virgil's words, which he appreciates, but he wishes it wasn't so damn awkward to express his feelings.

"I just-" He begins, leaning forward onto the table. "I've been feeling left out. So, in a scene with another sub, I've realised that I need equal attention. And I don't want to be separated from anyone, or left alone."

"Okay." Logan takes in. "Anything from you, Janus?"

Janus shifts in his seat. "Yeah, actually." He says. "I know it hasn't happened, but- um, I don't want to be compared to Virgil during a scene, and- okay, tell me if this is outlandish, but, are you guys the kind of people that tell each other they love each other during sex?"

Virgil nods. "Sometimes, yeah."

"Right. Can I maybe ask that you don't do that when I'm in earshot? It's- it's not that I don't want you to express that to each other but I know I'm not in a relationship with you guys so we aren't there yet, and hearing you tell each other that will just make me feel excluded, which isn't a good feeling."

Oh.

Virgil ...hadn't even considered that Janus might feel excluded.

Huh.

"Of course. Thank you for sharing that." Roman says, and Virgil is taken aback by how serious he seems.

"Uh," Virgil says, cutting through the feeling in the air. "Is there anything from you three? Or are we good to get into the scene talk?"

The three men look around each other and each nod in confirmation that there's really nothing on their part. "I think we're good." Patton expresses. "So, we came up with a bit of an idea for what we could do tonight, and we want your ideas."

"And, Janus, just so you know, Virgil enjoys not knowing everything about what will happen to keep some anticipation, but if you'd rather know all the details, we're more than happy to go over them. Usually, we just a-ok the basic subjects."

"Alright, yeah, that's good with me. What did you have in mind."

Roman grins to himself, and then looks to Logan and Patton as if to ask if he can announce their idea.

"Go on, then." Logan sighs playfully.

"Great! So, we were thinking that you two could do some puppy-kitten bonding." He explains, gesturing wildly with his hands.

"What?" Virgil asks, laughing as he glances at Janus.

"I think they want us to put on a show for them, Virge." Janus mumbles, head turning and dropping slightly to casually look at Virgil.

Virgil raises his eyebrows at the implications, waiting for Roman to go on.

"Exactly. We were thinking that maybe you two could have sex - however you want - and we get to watch and enjoy ourselves to the sight."

"How do you feel about that idea?" Logan asks after a few seconds of silence.

Virgil turns his head to look at Janus, and then he nods, spluttering a little. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, we- we could have sex. Do you think?"

Janus nods too, much to Virgil's relief. "I mean, yeah. Uh, we're gonna have to talk about how that's gonna work, though."

"Yeah." Patton nods. "Is that a conversation you want to have in private, just you two, or with us around?"

"I would rather if it was just us, if that's okay?" Virgil asks.

"Of course it is." Logan tells him. "And, how would you two feel about incorporating punishments today if it's necessary?"

"Yeah, sure thing." Virgil answers instantly. Janus takes a little longer, but he also agrees.

"As long as you promise to be super attentive and like, patient with me throughout."

"Certainly." Logan agrees.

After that, Janus and Virgil go upstairs, to the bedroom, to talk. It's a little awkward as Virgil closes the door behind them, but he settles on the bed and even pulls the duvet over his lap to make it a bit more personal. They are having sex today, after all.

Janus sits on the bed opposite Virgil. "So," He says slowly.

"So," Virgil repeats.

There's more silence, and then Janus rolls his eyes playfully. "Okay, fuck it. Elephant in the room, we're both submissive bottoms, so how the hell are we gonna make this work?" He laughs, and the bluntness makes Virgil laugh too.

"..Yeah." Virgil agrees. "Uh, I mean, you- we, rather, bought that strap on, didn't we?"

"Mm." Janus nods. "I just- I feel like, considering I've never actually used one before, and also, the actual dildo we bought for it is pretty big, it's probably better approached with the full support of those three. I don't.. really know how to do that in the safest way possible, and they wouldn't be much help jerking off."

Virgil nods. Yeah, Janus is right. "Okay, yeah." He says. "Yeah."

"I could always suck you off." Janus suggests easily.

"Mm." Virgil agrees. "Yeah, could be nice, 'cause I don't get head very much at all. 'Cause, Roman finds sucking dick degrading, and Logan is far too stoic to even consider it. Same with Patton not liking it really, I guess it's more of a thing that bottoms do typically."

"Mm. But, you've topped before, right?" Janus asks.

"Uh," Virgil thinks back. "I guess, technically. But I really wouldn't call it topping. Patton rides me sometimes, usually when my ass and mouth are both preoccupied, or when I'm tied down to the bed. So, I'm either just getting, like, fucked dry from every possible angle, or it's as a punishment because they know I'd rather be fucked. You know?"

"I've never had three doms or a cock to even be ridden, so, not really, but I get what you mean." He says jestfully.

"Oh." Virgil says, snapping his fingers. "That reminds me. Okay, um, stop me if I sound like a dickhead, but, I've only ever been with... cis guys sexually. And, I've known I was gay since I was like thirteen, so, I guess... Well, Patton and Roman are bi, so they've at least had some experience with.. uh, I guess, I never really had the chance to- agh, it's kinda.. I guess.."

Janus raises his eyebrows in amusement, letting Virgil go on and dig the hole he's in for a little longer before putting him out of his misery.

"You know jackshit about the female body?"

Virgil's shoulders sag and he exhales. "Yeah." He says, a little sadly, and Janus snickers.

"That's okay." Janus reassures him.

"And, like," Virgil carries on. "It's not like I don't want to have sex with you, I've just never been with a trans guy in that way, and, god, I've never been worried about my sexual performance before, but I don't know what I'm doing, like, topping in any sense, let alone with you, and I'm worried I'm just gonna be really shit at it and then you're gonna think I'm just a really bad fuck, which I promise, I'm not-"

"Virgil." Janus laughs. "Holy fuck, it's okay. Take a deep breath or something, jeez."

"Sorry." Virgil laughs nervously. "So, uh, am I topping? Is that what we decided?"

"I think it would be easiest." Janus nods. "But, you feel nervous about sex with me as a trans guy."

"Kinda, yeah." Virgil admits. "Sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Do you want me to talk you through some stuff? Don't think we have a time limit up here."

"Yeah. Thanks."

"Actually," Janus smirks. "Do you want me to show you?"

Virgil blinks, eyes going to the door. "This didn't end well last time, Jan." He says quietly.

"Last time we were just fooling around. This time I have a purpose in showing you how my body works. Consider it foreplay, puppy, come on."

Virgil swallows. He does want to. And it would help. He could just quickly nip downstairs and ask, but.. that would take time, and they might say no.

"Okay, fine, yeah." Virgil agrees.

Janus strips off his hoodie, revealing his flat chest and the scars that accompany it, as well as his abs. Virgil never really got a close look at Janus' body, but, fuck.

"It's rude to stare, Vee." Janus smirks, standing off the bed and unzipping his shorts.

"Guess I'm rude, then." Virgil counters, unable to draw his eyes away as Janus steps out of his jeans and boxers in one go. His breath hitches.

Janus giggles, walking back over to the bed. "Alright, let me show you some things, puppy dog."

"Please." Virgil whispers.

"Ah, ah," Janus counters. "We're being educational, don't start begging for something I've not been given permission to give you."

Virgil fights the urge to apologise. He's not trying to slip into subspace too soon.

"Right." Janus says, spreading his legs in front of Virgil, who swallows. "C'mere, put two fingers in my cunt, Virge, that's easy enough."

Virgil hesitates, and then he crawls forward, taking his index and middle finger and pushing them into Janus' cunt very slowly.

Janus gasps. "Virge- have some confidence with it, I'm not gonna break." He says breathlessly, and Virgil nods, driving his fingers in deeper. Virgil's other hand goes to roam around Janus' chest, fingers tracing over his scars.

"How- how long ago did you get this done?" He asks, and maybe it's a bit inappropriate to make casual conversation with two fingers inside of him, but whatever.

"My top surgery? Couple years." Janus answers breathlessly. "I was eighteen. My- shit, my parents helped to pay for me to go private, I love them so much."

"Don't talk about parents whilst I'm fingering you, please." Virgil whispers, and it's half a joke, and half not.

Janus laughs, just letting Virgil explore his cunt for a bit longer.

"How do you feel?" Janus asks after a few minutes, even though it should probably be the other way around. "Good?"

"Mhm," Virgil whines, resting his head on Janus' shoulder as he starts to properly finger Janus. "This is- ach, this is a pretty damning position to be found in if one of them came upstairs right now."

"Isn't that half the fun?" Janus whispers. "Okay, right, I think- I think you've explored my pussy well enough, now, Virge. Do you feel better?"

"Yeah." Virgil nods.

Then, Janus' right hand goes to Virgil's wrist and pulls it out of himself. He then guides Virgil's fingers to his clit, and makes Virgil lean up so that they're making eye contact.

Janus gasps as he uses Virgil's fingers like puppets to rub over his clit. "Shit, Virge, do you feel that?"

"Mhm-" Virgil nods.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

"That feels good. Really good, fuck, that's how you'll make me come, okay?"

"You won't come from just getting fucked?"

"Maybe. Probably not." Janus shrugs. He lets Virgil move his hands away, and then they pull apart. "I mean, do you come usually just from getting penetrated?"

"I can, but it takes like ten times longer."

"Yeah, exactly. And, by the way, I know I said this, but I don't do anal, so please don't go anywhere like that."

"Mhm." Virgil nods. "Okay. Okay, I feel ready. Thank you, by the way."

"Yeah. Now, uh, help me get dressed for us to walk down the stairs, and then you can pull my clothes off me again."

Virgil laughs, bending down and picking Janus' hoodie up off the floor.

Maybe having Janus around isn't so bad.

Chapter Text

"Alright boys." Patton grins. Virgil and Janus are sat down on the bed, having been brought back up after a little more talk, and going over the rules, so the scene was officially starting. "You might be doing your own thing, but we're still in charge. So, you do as we say upon our orders. Got that?"

"Yes, Daddy." Virgil nods, sitting back obediently on his haunches. He's wearing his clothes still and puppy ears, collar wrapped tightly around his neck as he blinks up at his doms.
"Yeah." Janus agrees, in the same position.

The three other men have settled themselves on the small sofa against the room's wall.

"Okay," Logan instructs. "Strip for us, pets."

Virgil pulls his shirt off eagerly, waiting for Janus to do the same.

He finds himself breathless as he turns, swallowing. "Can we kiss?" He asks meekly, in the general direction of the sofa.

"We'll let you know when you can kiss, mutt. Focus." Logan says harshly, and Virgil nods with determination as he goes back to removing his pyjama pants. He's stripped before Janus, and so he helps the other man remove his shorts.

Virgil leans towards Janus, hand getting dangerously close to the other man's body before he stops upon realising that he needs permission. He turns to glance at his doms for the second time.

"You aren't in a place to make any demands of us, bitch. Don't look at us like that." Logan chides.

"In fact," Roman adds, smirking. "Sit your bratty ass back down on the bed. You'll move when we tell you to. Okay?"

Virgil huffs. He wasn't trying to be bratty! But, okay, fine.

"Yes, Sir." He says anyway, sitting back onto the duvet and trying his best not to pout.

"Alright," Logan speaks up. "Kitten, do you want to decorate him pretty on our behalf? Suck hickeys into his neck until he's leaking pre? And then, if we think he was a good boy about it, he'll get to return the favour."

Virgil whines, high and needy, just like he's been conditioned to. Fuck, he loves it he gets spoken about like he's not even there.

Janus' eyes blow wide at the words, and he nods profusely. "Please, Master." He begs, and Logan laughs under his breath.

"Go on, then, pet."

And so Janus crawls forward, wrapping a hand around the back of Virgil's neck, and instantly bringing his lips to the younger man's collarbones. He has a lot of experience in this kind of thing, so he gets right to it, sucking and kissing Virgil's collarbones, and then as high up as he can get with the dog collar around his neck in the way.

"Oh, oh, fuck." Virgil whines, craning his neck backwards to allow more space. "Mm- please- fuck."

"I know," Janus whispers between breaths. "I know, puppy."

Virgil presses his legs together underneath Janus to try and satiate his hard-on as the other man continues his assault on his skin.

"Enough." Logan says, cutting through Virgil's pleas effectively. "He's certainly turned on enough to fuck you as hard as you'll want it."

Janus swallows, pulling away from Virgil and admiring the marks he'd left. Between Virgil's legs, his cock is impossibly hard, and- fuck, it looks much bigger like this. Janus feels himself getting wet at the sight.

"Time for you to give the same back, Puppy." Patton grins, one hand already down his trousers.

Virgil nods, sitting back up and starting to kiss Janus' neck. It's a lot easier for Virgil to mark Janus up, because he has no collar around his neck to get in the way.

This time, it's Janus' turn to whine. He falls back against the bed, which gives Virgil room to straddle Janus' waist as he continues his kissing.

Virgil doesn't get to pleasure Janus for quite as long, because the position they do it in is much more sexual and desperate, and so they're stopped after only a couple minutes.

"Good boys, doing so well." Patton tells them through their heavy breaths.

"Are you both ready, then?" Roman asks.

"Yes, Sir." Janus answers first, and Virgil isn't behind as he nods and expresses the same mantra.

"Perfect."

Virgil feels nervous as he lubes his cock up. He's.. never done this before. He's been ridden, fine, but he's never done the fucking. What if he's not good at it?

He grits his teeth and dispels the thoughts.

"Spread your legs for him, kitten." Roman says lustfully from the sofa, and Janus obeys. He's sat up against the headboard, blinking obscenely up at Virgil, who nods to himself.

"Fuck him then, puppy, show us how good you can make each other feel." Logan instructs, and with the permission, Virgil inches forward.

"Can I?" Virgil whispers to Janus, who nods. His eyes are half-lidded with arousal, and he spreads his legs further to accommodate Virgil kneeling between his negs.

"Yeah." Janus replies, too giving verbal confirmation.

Virgil focuses intensely as he lines his cock up with Janus' hole, gasping louder than Janus does as he pushes half way in in one go.

He's left breathing heavily, and rests his forehead against Janus' shoulder.

"Keep going, honey." Patton whispers, and Virgil nods to himself, pushing in further. This time, Janus moans, arm wrapping around Virgil's back to hold him close.

Virgil starts to fuck into Janus as best he can, keeping his head against Janus', but thrusting his hips and gasping at the sensations. It feels like a workout to him, and he doesn't even know if he's doing it well.

The moans and pleas that Janus are letting out tells him that he might be, but Virgil also knows that from past sexual partners that faking pleasure for the sake of kindness is quite easy.

There's a snicker from the sofa, and both Virgil and Janus look over.

"Sorry!" Roman exclaims, covering his mouth. "It's just, awh," He breathes, having slipped into a much more dominant, teasing tone. "You look so cute trying to pleasure him, puppy. You have no idea what you're doing, do you?"

Virgil whines.

"Oh, Roman, stop it!" Patton giggles. "It's not his fault that he's too much of a bottom slut to have had any experience."

Janus snickers below Virgil, too, and he bites his lip.

He delivers a particularly deep thrust that has Janus moaning out, wiping the smirk off his face.
"Oh, please, Virgil, please." Janus whimpers, head thrown back to show off his marks.

He continues in the rhythm for a good couple minutes before his legs tire and he has to stop for breath. His doms all have their hands wrapped around their cocks at this point.

"Kitten?" Logan calls from the sofa. Janus looks over, still being fucked into as he nods. "I think maybe it's time for you to put the bitch out of his misery and just ride him."

Virgil pouts. He was doing well now!

"Doesn't it take so much effort to have to fuck him, pet? Don't you want to just lie back and feel good?"

Virgil looks at Logan for a moment, mind hazy from subspace, and then he nods.

"You wanna ride him, kitten?" Patton asks.

"Yeah, okay." Janus nods. He shifts forward, gasping as it drives Virgil's cock deeper inside of him.

Janus and Virgil's lips connect in between them, and they kiss with a great deal of passion between them, bodies connected.

After a minute of their kisses, Janus pushes Virgil down onto the bed by his shoulders, and the puppy cries out in a whimper as Janus straddles him.

Janus starts to ride him with intense vigour, clearly having had a lot of practice at it. Virgil turns to putty underneath the kitten, eyes rolling back in his head and moaning out at the sensations.

Janus whimpers and whines as well, biting his lip as he looks down at Virgil.

"Fuck, feel so good inside me." He whispers. "God, you're so fucking hot."

Virgil gasps out, bucking his hips upwards and into Janus, who moans.

"Janus- Janus, fuck, fuck-"

Janus glances over at the other men in the room, and a jolt of pleasure shoots through him as he sees all three of their doms watching intently with their cocks in their hands, jerking off to the sight.
"That's right, fuck our kitten deep, puppy, make him feel so good."

"Fuck," Janus mutters, speeding up.

Virgil sees this too, and moans, hand going close to Janus' cunt and resting on his thigh. "Can I- Can I touch your clit? Please?"

"Shit, fuck, yes."

Virgil's fingers go to Janus' clit, and it's hard to keep a steady hand with all the moving they're doing, but he rubs circles onto and around it, causing Janus to gasp out obscenely and speed up his movements even more.

They keep at this for a good five minutes, until Janus' legs start to shake, and he whimpers. "Fuck, Virgil, I'm gonna come-" He chokes out, and Virgil nods desperately, starting to chase his own orgasm.

When Janus suddenly comes, clenching down around Virgil's length, the puppy cries out, coming as well, whole body going slack on the bed. Janus flops his upper body down on top of Virgil's, and they catch their breath together.

Their doms allow them that time, before Patton clears his throat and they both look over.

"I'm sorry, boys, did you get permission for that?"

Virgil turns his head to look at the three men, who look less than impressed.

"Fuck," Virgil curses, eyes focusing back on Janus, who swallows.

"We're gonna be in trouble for that, aren't we?" Janus whispers, anxiety seeping into his voice.

"Yeah." Virgil sighs.

"Why are you two talking like we're not sitting less than three metres away from you?" Roman asks, amusement in his tone, which calms Virgil down significantly.

Virgil's mouth shuts and he sits up onto his elbows.

"I'm sorry, Sir." Janus apologises.

"Sorry." Virgil repeats.

Logan sighs. "I remain unconvinced." He announces, standing after tucking his cock back into his underwear. He kneels on the bed behind the two men, and hooks his arms under Janus', lifting him up and off Virgil's cock. Virgil's come leaks out of Janus' cunt, and Virgil's eyes are glued to it as his hard-on twitches back to life.

"Puppy, sit up." Logan says, manoeuvring Janus to be sat up as well.

"You," Logan accuses, pointing at Virgil. "Should know better."

"I know, Master, I'm sorry."

"Mm." Logan hums. "Give me a reason not to put you both in chastity."

Virgil bats his eyes, very used to this kind of thing. "I didn't- We didn't know any better, Master, we're just dumb little pets, we don't have the self control that you do." He tries.

Logan looks back at Patton and Roman.

"It's a good try." Patton giggles. "Awh, don't be too harsh, Logie, they put on such a good show for us."

"Well, if you two want to fuck so badly, maybe I should tie you both to the bed and make you have sex until you're crying."

"Master, we're sorry." Janus tries.

"This is the second time in two scenes that you two have broken the rules. You've got a one hundred-percent rule-break rate."

"Kitten, what have you done to our sweet angel?" Patton asks, and Roman laughs out loud at the idea that Virgil is a sweet angel, before putting his hand over his mouth.

Logan death glares Roman for a moment and then turns back to the boys on the bed.

"You'll write lines." Logan announces, and Virgil gasps in upset. That's not even a funishment, that's just boring! This wasn't fair.

"Master, come on-"

"No. Be quiet and deal with it, or else I'll put your pathetic little cock in a cage whilst you do it."

Virgil pouts. "This isn't fair, Master, I hate writing lines. I- I'll give you guys as much head as you want, and you can bend me over the furniture as much as you need, and-"

Virgil's words are cut off by Logan slapping him across the face.

It's so hard that Virgil's body jerks with the force of it. But, he doesn't cry out in pain.

Janus gasps loudly, eyes wide as saucepans.

The room is silent for a moment, other than Virgil's heavy breaths.

"Yellow," Janus breathes out. It feels impossible for the word to leave his mouth, but it does, and then he has multiple pairs of eyes on him.

"What is it, honey? What can we do?" Patton asks, standing off the sofa.

Virgil lifts his head up, hand coming to his cheek where he was hit. He looks ready to speak, with a likely apology to Logan on his lips, but he bites his tonged for Janus' sake.

"That-" Janus starts, eyes darting from Virgil to Logan. "That was really violent. Does- Are you okay?"

Virgil's hand drops away from his face, and although there are tears in his eyes, he nods.

"Yeah, I- uh, sorry, 's hard to talk- subspace 'n'- um, Logan hits me sometimes 'cause it's hot. We- uh, didn't we talk about this on Friday?"

Janus blinks. "I mean, yeah. I didn't- I just guess I wasn't expecting him to just slap you in the face so hard like that."

"I promise," Virgil says, taking Janus' hand. "It's all consensual."

"Yes." Logan says. "I apologise if it scared you at all, Janus. But, I can assure you that Virgil is very much a masochist who derives pleasure from such activities, and we have built up the level of trust that allows us to treat him in such ways."

Virgil nods, looking more worried for Janus than anything else.

"Would you prefer if we refrained from this kind of treatment when engaging with you also?" Logan asks.

"Uh, no, no, it's fine. Sorry. I was just a bit caught off guard. As long as it's safe and consensual, it's-" He cuts himself off, taking a deep breath. "I don't wanna be hit like that." He expresses suddenly.

"And I would never unless you'd explicitly expressed it was what you wanted. I promise." Logan reassures him, and Janus nods.

"Yeah. Yeah, sorry."

"Don't apologise." Roman tells him. "Thank you for using your safewords."

"Yeah." Janus nods. "Alright, we're green."

"Are we all okay to carry on?" Patton asks. Once everyone has confirmed that, Logan takes a breath and seems to switch his persona back on.

"Why did you just get hit, mutt?" He asks, grabbing Virgil by the chin and forcing him to look him in the eyes.

"Tried t' get out of the punishment, Master." He slurs slightly.

"Mhm. I'll explain what's going to happen again, and I'll give you another opportunity to respond appropriately."

"Thank you, Master."

"Okay. You're both going to write lines. You'll copy out our rules ten times, and then you'll write 'I will not break the rules' a further hundred times."

"Yes, Master." Janus says instantly.

"Yes, Master. Thank you." Virgil mimics. "But-"

Virgil bites his lip.

"Go on, pet, what?" Logan asks.

"I was- uh, I was just going to ask if there's going to be any sexual gratification during or after these lines." He asks, voice getting quieter as Logan's gaze darkens.

"Yikes." Roman says, eyeing Logan warily.

"You're going to write an extra ten lines of 'I will not make demands of my owners', followed by ten of 'I will be grateful for what I am given', and ten of 'My punishments are to help me behave better.' Do you understand?"

Virgil pouts, sniffling a little. "Yes, master. I'm sorry, I-"

"Puppy, I think it's really for the best if that's the end of your statement." Patton interrupts him.

Virgil nods silently. Patton is probably right. He's digging himself into a hole.

"Okay." Logan says. "That can wait until tomorrow morning, though. It's been a long night already."

Virgil nods, collapsing into Janus' side. "Can I- Can I go and lie down in my cage, please, Master?" He asks quietly.

"Of course." Logan responds.

"Do you think I can maybe just be a puppy for the rest of the day?" He asks, nuzzling into Janus' side. Janus snickers, running a hand through his hair.

"Awh," Patton grins. "Of course you can, baby. Why don't we get you dressed, and then you can go and nap in your cage, hm?"

"Janus?" Virgil whispers.

"Yeah, Virge?"

"Can you come nap with me?"

And Janus' heart melts. "I think I'm gonna shower, puppy, but I'll be right down as soon as I can, okay?"

Virgil nods.

In the next ten minutes, he puts his pyjama pants back on and manages to persuade Roman to carry him downstairs. His cage is big enough for him to stretch out in, and they move his dog bed inside so that he can curl up.

Patton shuts the cage door behind him, because it's the enclosed space that helps him feel safe, but Virgil knows somewhere in the back of his mind that it's not locked, and, unlike a real dog, he has the opposable thumbs to open it.

He's incredibly close to falling asleep fifteen minutes later when he hears the cage door open.

Virgil looks up, whining at the interruption until he sees Janus kneeling by the cage door. His hair is wet, and he's shirtless, as Virgil is.

"Hi, puppy. Do you still want me to come in?" He asks softly.

Virgil nods, sitting up and shuffling over to Janus, hooking his teeth in the fabric of Janus' pyjamas, which, if he was more coherent, he would recognise as Logan's, and pulling him inwards.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming." Janus laughs, entering the cage and closing the door behind him.

Virgil curls up as if he's completely decided that he's the little spoon here, and Janus smiles to himself as he settles behind the other man, wrapping his arms around Virgil's waist.

Unbeknownst to them, their doms are watching from the other side of the living room, whispering in hushed tones about how adorable and cherished they are. Obviously, the boys can't hear, but it's okay. They'll be told as much as they can handle.

And, if a few photos of the two pets sleeping cuddled together ends up in Roman's camera roll, then so be it.

Chapter Text

Virgil blinks awake, uncomfortable to have been woken up.

He rubs his eyes and sits himself up with the intention of reaching for his phone, but when he moves his hand towards the bedside table, it hits metal, and he yelps.

Where the fuck-

Oh.

Oh, right.

It's still dark in the living room, and so it's hard to make out Janus' sleeping figure in the cage too, but he's definitely there, and he stirs a little as Virgil moves.

He's thankful for his opposable thumbs as he unlocks the very simple latch on the cage and the door creeps open. He's also thankful that Janus' arms are no longer around his waist, because it would be much harder to get out that way.

He's no stranger to falling asleep in his cage, which is why he doesn't find it particularly weird to be clambering out and pouring himself a glass of water. He has no idea where his phone is, but one of his owners probably does, and he doesn't need it right now.

It's only when he's at the top of the stairs, half way to the bedroom to try and steal a pillow so he can get back to sleep when he's scared by a hand on his waist from behind.

"Sh, sh, it's okay." Patton whispers. "Down on your knees, that's a good boy."

Virgil drops onto his knees as quietly as possible, and then Patton's hand is hooked under the back of his collar.

"Daddy-" Virgil gasps at the tug around his throat.

"Sh, pup, be quiet. You wouldn't want to wake up your Master and Sir, would you?"

Virgil whines as he's pushed down to his elbows as well, and then even further so that his shoulders and knees are on the ground, but his ass and torso are in the air.

"Now, what's a weak little thing like you doing all alone in the dark?" His daddy whispers, right hand resting on Virgil's thigh and squeezing.

Virgil's breath hitches. "I just came to get-"

"Sh, sh." Patton interrupts him, placing his other hand over Virgil's mouth, despite the fact he asked the question.

"God, baby, I want to fuck you against the floor so hard."

Virgil whimpers into Patton's hand, and the older man sighs.

"But not tonight." He says, and Virgil groans inwardly. "Neither of you bratty boys are getting touched until you've done your lines tomorrow." He announces, and the puppy kicks his legs petulantly.

"Awh, I know. But- ach, you're just so pretty all caught like this. I could just fuck you right here, nobody would know apart from us."

Virgil whines, growing embarrassingly turned on by the words.

"But I won't." He finishes. "Wait here. If you move, you're in trouble." He tells Virgil, and then he's stood up and walking down the corridor.

Patton's back about a minute later, and, trying to be a good boy, Virgil hasn't moved. It's too dark for him to see what's going on, but he feels Patton pull down his pyjama pants to his knees.

He then places a tube between Virgil's thighs, and the puppy blushes as he realises it's a fleshlight.

"Close your legs." Patton whispers. "Good boy, hold it there."

Virgil drops his head against the carpet and breathes deeply with the effort of trying not to get hard from this. He knows if he does, he'll have to go back to bed needy.

His whole body jerks as Patton starts thrusting into the fleshlight held between his thighs.

It takes about five minutes for Patton to come, and he's pretty much silent the whole time, because they're being discreet.

"Fuck, baby, fuck." He groans, and his final thrust is deeper than the others, and the force of it pushes Virgil down against the carpet as his daddy comes.

Patton then stands up, and pulls his own pyjamas back on.
"I'll see you in the morning, pup." He says, walking away and leaving Virgil on the floor with his trousers pulled down in the dark.

"Wait, Daddy, um-"

Patton turns back around. "Yeah?"

"Can I have a pillow from the bedroom please?"

And Patton laughs, then covering his mouth to stop the noise. "Yeah, 'course." He says affectionately, and then disappears into the bedroom to get it.

---

Janus is confused when he wakes up.

He's alone, which isn't weird for him, but it is weird that he's in a cage.

He sits up, and his eyes land on where Virgil is asleep on the sofa under a blanket.

Ah, right.

Luckily he did have it about him to keep his phone on him, and checks the time. It's nine o'clock, which is definitely an appropriate time to get up, so he does.

Maybe he was kind of loud about it, because Virgil is stirring as he closes the cage door behind him, and then he blinks himself awake and to awareness.

"Jan?" He whispers, rolling over to hide from the world.

"Morning." Janus replies with a smile. "Sleep well?"

Virgil snorts. "Went upstairs at like four to get a pillow and got ambushed and thigh-fucked."

Janus chokes on his breath as he laughs at the words. "Roman?" He asks, entertained.

"Patton."

"Damn."

"Then I was pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to get back to sleep in the cage, so just crashed on the sofa." He explains, sitting up. His hair is all ruffled from sleep, and Janus resists the urge to comment on it.

There's something so intimately domestic about sharing a morning with someone, and Janus stops himself from commenting on how content he feels out loud.

"So, uh, you staying here today, too?" Virgil asks, kicking his blanket off his legs and standing up.

"Not sure." Janus answers honestly. "I didn't even plan on staying over, but it just made sense, and then we have those lines to write today, too."

"Ugh," Virgil groans. "That's so tedious, I miss when BDSM was fun." He jokes, clearly being sarcastic as he walks into the kitchen.

Janus laughs too, following Virgil to the kitchen.

"Virge," The older man mutters softly when he gets close enough. There's concern in his voice.

Virgil turns his head, and Janus' body is close to his. His eyes graze over Virgil's face for a moment, and then his hand comes up to Virgil's cheek and his thumb rubs over it.

"You've bruised." Janus whispers. "Not- not badly. Does it hurt?" He asks, and he gently presses his thumb down over the bruise.

He expects Virgil to tell him it does, or it doesn't.

But instead, his eyes widen and he whimpers.

Janus blinks, and then he pulls his hand away. "Oh-" He says, and he blinks, and his hand goes to his mouth slightly. "Sorry, I didn't-"

Virgil clears his throat and leans against the counter, avoiding eye contact.
"No, uh, it's- sorry. Logan always does that. He- um, like, toys with my bruises, and it's- I'm gonna have to stop talking about it 'cause I'll get hard." He trails off.

"You're really easy to turn on." Janus observes.

"You think I don't know that?" Virgil mutters with embarrassment. "Worst part is that I don't know if I'm just like this or if all the sex I've been having for years has just conditioned me to be like this."

"Probably the latter."

"Urgh, don't use words like 'latter', you sound like Lo."

"What's so bad about that?" Roman smirks, entering the kitchen. He plants a kiss onto Virgil's forehead. "Your cheek's bruised. Don't let Logan see, he'll be pushing against it all day."

"I know." Virgil breathes out. "But- technically I feel like that's sexual, and I thought we weren't getting any until after our lines."

"We aren't?" Janus asks.

"Uh, no." Roman answers Janus first. "But- we decided that last night, how do you know already?"

"Oh, I got up in the middle of the night and Patton pounced on me and then made me hold a fleshlight between my thighs."

Roman raises his eyebrows. "Dios mio." He mutters, going to the fridge to get the milk for his coffee.

Virgil turns to Janus, who pouts.
"Yeah I know. Losing penetration privileges sucks balls." Virgil frowns.

Roman bursts into laughter and has to lean against the counter to contain himself. "Penetration privileges?" He asks.

"Yea, that's what I call it when you tell me I'm not allowed sex."

"Sex is more than penetration, Vee." Roman says with a smirk still on his face.

"Well, sure, but it wouldn't be alliterative if I included everything. Live a little."

There are footsteps down the hall, and then Patton appears in the doorway of the kitchen.
"I don't even wanna know what conversation is happening here, just trying to get a glass of water."

"Oh!" Patton exclaims. "You two," He says, pointing at Virgil and Janus. "Need to get dressed and be sat at the dining table by half past."

Virgil groans, tipping his head back. "Can we not just forget about it?" He asks, being purposefully over the top and dramatic.

"Go. Now." Patton says again, gesturing in the direction of the stairs.

"Yes, daddy." Virgil mutters, walking out of the room. Janus nods and follows him upstairs.

---

Janus and Virgil run down the stairs (in a manner that Logan would definitely have scolded them for safety-wise if he saw) at twenty-nine past.

It's not their fault that they couldn't pick outfits.

Virgil sees it as a treat when his doms pick his outfits out for him, because it takes all of the stress away. If Logan had just chosen what he was meant to wear, they wouldn't have been nearly late.

Either way, they do make it just in time.

Virgil ends up wearing his baggy, black denim shorts underneath a dark green crochet jumper. His collar doesn't really match the outfit, but he doesn't mind.

Janus has borrowed one of Virgil's skirts, which reaches all the way down to his ankles in a dark shade of grey, and the only yellow article of clothing that Virgil owns, which is a more gold-toned crewneck with some indie band logo on the front.

"Good morning, brats." Logan says, voice clear as he sits down in another seat at the table opposite the two subs. He has a mug of coffee in his right hand, and in his left, he holds a whole stack of lined paper, and two pens. "Do you remember what you're writing first?"

"The rules, uh, ten times, Master?" Janus asks.

"Yes, Kitten, well done. Now, the impression I've received is that you've forgotten the rules. Because, I would hate to imagine that you know them and chose to disregard them."

Virgil stays silent. He knows the rules very well. He's been following them for over a year. Logan knows that, of course. He's just being strict.

"So, I'll repeat them out loud for you both. I'd suggest you write them down, and this can count as your first of the ten repetitions. Okay?"

"Yes, master." Virgil mutters, picking up one of the pens and taking the lid off. Janus repeats the same, and Logan clears his throat exaggeratedly.

"I should first clarify that the phrasing of some of these is built upon the nature of our ownership and permenant residence with Virgil, so obviously keep that in mind, and if you require any clarification with the adjustments, please do ask so. The intention for you, Janus, is that these would only apply during scenes."

"Okay. Thanks." Janus nods.

The two subs find themselves in a lull of writing obediently as Logan reads the rules exactly as they are off his notes app. Virgil finds it ironic that he can't even recite them from memory.

"Number one: Only my owners are permitted to touch me sexually."

"Number two: I am not to pleasure myself without explicit permission."

"Number three: Even when permitted to engage in sexual activity, I will not reach orgasm without explicit permission."

"Number four: I will do what I am told when I am told it."

"Number five: - And, this one only applies to Virgil in regards to our free use agreement - I will always be available for sexual intercourse and will not refuse it with the exception of my safewords."

"And number six: I will obey the rules set by my owners to the best of my ability." Logan sounds amused when he reads out that last one. "That's the one I think you appear to be struggling with." He adds. "Do you both have those written down?"

Virgil and Janus both nod.

"And then I'd advise you to note down the next set of lines as well, because I won't come back to remind you. You're writing a hundred lines of 'I will not break the rules'. Virgil, you have a further thirty to write. Do you remember what they were?"

Virgil blinks. He- he thinks so? He doesn't really know, he's already feeling fuzzy from his master talking to him in his dom voice.

"Uh, not making demands? And being grateful." He asks, and Logan smiles.

"I'll tell you. Write it down." Logan gestures. "Ten of each. The first is 'I will not make demands of my owners', the second is 'I will be grateful for what I am given', and the third is 'My punishments are to help me behave better'."

Virgil struggles to write it all down in time. He's incredibly close to protesting how unfair all that is for him making one comment, but he knows it won't get him anywhere. And, besides, Logan is kind of known in the household for his hyperbolic punishments.

"Right." Logan says, standing back up. "You will not speak to each other. The only words coming out of your mouths should be to ask one of us three for something you need, like water, or a snack, or to use the bathroom. Do you understand?"

"Yes, master." Virgil replies, trying his best not to pout.
"Yes, master." Janus also says, biting his lip.

Virgil starts a new page to begin his lines, wanting it all to be neat. He doesn't pay any attention to how quickly Janus is writing, because it might make him feel bad if he's slower. He just writes out the rules, trying not to stop for the sake of time.

1. Only my owners are permitted to touch me sexually. 2. I am not to pleasure myself without explicit permission. 3. Even when permitted to engage in sexual activity, I will not reach orgasm without explicit permission. 4. I will do what I am told when I am told it. 5. I will always be available for sexual intercourse and will not refuse it with the exception of my safewords. 6. I will obey the rules set by my owners to the best of my ability.

Virgil gets the rules down seven times before he starts to zone out. God, this is going to be a long morning.

Janus finishes off his ten sets of the rules the fastest. He feels like he's back at school again, except school didn't have quite so much mention of sex.

Maybe he finishes earlier because he has one less rule than Virgil, and he was switching the term 'owners' to 'doms', which is considerably shorter when you consider that he wrote it a total of twenty times over all the sets of rules.

Either way, he stretches his wrist a little before starting to dive into the one hundred lines he was about to do.

Patton wanders through the living room and gently pats both men on the head affectionately.
"Um, daddy?" Virgil asks.
"Yes, pet?"
"Can I have a glass of water, please?"

Patton smiles with a nod, standing behind Virgil and running his hands through the younger man's hair.
"Your handwriting standard is declining by the word." He comments amusedly. "Of course, puppy. Do you want a glass of water as well, kitty?"

Janus looks up from his writing, shaking his head softly. "No thank you, daddy."

"Alright."

Patton disappears off into the kitchen, and he comes back with a glass of water for Virgil. "Don't be too generous with it, baby, I think your master has some intentions."

"What?" Virgil asks dumbly, taking a sip of his drink.

"Nothing, don't worry." Patton says. "Have fun."

Virgil reluctantly gets stuck back in after that, finishing his rules and moving on.

I will not break the rules.

I will not break the rules.

I will not break the rules.

I will not break-

Fuck, this was tedious.

He glances over at Janus' paper and sees that he's already done a whole page. Fuck, he's gonna be here forever.

Whatever, he'll get it done. He always does.

It's been half an hour by the time Virgil is about sixty lines in.

Logan walks into the room, watching over their shoulders.
"How are you doing, boys?"

"Twenty lines left, Master." Janus answers, barely looking up from his writing.

"Uh, like fourty more."

"And of course you've got the extra thirty."

"Oh. Yeah."

"Do either of you need anything?"

Virgil shifts a little. This might be his only opportunity for a little bit.

"I kinda need a piss." Virgil mumbles.

Logan's eyebrows raise and he clears his throat. "Ask that nicely, bitch." He spits, clearly displeased by the manners used.

Virgil looks up, as if he's only just realised how he should be speaking.

"Um, can I go to the bathroom please, Master?"

"I don't know, can you?"

Janus snickers, but he doesn't glance up from his work.

Virgil huffs indignantly. "May I go to the bathroom, please, Master?"

"No, I don't think so."

"What..?"

"When you've finished your lines, pet, you can go."

"But- I- I'm only like half way done."

"Okay? It's not my fault you didn't go potty beforehand."

Virgil pouts, looking up with doe eyes. "Logan." He whines.

"What did you just call me?" Logan asks, eyes narrowed. Virgil blinks and picks his pen back up.
"Sorry." He mumbles, clear in his voice that it's not genuine.

He knows he should be a little nervous when Logan walks out of the room in silence. He comes back about a minute later with a dark red rope from their bedroom.

"What are you gonna do with that?" Virgil asks humorously. "I'm not intimidated by you."

Virgil looks up just in time for Logan to grab the collar of his jumper, pulling him in by the throat and effectively gagging him.

"I don't know what the fuck has gotten into you that's making you think you're entitled to behave like a bitch," He grits out, voice deep and threatening. Virgil whimpers. "but you are not acting like the good puppy that I first met. He would've thanked me for this punishment and got on with it, not acted like a whiny little shit about it."

"I'm sorry-" Virgil whispers, voice desperate for forgiveness.

"No." Logan cuts him off. "You aren't. Because this isn't just today, is it? You said sorry the last time and then you did it again. And again. We know that sometimes it can be fun to misbehave, but don't forget that we own you, so you should start acting like it. When I fucking tell you to do something, you do it."

Virgil all but loses the ability to speak.

He- he's never been told off like that before.

Logan pushes him back down into his seat. "I don't want to have this conversation with you again." He says. "I'm disappointed in your behaviour, Virgil."

Virgil. Virgil, Virgil.

He- He's disappointed in Virgil.

"I was going to bind your hands together as punishment for those comments, but I think that chat we've just had is probably enough. Don't you think?"

Virgil nods. He knows he's meant to reply verbally when asked questions but the words are stuck in his throat.

"Good boy. Now get on with it." He says, kissing Virgil on the forehead and then walking away, back upstairs.

Virgil nods to himself. He needed that, he was stepping out of line. He can show Logan that he's a good boy, he'll finish the lines really quick.

Virgil's hand is shaking as he picks his pen back up.

"Hey," Janus whispers. "Are you okay?"

Virgil nods. He doesn't look at Janus. They were told not to speak.

"Virgil?" Janus whispers again.

The younger man's handwriting is pretty much unreadable, but he's writing, so it's fine.

I will not break the rules. I will not break the rules. I will not-

Virgil involuntary drops his pen onto the table as he bursts into tears.

His shaky right hand goes over his mouth, and he drops his head onto the table.

"Oh," Janus sighs sympathetically. "Oh, darling, it's okay."

Virgil shakes his head. It's not okay, it's not.

"I'm gonna get one of the others, okay?"

"No, no, please don't." Virgil begs.

"Don't?"

"I wanna finish this, Jan, wanna show him I can do it." Virgil whispers, but he's shaking like a leaf and not even able to properly breathe through his sobs.

"Come on, no, you're upset."

Virgil takes a deep breath. "No, no. I need to. Please, I need to, I'll feel so much better."

Janus debates his options here. Virgil is feeling hurt by Logan telling him off so harshly. He needs comforting from someone that it will mean a lot from.

But, he's a grown man. He wants to finish his lines, and it's not Janus' call whether he can or can't do that. He's an adult, he can make choices for himself.

"Okay." Janus says softly. "Okay, let's just do it quickly, alright?"

"Mhm." Virgil hums, picking up his pen again.

This time, he actually does knuckle down.

Janus finishes the lines about twenty minutes later, but he stays sat at the table with Virgil for moral support.

The extra thirty lines he has to do just serve to remind him of how bad he's been. He cries silent tears onto the paper as he writes them, but he gets it done.

Afterwards, he and Janus get up, and Virgil splashes his face with water generously. They take five minutes to calm down before taking their lines upstairs.

The bedroom door is ajar, but Virgil stops short of it and knocks twice.

"Mhm?" He hears Patton's voice, and he steps around the door slowly.

Logan is sat at the desk in the corner of the room, typing away on a laptop. In the bed, Roman is laying on Patton's chest, looking close to falling asleep. Patton puts his phone down at Virgil's appearance.

"Um, Master?"

Logan spins around. "Yes?"

"We've finished our lines, Master."

"Brilliant. Bring them here."

Janus follows Virgil into the room, and is a little taken aback when Virgil gets to where Logan is sat and kneels down on the ground to hand him the sheets.

He guesses that must be a thing they do.

"Why are we kneeling for this?" He asks honestly as he gets onto his knees as well.

"He's sat down." Virgil answers. "We shouldn't be looking down on our doms, they should be looking down on us. So, when we speak to them for the purpose of something during a scene, we kneel to restore the height balance, and Master doesn't have to get up."

Janus hums to himself. They have this thought through. Virgil knows how to behave perfectly like it's second nature.

"Exactly. And, besides, this is quite similar to if I were sat on a throne with my servants at my feet." Logan humours himself, and then he reaches out to take the paper off of the subs.

His eyes scan them, checking all of the pages. "Perfect. Well done, boys."

Virgil nods to himself. He's done well. His work was perfect.

"We're out of scene now." Logan announces.

"Oh god, does that mean I can go piss now?"

Logna chuckles to himself. "Yes, you can."

Virgil is up quickly and out of the room in seconds. Whilst he's gone, Janus gets into bed with Patton and Roman, which Virgil joins in on when he's back.

There are a lot of cuddles for about half an hour, and then they decide what to do with their day. After much deliberation, it's chosen that they'll go out for brunch this morning.

Everyone starts to leave the bedroom to go and get their shoes on.

"Virge? Can you stay behind a moment?" Logan asks softly.

"You sound like my old teachers." Virgil replies jestfully. "But, yeah. Sure."

Virgil perches on the edge of the bed, and Logan moves to sit next to him.

"I'd like to apologise for the way I spoke to you earlier, Virgil." Logan says directly. "I noticed that there were tears on your pages of lines, which leads me to conclude that my words caused you genuine distress, and I apologise."

Virgil takes a moment to process the words. "It's okay. I needed it."

"Maybe so, but I feel that I was irrationally angry towards you. I was unhappy with the way that you spoke to me, and I should have taken longer to collect myself before expressing that."

"Thanks." Virgil says. "I think- I think I'm just trying to find my bearing a little. Janus being around, as much as I really do like him, has thrown me off a little."

"I've hypothesised that you might be acting out because your subconscious mind is aware that it will get you more attention from us, since a natural consequence of Janus' presence is that you'll receive slightly less of it."

Huh.

"Yeah, probably."

"Which is something that we will adjust to. And- uhm, I'm not disappointed in you, Virgil. You did very well today."

Virgil drops his head onto Logan's shoulder, and the older man hooks his arm around Virgil's body.
"Thank you."

"Right. I need to also have a quick chat with Janus about how he felt that was, and then we'll head out." Logan announces, which Virgil takes as a sign to get up.

He then leaves the room to get Janus, but not before the two men share a quick kiss.

Chapter Text

"Alright, there you go, good boy." Patton whispers as he clasps the choker necklace that Virgil wears when they leave the house around his neck.

He runs his fingers over it, smiling contently.

"Virge, can you go and get Lo and Janus? They've been chatting for like ten minutes and we need to leave." Roman says, buttoning his shirt up in the mirror.

"'Course, yeah." Virgil replies, standing up off the sofa and heading up the stairs.

He hears that Logan and Janus are still talking from their hushed voices, and maybe he shouldn't eavesdrop, but he has to get to the room somehow.

Virgil was planning to just walk right in, but he hears his name, and stops to listen.

"And thank you for not letting Virgil's negative attitude influence you. He's going through a rough patch behaviour-wise, and it's reassuring to know that I don't have to worry about that with you."

Virgil is pretty sure his heart drops into his stomach.

He- oh.

Logan's talking about him. To Janus.

Logan's praising Janus for not being like him.

"Yeah, that's okay." Janus says softly. "Don't be too hard on him, hey? He's really trying."

"I know."

Virgil clears his throat and knocks on the doorframe, stepping into view.

Janus is leaning against Logan, head dropping onto his shoulder, and eyes closed contently. Logan looks up through his glasses.

"Ah, hello, Virgil. I apologise, I wasn't aware you were standing there."

Virgil smiles as best he can. "No, don't worry. Just came upstairs! Uh, the others are getting impatient."

"Well, we're pretty much finished talking." Logan says, urging Janus to stand up. Virgil nods to himself and then trapeses back down the stairs.

They all set off on foot to the café they've chosen, and Virgil smiles sheepishly as Logan requests that they sit in the booth in the corner of the place, because it does wonders for his anxiety to be surrounded by walls.

Virgil sits right in the middle of the five of them, with Roman on his right, and then Logan. Janus and Patton are on his left, and they end up all sharing two menus as they look over the food.

"What would you like, honey?" Roman whispers. He always orders for Virgil at restaraunts - it's something they've done since they first started dating, because, A. Virgil hates speaking to people he doesn't know, and B. It's hot as hell to be talked over and ordered for.

"Uh," Virgil thinks. "Can I get the French toast, please? And, uh, would a milkshake be pushing it?"

Roman chuckles to himself. "You can have a milkshake, love. Which flavour?"

"Oreo? Please?"

"Of course."

The waiter comes over, and Virgil feels a little bit silly and embarrassed when Janus orders for himself perfectly, and then Roman follows it up with "He'll have-" when pointing at Virgil like he's a child.

It's weird, because- because he likes it when it's just him. But, compared to Janus, being so able to not bother their doms- agh.

Either way the food arrives, and it's delicious.

When they're about to finish eating, Patton speaks to everyone over the scattered conversations.

"Guys? Sorry, I know we try our best to not scene-talk when we're out and about, but, I had an idea for something we could do tonight. Would you guys all be up to doing a scene?"

And Virgil hesitates.

He- he's not sure.

A scene today would be a lot. Especially after the morning he's had. He doesn't think he wants to.

"Yeah, sure, sounds great." Janus says, nodding excitedly. Patton, Logan, and Roman smile at him like that's what they wanted to hear. They all agree, too.

He can't be the only one who doesn't want to. Just because he's not mature enough to bounce back from a bad telling off.

Janus is already a better sub than him, he can't- he can't let that gap grow more.

"Sounds good, yeah." Virgil says. The lie slips out of his mouth easily. He won't disappoint them again.

"Awesome, well, we can talk more when we get home." Patton grins. So, it's decided.

Right.

----

They get back home in the early afternoon.

It gives them a lot of time for talk about their scene later, which Virgil completely zones out, nodding along the whole time. It doesn't even seem that bad. Patton wants to tie them up all pretty in rope, and then have the three doms fuck them when they're completely helpless. He even floats the idea of using the rope to suspend them.

Virgil's done similar, and it's always been okay.

The conversation must do something to Roman, who grabs Virgil's attention as he walks past to go upstairs for a lie down.

"Virge," He calls, snapping his fingers. "Come suck me off."

Virgil nods. His nap can wait, and besides, he does want to do this. Despite what the other three will say about it, he quite likes giving head, provided he gets rewarded for it at the end.

And so, he gets on his knees infront of Roman on the sofa, and unzips his fly. Once Roman's cock is out, Virgil wraps his right hand around the base.

"Without your hands, pet."

Virgil nods, putting his hands behind his back. He's lucky that Roman's pretty hard, and so it's easy to manoeuvrer his mouth onto the erect penis.

He moans exaggeratedly whilst giving the head, and he's skilled at it. It only takes a couple minutes for Roman to come.

"Swallow." Is all he says, and Virgil does what he's told. "Good boy. Do you want me to get you off now?"

Virgil considers it, but he decides against. "I'll get off later anyway, I don't wanna lose my stamina."

"You're barely twenty, Vee, you don't have to worry about stamina." Roman laughs. "But, okay."

After that, Virgil does in fact turn in for his nap. Maybe he'll feel better when he wakes up.

Four hours later, he finds that he doesn't.

If anything, he feels worse.

He wakes up with a horrible feeling of dread about being a bad sub, and he can't shake it as he heads downstairs.

"Ah! There he is. We were just about to come get'cha." Roman smiles. Janus, Patton, Roman, and Logan are all sat on the sofa. Patton is fiddling with some rope in his hands. "You ready?"

Virgil nods silently.

"Come and sit down, puppy dog, let me tie you up all pretty. I'll do you first, then Janus."

"Okay," Virgil says, sitting down in the empty space on the sofa. "Daddy." He adds, pressing his forearms together to be tied.

But- but- when the rope touches his skin, it's bad. Bad, bad. He doesn't want this. Not now.

He can't find the words to express it. The rope wraps around his arms once, and then twice. Fuck- fuck- this is bad- He just wants to cuddle tonight, he doesn't want to-

"Red." He gasps out, and it's like a lifeline.

The rope is gone instantly.

"Alright, honey, you're alright. You want to stop?" Patton asks.

"I-" Virgil starts. "I'm sorry, I can't do this tonight."

"That's okay. Thank you for telling us." Patton says. "Do you want to watch instead?"

Does he want to watch?

Oh.

For some reason, he'd assumed they'd call the whole scene off. They- they always used to, when it was just him, and he didn't feel like it, they wouldn't do it.

But, they have Janus now. They don't need him for scenes, they have another sub. A better one.

"Uh, no, no thanks." Virgil whispers. "I might- I think I might go out."

"Go out?" Logan asks.

"Yeah, see if Remus is free, maybe. We could hang whilst you do, uh, this."

"No objections here, as long as you're safe." Roman tells him. Janus is leaning into his side, hands still clasped together and waiting to be tied up.

Virgil nods. "I will. Thanks."

And then he goes upstairs. He feels pretty detached as he messages Remus.

Remus comes back and says, sure! They can hang out! They could go get dinner somewhere.

Virgil's happy to hear it, and he perks up considerably by the time he's put eyeliner on and is ready to leave.

When he heads downstairs, he says bye to everyone, and Janus is blushing red, shirt-off, and his arms are bound to his torso intricately.

"Have fun, Virge!" Patton calls out.

"Thanks. See you later."

Virgil heads into town, where he planned to meet Remus. He feels a little insecure being alone without his boyfriends, but it's fine. He'll be with his friend Remus, soon.

Or, he thinks so.

Until Remus texts him. Cancelling. He's tired, apparently.

Well, fuck.

Virgil's eyes water and he feels like crying.

He can't go home. Not to everyone having group sex without him.

He needs to be out of the house for at least three hours, knowing that lot.

Virgil's sitting on one of the stools at a bar before he's even aware of it.

It's one he likes, to be fair. A gay bar with a good photobooth. Not that he's there to take photos or to be gay, but it's a safe space for him to nurse a vodka lemonade in.

He finishes his first drink, fingers drumming on the edge of the bar absentmindedly. He knows that Logan is pretty damn wealthy, and so he could probably afford to get a hundred more drinks with the credit card he has, but he feels bad. Refusing to have sex with him and then spending all his money? Ach.

And then, pretty suddenly, another drink is placed in front of him by the bartender.
"Oh, I didn't-" He starts to mumble at her, and she cuts him off.

"Guy at the end of the bar on your right." She smiles.

Virgil looks up and to the right, where a tall, broad man makes eye contact with him and winks.

Oh.

And then the guy stands up, and before Virgil knows it, he's sat next to him.

"Rough night?" The man asks. His tone is oddly calm and inviting.

"Something like that."

"And what's a lovely little princess like you doing here all alone?" He asks, which is a lot less inviting. At the same time as the words, the man's left hand finds its way to his thigh.

Virgil's breath catches in his throat.

"No," He says, laughing a little to play it off. "I'm sorry, I'm not interested."

The man's hand doesn't move.

"What? Am I not your type, sugar?"

Definitely not his type, but he won't say that to this guy. He'll tell a different truth.

"I'm in a relationship."

"Ha! Some great boyfriend you have when you're sitting alone at a bar all dressed up. Where is he now? Probably at home watching porn, I'd bet."

Pretty much, yeah.

"Can you get your hand off me?"

"Don't be like that, pretty boy, your man doesn't have to know."

"I said, get the fuck off." Virgil grits his teeth at the guy, who rolls his eyes.

"Fucking twink." The guy spits at him, scraping his stool against the floor as he stands. Virgil flinches away just in time for the guy to push the glass he'd bought for Virgil over.

Virgil pushes his stool backwards with a gasp, managing to avoid nearly all of the liquid, although some did get on the bottom of his shorts and his legs.

Then the guy is gone.

"I'll remake that for you." The bartender says, walking back over with a sigh. "Let me guess? Rejected sexual advances?"

"Mm." Virgil hums. He gets the drink back, and sits at the bar for a further hour slowly sipping it.

He keeps checking his phone for texts from his boyfriends, but none come through.

When the next drink is gone, Virgil decides he should leave. This has been a shitty evening and an even shittier day.

He just wants to go home and be held.

The walk home is a bit harder tipsy.

Getting his key in the door is even more so, but he manages it.

The lights are off when he gets home, and it's awfully quiet.

They must be done with the scene. Janus has probably gone home already, and the others have probably gone to bed.

He's pretty glad about that, because lying in bed with his boyfriends' arms around him is the exact kind of therapy he needs right now.

He unlaces his docs and takes them off, heading up the stairs.

The bedside table lamps are on in the bedroom, giving Virgil a perfect view of the scene before him.

They have a four-person-sized bed in their room, and it has all three of his boyfriends lying down on it.

But it's then that Virgil realises that Janus hasn't gone home. He's asleep. Asleep in his bed. In the exact space that Virgil always sleeps in.

There's not room for Virgil. Not when Janus is asleep in his place, with arms wrapped around him.

His boyfriends' arms. Holding Janus as he sleeps. In Virgil's place.

He doesn't really know what happens in the next couple moments. He's so- he's so angry. And upset, and he feels so pushed out. He already knew he wasn't as good of a sub as Janus, but this just feels like they've chosen him over him.

His breaths come out heavy, and there are tears in his eyes. He's acutely aware that he's probably having a panic attack, but he's too drunk to register it.

He hates everything. Hates his boyfriends, hates Janus for ruining everything. He lets his jealousy get the best of him.

He got told off this morning, and then didn't want to do a scene, and then Remus cancelled their plans, and then he got hit on by some creepy guy, and then Janus has taken his place here.

Before he realises what he's really doing, he's stood by the bed. And then his hands are on Janus' sleeping figure, and then he's pushing, and then Janus is on the floor with a loud yelp, startled awake. In the moment, he means it. He wants Janus to hit the floor, and he wants it to hurt.

Virgil's chest heaves up and down with the weight of his breathing. Oh- oh, fuck, this was- that was a mistake, he shoudn't have-

"Virgil Storm!" Patton yells, having sat up in bed. He must have been woken up. In fact, everyone is awake now. Janus looks like he's about to cry on the floor. "How fucking dare you!"

Virgil just then realises what he's done, shoving Janus out of bed.

"Go downstairs." Patton says, voice laced with anger as he stands up. Virgil can't move. "Now, Virgil."

Roman gets out of bed, and he walks past Virgil to get to Janus on the other side of the bed.
"Are you drunk?" Roman asks, voice shocked.

"No." Virgil whispers, tears running down his cheeks now.

"There's vodka on your breath." He grits. "We told you to be safe, and you go out drinking? You know what? No, it doesn't matter." He dismisses, walking over to where Janus is still on the floor.

"I can't believe you, Virgil." Patton says, standing and waking close to him. "Get out of my sight. I can't talk to you right now, I'm too angry at you, and I'm about to say something that I'm gonna regret."

Virgil sniffles, stepping backwards and into the wall. Patton's angry at him. "Daddy-" He whispers. He didn't- he didn't want this to happen- he just wanted to be cuddled. He just wanted to be cuddled.

"Don't." Patton warns.

Virgil whimpers pathetically, feeling a horrible pit in his stomach as Logan stands out of bed as well.

"You need to go downstairs and think about your actions." Logan instructs. He sounds angry. Angry, angry-

"Why are you yelling at me...?" Virgil whispers. He doesn't- this isn't fair- it's not-

"Because!" Logan practically screams. "You are acting like a child! How old are you? Twenty? And you've just shoved Janus out of bed. If you're going to throw a temper tantrum like a whiny toddler, you'll get fucking treated like one. Now, go downstairs."

"Go downstairs?" Virgil asks quietly.

"Yes. Go down there, and stay down there. I don't want to see you until tomorrow morning. You need to think about your actions just now."

Virgil can't breathe. He can't-

"Roman." He whines, eyes finding the man he's known the longest.

Roman is knelt on the floor, with Janus sitting his lap. The younger man is crying, much like Virgil is, and Roman is softly consoling him. He looks up at Virgil, and there's disappointment in his eyes.

"I'm sorry-" Virgil whispers.

"Downstairs." Patton repeats, leaving no room for argument. "Now."

Virgil feels like his whole world is collapsing in on him. He steps backwards, once, twice, and then he runs out of the room and down the stairs.

Nobody follows him.

He collapses onto the sofa, pressing his face into a pillow and bursting into sobs.

This isn't- this isn't fair. He didn't agree to be pushed out. He wishes more than anything that he'd just sucked it up and done the scene with them earlier. Why did he have to be so difficult? He's ruined everything- he's- he's-

"Virgil?" Comes a very soft, quiet voice.

Virgil turns around, and he's faced with a teary-eyed Janus at the bottom of the stairs. Fuck's sake. He doesn't need to be yelled at more. He already feels guilty enough.

He squeezes his eyes shut with the difficulty of breathing, and when he opens them again, Janus is on the sofa as well.

"Deep breaths, Virge, come on."

"No-" Virgil says. "No, fuck off." He finds it insulting that Janus is trying to console him like a little kid.

"You're gonna get through this, come on, breathe all the way in." Janus persists. Virgil doesn't even try to listen.

"Did they make you come here?" He whispers.

"They told me not to." Janus replies. "They think I'm at the bathroom, but I-" The man sighs. "No, uh, this isn't a conversation we can have when you're drunk and upset."

"I'm not drunk." Virgil whispers. "I only had two drinks."

"Either way, we're gonna talk tomorrow."

God, they're gonna talk tomorrow. He's gonna have to face his boyfriends tomorrow.

"Janus, just fuck off." Virgil sniffles, picking up one of the pillows and curling his body around it. "Leave me alone."

Janus has a moment of indecision. He's pretty annoyed at Virgil, but he can tell that Virgil's been struggling. He- ach, he needs to get back upstairs. The other three will worry.

"Okay. Goodnight, Virgil." He whispers, standing up and walking back up the stairs.

Crying himself to sleep on the sofa, Virgil doesn't think he's ever felt worse.

Chapter Text

Janus didn't sleep much last night.

After he saw Virgil, he went back to bed with the other three, but having caused that emotional reaction, he felt horrible.

Logan, Patton, and Roman had assured him that he needn't feel bad. It was their fault if anything, not his. Still, it didn't stop him from staying up.

He just couldn't get that image of Virgil lying face down on the sofa sobbing his heart out to leave his mind.

So, the moment it reaches seven AM, and it's kind of socially acceptable to be awake, he gets out of bed and trudges downstairs.

It's eerily quiet. He expects to see Virgil asleep on the sofa, but he doesn't and panic shoots through him. Has Virgil gone somewhere?

Turns out he has, when Janus notices that the back door is open. He's apprehensive about going outside, and it's even still dark as he does. But he finds Virgil, sat on one of their garden chairs, still wearing the same outfit from last night.

He's looking off into the distance and taking occasional drags from the lit cigarette in his hands. His expression is pretty emotionless, apart from his eyes being red from obvious crying. When Janus enters the garden, he glances over and offers a sheepish eyebrow raise.

"Can't sleep?" Janus asks, sitting on one of the chairs as well.
"I've got insomnia without getting yelled at." Virgil mutters, tapping the ash off his cigarette.

"Do you smoke?" Janus questions, confused. He's never heard or seen Virgil do it before.

"Used to." He replies, which is a strong contradiction as he takes another toke. "But those three made me quit. Logan, mostly. Something about lung health, I don't know." He jokes.

"How come you still have a pack if you quit?" Janus asks, mirroring the same humour.

"Contrary to popular belief, I do leave the house on my own and make my own purchases from time to time. Only 'cause it makes me less stressed. I only really have one every couple months, and never when any of those three could find out. Assuming you won't tattle."

"Wouldn't dream of it."

There's a lull of silence between them, and then Virgil asks Janus if he wants any of his cig. Janus politely declines, and Virgil nods.

"I, um," He starts. "I'm sorry I shoved you last night. I wasn't annoyed at you, I was annoyed at the doms and I just took it out on you."

Janus nods. He had figured as much. He wasn't even really upset. Just startled, he supposes. "That's okay. Thanks for apologising, though."

"Can I make it up to you?" Virgil asks, turning to Janus. His cigarette goes out, and he drops it onto the table. "Like, sexually, I should clarify."

The other man leans forward in his chair. He feels a bit apprehensive. Virgil did something wrong, and now he wants to pay Janus back with sex? Isn't that, like, prostitution?

Janus sucks in a harsh breath.

"I really wouldn't get into the habit of apologising to people by fucking them."

"I do it with those three all the time. When I do something wrong, they usually forget if I spread my legs. Maybe I'll try that today." He jokes, and Janus frowns.

"Alright, yeah. But, you fuck up, and then you fuck them to make up for it. And then next time you fuck up, it's expected. And then each following time you fuck up, it's just taken."

Virgil exhales. He gets Janus' point, really, but his boyfriends aren't like that. And he hopes Janus isn't either. The way Janus speaks makes Virgil feel like maybe he has some history with something like this, and Virgil feels bad.

"Look, it's no sweat. You can say no. But sex is good. If I can give you something, like, I don't know, head, that's for you to feel good, it would show you that I'm sorry."

"I don't think it's very good that you resort to sexual favours to apologise."

"Well, if I dumped into someone in the supermarket, I wouldn't bend over the shelves for them." Virgil snickers. "Just based upon the nature of our relationship, you know."

Janus catches Virgil's eye. It's still dark, and the air outside is cold. Both of them have their hair ruffled from sleep, and then Virgil smiles, drumming his fingers against the table. There's still remnants of eyeliner under his eyes from last night.

All things considered, he looks beautiful.

Janus realises he thinks he might be falling for Virgil, and turns away.

"You wanna make it up to me?" He asks softly.

"Yeah."

"Come back to bed."

Virgil spends a few moments looking at Janus as if studying him, and then he stands, taking the cigarette butt with him, and brushing the ash off the table.

"Not sure I'm welcome upstairs yet." He jokes.

"On the sofa, then. It's too early." Janus replies, following Virgil into the kitchen.

"You sure? I'm kinda musty and unclean right now." Virgil tries, and it's light-hearted. He then walks back past Janus to lock the back door.

"Stop trying to put me off and just cuddle me. It's your turn to be big spoon."

Virgil rolls his eyes, but he heads to the sofa anyway.

---

Roman wakes up last. Logan and Patton are still in the bedroom though, holding each other silently in bed, although they're both awake.

He rolls over to face the two of them and sighs.

It's going to be a tough day. They can all feel it, nobody has to point it out.

"Morning." He mumbles.
"Good morning, love." Patton whispers, pulling him into the hug too.
"Where's Janus?"

"I think he's downstairs. Probably talking to Virgil." Logan supplies.
"Virgil." Roman nods to himself.
"Virgil." Logan replies.
"Going for a triadic?" Patton giggles.

"We do need to figure that out." Roman says. "I feel bad."
"Elaborate." Logan says, curiosity in his voice.

"Well, I- I don't know if he deserved getting screamed at like that."

"He pushed Janus out of bed. Whilst tipsy at the least."

"Maybe we should've spoken about it instead of banishing him to the sofa."

"Easy for you to say, Roman, you didn't have to be the bad guy."

"Okay." Patton interrupts. "I think maybe last night we were all quite tired and high on emotions. Maybe we did some things we regret, and I'm sure Virgil feels the same. What does need to happen however, is for us to put our anger towards him aside so that we can talk." He suggests.

The three of them end up deciding to go downstairs in search of the other two, but when they get down the stairs, they stop just to look at the sight.

Virgil is pushed up against the sofa cushions, still in the same clothes from last night. He's fast asleep, and his arms are wrapped around Janus' waist, who is also asleep, but in his pyjamas.

"I see they've made up." Roman whispers.

"Let's go back upstairs." Patton smiles. "We shouldn't wake them."

Despite having said that, Virgil is an incredibly light sleeper. His boyfriends don't notice, but he does in fact wake up at the commotion.

The three doms end up sitting back on their bed and talking in voices that are probably too loud about Virgil and the situation last night.

"I just can't believe he'd go and get drunk. He knows better. I don't have it hard to believe that Remus would influence him, but, still." Roman jokes about the nature of his brother.

"I think we really need to hear what happened from him. I'm still angry towards him and his behaviour, but there's no point making decisions based on just what we've seen." Logan says, acting a little more rationally now.

"He's a good person." Patton says, biting his nail. "I know he is, I just don't get his behaviour as of late."

There's a gentle knock on the doorframe, and the men all look up to see Virgil stood in the doorway. He's bouncing on his toes, and he looks particularly ungroomed. But, most of all, he appears... tired.

Exhausted, even.

"Uh, hey." He says.

There's an awkward silence.

"You know when you walk into a room and can tell they were just talking about you?" He jokes, but then nobody really replies and his shoulders deflate.

"Um-" Virgil says, bouncing from foot to foot. "Are you breaking up with me?"

The three men practically melt. "Oh, honey." Roman whispers. "Baby."

"Come in, Virgil, close the door." Logan says. His tone is softened, but it's still commanding.

"Did you not get into pyjamas last night?" Patton asks.

"Uh, no." Virgil replies, as if it's obvious. "You told me I wasn't allowed upstairs. Where, you know, my clothes are."

"Ah." Logan realises. Yeah, that was a mistake.

"Okay." Roman says. "Do you want to get changed and shower and stuff? And then we can figure this out."

Virgil squints. He- they didn't- I mean, he's a little annoyed at them, sure- but- but- he doesn't want this to be it- he couldn't-
"So you are breaking up with me?"

"We do need to talk about last night." Roman says. "But, we're not breaking up with you. Promise. Just some kinks to straighten out."

"Pun intended?" Patton asks, smirking.

Roman rolls his eyes and hits Patton lightly.

"Alright. Uh, I'll shower. And, then, yeah."

"Yeah."

Virgil doesn't often shower alone.

It's.. weird.

He gets undressed at his own pace, watching himself in the mirror as he does.

He looks.. tired, is what he notices. There are light brown hickies littering his collarbones, still yet to disappear from the last time he was marked up.

As he gets into the shower, he feels weirdly alone.

He's incredibly used to showering with at least one of the others. A lot of the time, they'd clean him, or he'd be cleaning himself and then suddenly feel a cock against his ass and hands on his hips.

Today there's nothing.

He washes his body, and then his hair, and it feels eerie.

Virgil had never realised how weird it is to be alone doing this kind of thing, even though that's pretty normal for most people.

He dries his hair with a towel, and then wraps the same towel around his waist. A deep breath is taken before Virgil leaves the bathroom.

Back in their bedroom, Logan, Roman, and Patton are having a hushed conversation on the bed when Virgil enters.

They all look up at him, and Roman's eyes go wide as saucers at the sight of Virgil's almost-naked body, but he puts the thoughts away. That's not what they're doing right now.

"Do you mind if I just put pyjamas on? I don't really feel like dressing up." Virgil asks.

"Of course, yeah." Patton replies.

Virgil nods. He doesn't care about stripping in front of them. They've seen quite literally eveything. He does notice that all three of them look away, and he finds it amusing that the outline of Roman's semi becomes visible in his pyjama pants.

He doesn't make a cocky comment about turning them on so much they have to look away, but he certainly could.

"Alright." Virgil says when he's changed. "Uh, can we cuddle, maybe? Whilst we talk."

"I don't think so, Vee." Patton replies, and he at least has the decency to sound sad. "This is quite a serious conversation we need to have."

"Oh."

"Sit down," Logan urges, gesturing to a spare space on the bed. He obliges. "Right. We're honestly appalled by your behaviour, Virgil, and-"

"No." Virgil interrupts, swallowing nervously.

"No?"

"No, we don't get to do it like this. I refuse to be sat down and talked to like a naughty schoolchild." He asserts. "If we're talking, we're talking as equals. I don't want to be talked to like a sub when this is a bigger conversation."

None of the other three say a word.

"Okay?" Virgil asks.

"Yes." Logan agrees. "I apologise for that tone of voice."

"And-" Virgil says, feeling a little bad for demanding so much. "I don't want you guys to talk like, 'We think this', and 'We think that'. 'Cause its not you three against me, okay? We're all individuals, and if you feel a certain way you can express it individually."

The other three men blink. They aren't used to Virgil being so demanding and assertive. It's weird.

"Of course." Roman says, to fill the silence.

"Good. Go on then, tell me how upset with me you are." Virgil replies, leaning back against the headboard and crossing his arms.

"Disappointed is a better word." Logan says softly. "We- I feel like that wasn't appropriate. You physically injured Janus, and I don't know what has made you behave this way. I'm concerned."

"Well, I-" Virgil starts, stopping for a minute to catch his emotions. He refuses to cry. It won't happen. "I had a really shit day. Came home and all I fucking wanted was to be held."

He stops again, intending to continue, but Roman does it for him.

"And then there wasn't any room for you in the bed because Janus was here."

"I was really upset. Really fucking upset. I have been for the last week at least, and then I lashed out and you all screamed at me and told me to fuck off downstairs. I guess sometimes I feel like it's you three against me in this relationship."

"We clearly need to be more attentive towards your feelings, Virgil." Logan states. "But it's a two way street. You can't feel upset, not mention it to us, and then still expect us to have known."

"I do expect you to have known. I've been with you for years. You should know when I'm upset. You should know that I hate being left out. You should know that I won't wanna do a fucking scene after a really intense punishment in the morning. I feel like Janus walking in the door looking all sexy is making you forget who you're dating."

"Is it appropriate for me to feel flattered by that?" Janus asks, poking his head around the door. His voice is raspy from sleep.

"Hi." Virgil sighs.

"Am I okay to come sit in on this or is it a private convo?" Janus asks, stepping into the room, but keeping one hand on the doorknob in case he has to leave.

"You can stay." Virgil says quietly. "If these three are okay with it."

The others nod, and Janus enters fully. He sits down on the bed close to Virgil, almost snuggling into his side, but not quite.

"What were we talking about?" Patton asks, trying to redirect the chat.

"I was saying that I feel like you've forgotten that we're meant to be in a relationship."

"I mean-" Janus interrupts. "Sorry. No, sorry."

"No, go on." Virgil prompts him.

"Like, agh, okay. Are you guys really dating? Like, labels aside, are you really?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Virgil asks, turning his whole head to face Janus in offence.

"Why did you start dating?"

"Well, um-" Roman says. "We moved in together. And had an ownership contract. It made sense to date, it was easy."

Virgil smirks to himself. "Can you imagine trying to explain to my parents the actual nature of the relationship?"

"Hold on." Janus says. "So you're only dating because it made sense to date?"

"I guess."

"Sorry, why did you bring this up, Janus?" Patton asks.

"Well- ach, I just worry- I mean, Virgil, you say they're your boyfriends but the entire nature of the relationship is that they just own, control, and fuck you whenever they want."

Virgil frowns, sitting up a little more.

"Have you been in a relationship before this one?" Janus asks. It feels incredibly condescending.

"Well, I wasn't very popular in school." He murmurs.

Janus frowns. This was Virgil's first ever relationship? He- he hoped this wouldn't skew the man's perception of love.

"I just mean that, even if you are their boyfriend, you're really their submissive before anything else. As am I. It's not that related to this, but I hope you know that."

Virgil blinks a few times. He- he wants to be more than their sub. He loves being owned, sure, but- but he likes being a boyfriend, being loved beyond sex. Is- Is Janus trying to tell them that he's not?

"Janus, not to sound like a prick, but we've known you for less than a month. It's not really your place." Virgil spits.

"You're right." Janus says carefully. "Sorry. Just- you mustn't let yourself do anything you're not comfortable with for the sake of love. Especially when it seems you've never had an adult life outside of BDSM. But, I digress, sorry. Not my place."

"Speaking of," Logan cuts in. "This isn't really what we're talking about. I think- I think we've neglected your emotions as of late, Virgil, and I apologise."

"Thanks." Virgil says quietly. He's still taking Janus' words in.

"Having said that, you can't act like you did last night again. I mean, it's perfectly sound to not feel up to doing a scene, but to go out and get drunk?"

"If it makes you feel any better, it was shit."

"Yesterday." Roman cuts in. "What actually happened?"

Virgil shuffles away from Janus a little. "I- well, okay. I woke up, did the lines. Logan yelled at me for being snarky, and then he used my actual first name in scene, which made me feel like dogshit."

"Then like an hour later Patton suggested we do another scene, and I was honestly pretty done with it that day, but Janus said yes, and I was already bad enough of a sub, so I said yes too. Then we got to doing it and I tried really hard to just let it happen, but I couldn't. So I went out. I was meant to meet with Remus, but he cancelled on me last minute. Then I just went to that quirky bar on the corner in town, because I didn't want to come home and just watch you guys fuck without me."

"Then some creepy guy bought me a drink and wouldn't get his hand off my thigh. Kept giving me 'fuck-me-eyes', so, I told him to fuck off and he then he called me a twink and tipped my drink on me. Then I just fucking wanted to be cuddled to sleep when I got home, but there was another man in my space in the bed. And I already felt like you liked him more than me, and you were pushing me out and I got so upset and angry and so I shoved him. Then you yelled at me to go downstairs, so I did, and then I cried myself to sleep down there. That's what happened."

When Virgil finishes talking, he slumps his body into Janus' side. "I'm sorry." He finishes with.

"Don't be sorry, Virge, we're sorry. We didn't know." Roman says quietly.

"Agreed. Nobody ever intended to make you feel so upset. It should have been handled differently." Logan inputs.

"I-" Patton then begins, frowning. "I think maybe this isn't working."

Virgil's blood runs cold, and he hides his face in Janus' chest. He's being broken up with. That's what that means. Over a year, and this is it? Really?

"This dynamic." Patton clarifies. "Not the relationship. We need to figure this out, with all five of us, from the ground up."

"Yeah." Roman agrees. "We've clearly let our standards slip."

"And," Logan says. "I do kind of agree with Janus' point about the nature of our romantic relationship. Maybe we need to think about how we operate outside of BDSM for a bit."

"What are you saying?" Virgil whispers.

"It's a shame that all of this has accumulated into something so serious." Logan comments. "But, maybe it's best if we spend a few days apart, Virgil. To find our bearings."

"I don't want to." Virgil says. "I like it here."

"Do you?" Roman asks, and he sounds incredibly hurt as he does.

Does he? Fuck.

"You want to go on a break?" Virgil whispers. "I- I'm sorry I got upset last night, I won't do it again. I'll be good. I'll behave perfectly, please-"

"Virgil." Logan cuts him off. "This is the issue. You need to know that we love you outside of kink. Now that Janus has pointed it out, I do kind of agree that maybe you're unsure how to behave outside of submissiveness. Which isn't good. At all."

Virgil is taken aback. He knows how to behave outside of being a sub. He does! He- I mean, he hasn't not been a sub in years, but, but, he could! He could be!

"Oh, god." Virgil whispers. "Are you kicking me out?"

Roman sighs. "Nobody's kicking you out, love. You live here just as much as us, we would never do that. But, I think maybe everyone in this room can agree that it would be good for you to spend a few days away from this whole thing."

"Then," Patton suggests. "Then you come back. And we can take it slow. We can date. Not as subs and doms, as people. And then we can approach our kink dynamic again, all five of us. How does that sound?"

Virgil squeezes his eyes shut. "I- I wish we didn't have to." He admits.

"I know." Roman agrees, crawling across the bed to take Virgil in his arms. "I think too many times we've just agreed to be different and then we don't change. We want this to work out long term, and we can't do that if we're passive about growing."

"Where am I gonna go?" Virgil asks meekly. "I- fuck, this is so bad."

"It's okay, darling. We'll be okay." Patton reassures him.

"You can stay with me." Janus suggests. "I mean, I don't live here. Been crashing with my friend, but I have a double bed, and he wouldn't care."

"You'd do that for me?" Virgil asks.

"I mean, yeah. It's kinda my fault that your relationship needs work."

"The point about Virgil not really having had an adult life outside of BDSM yet probably would've come up eventually." Roman says.

"I did kinda drop out of university to be a sex slave, didn't I?" Virgil asks, his tone light-hearted. He's clearly finding a bit of humour in it now, which is reassuring to all the others.

"Jesus." Janus whispers. "Did you drop out for these three, or just in pursuit of puppyhood?"

Virgil snickers. "Agh, no. I dropped out 'cause I was getting close to offing myself being there." He says bluntly. "Happened to meet Roman about a week later, sometimes I just joke that I dropped out for that reason. Got a taste of his cock and then walked to the admin office to turn in my paperwork the next day."

"What degree were you doing?" Janus asks through his laughter.

"Philosophy." Virgil snickers. "No wonder I was so depressed, to be honest. Did you go?"

"To uni?"

"Yeah."

"Did a two year degree in French. Yet to use it."

Roman perks up a little. "You speak French?"

"I dabble." Janus replies. But, if he's done a degree in it, the answer is yes. "Why, do you?"

"Spanish." Roman replies. "But I grew up speaking it, rather than learning it at school. Why haven't you used your degree yet?"

"Got deadnamed at my graduation. Still spiteful." Janus informs them light-heartedly. "Nah, it's 'cause it hasn't come up, really. But I am still spiteful, for the record."

They all laugh, and end up in a lull of their feelings for a moment. It goes silent, but not awkwardly.

"So, uh, how long should I go away for?" Virgil asks. "We, sorry. How long should we go away for?"

"Well, it's Thursday. Maybe, you leave tonight? Come back on Tuesday morning?" Logan suggests, looking at everyone else in the room for confirmation.

"Can it be Monday night? Don't wanna have to get up early." Virgil asks.

"Fine by me." Janus says.
"Sure." Roman also says, and the others nod.

"And," Janus interjects. "You three can't get too close whilst we're gone." He jokes. "Watch yourselves."

"Will do."

"Alright, come here, then." Roman gestures to each of them. "Shuffle up, you two, we're cuddling now. We're gonna work this out, I promise."

Virgil nods, shifting into the arms of Janus, who is lying next to him. And for the first time in a few days, he goes to bed feeling okay.

Chapter Text

Virgil sits on the bedroom floor, biting his nails as he looks over the clothes he's sifting through.

He doesn't need that much, right? Three t-shirts, two pairs of jeans, a pair of shorts. Enough socks and boxers. Yeah.

He stuffs the clothes into his backpack, and sighs with irritation when his stuffed racoon won't fit. He'll have to carry it in his hands like a child being dropped off at the orphanage.

It's fine, though. He might not quite have room for his plushie, but he has a little bit left. Hm.

Virgil brings himself to his feet and walks over to the closet, where he drags out a black box and takes the lid off.

He spends a good thirty seconds sifting through it, looking for a source of comfort whilst he's away. He doesn't want or need to take any of their actual sex toys, although they have so many that he could probably take five and nobody would even notice.

No, instead, he ends up puling out his puppy ears, and his other hand stops on one of the silicon bone gags that he'd been so excited to find in the store. With practiced ease, he removes the leather strap and drops it back in the box so that it's just the bone, and then he takes both items and zips them up in his backpack.

There's a gentle knock on the door, and Roman appears with a smile. "Hey, Vee. You almost done here?" He asks softly.

"Uh, yeah. Pretty much." He replies, voice strained. "Do we have to do this?"

Roman frowns, feeling bad. "No. We don't." He says, sitting down on the floor with Virgil. "But, you know, maybe it's gonna be for the best." He tries, taking both of Virgil's hands.

"I know." Virgil whispers. "Deep down, I do, but- I'm gonna miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you, too, lovely. It's only for a few days, though. Now, come on, let's head downstairs."

Virgil pouts, making grabby hands at Roman as he stands. "Carry me?" He asks, allowing sweetness to seep into his voice.

Roman chuckles. "Just this once. Because you know I can't resist those eyes."

Virgil is then picked up, bridal style, and Roman slings his backpack over his shoulders.

"Ro-" Virgil whispers, gesturing towards the bed, where he'd put down his stuffed raccoon.

"Oh!" Roman exclaims. "How could I forget?" He laughs, picking the racoon up and placing it in Virgil's arms.

They make it downstairs in quick time after that, and find Janus, Logan, and Patton all talking softly. Roman places Virgil down on the floor and joins the other three on the sofa.

"Right," Patton says. "So, how are we gonna operate, in terms of things we get up to whilst apart?"

"Okay." Roman nods. "Well, I don't think we should be having sex with anyone that's not in this room. Is that agreeable?"

"Yeah." Virgil nods. "I wouldn't want you guys to sleep with anyone else, and I wouldn't want to either. Uhm- what about the rules?"

"I believe we're putting a halt on all aspects of our dominant/submissive relationship, and so, the rules aren't applying for the time being." Logan explains.

Virgil feels a little dizzy.

"Right." He says.

"Actually, uh, and I'm a bit wary about suggesting this, but maybe it'd be productive in helping you remember that if we took off your collar for the time being."

Both of Virgil's hands go up to his collar, and he hooks his fingers in the leather with a whine.

"Again," Roman carries on. "We don't have to if you're not comfortable. But, you know, this is about you finding yourself outside of kink. And, I'm sure Logan would agree, it's not very productive for your growth if, uh, if you're collared."

"Yeah." Virgil says, hands not moving. "But- I- I'll get it back?"

"Of course. Although," Logan interjects. "If you can't imagine a life where you're not owned and collared, this might be part of a bigger issue."

Virgil frowns. Logan's right. He- he needs to do this. For his own wellbeing, if anything.

"Okay." Virgil nods softly, hands slipping away from his neck. "Just, just be quick."

He then closes his eyes, and someone's breath is near him a few moments later. Then, there's hands on the back of his collar, and he hears the clasp being undone. The collar is gone, and he hears it being handed to someone else.

Patton then pulls Virgil into his chest and wraps him in loving arms. Virgil surprises himself when he doesn't cry.

"Okay." Patton whispers into Virgil's hair. "I think maybe it's time to get going. I'd feel much more at peace if I knew you two would be home before dark."

"Yeah." Virgil mumbles into Patton's t-shirt. "How are we getting there?" He asks, stepping away from Patton.

"I usually take the bus." Janus says. "So, that, I guess."

Patton makes a kind of pained noise. "No, no, let one of us drive you."

"I mean," Janus shrugs. "If you're offering, that'd be lovely."

"Alright." Logan agrees. "Who's going to drive them?"

"Uh-" Virgil butts in before anyone else can. "Well, I- I feel safest when Roman drives." He admits, and it's true. Logan gets too angry when people don't follow the rules of the road, and Patton gets too distracted by dogs being walked on the pavement.

"Huzzah!" Roman exclaims. "I'll get the keys." He grins, winking at Virgil, who raises his eyebrows unimpressedly.

Whilst he's gone, it becomes very apparent in the room that it's time for them to say their goodbyes. Janus goes first to ease the awkwardness.

He hugs Logan first, and Patton is standing right beside them as they embrace.

"Goodbye, Janus." He says. "Take care of him."

"He can take care of himself." Janus replies, talking in a light-hearted manner to not make his response cause tension. "But, if he needs anything. I'll be there." He promises.

When Patton and Janus hug, Patton squeezes him pretty hard. "Bye, Jan." He says. "See you soon."

"Bye." Janus whispers, and he then steps away.

Virgil stands still for a moment, and then he looks away. It takes a deep breath to find the courage before he approaches the two men.

In the same order as Janus, he hugs them as if it's the last time he'll ever get to.

"Be kind to yourself during this time, Virgil." Logan says.

"I'll try." Virgil replies. "Love you."

"I love you too." Logan says, releasing him from the hug. Virgil dives right into Patton's arms, knowing how much the man likes hugs.

"Gonna miss you." Virgil says, cursing himself when tears form in his eyes.

"I'm gonna miss you too, honeybee." Patton whispers, keeping his voice low as to not overwhelm Virgil. "You're gonna do amazing, we're already so proud."

Their hug has to finish when Roman returns with the car keys, and steps into his doc marten boots. When Virgil turns around, he sees that Janus too has shoes on, and is quick in following suit as to not delay them.

Just before they leave, Virgil spins around and offers a final wave to Logan and Patton who are cuddled up on the sofa together. They wave back, and then the three of them are out the door.

"You gonna sit up front, Vee?" Janus asks as they walk towards the car, following Roman, who is a little ahead.

"Pets don't sit in the front." Virgil replies absentmindedly.

"Okay." Janus replies. "But you're not a pet right now. You can sit in the front with Ro."

Virgil's left hand goes to his neck, as if he'd forgotten that they weren't doing a scene.
"Okay." He says, nodding at the ground as he walks.

When they get to the car, Roman opens the doors for both other men, and they clamber in.

Janus leans through the two seats by sitting in the middle, and he gives Roman directions along the lines of "Yep, turn right here." and "Second exit when we get to the roundabout."

Eventually, they pull in in front of Janus' friend's apartment building, and Janus gives Roman a quick thank you and goodbye before leaving the car for the other two to properly see each other away.

Neither Virgil nor Roman say anything for a few moments.

Then, Virgil kicks his feat up onto the dashboard in a way that would give Logan a heart attack, but not so badly that he wouldn't be able to list all the dangers of Virgil doing such a thing.

"Manners, pup." Roman comments offhandedly, and Virgil's head snaps towards him, eyes wide with attachment. "Ah," Roman clears his throat. "I'm sorry, Virge, I shouldn't have called you that, it- it was an unconscious thing."

Virgil blinks, biting his lip as he nods to himself. "Yep. Yep, no, it's fine." He reassures. "Ro?"

"Yeah?"

"We're- we're gonna get through this, right?"

"Of course we will." Roman says, and he sounds confident. It radiates onto Virgil.

"Will you give me a kiss goodbye?" The younger man asks, voice soft and kind of lustful in a way that Virgil does to maybe persuade Roman a little more.

"Mm," Roman hums, pretending to debate it. "Only if you're quick." He teases, and Virgil drops his feet down from the dashboard, unbuckling his seatbelt and turning to kiss Roman. At first, it's soft and chaste, but after a few moments, Roman's hands find Virgil's hips, and he deepens the kiss, sliding onto Roman's lap.

Their bodies lock together like they were made for it, and Virgil straddles Roman's waist whilst they make out. Maybe it's bad for them to be doing this when they've just agreed to go on a break, but, what harm will it do, really?

There's a knock on the window, and Virgil flinches backwards, lips swollen as a very unimpressed Janus meets his eyes.

"You guys know that public indecency is a crime, right?" He asks, and Roman smiles sheepishly.

"We can carry this on next time I see you, love." Roman whispers. "Look after yourself."

"Yeah." Virgil nods. Now that the moment is broken, it's a little awkward that they're sat in such a sexual position. Virgil giggles a little to diffuse it as he opens the door of the car, having to lean back over to get his backpack and stuffed raccoon.

Both Virgil and Janus give Roman one last goodbye before they walk off, Janus holding Virgil's hand for comfort.

Janus leads them to the third floor of the building after unlocking the door with a key, and he then uses a different key to unlock the front door of the apartment.

"Remy isn't home until later, 'cause they're at work." Janus explains as he walks in with Virgil at his heels. They do a quick makeshift tour, and then both dump their stuff in the guest room, which Janus is staying in.

They cuddle on the bed for two hours, with soft lofi music playing in the background. Virgil only cries for about twenty minutes.

It's just about time to start thinking about having food and getting cosy for bed when Janus realises they have no milk (and he desperately wants tea). So, he tells Virgil that he's just nipping to the corner shop.

Virgil passes the time by scrolling on his phone. Only.. he starts scrolling through his messages with Roman, and finds some less-than-safe-for-work conversations that have him pressing his thighs together as he gets hard.

"Fuck," He whispers, switching his phone off. The ceiling is particularly inviting for a couple minutes, but it gets to a point where it's impossible for him to ignore his arousal.

He knows that the rules aren't applying right now. He has every last bit of permission to get off, but-

'hey' He texts Roman. 'is it ok if i touch myself??'

Roman replies instantly.

'Of course'

It's been a good long while since Virgil has got himself off. Properly, not like how he did through his tears after that one upsetting scene. Usually, whenever he asked the others if he could touch himself when he got a rogue boner, one of them would just take care of it themselves. But, he's alone right now.

Virgil hums, pushing his joggers and boxers down, but another text comes through.

'Are you doing it now?'

'yeah'

'Mhm? How does it feel?'

Virgil rolls his eyes. What a horny excuse for a human being. But, he still finds it amusing as he takes his cock into his right hand and texts back with his left.

'feels good' Virgil texts back. He tugs on his cock rhythmically, biting his lip to stifle any moans.

'Yeah?' Roman asks.

'Fuck, you're such a tease.' He follows up. 'What are you thinking about?'

Virgil whines, unable to quickly type a lot out in this state. 'you' He messages, because he is.

He's thinking about their hasty make-out in the car. Fuck, if Janus hadn't interrupted them, how far would they have gone to say goodbye?

'I'm touching myself too now' Roman says. 'Can't help it when you say things like that'

'shit' Virgil messages. He groans aloud, knowing he's home alone, and works his cock even faster. It's quick, and dirty, and- fuck, just what he needs.

He bucks his hips up into his hand, fucking his fist with a determined rhythm, and imagining Roman doing the same to the thought of him.

'fuck can i cum?' He texts Roman. His hand is shaking as he does.

'Mm,' Roman texts back. 'I'm not sure'

'please, sir, please'

'Alright, bitch. Make a mess if you're so desperate'

Virgil gasps, continuing to get himself off, going faster, and faster, chasing his orgasm.

'Fuck, I'm gonna come too' Roman then adds. It turns Virgil on more, and he drops his phone onto the bed whilst still touching himself. Fuck, he's so close, so, so-

The door opens, and Janus freezes at the sight before him.

Virgil's hand jerks away from his crotch like it's been burnt, and he flinches away.

"Fuck!" He kind of laughs. "Fuck, sorry."

"You horny little bastard." Janus chastises funnily, putting the house keys back down onto his dresser. "What's it been, two days?"

"Two days is a long time for me." Virgil mumbles, red with embarrassment. He doesn't make any attempt to hide his naked form, because he knows fully well that it's nothing Janus hasn't seen before.

"You're pathetic." Janus giggles, clambering onto the bed and straddling Virgil's waist. "Want my help with that?" He asks, glancing down at Virgil's boner. He then sits down atop it, still wearing his jeans, and Virgil gasps in a mix of pleasure and pain.

"Yes," Virgil gasps. "Please."

"What did you have in mind?" Janus asks, leaning down to nip at Virgil's collarbone. "Or do you want me to do the thinking?"

"You." Virgil whispers back, breathless from arousal.

"Alright. How about, I'll ride you, and then- well, if you're lucky I can get my strap out for you. Would you like that? Be honest."

"Yes." Virgil nods. "Yes, want you to fuck me, please, Jan."

"We'll get there." Janus whispers back. "Gotta get your cock warmed up first, don't I?" He taunts, leaning up and taking it into his hand.

'Virge?' Roman texts. 'Did you come?'

But, Virgil's phone is face down, discarded on the bed.

'Virge?'

"Virge," Janus whispers softly. "Wanna be a good boy and help me unzip my jeans?"

"Fuck." Virgil says, hands coming to Janus' crotch to undo the clasp. "You're such a tease. And you talk so dom-like, I thought you didn't do that."

"I don't. Only for you, Vee. And, besides, I thought we weren't doms or subs for the time being."

"Guess not." Virgil replies.

"Right. Just two guys in bed together."

"Just a couple'a dudes." Virgil whispers to himself, snickering. Janus rolls his eyes playfully, and then he unzips Janus' jeans, and Janus flops onto the bed to kick them off. At the same time, Virgil gets rid of his joggers and boxers around his ankles.

"You ever thought about domming?" Janus asks Virgil, looking at the man to his left.

Virgil laughs as if it's a joke.

"Uh, oh. Was that an actual question?" He asks after a few moments.

"Yeah."

"Uh, I don't know." He says. "Probably not. I like not having control. Makes things easy on my anxiety."

"Well, you know, if you want to try it at any point this weekend, uh, you can. Like, I'm up for it. Maybe you could make me feel good. Eat me out if you still wanna apologise for pushing me out of bed." He says, peeling off his t-shirt and straddling Virgil again, who whines as Janus' thigh brushes his cock.

"Okay. I'll- ngh, I'll let you know."

"Alright." Janus winks, taking Virgil's cock in one hand, and steadying himself with the other. He then pushes down onto Virgil's cock, mouth agape as he's filled all the way.

"Ah," He moans, the hand that was on Virgil's cock going to cover his mouth. "You alright down there?"

"Yeah," Virgil whispers. "Fuck, you're so- agh, so perfect."

Janus smiles sincerely for a moment, and then he remembers that he's impaled on another man's penis, and flicks back into sex mode. He starts to move his body, properly, and moans without shame.

"Fuck, I don't know why those three neglect your cock so much." Janus says. "It's so good to have inside me, and they never even pay it any attention. If I were them, I'd make you fuck me with your massive dick every fucking day."

Virgil moans deeply. "Fuck, don't- don't bring them up right now." He says.

"Right. Less talking more fucking, got it."

After that, Janus gets stuck in. He rides Virgil hard and fast, looking like a god in Virgil's eyes.

Virgil gets needy, thrusting his hips up into Janus, and putting his hands on the man's waist to hold him time. They work together to chase their pleasure, but at a certain point, Janus finds himself tired, and stops moving, flopping down onto Virgil's chest.

"Shit, you're a good fuck." Janus whispers.

"Gee, thanks." Virgil snorts, voice still high on arousal. "Gonna fuck me now, Jan?"

"If you're so inclined, I'd love to." He whispers back, kissing Virgil on the mouth a couple more times before climbing off his cock and moving to get his strap.

Virgil sits up onto his elbows, watching intently as Janus takes out a leather harness and attachable dildo from a box under his bed. He steps into it with ease, and then attaches the cock.

It's not quite as big as Logan, but it's bigger than Roman and Patton are. And- it's got little suckers on the sides like a tentacle would. Fuck, Virgil has never had anything that wasn't shaped like a regular cock inside of him. His mouth waters at the idea.

"It's rude to stare, Vee." Janus teases. "Wanna take your shirt off while we're having a break?"

Virgil looks down at his own torso, as if forgetting he was still in a t-shirt, before nodding and stripping of it.

"Alright." Janus moves the conversation on. "Which position is this gonna be the most comfortable in for you?"

Virgil blinks up at Janus for a few moments. He- he's not really ever asked what he wants to do.

"Uh," He hesitates for a moment, thinking. "Well, ironically, I guess I find being in the puppy pose most comfy. But, I wanna be able to see you. So, can we maybe do missionary? But- actually, if you bend my legs back so my ankles are up by my head, you'll get easier access."

Janus hums. "Are you gonna be in pain if I fold you in half like a pretzel?"

Virgil smiles, but he shakes his head. "No, it okay. I'm pretty flexible."

"Okay. Do you need prepping?" Janus asks, leaning over to get the lube from his bedside table.

"Depends if I want it to hurt or not."

"Taking that as a yes." Janus hums, holding Virgil's ankles and then pushing them up so that he's at ninety degrees, and Janus has a perfect view of his ass.

Virgil squeaks, dropping his head and arms back onto the bed to focus on his breathing.

Janus squirts some lube onto his fingers and pushes his first one into Virgil. Maybe it's a little weird that Virgil attempts small talk as he's fingered open, but he does.

"So, uh, do you top a lot?"

"Depends who I'm with. I've had a few guys who like getting pegged, and a few who find the idea downright offensive. I really only sub, but I switch generally. It's just that most doms prefer to top, which is fine."

"Mm," Virgil hums. "I think a lot of guys just see bottoming as a threat to their masculinity. And dominance builds upon it, since you have more control and yada yada."

"Yeah." Janus nods. "Well, you know, I guess I top when I can, but at the end of the day, bottoming does feel better."

"Amen." Virgil agrees, breaking off his words to moan as Janus starts to scissor his fingers. "I guess I used to find it a little emasculating, but that was more just how I was treated when bottoming. You know, before I met those three."

"Oh? What's the anecdote there?"

"Just this one guy. He- uh, he used to call me all these feminine pet names. You know, Princess, Baby girl, and such. And I asked him to stop, and he just told me it was right 'cause I was the woman in the relationship."

"Yikes." Janus says.

"And, like, I guess it's fine, but I feel like it just affected my self-esteem. You know?"

"Yes, Virgil, I know a little bit about feeling like less of a man than others." Janus replies, dropping his legs back onto the bed.

"Oh!" Virgil blinks. "Oh, I'm sorry. Was that insensitive?"

"No, it's fine, I'm taking the piss." Janus laughs, settling in between Virgil's legs. "Alright, you ready?"

Virgil nods, more determined now after letting himself smile at Janus' humour. Then, he brings his legs up. Janus helps him get them all the way into position, and then he pokes the tip of his cock at Virgil's hole, and looks to the man for one last sign of consent.

Virgil whines, nodding profusely.

And then Janus pushes in. Because there's no sensation other than his clit pressing against the base of the dildo, he's able to just go all the way in.

Virgil gasps, hands grabbing onto Janus' shoulders. "Oh, oh! Janus!"

They get a rhythmic pattern of heavy breaths and skin slapping going on, both moaning out in pleasure. This goes on for a good ten minutes, just them, and sweat, and moans, and sex.

Janus' cock drives right into Virgil's prostate, and he swears, body convulsing. A few more thrusts against that spot, and Virgil is coming against Janus' torso, splattering it in come.

"Janus!" Virgil moans, keeping his legs spread as the pleasure continues. Janus whimpers, starting to grind against the base of the dildo. His legs shake a little as he gets close.

"Oh, oh, god, Vee." Janus whispers, one hand on the man's waist, and the other on his cheek. "Shit,"

Virgil breathes heavily through the haze of his orgasm, and Janus continues to chase his, grinding deeply against the dildo. Fuck-

Virgil is below him. Looking so pretty, so wrecked, so perfect.

"Virgil!" Janus gasps out, feeling the firsts of his orgasm hit him. "Virgil, Virgil. Fuck, feels so good, I-"

"Oh, fuck," Virgil mutters, watching with wide eyes as Janus' face screws shut in pleasure.

"Fuck, Virgil, I think- I think I love you." Janus moans out as he comes, lost in the bliss, and then he collapses onto Virgil's chest.

Janus breaths heavily, the bed rocking with the weight of their bodies.

"What?" Virgil asks suddenly, voice breaking with anxiety.

Oh, shit. Had he said that out loud?

"Jay! I'm home!" Comes his roommates' voice, and then the sound of the door shutting. Fuck, fuck.

Janus inhales in a panicked frenzy, pulling out of Virgil and quickly stepping out of his harness.

It takes Virgil a little longer to register the situation, but as soon as he does, he's scrambling to get dressed, too.

Both men manage to get their bottom halves dressed before the bedroom door swings open.

"Yo, babes, you alive?" The person entering asks, and then the see the sight before them and their jaw drops.

Janus is making an attempt at nonchalantly leaning against the dresser, only in his jeans. There's come on his chest that Remy can't ignore, and not to mention the strap on literally on the ground, and the discarded lube bottle not far away. Then, there's another man, Virgil, awkwardly perched on the edge of the bed in only joggers. His hair is a mess, and his lips are parted with yet-to-fade arousal.

The whole room smells like sex, too.

"Jesus Christ!" Remy gasps. "Fuck, there's a lock on this door, you know!"

"Oh, hey Remy!" Janus grins, trying to pretend that he's not just been walked in on in such a situation.

"I asked you to text me when you were hooking up in here, ew, gross."

Janus bites his lip. "Right, yeah, but, uh.. I forgot. You know, in the heat of the moment, it's-"

"Yeah, I don't need to know."

"Understood."

Remy's eyes scan the whole room another time, and they land on Virgil, who looks away.

"I thought your friend was staying over?" Remy asks. "Are they getting here before or after this twink leaves?" They jab at Virgil, who narrows his eyes.

"Uh," Janus pauses. "Remy, this is Virgil. Virgil, this is Remy. Rem, this is my friend that's staying over."

Remy raises their eyebrows, clearly not impressed. "Right." They say. "The very second that I miss even a moment of sleep because I can hear things going on in here, you're both on the doorstep faster than you can say 'starbies'. Got that?"

"Yeah." Janus nods sheepishly. "Sorry."

"Mhm." Remy hums sassily. "Right. I'm ordering pizza. Any dietry requirements, sex pest?"

Virgil scrunches his nose up, and when he answers, his voice is small. "No. Thanks."

"Jeez, didn't mean to upset you. He knows I'm kidding, right?" He then asks Janus.

"Probably not." Janus shrugs.

"Ah. Okay, well, for future reference, Virgil, was it?"

"Yep."

"My name is Remy. They/them, by the way. And what you're getting up to with Jay is none of my business, just keep it to yourselves. Cool?"

"Very cool." Virgil replies, nodding. It's a little awkward.

"Okay." Remy nods. "Meet me on the sofa in twenty for the pizza to arrive. And, for the love of all things pumpkin spiced, shower first. You both smell musty."

Remy then goes to exit.
"Wait, uh, Remy?" Virgil calls.

"Mhm?"

"Uh, thanks for letting me stay here. By the way."

"You're welcome." Remy replies, leaving and shutting the bedroom door. It's like the bubble of tension pops.

"Fucking hell." Janus whispers. "Sorry. Didn't know they'd be home so early."

"It's okay." Virgil says softly, choosing to ignore what Janus had said to him before Remy interrupted them. "Come back to bed."

"We need to shower, Virge." Janus protests lightly, knowing he's already lost.

"And I need cuddling. Especially after that. So, come here. We'll set an alarm and shower in ten minutes."

"Fine." The other man agrees. "But it has to be a shower. Not a sexy shower, just a shower."

Virgil giggles, snuggling up into Janus' arms.

"No promises."

Chapter Text

Virgil hadn’t ever been a Christmas person.

His boyfriends have come to the conclusion that it’s because he’s never had the right people to spend it with. You know, with his family not being great and all, and with Roman being his first ever boyfriend. They met in January, and so Virgil’s first Christmas with Ro also happens to coincide with his first Christmas with Logan and Patton, too.

It would be all four of them, and Virgil’s boyfriends were determined to make him fall in love with the season.

For that to happen, they had to start the day right. And, for Roman, that meant waking Virgil up in his favourite way.

Virgil slept on his side, and Roman rolled him over onto his back, caressing his cheek with his thumb before slipping it into Virgil’s mouth.

He was so beautiful, Roman thought. So beautiful as he shifted in his sleep. Their other two boyfriends were also both asleep, cuddled up on the other side of the bed, but Roman paid them no mind as he gently tugged Virgil’s plaid pyjama pants down to his knees.

Roman wrapped his hand around Virgil’s soft cock, and the younger man’s hips involuntarily jerked upwards. A couple strokes and Virgil was whining in his sleep.

The first time they’d ever tried somnophilia, Virgil had woken up pretty much at the first sign of pleasure. But, that was months ago, and he was a lot more accustomed, or better trained, to being stimulated whilst asleep now.

Roman smiled as he rolled Virgil over again, onto his stomach. Fuck, his ass looked so good and fuckable. He reached forward, hooking his arm under Virgil’s waist and tugging his back end up so that his chest was still on the bed and his knees were propping his ass in the air.

Virgil groaned in his sleep, almost stirred by the manhandling, but he settled back down in a few moments, snoring softly.

Roman planted a kiss onto Virgil’s thigh, and then he kissed higher, and higher, until he was teasing Virgil’s rim with his tounge, eating him out delicately. Virgil shifted, moaning under his breath.

“So pretty,” Roman whispered, pulling away after a few minutes and running his hands all over Virgil’s body.

He then properly clambered behind Virgil, rocking the bed a little as he mounted his boyfriend, pushing his cock into Virgil’s loose hole. He groans at the feeling and starts thrusting almost immediately, pushing Virgil’s whole body forward with each thrust.

Virgil moaned in his sleep, once, twice, and then he was gasping awake.

“Oh!” He moaned into the pillow. His mind was still fuzzy from sleep, but he felt.. pleasure, and, and he’s rocking back and forth, and someone is breathing heavily behind him, and-

“Merry Christmas, pet.”

“Ro,” Virgil whined. “Ro, fuck-”

Roman picked up the pace, skin slapping filling the room.
“Oh. Good morning, Vee.” Patton giggled, half-asleep and making eye contact with Virgil, who moaned, face flushing red.

Logan blinked awake as well, much quicker to gain his awareness.

“You’re insufferable, Roman. Poor puppy can’t catch a break, probably still loose from last night.”

Virgil hissed as his prostate was hammered, mouth going agape with his head against the mattress.

“Oh, he is.” Roman grinned. “Fuck, I’m gonna come inside you, baby.”

“Ah!” Virgil keened, desperate for more stimulation, but unable to move from the way that Roman was practically draped over him, pushing him into the bed.

And then Roman was coming with a groan, delivering one last thrust into Virgil.

“Awh, Ro, you’re neglecting him.” Patton cooed, reaching out to tug on Virgil’s cock a few times out of pity. The younger man whined, eyes blinking shut as he finally came onto the duvet.

And then Roman pulled out, moving around to retrieve a plug from the bedside table, which he slotted into Virgil before pulling his boyfriend into his lap and kissing him on the forehead.

“Happy Christmas, love. How was that?”

“Good,” Virgil hummed. “Really good. Can we go back to bed?”

“We’ve got presents to do. But, I suppose we can push it back.” He giggled, pulling Virgil’s pyjamas back up. “Come on, baby, let’s get some more rest, then.”

——

Patton held Virgil, bridal style, whilst walking downstairs. They had a Christmas tree set up with all of their gifts underneath it, multicoloured lights twinkling in the dimly lit room.

“It’s strange seeing so many more gifts so soon, huh?” Patton said, holding Virgil tighter.

“I know.” Logan replied, smile gracing his lips. “Not even a week after your birthday, Vee, and we’re spoiling you again.”

“Not my fault I’m a Capricorn.” Virgil mumbled, being placed down on the floor by the tree. “And it’s not just me. You guys have presents, too.”

“None of them are shaped like a lead West End role, it appears.” Roman fawned, sitting down next to Virgil with a smile.

“Next year, babe.” Virgil whispered, and they dig into their presents.

Virgil was unsurprised to receive a mix of stuffed animals and sex toys. He had the decency to blush each time he unwrapped a dildo, or a harness, and had to hide his face in Logan’s chest after he was promised they’d try everything out later.

Having acted like that, Virgil had also gotten his boyfriends the occasional sexual gift, too. In fact, they spend about an hour opening presents, hugging, kissing, and soaking in their love for each other.

They quickly moved onto playing board games. Monopoly - which Logan won, then Charades, which Roman won, then Pictionary, which Patton won. Virgil was more than okay with losing, because each time he did, someone would kiss him to make him feel better.

It took them an hour to eat dinner, and so most of a chicken and two glasses of wine each later, Virgil was helping to clear the table with his paper crown from his cracker still on his hair. He took the last plate to the kitchen, and when he returned to the table, there was something new there.

“We, um, we have one last present for you, Virgil.” Roman explained, gesturing to the wrapped cuboid in the centre of the table. Virgil could tell that Patton had wrapped it based upon how the cellotape was diagonal and not horizontal.

“I thought we did all the gifts.” Virgil replied, but he was happy to get more, and sat down at the table.

“We did all of the proper gifts.” Logan said. “But we have one more. It’s less of a gift and more of a proposal, perse.”

“This is kinda unsettling.” Virgil joked, and his boyfriends looked a bit sheepish. They were all staring at him like it was something important. He reached out for the gift, and blinked at them until Roman nodded, at which point he pulled it to be in front of him and slowly unwrapped it.

He found another box. A black one, with a silk ribbon tied around it.

“This better not be too expensive.” Virgil thought out loud.

“It was.” Logan said. “For good reason. You’ll see.”

And the words made Virgil a little anxious. It was something expensive? What if he didn’t like it?

But, either way, he untied the ribbon and slowly lifted the lid off the box - eyes going wide at what he saw inside.

It looked expensive.

It was made of black leather, thick and adorned with shining silver. It was beautiful, and it was-

It was a collar.

Virgil furrowed his eyebrows at it. They’d played with collars all the time. Cheaper collars that were made for scenes specifically, and even once an actual dog collar (which Logan had lectured Virgil and Roman about for hours after he found them using it).

But never.. never a proper one. This one was the kind that you don’t take off.

On the back, it had a small silver chain that hung down with a very small padlock on it.

Virgil lost the ability to breathe for a moment, head snapping up to look at his boyfriends.

“We’ve been thinking, Virgil, and I know we’ve spoken about it in passing, but-” Logan began, but he was cut off my Roman.
“We’ve just been domming you for so long now, and we live together.”

“Oh.” Virgil said, pretty speechless. “You, um, you want to own me.”

“We’re just offering.” Patton said softly. “We know you’re only young in the grand scheme of things, having only just turned nineteen, and-”

“Yes!” Virgil exclaimed, eyes almost welling up. “Oh my god, I thought you’d never ask!”

“Yeah?” Roman replied, voice hopeful.

“Yeah.”

“Now, we’re overjoyed, Virgil, but we need to make sure that you understand this properly.” Logan said. “You’re aware that this is quite a step up, correct?”

Virgil nodded, fingers tracing the leather.

“That this is a full-time, twenty-four-seven thing, and a commitment outside of scenes as well as inside of them.”

“I know.” Virgil said softly. “You would own me.”

“You. Your body. You’d be our sub all the time. Most of your decisions would go through us. We’d still be your boyfriends first, always, but more importantly your doms, and even more importantly your owners. I’ve got it in writing for you.” Logan said, and then he slid Virgil a sheet of paper.

Virgil snickered. “As you would.”

His eyes scanned over the writing. It was awfully formal, and much typical of Logan.

“Right.” Virgil nodded. “Yeah.”

“And you’re a hundred percent sure that this is what you want?” Roman asked. “It’s no pressure if not.”

“It is, Ro, don’t worry. And, it’s not like we wouldn’t be able to go back. If we try ownership and all hate it, we can just do what we’ve always been doing again.”

“Of course, yeah. We’ll give it a month. At the end of the month, you can decide if you want to keep the collar and all of its implications. Maybe even get you a little dog tag with all our names on if you decide this is what you want. How does that sound?”

“It sounds perfect.” Virgil whispered. “Thank you. Can one of you put it on me?”

Patton stood first, and walked around the table. He gently held the collar and fastened it around Virgil’s neck - tight, but not tight enough that it was uncomfortable. Virgil closed his eyes, and he pressed his legs together to try and stop his growing hard-on from ruining the moment.

“We love you.” Patton whispered, kissing the back of his hair before stepping away. “Now and always.”

Virgil sniffled, close to tears and overwhelmed by the romance.
“I love you too.” He replied, and within a blink the other two of his boyfriends - no, owners - were beside him. Roman had pulled up his chair, and then moved Virgil into his lap. He smiled down at Virgil, thumb running over the edges of the collar.

“Happy Christmas, baby.” He whispered, and Virgil didn’t think he’d ever felt more loved.

Chapter Text

“Cutting it close.” Remy said sarcastically, leant back against the sofa on their phone.

“Here before the pizza, aren’t we?” Janus replied, sitting down on one of the armchairs adjacent to the sofa, therefore forcing Virgil to fill the gap between the two people.

It was at that moment that the buzzer went off. “Barely.” Remy drawled. “Your turn to get the takeaway, Jay.”

And Janus’ eyes flicked to Virgil briefly, but he stood conceded and left the apartment to go and grab the pizza very quickly.

Then Remy and Virgil were left alone in an awkward silence that lasted precisely two seconds before-

“Right. Listen to me.” They began, turning to Virgil with a stern look on their face. “I don’t care what you two are getting up to, but so help me god if you hurt him.”
“We’re, uh-” Virgil replied, stumbling over his words a little. The sharp tone, the imperatives, it was making him feel a little floaty. “We’re just having sex, it’s not really, like…”

“I don’t care what you’re doing, I just said that. You make him cry, and I will make you cry. Get that?”

“Yeah, yes. Yeah.” He replied, nodding. After that, there was another lull of tense and awkward silence between the two sat on the soda.

The front door swung open suddenly, and Janus returned holding the pizza boxes. He sighed as he sat back down. “Right, what did they say to you?”
“No, nothing.” Virgil replied, trying to laugh it off as Remy rolled their eyes. “Um, thanks. For the pizza.”

“So, Virgil, what brings you here?” Remy asked as he took a slice.
“Rem.” Janus said strongly, taking his own slice as well. Virgil was yet to reach for the box.
“No, I’m making small talk. Surely something’s gone on?” They asked, looking at Virgil.

“Just, um- rough patch with my boyfriends, that’s all.” He admitted.
“Your boyfriends?!” Remy exclaimed, sitting up further. “Girl, don’t tell me this one is a side piece. I can’t condone you staying here to cheat, I hope you know that.”

“Oh, no. No, it’s not like that.” Virgil jumped to defend himself. “They really like Janus, they, uh, it’s like all of us, like, we all-”
“And I’ve heard enough.” Remy cut him off. “So, you’re in a relationship. But you’re fighting, so you’re staying with the third party who your boyfriends also quite like?”

“Yeah.” Virgil breathed out. It was kind of a lot.
“Do they know you’re here or did you just flee?”

“No- no, they know. It was Master’s idea, so-”

“Excuse me?” Remy exclaimed, half with an expression of disbelief and half with one of humoured shock.

“What?” Virgil asked innocently, thinking about what he’d said, and- And he instinctively slapped his hand over his mouth.

“You called your boyfriend ‘Master’!” Remy clarified, looking at Janus for answers and then back to Virgil. "That is one horrific Freudian slip."

“No, I didn’t.” Virgil tried. “I didn’t.”

Janus sat, biting his lip as he watched the interaction unfold. Virgil was blushing, obviously not having intended to disclose that much of the relationship to Remy.

“Oh my god, you’re like a sex slave, aren’t you? Is Janus a sex slave? Are you both sex slaves?”

“Nobody is a sex slave!” Janus yelled, cutting their words off before they could ask another intrusive question.

“He called his boyfriend ‘Master’. Do you call his boyfriend ‘Master’ as well?”

“Remy.” Janus said sternly, glancing worriedly at Virgil, who was kind of shrinking in on himself.

“No! No, I don’t care. I’m chill like that, I don’t- just no weird stuff in the apartment.”

“So, how did you two meet?” Virgil cut in, voice strained to change the subject. Remy snorted with laughter, but they conceded to the shift in topic.

“Uni.” Remy explained. “Sat next to him in one of our lectures.” They continued, drawling out into some story about the hat that Janus was wearing that day. Virgil wasn’t at all listening, which he knew was rude, but he was so emotionally exhausted from the day that he just sat back and listened to the two friends exchange stories.

—-

It was light and breezy in Janus’ room when Virgil woke up. The window had been left open, but it wasn’t too cold - only allowing a gentle wind to sweep through.
He groaned, still exhausted as he rolled over into a more comfortable position. Except, this bed was a lot smaller than the one he slept on at home, and when he rolled over, he almost fell off the mattress entirely.

But then there were hands wrapped around his waist, pulling him back onto the bed with a slight giggle.
“I’ve got’cha, Vee.” Janus whispered, almost manhandling him back onto the bed. And Virgil was still waking up, feeling floaty above all else, floaty and safe, and-

He whined, pulling the duvet over his head to hide from the world for just a little longer.

“You okay?” Janus laughed.
“Mhm,” Virgil hummed back, although it was higher and more whiney than he had intended.

He just felt so small, so unwilling to really think, so-
So-

“You sure there?” He asked, pulling the duvet back up. Virgil laughed, clearly finding it play-time as he rolled over to hide from the sun again.

“Virge?” Janus whispered. He studied the man for a moment, raising an eyebrow as he sat up in bed. “…Puppy?”

“No.” Virgil pouted, grabbing the pillow that he was resting his head on and holding it over his head to hide himself.

“Oh, do I have a puppy-dog this morning? Is that it?”

“I don’t-” Virgil whined, words falling out of his mouth. “Jan-”

“Come on, you’re okay.” Janus whispered, trying his best to mimic the ways in which he’s seen Virgil’s boyfriends comfort him.

And then Virgil disappeared back under the duvet, whining, and when Janus lifted the duvet back up to look at the young man, it was clear that he was gone with the fairies.

His eyes were a little more vacant, slightly glazed over, and there was a slightly mischievous glint in them too.

He yanked the duvet back over himself, taking the corner of it in his mouth, and Janus smiled a little, pulling back, engaging him in the game that he so clearly wanted to play.

Virgil eventually gave up, trying to bury himself in the mattress out of shame.
“Awh, I’m sorry. You can win next time.” Janus tried to reassure him, and then Virgil pulled his head up, scanning around the room, which was empty save for the two of them.

And he whimpered, a true, distressed whimper that reverberated around the walls.

It wasn’t even five seconds later before Virgil was scampering off the bed and out of the room, into the main open-plan living room kitchen area of the flat.

“Virge,” Janus called after him, standing up out of bed and following him into the area.

Virgil was breathing heavily, still in his pajamas and looking around frantically. He was whimpering, eyes filling with water, and Janus didn’t really know what to do.

“Come on, puppy, you’re okay.” He tried approaching Virgil, who moved backwards. He was on all-fours, and had hit the sofa. “You can go up on the sofa, you’re allowed here.” Janus reassured him.

Virgil was trapped in the corner part of the L-shaped sofa, not able to move or climb up onto it as Janus slowly approached him. When he got there, Janus sat down on the sofa, and he hooked his arms under Virgil’s lifting him up onto his lap.

Virgil protested to being placed up on the sofa - that wasn’t where dogs were supposed ot be - but Janus wrapped his arms around him carefully, shushing his whimpers.
“It’s okay, pup. You’re safe.” He whispered, taking out his phone.

The text he sent read: ‘Help. Greeted the day with a puppy. Not sure what to do.’

And he was getting a video call from Logan within five seconds.

“Hello.” Logan spoke through the phone, and Virgil’s head shot up. He yipped happily, and Logan smiled. “Is that our darling pup?”

Janus frowned, pretty sure this was counterproductive as he panned the phone to Virgil, who had his eyes rapt on the phone.

“Has he been crying? His eyes look puffy.” Patton’s voice came from the phone, and Janus titled the phone back to himself.

“He got a little upset when he first regressed and realized you guys weren’t here. That’s all, I think.”

“It makes sense. He’s had an emotional few days, no wonder his body’s forced him out of his head for a little bit. The house feels empty without you two.” Logan commented. “Is he okay?”

“Yeah. I think so.”

“Here’s to hoping he doesn’t notice the lack of collar.” Roman cringed, appearing in view on the video call.

“Um, what should I do?” Janus asked, biting his nail. Virgil was very much alert beside him now, listening for his owners’ words.

“If you’re in doubt, just pretend you’re babysitting a- what?- toddler? Young child? Maybe five, maybe six.” Roman said. “That’s really what it is. He’ll come back to you soon enough.”

“But I don’t think he wants me. I think he wants you.” Janus explained, ruffling Virgil’s hair beside him.

“Can I speak with him?” Logan asked. “Get him to sit on the floor, and then turn the phone so he can see me.” He said.

Janus seemed to hesitate, glancing over to where Virgil had laid down on the sofa. “Uh, I’m not sure.. how.” He said.

“Don’t worry.” Logan replied. There was a moment’s pause, and then Logan had applied a different, more commanding tone of voice. “Puppy. Down, now. Paws don’t go on the couch. Get down.”

And Virgil whimpered apologetically, looking around before slowly sliding himself off the sofa and onto the ground. He kept his gaze downcast, aware that he’d misbehaved, and Janus reached out a hand to ruffle his hair as a comfort. He wasn’t too sure about it, but Logan knows Virgil well. He trusts Logan.

“Okay, listen to me, Pup.” Logan said. “You’re going to behave for Janus, listen to him, do what he says. Yes?”

Virgil nodded enthusiastically.

“Good boy. Such a good boy for me.” Logan praised, and Virgil smiled, eyes not moving away from his boyfriend on the screen.

“I said no freaky stuff in the apartment.” Remy’s voice cuts through. “It’s not that hard to keep this sex-slave stuff in the bedroom.” They complained, annoyance in their tone as they stood outside their bedroom door.

Janus immediately hung up the phone, dropping it onto the sofa.
“It’s not-” He tried, but Remy had walked past, interrupting.

“I’m going to work. Just don’t be doing this shit when I’m back.” They said, exiting the flat pretty promptly, slightly slamming the door, too.

“Fuck,” Janus muttered, looking down for Virgil, who had disappeared from under him. He stood from the couch, recognizing the young man, who had his head buried in a bean bag in the corner of the living room.

“They didn’t mean to yell, baby.” Janus whispered. “They’re not mad at you.” They said, kneeling down beside him and rubbing his shoulder.

And then there was some quiet sniffling coming from the man, and he turned his head a little, slightly more aware than he was before.
“Thought,” He whispered, voice small and vulnerable.

“What did you think?” Janus asked, trying to coax the words out of him.

“Good.” He said quietly, and Janus’ heart just melted.

“Oh, puppy. You are good. You’re so good.” He reassured softly, raking a hand through Virgil’s hair. The young man looked up, clearly having used all of his words, but his eyes were watering and his lip quivering.

“Wait here,” Janus said, standing and heading back into the bedroom. When he came back a moment later, he’d retrieved Virgil’s puppy ears, and held them out before him.

Virgil sat back on his haunches, still sniffling as he let Janus put them on him.
“There you go, hm? And- Guess what else?” He spoke in an excited tone, trying to get Virgil more upbeat.

“Here!” Janus exclaimed, revealing the silicon bone that had been in his pocket. Virgil’s eyes lit up, and he moved forward to attempt to take it. Janus, however, had other plans, and threw it across the carpet a little.

In an instant, Virgil had taken off in a four-legged bound after the toy, moving in a practiced dog-like manner as he got it between one hand and his teeth, holding it up in his mouth.

Janus grinned, taking out his phone and snapping a quick photo of Virgil looking so cute. He’d send it to the guys later if Virgil said it was fine when he was more himself.

The puppy dropped the bone at Janus’ feet, looking up expectantly.
“Oh, we’re playing fetch, are we?” He teased lightly, throwing the bone again. He, obviously, couldn’t throw it very far, because they were indoors, but it was something nice to entertain themselves with anyway.

He was glad he'd cheered Virgil up. They could talk about it properly later. But, for now: fetch.

Chapter Text

Virgil moaned, breathless and needy as he grinded against Janus’ thigh, making out with the man all the while. He pushed his own right leg up between Janus’, making the other man gasp in pleasure as he too grinded against Virgil.

It was two in the morning. They were still both dressed in pajamas. They should be asleep.

But-

“Oh, fuck-” Virgil whispered. They would be in shit if they woke Remy up. “Fuck, I’m gonna come.”

“I’ve never met someone that comes as quickly as you. You’re so sensitive.” Janus complained, roughly shoving Virgil off his thigh and against the bed, pinning him down by the shoulders and continuing to kiss him.

He sucked hickeys into Virgil’s neck, pulling off his shirt to leave them lower, all the while he left the other man a whining, moaning mess underneath him.

All it took for them to get like this was one pleasant dream. Virgil had awoke about twenty minutes ago, impossibly hard and needy from a dream that he didn’t even remember that well. All he could recall was that he was subbing, being fucked, and it was good. He didn’t mean to wake Janus up, but he did, and the man was happy to oblige him.

Virgil put one hand on the back of Janus’ head, gripping onto his hair as his collarbones were assaulted. He had to let go when Janus kept moving lower, kissing down his stomach and leaving hickeys down his torso.

It was right before he was about to get to Virgil’s dick - still covered by his plaid pyajama pants, whilst Virgil was just whining in desperation, when he looked up, grinning like a wolf at Virgil.

“Still want to make it up to me?” He asked breathlessly.

Virgil sat up a little, blinking helplessly. “What?”

“When you pushed me out of bed. Still want to make it up to me?”

And Virgil nodded, only barely able to see Janus in the dim light. They only had the bedside lamp switched on, giving the room an orange glow as Janus instantly took off his shirt and pajama bottoms, kneeling on the bed in a very seductive manner.

“Fuck, I’m so wet.” Janus whispered, grabbing Virgil’s wrist and pressing the man’s hand against his pussy. He guided two of Virgil’s fingers to rub against his cunt, covering them in his juices.

Janus then leant forward, still holding Virgil’s arm by the wrist.
“Open your mouth.” He commanded softly. Virgil did so obediently, and Janus pushed Virgil’s fingers into his own mouth. “Good pet,” He praised, pulling Virgil’s hand back after he’d sucked his fingers clean.

“I really don’t get how you only sub.” Virgil said breathlessly. “You’re so good at this.”

“It’s strange.” Janus agreed. “Never before I met you had I considered it, but there’s just something about you. Maybe it’s pity. You’re so obviously incapable of being commanding, so I have to make up for it.” He joked, and Virgil lightly pushed him in protest.

“And I wouldn’t call this domming. Just kind of topping with an attitude.” Janus said.

“You do have quite the attitude.” Virgil replied, thinking back to the times when Janus had been bratty despite saying it wasn’t his forte.

“Enough talking.” Janus said. “I can think of a much better use for your mouth.”

He took a hold of Virgil’s hand, who just watched breathlessly, straddling the man’s upper body backwards, so that he was looking towards Virgil’s legs.

“Squeeze my hand if it’s too much.” Janus said, and then he lowered himself down so that he was sitting on Virgil’s face.

Virgil had never eaten pussy before, that was true, but he was no stranger to pleasuring people with his mouth. There was one time he recalled where he’d misbehaved, probably spoke out of turn during a scene, and had been on his knees, ankles and hands tied together with rope, sucking dick for about five hours.
To end it, Patton had carried him upstairs and made him eat him out until he came, putting a leash on his collar and peridocially tugging on his neck between his legs, forcing Virgil’s head deeper against his ass.

That experience gave him some guidance, but not much. He tried his best, lapping up slick, and getting his tongue to weave around. It seemed to be okay, because Janus was gasping and moaning as he was stimulated.

“Take it slow.” Janus said suddenly between gasps. “We’re not in a hurry, puppy.”

And Virgil moaned as he did as he was told, free hand that wasn’t holding Janus’ coming to rest on his hip, guiding the movement as Janus grinded down against his mouth.

Janus sat up for a minute, giving Virgil time to get some air, and then he spun around to look at the man lying on his back.

“Do you want to make those three jealous?” Janus asked, innocently enough. “Send them a video. A nice gift for them to wake up to.” He suggested.

Virgil whined, now a little too fucked-out to properly speak, but he nodded profusely, kind of loving the idea of making his boyfriends get off on watching him fuck someone else.

Janus laughed slightly at his desperation, grabbing his phone from the bedside table. He got himself back into position on Virgil’s face, grinding as he was eaten out, and begun to record.

“Hi, boys.” Janus said, angling the camera at himself, sweaty and naked. “I just- oh, fuck- just wanted to reassure you that I’m putting, shit, putting him to good use.” He said, panning the camera down to get a view of Virgil.

He was shirtless, torso and neck covered in hickies, face totally obscured by Janus sitting on it, but you could see Virgil’s hand gripping onto Janus’ waist, writhing a little.

“Say hi, Virge.” Janus prompted in a teasing tone. From underneath him, Virgil moaned, clearly trying to speak. It shot a jolt of pleasure through Janus, who gasped, looking right at the camera as he found himself close.

He ended the recording there, dropping his phone onto the bed to chase his orgasm more intently. He used his newly free hand to rub his clit whilst Virgil ate him out, gasping and squeezing Virgil’s hand as he came.

“Fuck,” He panted, sitting up and then practically flopping onto Virgil’s chest to get through the aftershocks.

He leant down and found his arm accidentally pressed against Virgil’s very hard cock, turning around to look at the young man.

“You okay?” He asked Virgil, who was still laid on his back, incredibly dazed and looking like he was in the throws of subspace, despite not really even being dominated that strongly.

“Fuck, that was hot.” Virgil whispered.

“Yeah?”

“Mm,”

“What now? Want me to make you come?”

“Please,”

“Alright, darling, you just stay there.” Janus reassured him, dipping a hand past the waistband of Virgil’s pants. He kept eye contact with Virgil, who looked the perfect mix of tired and desperate, as he wrapped a hand around the man’s cock, pumping it up and down underneath the fabric of his pajamas.

Virgil whined, bucking his hips a little as he was touched, and then Janus pulled the head of his cock out of his pajamas so as to not ruin them, just in time for Virgil to come all over his own stomach with a cry that was probably a bit too loud considering they weren’t home alone.

“Okay, there you go.” Janus coaxed quietly. “Good boy, so well done.” He said, still lightly touching Virgil to help him through the orgasm. He then tucked him away back into his pajamas, leaning down and kissing Virgil on the mouth.

Virgil sat up, giggling a little at the mess all over his exposed skin.
“Thank you.” He said. “And thank god for the ensuite.” He whispered, taking Janus’ hand as he was helped up off the bed towards the bathroom.

———

It was about ten in the morning when the text came through. Janus was out picking up a package from the post-office, and Remy at work, leaving Virgil home alone hunched over a bowl of cereal as he looked down at his phone.

The initial response to the video they’d sent last night had been some text replies about how hot they were, that they were jealous, etc, but now, three hours after those messages, another video came through.

Virgil clicked on it, only seeing bed sheets as the thumbnail.

On screen, it was a video from a camera that had been set up against the headboard. It was loud and lewd, depicting Patton riding Roman with intense vigor. Logan wasn’t in frame, but Virgil could easily recognize his moans as he clearly touched himself to the sight.

The video lasted two minutes, cut off before any orgasms, just as they’d done, and it was captioned ‘wish you were here’.

Virgil stared at the screen for long after the video ended. He accidentally clicked again, and the video started to play once more.

It was five seconds in when Virgil threw his phone across the room.

The video stopped. Virgil breathed heavily, wiping his eyes. No. No, no- he wouldn’t cry. He wouldn’t cry, he-

He felt himself feeling more and more upset, floating on the edge of his head space, and he slapped himself around the face, harshly, but it worked in pulling him out of the space he was in.

His regression yesterday had been unexpected, but a welcome escape from all of this. When he’d come back to himself, he’d apologized to Janus profusely for it, who had reassured him that it was okay.

And now, as he picked his phone up off the floor and groaned at the cracked screen, he knew he needed to be present.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like Janus. Not at all. But, he missed his boyfriends. He missed them so terribly, not even for the sex, but for the encouraging words and the way they hold him at night. For the gentle kisses and support in what he wants to do. He-

He couldn’t let this rift grow. He loved them too much.

But they seemed to love Janus. They seemed to love the way he smiles, the way he’s respectful and considerate, yet not afraid to have fun and step out of line when it’s exciting. His beautiful golden hair, his strong jawline, his-

He heard Janus unlocking the door, and watched the man slip off his shoes and greet Virgil with a smile. Virgil waved back, and a wave of warmth washed over him as he realized-

Fuck.

He loved Janus, too.

Chapter Text

“Virge,” Janus drawled, leaning back on the sofa, eyes unfocused on the TV. “Do you wanna get dinner?”

“Dinner?” Virgil asked in more of a hum.

“Right.” Remy interrupted, pausing the TV. “Are we talking or not? I swear, if we have to stop-start this show one more time I’m gonna just turn it off.” They stated.

There was- well, a little bit of tension in the house.

Janus knew he was treading on thin ice, crashing with Remy, not paying them rent, and still managing to piss them off.

It was now Saturday evening, and after a pretty lazy day of just watching TV and talking, they’d settled in for the evening. Remy had come home about five minutes into their evening make-out session on the sofa, and they’d told them it was fine, but-

Well, they’d been lashing out a little since. Janus understood. Virgil understood. It must be annoying to be around, and Virgil couldn’t help but feel like it was his fault. It was embarrassing, but he was just so goddamn horny all the time. And Janus had recently upped his testosterone dose, which had his libido through the roof, and-

Okay, maybe “lazy day” was a bit of a creative liberty. They’d been having a lot of sex. A lot.

Just today, they’d fucked in bed, on the sofa. Given each other head in the shower. At about lunchtime, Janus bent Virgil over the kitchen counter with his strap-on. And then Virgil let Janus ride and edge him for hours, pretty much the whole afternoon. Virgil had been shaking when he’d finally come, and after a nap, they’d settled on the sofa for a night of watching TV.

They both knew it was wrong to fuck all about the apartment. Remy would’ve crucified them if they knew they’d fucked on the kitchen counter, and the very sofa that they were currently sat on, but god was it so hot to do it.

“Sorry.” Janus said. “Sorry, carry on.”

“Mhm.” Remy hummed sassily, playing the show again.

It rolled for a good ten minutes, and then Janus got up to get some water, and when he sat back down, he dropped his hand onto Virgil’s thigh. He wasn’t really thinking about it, but Virgil was in such a sensitive mood - both from the whole day of sex and the hand on his thigh, it was Roman’s favourite way of telling Virgil that he wanted to fuck him, after all - that he found the light touch turning him on.

“Sorry,” He whispered. “Just gonna go to the bathroom.”

And Remy groaned, pausing the TV once more. Virgil cringed, smiling at them sheepishly as he got up and headed into the bathroom ensuite to Janus’ room.

He splashed some water on his face, giving his dick a moment to calm down. He felt like a fucking mutt in heat or something, hands gripping the edge of the sink as he sighed.

And then he left the bathroom a moment later, standing in Janus’ bedroom, but he could hear talking throughout the living room which he couldn’t help but listen to through the door.

“I don’t know, Jay, it’s just a little much.”

“I don’t think it is.”

“Usually when someone gets evicted from their apartment and then ends up staying with a friend, they’re courteous about it, and maybe don’t bring a sex-slave home.”

“Don’t reduce him to that.”

“You’re missing the point, Jay, I’m not the biggest fan of my flat being a glorified sex-dungeon. Is it that hard to keep it in your pants?”

“Remy, I’m starting to think maybe you just need to get laid. Then you might be a little less bitter about this.” Janus said, and then Remy laughed a little.

“Well, unlike some people, I don’t need to have sex five times a day to not be humping everything.”

“Unfair critique.”

“Fine. I don’t need to have sex five times a day to not be excusing myself to the bathroom to rub one out in the middle of a show.”

And then Virgil opened the door, traipsing back into the living room. “That’s not what I was doing.” He stated, and Remy went a little red. There was more silence, and he sat down next to Janus again. “Are we watching this, or?”

Remy cleared their throat, playing the show without another word.

——

“Dinner.” Virgil hummed around the toothbrush in his mouth. He spat the toothpaste into the sink for the last time, rising his toothbrush before sticking it into the cup by the sink. “You said something about it.”

“Yeah.” Janus replied, giving Virgil a kiss as he re-entered the bedroom. “I don’t know, I was just thinking we could get dinner.

“Like, at a restaurant?”

“Yeah, like a date.”

“Oh. Oh, yeah. Yeah, for sure.” Virgil replied, sitting down on his side of the bed. “Like a date.”

“What? Those three not take you on dates?” Janus asked, mainly as a joke, but-

“Yeah. We go to play parties.”

“You know those aren’t dates, right?”

“Yeah they are. We spend time together, I get spoilt.”

“I would argue that a date is supposed to be romantic.” Janus said, standing in front of Virgil and studying him like he was some peculiar being.

“Play parties are romantic.”
“Play parties are sexual, Vee.”
“Maybe for you.”

“Okay,” Janus conceded. “Okay. Well, I think we should go on a more traditional date. Like, dinner at a restaurant tomorrow night?”

“Yeah.” Virgil said softly, flicking off the bedside lamp. “Yeah, it’s- it’s been a while since I’ve had dinner out.”

“Well, okay.” Janus agreed, getting into bed alongside Virgil. “And I’m sorry about Remy earlier. They’re just a bit, I don’t know, frustrated by all this.”

“I understand.” Virgil replied. “Won’t hold it against them.” He whispered, succumbing to his tiredness.

——

“I would’ve brought nicer clothes if I knew we were going out.” Virgil complained. He was wearing just jeans and a t-shirt, feeling a little sheepish as they waited at the front of the restraunt. The people inside were wearing button-ups and dress trousers.

“Don’t worry. You don’t have to dress up every time you leave the house.”

“Roman likes it when I do.”

“I’m not Roman.” Janus replied easily. “Nobody in this restaurant is.”
“I do love them, you know.” Virgil criticized.
“Hm?”
“I feel like sometimes you talk about my boyfriends as if our relationship is bad. I love them, you know. And our relationship was actually perfectly fine until you showed up.” He trailed off, just releasing the pent-up feelings that he was holding onto.

Janus just kind of looked at Virgil, a little hurt by what he said, but before he could reply, they were approached by the hostess.

“Table for two?” She asked, and Janus cleared his throat.

“Uh, yeah. Thanks.”

The hostess lead them to a table in the center of the room, asking them if it was alright, and before Janus could say that it was, Virgil did some self-advocating. It was quiet, and stressed, but he did it.

“Can we, like, have one against a wall? Maybe?” He asked the woman, voice a little shaky. His anxiety was catching up to him a little bit.

“Um, it’d be about a five minute wait.”

“Oh. That’s- uh, we can sit here.” Virgil tried softly, but-
“We’ll wait.” Janus said, taking Virgil’s hand. “We can wait.”
“Are you sure?” Virgil whispered, feeling bad.
“I’m sure.”

And just over five minutes later, they were sat down at a table in the corner. Virgil had his back to the wall, and it made him feel like he could finally relax.

“I’m sorry.” He said quietly. “I’m sorry, this is just all a lot. It’s not your fault that things are weird at home.”

“It’s okay if it is.” Janus replied. He let that settle in the air for a moment. And then another.

“Okay. Maybe it is, then.” Virgil admitted.

There was more silence between them, and then some small talk whilst they considered what to order.

“Hey, guys. Ready to order?” Their waiter asked, and Janus nodded.

“Yeah, I’ll get the tomato, basil, and mozzarella pasta, please.” He ordered, and then they both looked at Virgil.

He knew what he wanted. He wanted a vegetable pizza. He wanted a vegetable pizza. But this waiter was staring at him. And-

—

*

“I, uh,” Virgil stammered. He was on his first date with a new guy. His first date, ever, actually. It was a welcome distraction from the suffering of dropping out of university. But-

“You alright?” Roman asked, taking his hand on the table. “Know what you want?”

“I, um, sorry.” He trailed off, feeling stupid. “Sorry, I told you about my anxiety. I’m sorry.”

“You don’t need to apologise, baby. Did you want me to order, like, for you?” He asked.

“Is that okay?”

“Of course it’s okay. You’re allowed to be taken care of sometimes. And I don’t just mean in the bedroom.” He joked, winking on that last word.

Virgil blushed, looking away slightly.
This man knew how to talk!

“But anyway, I’ll wine and dine you before anything else. What did you want?”

“Uh, just- just a number seven?”

And Roman ran his thumbs over Virgil’s knuckles, bringing up his hand and kissing it gently. “Perfect. I think I’ll have that, too.”

*

--

“Sorry. I’m sorry.” Virgil stuttered, feeling like he was eighteen and swallowed by his chronic anxiety again.

That was what he liked- what was so good, so perfect about what he had with Roman, and Logan, and Patton.

No matter what went on in that house, be it loads and loads of sex or just gentle domestic mornings, his anxiety was quiet.

When he was with his boyfriends, with his owners, sexual or not, he wasn’t anxious. This debilitating anxiety, it went away with their touch.

The waiter just kind of watched him, looking at Janus for some kind of guidance.

Virgil put his finger against the menu under the food that he wanted. His nail polish was chipped, he noticed. He looked away.

“Vegetable pizza, cool.” The waiter drawled. “That all?”

“Uh, yeah.” Janus replied, watching the man walk away. “You okay, Virge?”

“I don’t-” Virgil started. His chest was heaving up and down. He tried to take a deep breath in, but he couldn’t get any air, he couldn’t- “Fuck.” He whispered, shaking his hands out in front of him.

And the restaurant was suddenly super loud. Chairs scraping, excited conversations, Janus repeating his name, plates being stacked.

This was too much. This was so, so, too much. He hadn’t had a panic attack like this in at least a year. He thought he was past this, he thought he was past this.

“Virgil, baby?” He heard Roman’s voice. It broke through his distress.

Virgil looked up, not even remembering when he dropped his head onto the table, and Janus’ phone was resting against the candle in the center of the table. On the screen, Roman was sat on the sofa, eyes concerned and caring.

“Hey, my love, you’re gonna be okay. Four-seven-eight, remember?”

“Four-seven-eight.” Virgil whispered, not even sure if the words were leaving his mouth.

“Let’s go in for four, come on. Ready? One, two, three, four.” Roman counted out. Virgil took his breath in, puffing out his cheeks as he held the air in his lungs. Roman smiled lovingly.

“Okay, now: one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven. There we go. One, two, three four, five, six, seven, eight. Shall we go again?”

And Virgil nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes.

“I’ll count you: one, two, three, four. And, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven. Okay, now big exhale, ready? One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Well done, so perfect. Do you want to go again?”

Virgil shook his head, much more in control of his ability to breathe, but he still wasn’t quite over it, and was drifting a little where he sat.

“Janus?” Roman said through the phone, and the blond man, who Virgil had forgotten was even there - not in a bad, way, just that he was so consumed by what was going on - picked up the phone and held it towards himself.

“Yeah?”

“Did he bring a bag with him?”

“His backpack, yeah.”

“There’s a zipper pocket on the side. The one on the left hand side, it’s got things for him to calm down.”

And Janus picked his bag up off the floor. He did look at Virgil for confirmation that it was okay, but the man seemed totally out of it, sniffling and looking around at each little noise like it was alarm or something.

Inside the pocket was a pair of headphones. They didn’t play music, they were just ultra-noise-canceling, and he placed them over Virgil’s ears. The other item was a little fidget-cube.

“What do I do now?” Janus asked.

“Give him a moment. He’ll come back to himself. He used to smoke a cigarette to do it after panic attacks, but the actual sensory equipment - as Lo calls it, I don’t know - that works too.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course. Have a good dinner, okay?”

“Yeah. You too.” Janus said, hanging up the video call. “You too..!” He muttered, mocking himself, and Virgil snickered slightly, acknowledging the funniness of it, too.

——

“So, how did you get into making Big Dinosaur Sunshine Memories?” Virgil asked as they were about half way through their meal.

“What?” Janus laughed, putting his glass of water down onto the table.

And Virgil used his eyes to gesture to the table next to them, where there was a family with two tweenage-age-kids eating.

Janus giggled. “Oh. Right, right. I guess I got into ‘Big Dinosaur Sunshine Memories’ around after I graduated uni. Learned about it online, decided to go to a party to see what it was like, and, yeah. I’m assuming you had a similar thing?”

“Uh,” Virgil hesitated a moment, squinting. “Yeah.”
“You sure about that?”

“Yeah. Well, no, but I don’t know if it’s too personal.”

“Tell me what you feel comfortable telling me, I’ll be none the wiser if you lie.” Janus pointed out.

And Virgil smiled a little. “Okay. Well, you know, we’ve been-” He paused, looking to the table with the two kids next to them. They were engaged in conversation with their parents, but Virgil still put his hand to the side of his mouth when he spoke. “Clothes-less, let’s say, in each other’s company.”

“Certainly have.” Janus agreed, finding the way he spoke about it in public quite adorable.

“So, I’m sure you’ve noticed that I have some scars.” Virgil said, anxiety creeping back into his voice. He had them all down the inside of his left forearm, and also on his lower leg, and ankles. They were all totally healed, left there from years ago.

“Yeah.” Janus said gently, putting his fork down. “But, you know. People go through shit. Doesn’t really mean anything to me, that’s why I’ve never mentioned it.”

“And.. I appreciate that.” Virgil replied. “I just- I used to be on an online support group for, um, people that did what I did to myself, too. Some shitty therapist’s idea, but someone on there that I was talking to told me that she got over her issue with self-harm by engaging in, um, yeah, the ‘S’ and ‘M’ letters.”

“Right.” Janus nodded along. “Yeah, makes sense. So, you thought you’d try it, too?”

“Mhm. And it was weird, ‘cause I was freshly eighteen, so I felt kind of like I shouldn’t have been there. And there was an abundance of older creeps who were into the fact that I was freshly eighteen, which I didn’t love.”

“Mm.”

“Yeah, but- but, no. That’s kind of how I got into it. And it worked, ‘cause I haven’t done it again since I got into it.” He finished, taking a bite of his pizza. “Fuck, I want a cigarette.”

And Janus broke out into laughter, pointing a little at the family sitting beside them, and Virgil put his hand over his mouth, snickering behind it.

“Virgil,” Janus said, his laughter dying down. “What was your first impression of me?”

Virgil thought for a moment. “Honestly? It was that you were attractive. Mainly in the context of my boyfriends ogling at you like they were single, but- yeah.”

“Right.” Janus said. “But, you’re polyamorous. Did you guys ever talk about what the lines are with flirting outside of your circle?”

“I honestly didn’t think it would ever come up. But, you know, in the kind of relationship that we’re in, I trust their judgment.”

“Yeah.”
“And, what was your first impression of me?” Virgil asked.

“Obedient.” Janus said. “That you were a good sub. I mean, you didn’t even make eye contact with me until they said it was okay. And then you just kind of clung to their side, didn’t speak for yourself. Not in a bad way, but, like, that you were practiced in what you do. It shows that there’s a lot of trust in that relationship.”

“Well, thanks. There is. Was. No, is.”

“This time tomorrow you’ll be back at home with them. Feeling okay about it?”

“Yeah. I miss them. Not that I don’t love this, and you, because I do, but- yeah, I miss them.” He said quietly.

“Did you just say you love me?” Janus asked, and it was playful, but Virgil blushed, looking away.

“I guess I did.” Virgil replied. “I mean, you said it days ago. Whilst I was inside of you.”

“Yeah, I thought you didn’t hear that.”
“I did.”
“Cool.”
“Cool.” Virgil replied, clearing his throat. “You’re, uh, are you gonna stick around?”

“Hm?”

“With the four of us. Is that the plan, to stick around? Keep suckin’ and fuckin’? Sorry, crude. Sounded better in my head.” He asked, thankful that the family sitting near them had left already.

And Janus snickered. “Uh, I guess so. If you’ll have me.”

“That’s the thing, I- um, and I’m not just saying this because the sex is incredible, but I feel like maybe I do want that.”

“Seriously?” Janus asked, hand wrapping tightly around his glass. “After I got in the way of your long term relationship?”

“Yeah, that was irritating. And it made me feel like shit, but- I don’t know, Janus, I like you. I think you’re cool. And I don’t think you were the problem. I guess, I-”

He took a deep breath, staring down at the water beside his plate.

“I guess I’m willing to share.”

“All three of them?”

And Virgil snickered. “Yeah, all three of them.”

Janus took a hold of Virgil’s hand across the table. “Thank you.” He said. “If I was going to share three sexy guys with anyone, I’d want it to be you.”
“And I you.” Virgil agreed, feigning reluctance. “I guess.” He joked.

They let the moment settle in the air for a moment.

“I can’t believe you first impression of me was that I’m obedient.” Virgil scoffed, crossing his arms.

“Well, that and that those tight little shorts really flattered your ass. Like, I could not stop looking.” He mumbled, raising his eyebrows.

Virgil laughed, covering his eyes with his hand as he kind of forgot that they were even out in public. “Yeah, they are quite tight.” He agreed whilst snickering.

Chapter Text

“Right,” Virgil sighed, yawning a little. He was sat on the edge of the bed, taking off his socks. “That was really nice.”
“I know.” Janus replied. “We should do it again sometime.”
“Yeah,” Virgil agreed. “So, uh, how should we do this?”

“What?” Janus asked, tone oblivious as he started to change into his sleepwear.

“Like, I know we’ve tried a lot of different positions. What’re you up for?”

“Oh, did you wanna have sex?” The other man replied, raising at eyebrow at Virgil. He seemed pretty tired, is all.

“Well, uh, you bought me dinner. So…”

“So?”

“So, we went on a date. I kind of assumed that you’d want… something from it.”

“Virgil, you never owe anyone sex.” Janus said, almost in a serious tone.

“Well, sometimes I do.” Virgil almost laughed. “Kind of… an aspect of the dom/sub thing.” He said, and when Janus didn’t say anything, he continued. “Hi, I’m Virgil, nice to meet you.”

“Virgil, even within that relationship you don’t ever owe them sex. I mean, they always respect your safewords, I’ve seen it. You don’t owe them sex. In the same way that you don’t owe me sex. Ever.”

“…Thanks.” Virgil said quietly, a little embarrassed that he had been lectured like that. “So, we went on a date and you paid for dinner. And now we’re back at your place. Sitting on your bed. And… we just go to sleep?”

“Yeah, baby boy, we just go to sleep.” Janus whispered, getting into bed next to Virgil, and then wrapping his hands around the other man’s waist.

“Night, Jan.”
“Goodnight.”

——

Virgil was very used to waking up in the night. He was an insomniac, so even when he did get to sleep, it never lasted too long. Either that, or he would wake up to something hard against his ass and then be fucked awake, or fucked back to sleep, either worked.

So, when he woke up in the middle of the night, he didn’t think much of it. Not until-

“Oh, fuck! Don’t stop!”

And Virgil sat up, thoroughly awake. He.. what the fuck?

Janus was sound asleep beside him. For a moment, he thought he was hallucinating. But, then-

“You love it when I fuck you, hm? You love it, don’t you?” Another voice groaned, quite loudly, and- yep, that was definiately Remy.

And Virgil had seen and heard a lot of other people having sex. It was very common at play parties, watching strangers fuck for the fun of it. Mostly it was because the strangers fucking got off on being watched, and it was interesting to see other people’s dynamics.

But this felt weird. Weird, weird.

“Janus,” Virgil whispered, hitting the sleeping man lightly on his shoulder. “Janus.”

“What?” Janus mumbled, rubbing his eyes a little as he woke up.

“Oh! Ah, fuck, fuck me right there!” Came again from the other room.

Janus burst into laughter, covering his mouth. “I did tell them to get laid.”

“I’m gonna come,” Remy’s voice yelled.

“Yes please, daddy!” Another replied in a sarcastic and almost mocking voice, and-

“Oh my god.” Virgil realised, slapping his hand over his mouth, too.

“What?”

“Remus.” Virgil stated plainly, standing up out of bed.

“Who?”

“Remy is having sex with Roman’s brother. I recognise his voice, it’s very distinctive.”

“Roman has a brother?”

“A twin brother.” Virgil replied. “Who is fucking your friend.” He said, walking right up to the wall and pressing his ear to it. “Definitely him. They’re finishing up.”

There’s some more moaning through the wall, and then Remus’ voice is audible.
“I need a glass of warm milk after sex. Sorry! Yours wasn’t enough, I guess!” He exclaimed, and Virgil grinned, flicking the bedroom light on.

“Gah! Warn a guy.” Janus said, annoyed, but he too got up.

And, Virgil opened the bedroom door with a newfound excitement, just in time for Remy’s bedroom door to open and for the living room light to flick on.

And it was Remus. Stood, only in boxers, hair messy and grin wide. His eyes were even wider, though.

“Virgin!” He yelled, literally running up and tackling Virgil, who manoeuvred them to fall back on the beanbag in the corner of the room.

“Hey, Remus.” Virgil laughed.

“What are you doing here?” Remus gasped, and then he slowly pointed at Janus, who was watching a little warily from the doorway. “You didn’t tell me you were cheating on Roman! Hey, good for you!”

“I’m not cheating on Roman.” Virgil laughed. “Get your naked body off me.”

“I happen to know you’re incredibly sexual with my bro. And we have the same genes, so if you like what he has to offer, then I don’t know why you’re complaining now.” Remus drawled, but he did stand up, and he offered a hand to help Virgil do the same.

“You two know each other?” Remy asked, also standing in their doorway, but dressed a lot more modestly than Remus was.

“He’s my boyfriend’s brother.” Virgil supplied.

“Your boyfriend that you’re here because you’re fighting with?” Remy asked, raising their eyebrows, and Remus gasped.

“The plot thickens! Why are you fighting? Is it because he can’t get it up?”

“Go and warm up your milk, you perv.” Virgil said, mostly joking, and then Remus walked off into the kitchen making silly faces as Virgil as he did so.

“Sorry.” Remy apologised. “Did we wake you up?”

“We’ll call it even.” Janus replied. “How’d you two end up back here?”

“Found him at a gay bar. He’s quite horny.”

“Runs in the family.” Virgil muttered.
“So, are you guys friends?” Janus asked. “You and Remus.”

“We hang out.” Virgil said. “He’s… refreshingly blunt, sometimes.”

“Virgin! Get in here before I drag you in by that leash that I know Ro puts on you!” He exclaimed from the kitchen, and Virgil took a deep breath.

“He, uh,” He muttered, starting to walk in that direction. “He was ‘round ours once and he found the sex box.” Virgil explained, incredibly awkwardly, and then he dissapeared into the kitchen, too.

“And I have no shame!” Remus exclaimed on top of that.
“They can tell.” Virgil’s voice was heard quietly, and then their speech died out.

It left just Remy and Janus in the living room, and neither really knew where to look.

“I’m sorry.” Janus said eventually. “For bringing him home and being disruptive.”

“I know you fucked him on the kitchen counter.” Remy said, not in an angry tone of voice, just an accepting one. “It was so clean when I came home. So clean. There is no reason you would’ve cleaned the kitchen unless you got up to something.”

“We fucked on the sofa, too.” Janus said quietly. “That’s it, though.”

“Thank you for telling me. You’re disgusting.” Remy replied, clearly joking this time. “So, you’re going tomorrow?”

“Virgil is. I’m gonna stay here for a few nights, if it’s okay. I think he needs time alone with his boyfriends.”

“Probably a good idea, babes. But anyway, yeah. We can call it even. I don’t like fighting.”

“Thank you.” Janus said. “I promise, we’ll keep it in the bedroom.”

“You need to shower, dude!” Virgil’s voice came back, more urgent and disgusted as he fled the kitchen.

Remus was running after him, and grabbed Virgil from behind. He was much more muscular than Virgil, and managed to restrain him completely with his arms. “Get a good whiff in, Vee. I’m going on holiday next week, so it’ll be a while!”

“Save me, Janus!” Virgil yelled, joking, only halfway.
“Yeah my twig arms are not saving you.” Janus said.

And then Remus dropped Virgil onto the sofa, and he leapt up, running into Janus’ arms.
“Yuck, now you need to shower.” Janus said.
“Can we go back to bed?” Virgil asked, pouting at Remus, who cackled.

“Yeah. Goodnight, Remy. Remus.”

“Are we going back to bed, Remy?” Remus asked, wiggling his eyebrows.
“Sure.” Remy replied, and then the group disbanded.

——

“Deep breaths.” Virgil said to himself. “Okay,”

He rung the doorbell, shaking his hands out to relieve his anxiety.

Virgil was on his own, on the doorstep. Janus was back at his place with Remy, giving Virgil some alone time to settle in.

The front door swung open suddenly, and-

“Baby!” Patton squealed, picking Virgil up and spinning him around in the entryway to their house.

“Alright, let him get through the door, first.” Roman said gently, taking Virgil by his hand as he was put back down on the floor. “Welcome home, my love.”

“Hey.” Virgil laughed. “Making me dizzy, Patton.”
“It’s one of my favourite pastimes.” Patton replied, letting go of Virgil. Roman then pulled him into a hug.

“Ah, you smell like flowers.” Roman whispered, inhaling against his hair. “I can’t wait to make love to you later.”

And Virgil blushed a little, looking away from Roman to scan for his third boyfriend.

But instead, he saw-

Their dining table. In the same place that it always was, except it was draped with a white tablecloth. There was a candle in the centre of the table, as well as a vase full of red roses and four placemats of the same colour.

“Oh,” Virgil breathed out. “You didn’t have to-”
“We wanted to.” Logan told him, exiting the kitchen with a bottle of champagne and four glasses.

Virgil broke away from Roman, skipping slightly to fall into Logan’s arms. Logan, of course, couldn’t hug back properly because of the things in his hands, but he used his elbows to embrace Virgil.

“Good evening.” Logan chuckled at the affection. He wasn’t really a hugger.

Eventually, they all settled around the table. Virgil absentmindedly rested his elbows on the table, and he thought that he could physically see Logan straining not to tell him off for his table manners. It was entertaining, but Virgil felt bad, and took his elbows off the table out of his own volition.

“So,” Roman began once they’d all started eating. “What did you get up to whilst you were away?”

“Uh,” Virgil squinted. The short answer was sex and dinner. “We made up.”

“Awh,” Patton cooed, “Yeah?”

“Yeah, and I, um, I’m good with it. I decided.”

“Good with it?” Roman echoed.

“You know, him. Being around. Part of our dynamic.” Virgil explained nervously.

“See, that’s what we should have heard before he even came over for the first time.” Roman said in a tone that suggested they’d been arguing about it.

“Oh, please, Roman, you were equally eager to get your dick wet.” Logan replied in a mutter.

“Boys.” Patton scolded them. “We’re having dinner.”

And Virgil bit his lip. He looked between the three of them, eyes dancing over their expressions.

“Are you guys fighting?” Virgil asked, eyes a little wide.

“It’s not for you to worry about, lovely.” Patton dismissed him.

“No,” Virgil interrupted. “I want to worry. As an equal member of this relationship, I want to worry. What is it?”

And Logan sighed, putting his knife and fork down. “It’s juat a little tension between us. About our failures within this relationship.”

“Oh.” Virgil said. “It’s fine, we figured it out.”

“I know, darling, we just have some regrets, I think.”

“I do, too. But it’s okay, I’m here now, you’re here now. We’re good.”

And Roman offered a smile at him. It was kind of awkward, a little strained, and then they lulled back into silence to eat their food. The rest of the meal was consumed by small talk, catch-ups, and easy reminiscence.

——

“How do you want this, baby?” Logan asked softly. He was running a hand up and down Virgil’s exposed thigh. He was sat cross-legged in the centre of their bed, shirtless and only in his boxers.

Dinner had been nice, and now they were back upstairs. Back upstairs, gentle flush on their skin, eager for each other.

They were keeping it vanilla - they’d already decided that.

Soft, gentle, loving. That was what they wanted.

“Just because I’m not a sub right now doesn’t mean I want to do any thinking.” Virgil pouted, pulling Logan forward by his tie and kissing him roughly. Logan took it upon himself to escalate the kiss, pushing Virgil down against the bed and holding his hands above his head.

“I want you to make one decision,” Logan breathed. “One. Can you do that?”

Virgil nodded eagerly.

“Good. So, what I want from you is a name. Who do you want to fuck you? Whose cock do you want to feel, deep, deep inside of you? Hm?” Logan asked, not quite using his dom-voice, but it was sultry and teasing, and Virgil whined, deep in his throat.

“I don’t care. Any of you.” He begged desperately. Behind Logan, he could see Roman stood at the foot of the bed, stroking his cock as he watched the scene, whilst Patton was still undressing himself.

“I want you to choose. The other two will look after you in other ways, nobody’s getting left out.” He explained, leaning down and starting to kiss Virgil’s neck and collarbones.

He turned to look at the other two. They were all waiting for a decision, and although Virgil’s mind was foggy, he could weigh the options.

He wanted to feel loved. Softly praised and loved. The others could do that, but for sappy sex? Nobody did it as well as-

“Patton,” Virgil gasped.

“Well done.” Logan said. “I’m gonna stay right here.” He hummed, dropping back to kiss along Virgil’s pale skin. He moaned, but not as loudly as he did when Roman dragged his boxers down and immediately took Virgil’s cock into his mouth.

“Fuck,” Virgil groaned, back arching off the bed.

He- fuck, it was not by any means a common occurrence for one of these three to suck him off. They said it was degrading, usually, but he looked down, and Roman was working oh-so-hard on pleasuring him. After years of Virgil exclusively being the one on his knees, this was-

Well, it made him feel like an equal.

“Move aside,” Patton cooed. “You can get back to it just after I get inside his cute ass.” He said, swatting Roman away.

“Pat,” Virgil whined.
“I know, baby boy, I know.” Patton whispered. “Spread your legs.”

And Virgil did, looking away as Logan continued to suck on his skin.

“Sheesh!” Patton giggled, inserting three fingers straight into Virgil. “You’re loose down here. Get Janus to fuck you often?” He asked.

“He has a nicely textured strap-on.” Virgil whispered.

“God, how I’d love to have been a fly on the wall for that.” Roman groaned. “Tell him to bring it next time.”

And Virgil whimpered as Patton inserted a fourth finger, squeezing lube over his digits as he worked them in and out of his boyfriend.
“You ready?”
“Yes!”

And then Patton was pushing in, all in one go. He bottomed out with his thighs flush against Virgil’s.
“Oh!” Virgil gasped out, clenching around his length. Sure, he loved getting fucked by Janus, but this was a throbbing, warm dick, and fuck, it felt brilliant.

“Alright, go for it, Ro.” Patton said, staying still inside Virgil whilst Roman grinned. He moved down to perch by Virgil’s side. Opposite him was Logan, who went right back to kissing and sucking on Virgil’s skin.

Roman took Virgil’s cock into his mouth just as Patton started to thrust.

“Oh, god.” Virgil groaned, hands balling up the sheets. “Fuck, fuck me,”

One of Roman’s hands then went to fondle Virgil’s balls just at the same time that Logan started toying with his nipples.

“Fuck, I’m gonna come.” Virgil whispered.

“You don’t want this over so soon, do you?” Patton asked. “Our perfect boy. You’re so beautiful all sweaty and lost in pleasure. We love you so much. So, so much.”

“Mm,” Virgil whined, biting his lip. He reached out with his hand, patting it around until he found Logan’s wrist, which he followed up to grab onto Logan’s hand.

He gripped it tightly as Logan continued to trace his free hand all over Virgil’s sensitive skin.

Roman continued to suck on Virgil’s dick, taking his boyfriend’s other hand with his free one.

“Ah,” Patton whined. “Want me to come in you, baby?”

“Please,” Virgil spluttered out, bucking his hips. Roman gagged as his cock was driven further into his throat, but he didn’t let up. In fact, he only worked harder, and before he knew it, Virgil was coming intensely.

Patton moaned at the way Virgil clenched down on him whilst coming, and he too came inside his boyfriend as he stilled.

There were heavy breaths in the air, and only that was heard, until-

Roman spat Virgil’s come onto their bedsheets, cringing as he wiped his mouth.
“Never tasted come before, that’s- agh, that’s salty.” He complained. Virgil burst into laughter at that, snorting a little as he covered his mouth with his hand.

“Yeah, that’s my revenge.” Virgil joked, fucked-out and exhausted - as his tone of voice made more than clear.

“Come on, darling, let’s get you cleaned up.” Patton said to Virgil gently. It was likely that Roman and Logan would be able to get each other off whilst Patton cleaned him up.

“Can’t we just go to bed? Stick a plug in me and call it a night?”

“Now, honey, it’s not recommended to use anal plugs for extended periods of time. It can be bad for you.” Logan said, just in the exact tone of voice that makes him Logan, and Virgil giggled at it.

He knew he would be taken care of. It was good to be home.

Chapter Text

Virgil woke up feeling much better than he had in a few weeks.

On his right, Patton and Logan were holding each other, fast asleep, and his other boyfriend was nowhere to be seen in the bed.

So, he peeled away the duvet and slinked out of bed, out of the bedroom and down the stairs. He was acutely aware that he was walking funnily, as is only natural after five days of being straight rammed by cocks. He hoped his boyfriends didn’t notice - they’d never let him live it down.

“Ro,” Virgil noticed as he got to the kitchen. Roman was stood at the counter, making a smoothie by chopping up fruit and chucking it in their blender.

“Good morning, mi amor.” Roman hummed. He was still in his pyjamas, floating around the kitchen. “Agh, I missed you.” He said, holding out an arm and pulling Virgil into his chest for a sideways hug.

“And I you.” Virgil replied. “What’re you making?”
“It’s just a berry smoothie thing. Want one?”
“Sure.”

“You know, Vee.” Roman said as he got out more fruit to cut up. “I missed loads of things about you. Your sarcastic tone, the sound of your laughter, your bony hugs, but- There was one thing I missed particularly.”

“Oh, yeah?” Virgil asked, getting a little inkling about where he was going with this. Roman smirked, too, making eye contact with Virgil in a rather seductive manner, and then-

He clicked his fingers, twice in quick succession, down at his mid-thigh, and Virgil only raised his eyebrows.

“Use your words, Roman, come on.” Virgil replied snarkily.

And you could see it- see it clearly on Roman’s face. They both knew that Virgil wouldn’t dare say such a thing if they were acting as they had before everything happened. If they were doms and subs right know, Virgil would have been slapped to his knees, or dragged down by his collar, but-

“Can you suck me off?” Roman whispered hastily.

“What was that?” Virgil teased him.

“I said, can you suck me off?” He repeated, more imperitively this time.

“I don’t know, can I?”

“May you?” Roman said, gritting his teeth in slight humiliation.

“What’s the magic word?”

“Virgil-”

“The magic word.” Virgil replied, grinning. This was fun. He could be pushy with no consequences.

“Please,” Roman said. “May you suck me off?”

And Virgil giggled, dropping down to his knees. He was practiced at this, and got to work quickly. He pulled Roman’s dick out of his pyjama bottoms through the crotch buttons, wrapping a hand around the base as he started to lick around the tip before taking it deeper.

All the while, Roman continued to make his smoothie. His hands clenched against the counter as he was pleasured, so so glad to get this treatment from Virgil again.

“Fuck,” Roman groaned, “Keep going.”

He then took one hand off the counter, grabbing onto Virgil’s hair and pushing him further down on his cock. Virgil gagged for a moment, and Roman’s hips jutted forward with pleasure.

He came down Virgil’s throat quickly, without any warning, and maybe it was the angle, but Virgil choked on it a little, ending up with a good portion of the come on his lips and leaking out his mouth.

“Awh, baby,” Roman giggled slightly, taking some kitchen roll and wiping Virgil’s mouth with it.

“Warn me next time.” Virgil pouted, and Roman hooked his arms under Virgil’s pulling him to his feet and then lifting him to sit on the kitchen counter beside where he was making his smoothies.

“I will, I’m sorry, love.” Roman apologised, tucking his cock away and getting back to his smoothie-making. Two minutes later, he had one in a glass to give to Virgil, and they drank it together.

——

Virgil’s eyes remained focused on his cage in the corner of the room. Really he should’ve been watching the TV, like the other three, but he couldn’t really pull his eyes away.

His hand roamed up a little, hooking in his shirt collar. He rubbed his thumb over the exposed skin on his neck, almost as if-

No. No, he couldn’t let himself slip.

It was just, these last number of days, he’d been very - for lack of a better word - unsubmissive. He’d been talking lots, advocating for himself, biting back, and-

Well, he knew all of it was productive. But, he couldn’t help but-

“How soon is too soon to do a scene?” Virgil asked suddenly. Logan looked at him a moment, pausing the TV.

“Technically, there isn’t a ‘too soon’, Virgil. But, perhaps if this desire is rooted in another emotion that can be satiated through other means, we could take that route. Simply because I know we all agreed to spend a little while exploring our relationship outside of that.”

“Yeah,” Virgil agreed, knowing that Logan was right. Somewhere, deep down.

“Well, within our typical scenes, there’s usually three aspects. I’d say: discipline, care, and intercourse. Which of those aspects do you feel you’re craving that caused you to ask about doing a scene?” Logan asked, kind of disarming Virgil with his big schpeel.

“Well, it isn’t sex.” Virgil said easily. “If I wanted sex, I’d ask for sex.”

“Okay.” Logan replied, taking Virgil’s hand. “It’s easy for us to care for you outside of BDSM. It’s less easy for us to discipline you without it being unproductive for your growth outside of kink.”

“Fine.” Virgil replied. “Then I’ll ask again: how soon is too soon do to a scene without it being ‘unproductive for my growth outside of kink’?” He asked, adopting a mocking tone as he mimicked Logan’s words from just before.

“Okay.” Logan said, taking a deep breath. “I understand you’re feeling upset by this.”

“I just don’t really get it.” Virgil explained. “I mean, Lo, you were whipping me the day we met. The day we met! Our whole relationship is built on kink, and I’m not sure the issue ever was kink, I think it was just how quickly we rushed into it with Janus.”

“Virgil, we all agreed to take some time away from it for a moment. You agreed that to, and we’re all perfectly happy to do whatever you need us to do in other ways. I promise you, we need to grow a little outside of kink, and our relationship will be ten times stronger for it.”

“I guess I’m asking how long ‘a moment’ is.”

“When we’re ready.” Logan replied, and fuck- was it pissing Virgil off. He just missed subbing. He missed the bliss of subspace, of not having to worry, of being cared for.

“That’s subjective as fuck.” Virgil replied. Patton’s eyes flicked to him at the language, but he didn’t say anything.

“Okay.” Logan said, nodding. There was underlying anger in his tone of voice that was slightly disarming. “Fine. You want to be disciplined? I’ll discipline you.” He agreed, fully turning himself to face Virgil, whose hand he was still holding.

“ Just because we have some things to make up to you, does not mean that you’re the only person with desires and feelings in this relationship. We all agreed it would be best to wait, and you’re being incredibly disrespectful towards that decision. We’re happy to help you in other ways, you just have to let us know. So, I’m going to play this television show, and you’re going to sit here, watch it, and enjoy it without complaint. Okay?”

And Virgil looked away from Logan, back to the TV.

“Yeah,” He said quietly, biting his lip not to use a title.

“Good.”

And all four of them sat in complete silence for the remainder of the episode. And, when it finished, Logan turned the TV off. At which point, there was still silence.

“I’m going to bed.” Virgil said suddenly, standing up.

“Virge,” Roman called him gently. Virgil turned around to look at him, at which point Roman beckoned him with his hand.

Virgil couldn’t walk away from that, and he stepped over to Roman and sat down in his lap. He buried his head into Roman’s neck, and- fuck, it was just what he needed.

“I think this is a conversation.” Roman said. “That should happen between all of us. About what we want, what we don’t want, et cetera.”

And Virgil nodded.

“I agree.” Logan said. “I’m happy to resume the dominant/submissive aspect of our relationship, as long as I know that we’re in the right place.”

“How do we know we’re in the right place?” Patton asked, looking between his boyfriends.

“I think we’re yet to figure that out.” Roman whispered, running a hand through Virgil’s hair.

“We should talk ‘bout it with Janus, too.” Virgil mumbled before a yawn.

“Okay. Shall we ask him over to negotiate? Perhaps tomorrow?” Logan asked, mainly to Virgil, but the youngest man didn’t reply.

Roman looked down at him with gentle eyes, and saw his boyfriend fast asleep in his arms. That was quick.

“He’s fallen asleep.” Roman whispered with a smile.

“I would take it as a ‘yes’.” Patton added. “It’d be good to have Janus here for the conversation, considering we all want to include him in things.”

“Okay.” Logan said quietly, standing up. “Let’s get him to bed.”

Chapter Text

It was about four in the morning when Virgil woke up.

He felt-

He was tired. Probably because he’d been woken up at four o clock. But, it was something more.

His boyfriends were all asleep, fast asleep. And Virgil felt a little bit of a weight in his chest, almost too much to want to try and get back to bed.

So, instead, he crawled out, and went downstairs.

He needed to get a glass of water, or something.
But when he got downstairs, downstairs where- where the living room greeted him, his eyes went right to his cage.

And he very suddenly felt so small. A little dizzy, even. But Logan had told him no, had told him so explicitly that they weren’t indulging in this-

And he whimpered lowly, the inner conflict between obidience and desire pushing him further and further into his puppy headspace. He just felt so far away.

——

“Virge,” Roman whispered, a gentle hand rubbing his shoulder.
“Is he up?” Patton asked, also quietly.

Virgil was slightly coming to awareness, groaning a little. He felt himself be picked up, bridal style, where he was put down on the sofa.

“Baby, what’re you doing all asleep on the floor?”
“Hm?” Virgil groaned, only really coming to awareness because Roman was rubbing his arm gently.
“You were asleep on the floor. Did something happen last night?” He was asked, and Virgil squinted as he tried to recall.

“Think I slipped. But Logan said no to the puppy stuff, like my cage, and my brain was telling me I wasn’t allowed on the sofa, so… I guess I slept on the floor. Explains why my neck hurts, fuck.”

And Roman sighed, glancing to the other two.
“Virgil,” Logan began, sitting on the arm of the sofa and taking Virgil’s hand. “When I said that, I meant it in regard to the everyday kink, not the pet headspace which your mind finds psychologically necessary. You cannot always help that.”

Virgil rubbed his eyes with his free hand, nodding. “I do know that. I think I was just tired.”
“As long as you know. Now, Janus will be here in ten minutes, shall we get you dressed?”

“I guess if I have to,” Virgil joked. He intended to stand up and head upstairs, but instead found himself being picked up, once again bridal style, but by Logan this time.

Instead of saying anything about it, Virgil just buried his head in Logan’s chest.
“I’m tired,” Virgil mumbled, groaning as he was set down on the comfortable bed. “You know what I want, are we sure I can’t go back to bed?”

“I’m gonna need you to self-advocate for about twenty minutes here, Vee.” Logan said, laughing a little as he opened the chest of drawers and then threw some clothes at Virgil.

“I need a cold shower, I feel small.” Virgil whispered, dragging himself up and starting to strip.
“Is that a genuine request? We have time.”

Virgil sat on the edge of the bed, shirtless and slightly swaying. He didn’t know what it was, he was just feeling so close to his puppy headspace. So, so close.

“Please,” Virgil whispered. “Either that or I need a slapping.”

“How long were you in headspace for at Janus’?” Logan asked as he opened the bathroom door and put a towel on the toilet seat. He then turned back and took Virgil’s hand, understanding that carrying him up the stairs probably hadn’t helped him feel adult.

“Come on,” Logan said, trying not to sound too authoritative or gentle, both not helping Virgil in this situation.

“I don’t know, five or six hours. Most of Friday.” Virgil replied as he got into the bathroom. Logan hummed in acknowledgement, turning on the shower as Virgil kicked off his pyjama bottoms.

“You want to feel more awake, right?” Logan asked him, smirking a little as he wielded the showerhead. Virgil hadn’t quite cottoned on, and so he nodded whilst standing nearby the shower. “Okay,”

Then, Logan turned on the shower. It was ice cold, and he pointed it right at Virgil’s chest, who yelped as it got him. He let out a series of laughs and screams as he curled into a ball in the corner of the shower, letting Logan wet his whole body and hair before turning off the shower.

“Feel awake yet?” Logan asked, reaching over to feign that he was going to turn it back on.

“Yes! Stop this madness, I’m awake.” Virgil laughed as he shook out his hair like a dog. Logan threw him a towel, which he caught.

“Good.” Logan said. “Shame we only have two minutes. Wet dog is such a sexy look on you.” He joked, and Virgil scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Thanks.” Virgil pouted, standing with the towel draped around his shoulders. He leaned a little into Logan, who wrapped his hands around Virgil’s waist and kissed him gently for a moment.

And then the doorbell rang, reverberating throughout the house.

“I should get dressed.” Virgil said.
“You should get dressed.” Logan agreed.

——

“Sit next to me,” Janus called from where he’d taken up a chair, just as Virgil was padding down the stairs.

“Hey.” Virgil grinned, coming to Janus’ side to hug him. They end up settling in for a kiss, slow and chaste. “Missed you.”

“Wow, you two really did make up.” Patton hummed.

“We, um,” Janus replied, giggling as Virgil trailed his fingers along Janus’ collarbones as he moved away. “Yeah.”

“Should prove it to us sometime.” Roman suggested with a wink as he set a coffee in front of both of them.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Virgil asked playfully.

“I think you know.” Roman said, sitting in the chair next to Virgil and patting his boyfriend’s thigh as he did so.

“Maybe if you ask nicely, you dirty voyeur.” Virgil mumbled jokingly.
“I think Roman would prefer to be on the other side of the voyeurism.” Janus adds in.

“Alright, alright.” Patton laughed. “We’ve plenty of time to discuss this when Logan’s here. Where is he?”

“Sorry!” Logan’s voice came from the kitchen, there was a moment of faffing around, and then he appeared in the doorway. “Had to do something. And get my notebook. I’ll send the notes on the group chat.”

“You’re taking notes?” Virgil asked.

“Yes. It might be beneficial to refer back to this conversation to remind ourselves of our boundaries in the future.” Logan says. “So, firstly, we all agree that we want this relationship to progress with the five of us?”

“Relationship? Did we- with me?” Janus asked, blushing a little.

“I apologise. Freudian slip, Janus. I just mean this agreement, there’s no pressure there.”

“No, I- I’d like that. To be in a relationship with all of you. If you’ll have me.” Janus admitted shyly.

“Virgil, is that okay?” Roman asked, once again rubbing his thigh.

Virgil nodded slowly. “Yeah. We, uh, actually,” He stammered, looking to Janus for guidance.
“We kinda realised over the weekend.” Janus gave Virgil a lifeline. “Virgil and I, we think we love each other.”

It settled in the air a moment.

“Oh.” Roman said, raising an eyebrow. “You already got together?”
“No.” Virgil corrected, feeling like he was in trouble. “No, we’re not already together, I wouldn’t do that without talking to you guys. We haven’t even talked about it, we-”

“Darling,” Patton inturrupted him quietly. “You’re not in trouble, we’re not mad. You’re allowed to love him.”

“I do.” Virgil whispered.

“Okay.” Logan continued. “Okay, so, we’re alright. You’re aware coming into this relationship, Janus, that it’s not at it’s best right now. We’re still growing from the issues we’ve had.”

“Yeah. I don’t mind, I want to grow with you.” Janus said.

Logan nodded. “Okay, do you want to do the honours, Virgil?”

And Virgil grinned, turning to Janus and taking his hand.

“Will you be our boyfriend, Janus?” He asked softly. Janus nodded.
“Please.” He replied, laughing as he looked at all of them.

“We’ll celebrate this evening maybe.” Roman said, smiling as he looked between them.

“Yes. But, first,” Logan replied, gesturing to his notebook. “Do we intend to re-engage with our dominant-submissive relationship as well?”

“I’ve actually-” Virgil said quickly, fearing he wouldn’t be able to say it if he didn’t do it quickly. “I’ve kind of enjoyed having more autonomy recently. Like, I still love the idea of being a sub, your pet, in the bedroom, for fun, out of the bedroom but- I’m not sure that I really want the full-on TPE anymore.”

It was the little things. Mouthing off without being scared of consequence, letting more of his personality shine through, feeling a little less watched. And the best part was that he still got the attention. Sure, he was missing the BDSM, and trust me - he was, but he knew he’d get that back.

“Thank you.” Logan said softly. “For sharing that, Vee.”

“Who are you and what have you done with my puppy dog?” Roman asked jokingly.

“Roman.” Patton scolded him.

“I still want to be that, Ro,” Virgil whispered to him. “I really do. Just realised that maybe I don’t need it so full on. Some days, yes. Some days, no. Is that okay?”

“Of course it’s okay.” Roman says. “I’m just joking, mi amor, our love for you isn’t reliant on how often we get to dominate you.”

And Virgil nods. “I do want my collar back, maybe.”
“How about,” Patton adds in as Logan is pre-occupied writing things down. “We give it back to you, but with the clause that you’re free to take it on and off at your own will.”

“Sounds great.” Virgil said genuinely. “Thank you. And, Jan?”

“Hm?”

“Like, what do you think?”

“I think I want what you’re talking about, too.” He said. “I’ve never been one for the whole intense TPE free use thing, that always felt like a lot. But, this feels good.” He nodded. “Anything about the dynamic from you guys?”

“I feel like this is gonna be really good.” Patton says. “That’s all I have to say. We’ll get to go on dates, have regular relationships, get to do BDSM, you know. Best of all worlds.”

Roman nodded. “Lo?” He asked, looking at Logan, who looked up. “You alright with this? I know you’re the most kink-centric of us dominants.”

“Yes.” Logan said. “If anything, I’m satisfied with this. It eases my worries about Virgil’s wellbeing within the relationship. Yours, too, Janus. It’s great that you seem on board and happy to move forward, the both of you.”

And then a gentle happiness settled in the air. They dissolved into light chatter about meaingless things for a good few hours, talking like boyfriends, proper boyfriends, boyfriends, boyfriends, it sounded so good in Virgil’s mouth. He’d been their boyfriend before, but now it was more real to him.

——

“Virgil,” Logan called. “Could I see you in the kitchen for a moment?”

Virgil stood up from the sofa, setting his water down as he stood.
“Want us to pause it?” Janus asked, already reaching for the remote.
“No, don’t worry. I’ve already seen this episode.” He dismissed, leaving the living room and finding Logan in the kitchen.

The man was poised against the counter, adjusting his glasses a little.
“What’s up?” Virgil asked him, taking up a position against the opposite counter.

“I’ve got a proposal for you. Just a suggestion if you’ll be open to it.”
And Virgil looked around a little warily. “Uh, yeah. Go on.”

“I’ve become increasingly concerned, Vee, about the frequency of your pet regression headspace.”

“What?”

“I just mean, you never used to have it happen so often, but now, I mean- when was the last time you went a day without feeling small?” Logan asked him, and it sounded like a criticism.

“It’s not a big deal, Lo, you guys’ve said you don’t mind.”
“Us not minding looking after you and thinking it’s healthy are two different things.”

“You don’t think it’s healthy?”

“I think we have to consider how you’re doing mentally when your body is trying to force you out of your own head all day, every day.” Logan stated plainly, concern growing on his face.

“Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously. I’m worried about your mental health.”

“Logan, you know what my bad mental health looks like.”
“I know one way it can look.”

Virgil narrowed his eyes, trying to focus on the words coming from the TV to ground himself.

“There’s just been a lot going on. When we get back to normal, it’s gonna smooth out. I can’t help it.”

“Maybe you can.” Logan said softly. Virgil just stared at him a moment, and then- “I think you might benefit from seeing a therapist about it.”

“Excuse me?”

“To help you manage your regression, Virgil. In a sexual content it’s not an issue because we established years ago that you as a sub-puppy is very different from you having a non-sexual headspace. You can’t let that control you, I’m worried it’s going to.”

“What do you expect me to say? Hi, my name’s Virgil, sometimes I feel like a puppy and regress to act like one, too.”

“Yes.” Logan answered without missing a beat. “You do. A therapist will likely explain that regression can be healthy to an extent, and you’ll tell them more about why you do it, and how you can work on letting it control your life a little less.”

“Logan, I respect and love you, but I really don’t agree.”

“I’m sorry we don’t agree, but I’m very confident in my point of view here. In fact, before we all sat down together I actually booked you an appointment. He said he’s okay with the subject matter.”

And Virgil stood still for a moment. “Are you fucking serious?” He asked, raising his voice a little.

“Yes.”

“You do not get to make decisions about my healthcare, Logan, I’m a grown man!”

“Well, maybe if you acted more like one I wouldn’t have to.” Logan replied incredibly easily.

Virgil narrowed his eyes. “Fuck you.”

“I’m worried about you.” Logan said, jaw clenched with what felt like anger.

“I don’t give two shits how worried you are. You have so much fucking audacity.” Virgil replied, stepping closer to him. This was insane, this was actually insane.

“Don’t you dare speak to me that way.” Logan said strongly. Virgil could see him getting angry, losing his patience, but he didn’t care.

“I’ll talk to you however I want! Especially when you’re being an inconsiderate, obnoxious prick about everything!”

“I’m obnoxious?! After you refuse to see anybody else’s point of view, I’m obnoxious and inconsiderate?!” Logan yelled back, clenching his fists to try and calm himself down, but to no avail.

“Yes, Logan, you are.” Virgil replied, moving closer and closer to Logan. “Egotistical, too, because god-fucking-forbid anyone else could be right about anything. No, you always know best, don’t you?” He asked loudly before trailing off into a little mumble to himself. “Absolute dickhead know-it-all trying to tell me-”

Virgil’s head snapped to the side with the force at which Logan slaps him.

He gasped, left hand coming up to his cheek as he touched where it was now red and splotchy.

And for a few moments, there was quiet. Harsh quiet.

“Virgil,” Logan’s voice then returned, soft, not angry at all anymore. He sounded vulnerable, laced with regret. “I didn’t-”

Virgil breathed heavily, eyes watering as he moved his hand away from his face.

“I’m so sorry, that just happened, I didn’t intend to…” He trailed off.

“To hit me?” Virgil whispered, spitting his words with upset.

“Darling, I-” Logan said, stepping forward to try and comfortingly touch Virgil.

And he flinched backwards a bit.

Logan was, unintentionally, stood in the doorway. He looked genuinely upset, and Virgil knew that he had anger issues sometimes. Still-
“Can I get past?” Virgil asked him, hunched over a little and still appearing like a frightened mouse.

Logan just stepped aside in guilty silence, eyes following Virgil as he scampered out of the room and upstairs, away. Janus and Roman, who were on the sofa, must’ve at least heard their fight. And as he disappeared towards the bedroom for refuge, they called after him, but he ignored them.

Chapter Text

Virgil was alone for ten minutes.

During that ten minutes, all he did was sit on the edge of the bed.

Just a few moments ago, his boyfriend of over a year hit him. Not during a scene, or playfully, but whilst they were fighting.

They were having an argument, and Virgil said some things that he didn’t mean, things that he knew would make his boyfriend angry, and then he got slapped.

The worst part about it wasn’t even the sting of his cheek. It was the trust. It had taken him so long to build up that level of trust with Logan, the kind that let Logan hit him during scenes, and in two seconds he’s seen it all shatter against his palm.

And Virgil was angry, and scared, and so irritated because it was starting to go so well again!

“Virgil?” Roman’s soft voice came through the door, accompanied by a little knock. It was a knock that said ‘we don’t have to talk’, but one that made Virgil want to talk even more.

“Yeah, come in.” Virgil replied, voice a little quieter than he intended, and then Roman stepped around the door sheepishly and closed it behind him with a soft smile.

“Hey,” He said. “Um, Logan caught me up.”

“Is he mad?” Virgil asked, and Roman blanched.

“Why would he be mad? Virgil, you should be mad at him. Very mad, we all are.”

“I’m not really mad. Just upset.” Virgil said, biting his nails a little.

Roman moved to sit down next to Virgil. They were silent for another few moments.

“Logan feels awful, but that doesn’t negate his actions and we’re all on your side here. Him hitting you like that is inexcusable, so you just say the word and he’s gone. I mean it. Pat and Jan agree.”

Virgil nodded. He knew Roman was being sincere.

“Are you okay?” Roman then asked.

Was he?

“This is his house.” Virgil only replied quietly.

“Hm?”

“This is Logan’s house. That we live in.”

Roman’s hand took Virgil’s. He didn’t say anything else.

“I want to forgive him.” Virgil said after a moment of silence. “I do. Like, I really do, because it’s been over a year and I didn’t think he was like that, but-”

And Virgil stood up off the bed, pacing as he spoke.

“I don’t know much about relationships.” He said to Roman. “You know that. I don’t know much about relationships, but if there’s one thing I do know…” He trailed off, standing still and looking right at Roman now.

“If there’s one thing I do know, it’s that when your boyfriend hits you, you leave him.”

Roman nodded in understanding at him.

“The first time. It’s what my mum would always say to my sister, growing up. She’d say: ‘Honey, if you’re with a man, and he’s violent towards you, you leave him the very first time he lays his hands on you.’ The first time, she said. You don’t wait for the second time, Ro.” He ranted, breathing a little heavily.

“Deep breaths, my love, come on.” Roman said gently. “You don’t have to make this decision now. We can take a moment.”

“No, but I don’t know, Roman, because I love him. And I know he has anger issues sometimes, but… that was… far.”

“I love him, too.” Roman said. “Everybody downstairs loves him, that’s a fact. What’s also a fact is that he took his anger out on you physically. In my eyes, Virgil, the second fact outweighs the first.”

And Virgil stood still. He was still for a second, and then he nodded.

“I know.” Virgil admitted. “I know. This is a lot.”

He took a few breaths, glancing to the door, then back to Roman, before speaking again.

“I think, I’m realising, I think I should’ve listened to Logan, ironically.”

“What do you mean?” Roman asked him carefully.

“He said, before I went to Janus’, that I haven’t had a life outside of this, outside of kink, whatever.”

Roman nodded, standing up off the bed, too.

“This conversation, Ro. The idea of leaving Logan, the idea of this relationship not being the exact same as it has been, not working the exact same way that I know it to have, it was the same with meeting Janus, it’s- It scared me.”

“Not having this, it scared me. Scares me. Because, you know, taking a step back, I don’t-”

Virgil paused, taking a very shaky breath.

“I don’t think I know who I am outside of this relationship.” He said finally, hands shaking.

It was a heavy statement.

“Okay.” Roman replied.

“I don’t know who I am without you guys. That’s bad, Roman. That’s bad, bad.” He started to rant, digging deeper. “I don’t really leave the house unless it’s a group outing. I’m able to do things on my own, I just don’t, and I don’t even know why I don’t, that’s just how it is-"

“Virge,” Roman pleaded softly.

“My only friend is your brother. He is the only person I know socially that I’m not sleeping with. This can’t be how it is, this can’t.”

“We’ve been under the impression that you like it this way, Vee.”

“I thought I did, but now I don’t think I do. I like the love I get, I like the sex, I like the BDSM, I like you, and Patton, and Janus, and even Logan, but- but that’s all I can say about myself.”

“What are you saying?”

What was he saying? What was he saying? Virgil shook his hands out in front of him. He pushed his hair out of his eyes, he bit his nails, and then he looked back up at Roman with tearful eyes.

“That I don’t think I’m ready for this.”

And Roman squinted sadly. “This?”

“This.” Virgil repeated. “And I’m sorry, Roman. That it took me two years and a slap around the face to realize that, I really am so sorry.”

Roman nodded at him. “That’s okay, Vee.” He said, looking down at Virgil with a hopeful glint in his eyes. “I think right now I love you more than I ever have before.”

And Virgil threw himself into Roman’s arms, hugging him tightly.

——

What followed, was, the strangest week of Virgil’s life.

He was living with three men he’d broken up with, waiting until he could sort out his housing.

Janus went back to stay with Remy - and he had asked Virgil privately if he wanted to continue what they had, but- Well, Virgil did love him, he just couldn’t find it in himself to say yes. He knew what he needed now, and it wasn’t that.

And so Janus had gone home.

Because, about two minutes after Virgil had announced his decision to the others, it had become abundantly clear that nobody in the relationship would be able to stay together.

And Virgil felt bad, yes. Bad for making a decision that ended the whole relationship, but Janus had very strongly told him that it’s not bad to do something solely for yourself. He'd told a joke about having boyfriends for about half an hour, reassuring Virgil that it was fine. He's glad Virgil is putting himself first, Janus will meet people again, just like he has before. And so it was just the four of them again.

It was kind of like they were living as roommates for the week, but with unresolved sexual tension and a lot of reminiscence.

The relationship was over the moment Logan’s hand hit Virgil’s cheek, but things were almost amicable now. It had taken a long conversation and a week of sleeping in separate rooms, but everyone was being civil. They’d each accepted that the relationship was over, and that whilst the years have been mostly good, it was time to move on.

“Anytime.” Logan said gently. “I mean it. If you’re in trouble, the door’s open.” He told Virgil, who nodded.

“Thank you.” He just replied. He didn’t tell Logan that it was incredibly unlikely he’d take him up on that. He didn’t say anything about the way it’s been hard to recognise the man since what happened in the kitchen. He didn’t need to.

“I’ll, um, I’ll drop a text when I get there safely.” Virgil said, waving kind of awkwardly. He was the first to go. Patton and Roman were both moving out tomorrow, but Virgil was getting on a train back to his hometown which left that evening.

“Thank you, Virgil.” Patton said, pulling him in for a last hug. “Look after yourself.”

“Yeah. Yeah, I will.” He replied. And then he glanced over at the other two. Roman just gave him a subtle smile which said everything he’d said in the conversation they had last week. It said ‘you’re going to do well, I’m proud of you’ more than anything else.

“Bye, then.” Virgil said one last time, admittedly a little awkwardly, picking up his two suitcases of belongings and stepping out of the house for the last time.

He shut the door behind him, hand lingering on the door handle for a few seconds, and then he pulled it away and picked the suitcase he'd put down back up.

Chapter Text

** FIVE YEARS LATER **

----

Virgil catches his wallet as it’s thrown at him, laughing in victory at how good his catch was before he drops it into the tote bag on his shoulder.

“Someone get this boy to the Olympics, man. I hate wasted potential.” His roommate, Amalia, quips from where she’s tying her shoelaces.

“The only wasted potential this evening is the fact that I used the last of my eyeliner on a wing that doesn’t even look good.” Her girlfriend, Niamh, groaned, chucking her empty eyeliner into the bin. “Virgil…?” She called out, turning to him with a grin and a high infliction on her voice.

“You know where it is.” He just replied lightly. Niamh swung past and kissed him on the cheek, exaggerating a little ‘mwah’ sound as she did so.

“Angel. Thank you.” She said as she disappeared into his bedroom and then returned with his eyeliner and went back to the mirror.

“Have you seen my other bellybutton bar?” Virgil asked after a moment of fumbling around with the zipper on his boots.

“If you mean the spider one, it’s on the side in the bathroom.” Amalia replied, flicking her head in that direction.

“Why is it in the bathroom?” Virgil asked with a laugh as he went to get it.

“Gabriel wanted a photo but the lighting was shit everywhere else.” She explained, and then turned to him when he exited the bathroom. “Babe, I’m gonna hold your hand when I say this. You’re wearing a shirt that covers your midriff.”

“Yeah, thank you.” Virgil replied sarcastically as he hiked up his tight-fitting purple top to his ribcage to change the piercing. He was also wearing knee-length denim shorts and a leather chest harness.

“He’s not wearing it for us, he’s wearing it for the hunk of the week who will awkwardly leave before breakfast tomorrow, duh.”

“Oh, shut up.” Virgil replies. “He’ll leave during breakfast.”

“Actually, you know, its been a good two months since a guy’s been ‘round.” Niamh adds, having finished her eyeliner. “Have we made it out of the post-break-up rebound sex with strangers period of your life?”

“Are we going out?” Virgil asked humorously. “Madeline just texted me, those lot just left.”

“Yes, yes.” Amalia said. “But, really it’s a little okay if we’re late. They have to wait because we’re going out for you.”

“Not every week you get promoted.” Niamh agreed, patting him on the shoulder as she brushed past. “Which means drinks are on you.”

“I was waiting for you to say that.” He replied, following the two women out of the door.

——

The music was louder than Virgil’s thoughts for most of the night.

They were at the city’s major gay club, him and his friends, and the night was still relatively young when he dissapeared off to go and grab himself another drink. He’d only actually had one so far, much preferring to stay alert in these types of places, but, hey, he had the money for another. Even at the Saturday night prices.

And so he gets his drink, a martini, but in a regular plastic cup because that glass is far too stressful to carry.

It’s when he’s walking back to find his friends that he stops paying full attention for a moment, and the next thing knows-

“Shit, sorry.” Virgil apologies to the man that he just bumped into, looking up as he speaks, and-

Roman Prince is still taller than him. Not quite by as much anymore, but still so. He looks down at Virgil a moment, processing, and then his eyes widen.

Virgil’s do too, but neither of them say anything for a good ten seconds in which the music still blares and people around them move erratically.

He hasn't seen this man in five years. They'd texted for about a month after they broke up, checking in on how things were, but that fizzled out, and time moved on, and now-
Now Virgil was looking right up at him, five years older, yet still with the same deep eyes and curled hair.

The ten seconds grow longer, just more eye contact with no definite end.

“Hi.” Roman finally said, astonishment in his tone. Or, he tried to say, but under the music blaring it was futile.

“What?” Virgil replies, giggling a little at having heard none of that.

“I said ‘hi’.” Roman tries again.

“Who?”

And Roman grins, gesturing between himself and Virgil, and then making little puppets with his hands to mimic talking, and then pointing away from the dance floor and loud music.

And Virgil looks to where he left his friends. And then he looks back to Roman, and he nods.

They end up on the upstairs level, where there’s only a little bar. All the seats are full, and so they sit down on the ground against a wall. Virgil puts his drink next to him, but hasn't touched it yet.

“Aren’t you getting a bit old to be clubbing?” Virgil asks after a moment, trying to playfully break the ice, and Roman scoffs.

“If I’m getting a bit old, so are you.” He replies.

“I’m in my early twenties.”

“Your birthday’s in winter. Would make you twenty-five, no?” Roman asks teasingly.

“Sh,” Virgil interrupts him, holding a hand out in front of his face. “No thank you.”

“No?”

“First half of twenty-five is still early twenties.”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” Roman laughs. “Aged like fine wine, though, look at you. You’ve got piercings.”

Virgil did have a few. An eyebrow bar and snakebite rings, both silver. His ears, too, but only firsts and seconds with little silver stars in this evening.

“It’s somewhat common in my line of work.”

Roman snorts. “That makes you sound like a pornstar, saying that.” He jokes, and then turns to Virgil. “You’re not a pornstar, are you? This would be really awkward if you were a pornstar.”

“No, Roman. I’m not a pornstar.” Virgil replies, laughing. “What’ve you been doing?”

“Been around, I suppose. I do corporate stuff, it’s all very boring.”

“Mm.”

“Seeing anyone?” Roman asks. He’s dressed in a dark red button-up and black jeans. Slightly more muscular than he used to be, and stronger jawline, too - which Virgil didn’t even think was possible.

“Not currently.” He replies. That’s all he leaves it at. “You?”

“No.” Roman says. “Had a few flings, but nothing lasting more than a year.”

And Virgil nods, turning to Roman. For a few seconds, they were quiet. A little bit of heavy breathing, more silence, and then-

Maybe it’s the atmosphere. The couple drinks, the loud music, the dim lighting. The electricity and slight shock of seeing each other again after so long.

Their lips connect between them for a second.

Virgil pulls away after only a moment, standing up. He starts to pace in a little circle in front of Roman.
“No. No, no, no.” He says, laughing a little as he points down at Roman.

“Okay. Sorry. Why?”

“That’s the rule, Roman. Don’t kiss your ex. If my friends were up here they’d be holding me back by the arms.”

“That’s fine, Vee. We can just catch up." He says. "Or, you can go back to the dancefloor and pretend we didn't bump into each other."

Virgil looks down at his ex-boyfriend. His first boyfriend, sat on the floor in this nightclub. A man he hasn’t seen for five years.

“Fuck you.” Virgil bites, and then he’s on his knees, straddling Roman’s waist, and they kiss like they never broke up. It’s less practiced now, less loving and more lustful.

Roman pulls Virgil in by his harness, and Virgil groans into the kiss as he feels the other man harden under him. It lasts a good few minutes.

And then suddenly there’s a broom hitting them gently. Virgil pulls away and looks up at the bartender with a pout.

“Get a room, boys. None of this here.” She scolds them, and whacks Virgil with the broom again, much gentler this time. “Up. Or at least go to the bathroom, that’s not my problem then.”

“We’re not doing this in the bathroom.” Virgil tells Roman, breathing heavily down at him.

“My place is thirty minutes away.”
“Mine’s five.”
“Your friends won’t worry?”
“I’ll text them. Neither will yours?”
“I’ll text them.”

——

Roman’s mouth nips at Virgil’s neck in the elevator, leaving love bites on his exposed skin.

He has Virgil pushed against the wall, and then puts one knee between Virgil’s legs, and he pushes upwards.
“Fuck,” Virgil gasps in pleasure, tilting his head back against the metal wall of the elevator.

“Still come as quickly as you used to?” Roman whispers, and Virgil whines as he starts to quickly press on the button that takes them to his floor, as if it wasn’t already selected. Roman laughs. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“No,” He protests. The elevator stops and Roman lets him down off his knee. He grabs Roman by the wrist and pulls him along the corridor to his flat, having to unhook his keys from the carabiner on his belt.

“This place is nice,” Roman tells him as they enter. “Really nice.”

“Well, thanks. We split the rent three ways.” Virgil says as he locks the door behind him and drags Roman through the living room and towards his bedroom.

“Who’s ‘we’?”

“Shoes off.” Virgil commands him as they transition from the hardwood floor of the corridor to the carpet in his bedroom. “These girls I live with.”

And then he pushes Roman down onto the bed, and Roman grabs onto the front of his harness to yank him down to the bed, too.

Against the mattress, they grind against each other above their clothes, and then Virgil pulls Roman’s shirt off him.

“Take a picture, pretty boy.” Roman drawls when he catches Virgil staring. Virgil takes a deep breath, and then he’s unclipping his harness and shedding it. Then his shirt comes off and is dropped onto his bedroom floor.

“Any more piercings you want to warn me about?” Roman asks, sitting up and taking the dangling metal spider on the end of Virgil’s bellybutton piercing between two fingers to inspect it.

“Ha, ha.” Virgil drawls. “No.”

“When’d you get all these done?” Roman asks, scanning over his torso and then other piercings.

Virgil laughs, flopping down on his back next to Roman. “To be honest, I- uh,” He snickers. “These snakebites?”

“Yeah?”

“Blackout drunk.”

“You were not!” Roman gasps, sitting up to look at him.

“Fresher’s week… was crazy.” Is what Virgil says to explain.

“What kind of piercer pierces someone drunk?”
“The kind that wants money. Anyway, so after that, I got the ears done. That was actually because these two girlfriends that live here, I was in halls with one of them, they bet each other like a tenner that I wouldn’t get a piercing sober.”

“Are they all out of dares?”

“No, these other two were all me. I think I’m done, though. For now.”

“Wait.” Roman says, studying Virgil a little. Then, a smile slips onto his face. “You went back to uni?”

“Took you a while to clock onto that.” Virgil comments lightly. “Uh, yeah. Reapplied a few months after I left you guys. Yeah, did a four year bachelor’s in visual arts.”

“Shit, well done.”

“Thanks. Uh, yeah, graduated last year. I did a year abroad, too, in Amsterdam. That’s where I got my bellybutton bar done.”

“Amsterdam, huh? Don’t tell me you were high for that one.”

“No, Roman, I wasn’t.” Virgil laughed, standing up off the bed.

“Is that a tattoo!?” Roman gasps, moving up onto his knees to inspect. It was an illustrated flower on his lower back, a hydrangea.

“Maybe,” Virgil whispers with a teasing smile. “I’ve got a few more. Only in places you can’t see when I’m clothed. I was worried about visible tattoos affecting my job prospects, but, now I could literally get full sleeves and it wouldn’t affect my job.”

“What do you do?” Roman asks. “Other than ‘not a pornstar’?”

“Oh.” Virgil realised that he hadn’t said. “Well, when I was in uni, I did an industry placement, and then after I graduated I stayed on as an apprentice, but, as of last week, I’m actually employed. I’m a tattoo artist.”

“Seriously?” Roman exclaims, standing up to follow Virgil to wherever he was going.

“Yeah. Yeah, look.” He says excitedly, pulling out a big A5 book from behind a plant pot and carrying it to the bed. “This is all the stuff I did as an apprentice, and during my work placement. I work at a shop that does piercings, too, but I don’t do those.”

And Roman opens the book, flicking through it. There’s some sketches, some line art, and some actual pictures of tattoos on real people.

“Virgil, this is incredible. Since when were you an artist?”

“Since always, Roman. I got an A in Art A Level. You know that.”

“Did you?”

“Yes! I told you that on our first date. You did theatre, you got an A, too.”

“To be fair, it has been a while.” Roman defends himself. “I guess I forgot. You never really did any art when we were together.”

“I never really did anything when we were together.” Virgil says, mainly a jokey rebuttal, but it comes out much more heavy than he intended. “But, yeah. I’ve been doing tattoo art. I really like it. I’m happy.”

And Roman smiles at him. “That’s really good.”

“Are you?”

“Hm?”

“Are you happy?”

“Uh, yeah. I’ve just been kind of around. I’m a homeowner now, which is crazy. Got my work friends.”

“What do you do for work?”
“Oh, it’s boring.”
“What is it?”
“I’m a project manager.”
“Oh, fuck off. What is that?”
“I manage projects.” He laughs, and Virgil laughs, too.

And they’re sat on Virgil’s bed, both shirtless, both laughing. It’s about two in the morning now. There's a slight sexual tension in the room created by the obvious idea that they came here to have sex, but it doesn't seem so urgent any more.

“Do you wanna just cuddle?” Roman asks him suddenly.

“Yeah,” Virgil sighs, nodding. He stands and pulls the curtains shut. And then, he climbs into bed, holding the duvet out for Roman, who slinks under it, too.

Roman’s arms come to wrap around Virgil’s waist, their bare torsos touching, and legs, too. There’s a certain aura of peace within the room as they spoon.

“Who’s that?” Roman then asks. It snaps Virgil out of the slightly sleepy state of mind that he was in.
“Hm?”
“That guy.” Roman repeats, still holding him as he focuses on the little corkboard of photographs on Virgil’s wall. About five of them are of either Virgil and this other man. There’s some other people on the board, too.

“Oh.” Virgil says. “That’s Asher.”
“Does ‘Asher’ know you’ve got his photos on your wall?”
“I should take them down. But, yes, he does.”
“He a boyfriend?”
“Pretty much the whole of uni, we were together.” Virgil explains, and then he laughs. “He, uh, he gave me chalmydia during Freshers’ week.”

“You what?” Roman laughs.

“He didn’t know he had it, then he found out, and knocked on my door to be like ‘hey, sorry about this’.”

“Sounds like a good way to start a relationship.” Roman snorts.

“Our first date was at the sexual health clinic, so, pretty romantic.”
“Sounds it.” Roman agrees. “So, then you dated?”

“Mm. He was two years above me, though. We’re the same age, but obviously I went a little later than most. We were polyamorous with another guy for about two months, but he dropped out of uni and moved somwehere else, so. Then, when Asher graduated, we tried to make it work, and we did for a bit, but then I went for my year abroad, and we just called it off.”

“Right.”

“And then there was Toby,” Virgil says. “I was with him casually for two ish months, and then we proper dated for about a year, we just broke up, like, three months ago.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”
“No, don’t be. It was for the best. We just kind of started fighting, like, all the time. It was shitty, but, my god, did he fuck me well."

And Roman laughs.

“Sorry.” Virgil says. “We quite liked our hate sex, and then our make-up sex. Even before we actually fought.”

"So did you end things with him badly?"
"I think the last thing I said to him was 'fuck off out of my house'... so, um,"

“I see. Couldn't resolve that one with sex?"
"No, he fucked a girl in my bed." Virgil answered earnestly. "Felt bad for her, she didn't know."
"Hm." Roman hummed, holding him a little closer. He didn't say anything about the fact that it was very likely this exact bed they were currently lying on where Virgil's ex cheated on him. It was probably too soon. "Still into kink?”

“Asher was completely vanilla. The kinkiest we ever got was a hand around my neck.” He explains. “And Toby was into me calling him ‘Daddy’, I had to pry that information out of him. The kinkiest we got was a bit of bondage and spanking, et cetera. I took him to a BDSM club once and he was very overwhelmed.”

“I didn’t ask if your boyfriends were, Vee. I asked about you. How’s your relationship with sex-slash-kink been?”

“Right. Good, yeah. Had a mix of kinky and vanilla sex, but I know my limits much better now. I guess I’m still into kink. Hooked up with a few guys at BDSM clubs who have given it to me well. But, I’ve never quite been as kinky as we used to be. Even topped a few times, like, actually topped, can you believe that?”

“Mm.” Roman hummed with an entertained smile. “I’m glad I bumped into you this evening.”
“Yeah.”

Roman shifts a little, readjusting their position.

And then the front door opens. It’s quite a distinct noise that Virgil recognises, and he grabs the duvet and hides under it.

“Stop it, leave him alone.” He hears Amalia laugh, so clearly she’s not being super genuine.

“Shh,” Niamh tells her. Virgil rolls around to face Roman.

“Sorry. Roommates.” He apologies, and Roman just whispers that it’s okay.

There’s footsteps on the other side of the door, and then the voices come back.

“I don’t hear anything.” Niamh complains. “Think he’s done already?”
“Oh, leave him alone. It’s been a few months, we should let him hook up in peace.”
“You say that, but your ear is also against the door.”

Virgil sits up.
“Freaks!” He yells at them through the door. “Go to bed!”

And they both erupt into laughter, scattering off.

And then Virgil laughs to himself, flopping back onto the bed.
“They seem fun.” Roman says with a little snicker.
“Oh, a joy.” Virgil agrees as he settles back into the bed. He guides Roman’s hands back around his waist before settling down.

And they lie still together in Virgil’s quiet bedroom, appreciating each other’s company as they fall asleep. The hands around Virgil's waist were strong and comforting, something he'd really missed these last few months.

Chapter Text

When Virgil leaves his bedroom in the morning, Roman is still asleep.

He would love to say that he was ridiculously drunk last night when he brought his ex back to his house, but the honest truth is that he just wasn’t.
He was tipsy at best. Not by any means drunk enough to make excuses.

And it’s not like they slept together.

Although, the look that Amalia and Niamh give Virgil as he slinks out of his bedroom would imply that they did.
“Good morning, you slutty little minx.” Amalia drawls with a wink. She’s sat poised next to her girlfriend at the breakfast bar.
“Oh, keep off it.” He scoffs, sitting down on the other side of the island and dragging a bowl in front of him.

“Yeesh, not a good lay?”
“We didn’t.” Virgil grits.
“Don’t tell me he couldn’t get it up!” Niamh gasps, jokingly. “Okay, sorry. You’re okay? He wasn’t like, a creep?”

“No, he was not.” Virgil confirms. “He’s, uh-”

“Go-o-o-od morning, Storm and company household.” Roman calls out as he leaves the bedroom. He was still shirtless and in his jeans. Virgil had at least shucked a t-shirt on.

“Oh, hello..!” Niahm exclaims with a giggle. And then, Roman pulls out a stool and sits down next to them.
“Good morning, Virgil.” Roman whispers to him.
“Hey,” Virgil replies. “Okay. Um, Roman, this is Amalia and Niamh.” He begins, pointing to the two of them in turn. “Girls, this is Roman.”

“Roman?” Amalia squints. “Roman, Roman? Bathroom Roman?”
“Mali,” Virgil warns.
“This is bathroom Roman!”
“Bathroom Roman?” Roman asks slowly, looking at Virgil with a bit of a confused expression.
“Yeah, yeah.” Amalia carries on. “You dated him.” She states, watching for the glow of recognition in Roman’s eyes. “You’re uh, the exhibitionist. Somnophiliac, polyamour, owner, Roman. Sir Roman.”

Then there was silence. Silence, and then Virgil rubbed his face.
“We’ve lived together for almost five years.” He whispers. “Sorry.”

“Have these women heard all of our sex stories?” Roman asks, sounding a little more annoyed now.
“Not sure they’ve heard about when we got locked out in the back garden.” Virgil whispers.

“Is that one just you two, or involving Master and Daddy, too?” Niamh asks, very casually, but with a shit-eating grin.

Virgil buries his face in the empty bowl before him.
“Can we not?” He asks. Then he looks back up, turning to Roman. “You can understand I didn’t ever think you guys would meet.”

“Can I?” Roman laughs. “I sleep well at night knowing that I’ve never told anyone sexual things about you, Virgil, and there is a lot to tell.” He says in a low whistle tone.

Virgil’s roommates gasp.
“Roman, I think we’re going to get along.” Niamh says with a grin.

“Anyway, I have work at nine.” Virgil says. “Stay if you want, Roman. Have breakfast, tell them about the garden.” He scrunches up his nose and does a little curtesy as he walks away back into his bedroom.

“You don’t want breakfast?” Amalia calls after him.

“No, let Sir eat my portion.” Virgil calls back with attitude, right before his bedroom door slams.

“Yikes.” Niamh whispers. “Which side of the bed did he wake up on?”
“Did he talk to you with that snark when you were together?” Amalia asks Roman.

“Uhm,” Roman squints. He thinks for a moment of a funny quip. ‘Only when he wanted it rough’, he would joke.

But he doesn’t.

“Sorry,” He excuses himself, standing up and following Virgil into the bedroom. He knocks, and then opens the door.

“Sorry.” Virgil apologises. “I shouldn’t have told them all that stuff.”
He’s not even really looking at Roman, just getting changed. Roman looks away when Virgil undoes his jeans.

“I, uh, no.” Roman replies with an awkward laugh. “They’re your friends. It’s healthy, you didn’t think you’d see me again.”

“It is weird.” Virgil tells him. “You being here.”

“I can go.”

“That’s the thing, Ro. I’m not sure I want you to.”

There’s a moment of silence between them.

“It would be wrong to have really vocal sex just to spite those two, wouldn’t it?” Virgil asks.

“Probably.” Roman laughs. “And, um, you have work at nine.”
“I do.” Virgil sighs. “Maybe next time, Ro.”

“Oh, will there be a next time?” Roman asks him with a little smirk. Virgil has put on some jeans now, black, but is still shirtless. Roman’s hand carefully traces down the curve of his spine to punctuate his remark.

“How about I text you after work?” Virgil whispers due to their proximity.
“That sounds great.”
“I just-” Virgil pulls away, picking out a purple t-shirt with some band logo on it. “You know, I’m not the same person I was when I last saw you.” He tells Roman.

“I can tell.”

“Okay. I just- just making sure you know.” He continues, now putting on his shoes. He’d decided to get an early exit and maybe make a coffee before his first client today.

“And I look forward to getting to know you all over again. If you’ll let me.” Roman says, incredibly smoothly, and Virgil rolls his eyes.

“I’ll text you after work. You’re welcome to stay to eat and stuff.” Virgil tells him as he leaves his bedroom, changed.

“Welcome back.” Niamh grins. “That was a quickie if I’ve ever witnessed one.”

“I’m cooking tonight,” Virgil replies. “I will spit in your food.” He jokes as he grabs his bag from the kitchen.

“You love us really.” Amalia teases him.
“And I hate myself for it.” Virgil continues to joke at them. “See you later,”

“You’re leaving your boy-toy here?” She asks after him as he opens the front door. His roommates had the privelidge of working later shifts than he did, so they didn’t have to leave quite so early.
“He can have some breakfast, he’s harmless. Never call him that again. Love you.” Virgil finishes as he leaves the apartment.

——

Virgil is hunched over the counter with a sketchbook as he waits for his three o’clock to arrive. It’s his last appointment of the day - he’s hoping to be done by six.

He’s got one other co-worker in the shop, who is also waiting for a piercing appointment to come in.

The bell above the door dings, and it’s still ten minutes before Virgil’s client is supposed to get here, but right on time for his coworker’s client, so he doesn’t bother to look up, far too engrossed in the drawing he was working on.

“Adam’s in the back.” Virgil says, vageuly pointing with his pencil.

There’s some silence which isn’t indicative of the customer going to find Adam.

“Virgil.” The customer says.

Virgil looks up now, away from his drawing, and-

“Oh, fuck.” Virgil replies rather abruptly.

“Nice to see you too.” Janus slightly laughs at his reaction. He’s not any taller, but his hair is slightly longer and shaggier, and general features sharper and more masculine. His voice is a bit deeper, too.

“No, sorry. Sorry, it’s just- I, um, I saw Roman this morning. And now you’re here, I might have to check the closet for the other two.” He jokes, a little nervous. “You look nice.”

And Janus laughs. “Glad to see you’re still… well, you.”

“Sorry.” Virgil says, turning on the iPad on the desk and logging into it. “This is actually the one day I didn’t bother to check the names on our appointments.”

“Since when do you do this?”

“Since I graduated university last year.”

“Oh. Well done.”

“Yeah, thanks. Oh. Oh, you’re with me. You’re getting a tattoo?”

“Am I not allowed?” Janus asks with a bit of a smirk.
“No, uh- Sorry. Yes, yeah. Okay. Let’s take a walk, uh, back here. I’ll bring my tablet and we can talk about what you want.” He says, gesturing to the back of the shop and letting Janus follow him to where has his set up. “Is this your first tattoo?”
“Not if you count stick ‘n’ pokes.” Janus replies, popping the ‘p’ on the final word playfully.

“So, yes, it is.” Virgil snickers. “Got an idea of what you want?” He asks as he sits down on his little stool.

Janus just stares at him for a moment, then for two.
“I can’t believe I’m sitting here with you again.” He just says quietly. “Virgil Storm. The one that got away.”

“Hah,” Virgil replies a little awkwardly. “Sorry.”

“Why’re you sorry?”

“Well, I- You never did anything wrong, in fact, I quite liked you, but I still dissapeared.”

“How come you’re back?”

“Hm?”

“You went back to your hometown, I thought. But clearly you live here, I doubt you commute hours for your work.”

“Oh.” Virgil says. “Just, uh, my roommates. One of them has family here, she wanted to be close, and me and the other didn’t mind where we lived.”

“You look older.” Janus comments, and then he laughs. “Sorry! Not like, in a bad way. Like, you look more adult, I mean.”

“Time does that.” Virgil nods. “Again, sorry.. about the whole thing. I realise we kinda promised you a relationship that then ended like an hour later.”

The truth was that Virgil and Janus never stayed in touch. Janus hadn’t messaged him beyond checking he was okay for the first week. Virgil had said he needed space. Janus had given him it. They’d never picked it back up.

“The past is the past. You did what was best for you. So, about this tattoo-”

Janus describes what he wants. It’s a serpent design that he’s after, wrapping around the right side of his ribcage and onto his back. Virgil checks with him that he’s okay with the connotations of snakes - religious and otherwise - (he is).

And then he pulls up his gallery and shows Janus the snake designs that he already has. Of course if he wants a new design then Virgil would have to take the time to draw it and they’d have to reschedule.

“You designed and drew all these?” Janus asks, leaning over Virgil’s shoulder as he looks at all the designs in the gallery on Virgil’s tablet.

“Uh, yeah.”

“You’re talented.”

“Thank you.” Virgil replies, a little caught off guard. “Um, yeah.”
“I can’t believe you ever used a pen to write lines when you could’ve been drawing.”
“Alright, we’re very much in public,” Virgil shushes him.

Janus smirks a little, but he does drop it.
“Oh, I love that.” He suddenly interjects, tapping on the tablet screen to enlarge a particular design of Virgil’s. It was a ball python, actually designed with the intention to go down an arm, but it could also wrap around a torso, he supposed.

“Want me to do a stencil?”
“Please.”
“You got it.” He replies, sending it to print on his machine. He checks with Janus the size he wants, and it takes them three goes to get the size he’s happy with.

Virgil has done this hundreds of times.

Hundreds of times he’s layed a stencil against someone, and he’s done it in way more intimate places than the torso.

But he has to put his hands against Janus’ bare chest, smoothing over the stencil, and- And he does this all the time. But he feels Janus’ breath against his neck, and he’s so much more aware of it and it’s-

“Okay.” Virgil says, swallowing as he pushes his sliding chair backwards. “Uh, mirror. Let me know if you’re happy.”

And, incredibly nonchalantly, Janus slides off the bench and steps over to the mirror. Virgil’s eyes follow him, and he wants to look away, but he can’t believe that this man is stood before him after so long.

“This is great.” Janus grins, turning around to him.

“Good. Cool. Cool.”

And so Virgil sets his things up. He has everything completely ready to do the tattoo - and he’s literally leaning over Janus with the tattoo gun in his hand, and he looks down to make sure he gets it right, only to see-

His hand is shaking.

“Sorry.” He says. “Sorry.”

“You alright?” Janus asks him, sitting more upright.

“I’m sorry. I’m a professional, I promise, but, um, seeing you again has kind of thrown me off guard, and I’m really not in the right frame of mind to put permanent ink on someone’s skin, I’m sorry.”

“You’re okay, it’s fine.”
“It’s not fine, I’m doing a job for you.”
“Virgil, it’s okay. I can come back another day.” He reassures, doing some thinking, and then- “Is it because you’re stressed?”

“Tense. A little bit overwhelmed.”

“I mean- and, please, tell me to back off if not,” Janus says, swinging his legs over the edge of the bench. “I know a way to get trid of pent up tension and anxiety.”

“Janus.”

“I’m just saying, I don’t mind.”

“Yo,” Comes a third voice, accompanied by a tap on the wall next to Virgil’s area of the store. It’s his co-worker, Adam. “My appointment didn’t show, so I’m heading home. If you’re alright to close and shit when you’re done here.”

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, see you tomorrow.” Virgil replies.
“See ya.”

And then the front door shut, and Virgil looked back at Janus, still with his hands shaking.

“I bet I still remember how to make you fall apart.” Janus whispers with a smirk, and although he’s sitting down, Virgil feels his knees go weak.

“I’m at work.” He lightly protests.

“I don’t see any cameras.” Janus tells him, and he’d be right. There aren’t any. “Do you not want to pick up where we left off?”

And Virgil cannot deny the sexual tension that has been in the air since they came back here.
“Only because I need to calm down to do this tattoo for you.”
“Yeah,” Janus nods with an insincere pout. “Of course.” He teases. “Is that a yes?”

“Fuck,” Virgil whispers. “Has to be quick.”

“It will be.” He gets reassured. “Now, wanna get ruined, pretty boy?” He asks, moving to sit on Virgil’s lap.

“You dom now?” Virgil asks casually as Janus pushes him against the bench.
“Only for you.” Janus replies, taking a fistful of Virgil’s shirt collar, and then they’re kissing.

It’s different to when he kissed Roman last night. This is somehow even more scandalous.

They kiss for a while. Almost like they never stopped, and then-
Virgil moans softly as Janus presses a hand against his crotch.

“Is this still okay?” He asks.
“Fuck, you know it is.”
“You know,” Janus whispers as he works on the button on Virgil’s jeans. “I thought about you. Loads.”
“What’ve you been up to?”
“Reptile conservation.” Janus replies. “Hence,” He gestures at the space where his tattoo will go.

“Oh, wow, okay-ah,” Virgil groans as Janus takes his cock out of his jeans.
“Still sensitive.”
“I bet you’re worse.” He grits back.
“Oh, I am.”

And Janus stands up, dragging Virgil over to his own tattoo bench and pushing him down. “When was the last time you had sex?” Janus asks him.

“Ah, it’s gotta be two months at least.”
“Crazy for you.”
“You don’t know that, I could- I could’ve taken a celibacy vow.”
“Oh, baby, you were giving me ‘fuck-me-eyes’ the moment I walked in the door.” Janus teases him.

Virgil pouts. “Unintentionally.” He defends himself before gasping as Janus’ mouth is suddenly on his cock. “Oh, fuck.”

He takes a fistful of Janus’ hair, using his other hand to brace himself against the leather of the bench. “Ah,”

“Sound so beautiful, pet.” Janus told him as he pulled off for air. Virgil gave a little bit of a whimper, and- “Oh?” He asked with a smirk as he pumped his hand down Virgil’s cock, using his saliva has lube. “You like being called a pet?”

“Fuck you,” Virgil moans out.
“A bratty pet at that.”
“Oh,”
“Come on, let me see your orgasm face. Come on, baby, come on.” He coaxes, working Virgil’s dick over faster. Virgil whimpers, lips parting, and Janus can’t help it.

He kisses Virgil softly, still pumping his cock, and moaning into Virgil’s mouth.
“Janus-” Virgil gasps.
“Fucking scream it,” Janus whispers, continuing to jerk him off. He bites Virgil’s lip.

“Oh, oh- Janus,” Virgil cries out. “Janus!” And then he comes, hard and fast, making a complete mess of Janus’ hand.

“Good boy,” Janus whispers. “There you go,”

“Shit,”

“Lay back here, come on. Nice and relaxed.” Janus speaks softly, running a hand through Virgil’s hair.

“Was that prostitution?” Virgil asks him, sounding floaty and light. “You’re paying me for my time righ’ now.”

And Janus laughs. “Maybe,” He giggles.

“Mm,” Virgil hums, clinging a little to Janus’ side. “You don’t want anything in return?”

“No, baby, you’re okay.”

“Okay.” Virgil nods. He gets properly dressed again, but settles into Janus’ arms on the bench.
“Five minutes?” Janus asks him.
“Yea,” Virgil replies. “Five minutes, then we’ll get to it.”

His hands have stopped shaking, at least.
Actually, yeah. He feels relaxed, kind of peaceful. Janus’ hand is running through his hair.

“Funny,” Janus muses. “How so much has changed, yet so little has changed.”

“I told you I saw Roman, right?”
“Briefly. And how is he?”

“Still hot.” Virgil replies, and Janus snorts.
“Sleep with him?”
“Tried to. But, no. Got caught up in.. well, catching up.”

“Rookie mistake.” Janus replies. “You’re meant to get him to make you come first, and then catch up afterwards.”
“And how have you been?” Virgil hums, rolling around to face Janus so that they’re both laid down on the leather bench.

“Good, yeah.” He replies. “Got engaged.”

And Virgil’s eyes widen. “You’re engaged?”

“See a ring?” Janus asks, flashing his bare fingers at Virgil. “I got engaged. Not engaged anymore, we broke it off, like, six months ago.”

“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. For the best.”
“How long were you with him?”
“I was with her for three years.”
“Right, sorry.”

“Don’t worry. Yeah, I’m doing well. Got a good career, I rent, et cetera. Are you doing well?”
“Yeah, actually.” Virgil nods. “I can’t believe you just wanked me off.”
“You didn’t like it?”
“Oh, I loved it. Just a bit scandalous. It’s good to see you.”

“You should come over sometime.” Janus suggests.
“Yeah,” He agrees. “Let me put some ink on your skin first.” He declares, sliding off the bench and getting his equipment set back up.

Janus laughs, settling back into the right position.
“Alright. Draw on me, Virge,”

Chapter Text

‘remember to moisturize’ Is what Virgil texts Janus as he’s in the lift up to his flat. He switches off his phone then, and when he gets back into his apartment, both his roommates are there, but so is-

“Roman.” Virgil says lightly, looking at the scene before him.

Amalia and Niamh are slouched against each other on one of the sofas, giggling as they speak over a bowl of popcorn to Roman, who is sat alone on the other sofa. He turns to face the doorway when Virgil walks in.

“Hey,” Roman says.
“Virge, come sit.” Amalia tells him, beckoning.
“You three been here all day?”
“They kept feeding me.” Roman justifies.

“Come sit.” Amalia repeats. “We like Roman. He’s funny.”
“Oh, god, what’s he said about me?”
“No, nothing. Sit down.” Niamh grins, “Unless you have plans more important than socialising with us.”

And Virgil kicks his shoes off, settling onto the sofa next to Roman. Roman settles a gentle hand on his knee.

“Have you not had work today?” Virgil asks Roman.
“I work weekdays, it’s Saturday.” Roman replies. “Good day at work?”

“Interesting day. I’ll tell you later.”

“Later, he says!” Niamh suddenly exclaims. “Don’t let us keep you.”
“Fuck off, I didn’t mean it like that.” Virgil replies. “What were you talking about before I came in?”

“We were telling him some uni stories. The Deadpool incident is the worst.”
“You did not.”
“Actually, they didn’t finish that one.” Roman prompts. “I heard about when your printer broke the morning that your dissertation was due.”
“Oh, don’t.” Virgil groans. “I ran to that library, man.”

“Okay, well,” Amalia continues. “It was just Virgil and Asher having a movie night. They were too loser to come out with us and just wanted an evening in, and we came home at like four AM, and they were both still up, watching films.”

“You were a student, how did you have the consciousness?” Roman snickers.
“Virge, do I have your blessing for this story?”
“You’ve already started it.” Virgil rolls his eyes. “Go on.”

“Right, right. So, they were watching Deadpool, and- I mean, you guys had to have known we’d come home at some point!”

“You told them I was an exhibitionist, did you?” Roman asks him teasingly.

“It was just so funny, because, they were watching this film, and Virgil was on his lap with a blanket, and I guess they were too tired or uncaring to realise that it was really obvious what they were doing, and Virgil just said hi to us, like, hey girls-” She cuts herself off to laugh.

“It was just so funny because he was inside you!”
“Fuck off,” Virgil laughs behind his hand. “I’ve walked in on you multiple times.”

“Asher just looked right at me, gave me a little wave and all. Wrapped a hand around your waist, Virge,”

“Not to brag, but back in the day, Virgil and I actually got asked to leave a cinema for that.”

“No!” Niamh exclaims. “You haven’t told us that! Here we’ve been thinking it was Asher that made you into a boytoy on the sofa, but you’re a serial offender!”

“No, no, I will not have this label. It was Roman who suggested it back then, and it was Asher who suggested it the second time.”

“I still don’t get what the issue was.” Roman scoffs playfully. “We were literally the only ones in the cinema.”

“Dios mio.” Amalia whispers.

“The employee was really nice about it to be fair to her. Didn’t actually escort us out and we finished off in the bathroom, I think. Right?”

“Yeah,” Roman agrees.

“Bathroom Roman! Right! That’s like, your thing.”

“Speaking of,” Roman makes a clicking noise with his mouth, standing and heading to the bathroom.

“He’s nice, Virge,” Amalia begins as soon as he’s gone.
“Yeah.”
“You’ve never told us why you broke up.” Niamh adds. “I can’t see how you did.”
“Well, we did.” Virgil just replies, sinking back into the sofa a bit.

“Yeah, duh. Why?”
“Well, I don’t know. Our relationship was unconventional.”
“No shit, puppy-dog.”
“Hey, I confide in you.”
“I know, sorry. Sorry.”

“Just, I don’t know. I did a tattoo today, for another ex of mine. One that Roman knows.”
“One that Roman was also with?”
“Yeah,”
“Right.”
“I don’t know. Lots of the past suddenly in my face.”

“Okay.” Niamh says. “I’m sorry for insinuating that you’re going to let that hunky man pound you into your bed later.”

And she speaks genuinely, that’s just her dialect.

“Going to what?” Roman asks with an amused tone of voice as he re-enters the space.
“Hello, Roman.” Amalia waves. “We were just talking about you!”

“Virgil, blink twice if you need help.” Roman says, leaning in front of Virgil, who blinks twice dramatically.

“I need to shower.” He says. “I’ll come back to cook dinner after. If you need to escape these two, Ro, you’re welcome to wait in my room.”

They each laugh. “Alright, Vee, thanks.”

——

Virgil leaves his ensuite ten minutes later, hair wet and lower body wrapped in a towel.

“Oh.” He says, clicking the bathroom door shut behind him. “Didn’t expect you to actually take me up on that.”

Roman looks up from where he’s started to read a book on Virgil’s bookshelf. Virgil is as close to naked as Roman has seen him in five years, only wrapped in a towel. He’s wet, hair dripping, pale skin clean and enticing.

He clears his throat.

“Yes, well- uh, the girls wanted to put a show on that I’m not caught up with.”

And Virgil nods. He looks at Roman, who is looking at him. His eyes raking up and down for a moment, and Virgil feels incredibly watched, but not in a bad way.

Maybe watched isn’t the right word. He feels- Well, he feels admired.

“You gonna be okay if I change in front of you?” Virgil asks, almost in a sultry tone.

“I don’t know.” Roman replies. “It might just kill me.”
“Not a bad way to go.”

“Mm. You know, part of me wants to not sleep with you just to prove those girls wrong.” Roman whispers.
“The bulge in between your legs is telling me otherwise.” Virgil replies.

There’s silence. Tense silence in which the two men can only look at each other. A beat, and then another, and then Virgil giggles a little.
“We’re about to have sex, aren’t we?” He almost laughs.

“It’s been long enough.” Roman replies.

“Sure has.”

“Fuck, you’re so beautiful.” The man tells Virgil, who swallows. He studies Roman for a second.

“Go on. Tell me you want me.” He says in an almost commanding tone.

“I don’t want you.” Roman replies easily. “I need you.”
He’s breathless, and still looking up at Virgil’s half naked figure from the bed.

“Okay, fuck, pound me into the bed, or whatever it was she said.”

“Gladly.” Roman grins, standing up off the bed, and he takes Virgil’s shoulders into his arms, kissing him gently. Roman’s left hand runs up and down his side, eventually yanking at his towel until it falls to the floor.

Still, he doesn’t put his attention anywhere other than Virgil’s lips. They kiss until they’re breathless, and Virgil pulls Roman onto his bed by his still-on shirt collar.

“How do you want me?” Roman asks him, slightly straddling his waist.
“Wearing less clothes,” Virgil answers quickly. As much as he doesn’t mind, and hey, it’s even hot, that he’s completely naked whilst Roman is the opposite, he wants this. Now.

Roman leans up, stripping for him slowly. He first peels of his shirt, throwing it somewhere on the floor, and then his jeans.
He stays in his boxers, pressing against Virgil so that their chests touch.

“Mm,” He hums. Virgil reaches up and kisses him, grabbing him by the back of his head. “Needy.” Roman whispers.
“Talking about me?” Virgil replies, dragging his nails down Roman’s shoulder.
“What if I was?”

And Virgil pushes Roman, up, and over, flipping their positions so that he now straddles Roman. He re-initiates the kiss, reaching his hand down, down, and into Roman’s boxers.

“Fuck,” Roman groans into their kiss as Virgil takes hold of his length. “Suck me off, baby, please.”

“Needy.” Virgil retorts, but he does slink down and pull Roman’s underwear off him. “Better reward me for it after.”

“Oh, trust me, darling, I will.” Roman grins, sitting up as he watches Virgil handle his cock carefully. He wraps a hand around the base, leaning down and taking it into his mouth.

“Ah,” Roman moans quietly, getting off on both the sensation and the view. Virgil works like a professional, moving his hand and taking Roman down to the base, deep in his throat without gagging. “Good boy.”

And then Roman thrusts his hips up, desperate for more pleasure. This time, Virgil does gag from the movement, semi-loudly.

Almost instantly, there’s a round of applause and light cheering from the two women in the living room.

Virgil pulls his mouth off Roman, a line of spit connecting his lips to Roman’s cock as he looks at Roman with a face of ‘are they going to do that every time they hear a noise? please help me’

“Do you wanna go to my place?” Roman asks with a little smirk.
“Are the walls thick?” Virgil replies, wiping his mouth.
“Yes.”
“Then yes.”

——

Ten minutes later, Roman scoops Virgil up into his arms, carrying him bridal style. He giggles and wraps his arms around Roman’s shoulders, not expecting to have been picked up so.

On Roman’s back is a backpack with everything Virgil would need to stay the night at Roman’s if it got to that, and also a bottle of his lube - which Roman has apparently run out of at home.

“Good evening.” Amalia grins. “Where are you two off to?”
The two women are still sat on the sofa, and Niamh is looking down a book whilst her girlfriend does something on a laptop.

“His house.” Virgil replies. “He lives alone.”

“What I’m hearing is that you’re not going to cook dinner because you’d rather hook up.” She teases him.

Right, it was his dinner night.
“Get takeout. I’ll pay.” Virgil says, still in Roman’s arms as he looks at the girls and mouths ‘He’ll pay’ whilst pointing a little at Roman.

“I will, will I?” Roman asks with the same tone that he used to retort at Virgil with when he was being a brat. The same tone that usually came about ten minutes before he’d be begging for forgiveness. Some unidentifiable feeling runs down his spine. Something akin to thrill.

Virgil looks up at the other man with an over-exaggerated pout.
“Oh, come on. You’re a project manager, you make, what? Six figures?”

“High five.” Roman mumbles.
“He’ll pay.” Virgil nods.

“Alright, well, practice safe sex.”
“Yeah, we don’t need a kid running around.” Niamh adds as she looks up from her book.

“Ha, ha.” Virgil replies with a roll of his eyes. “Shall we go?”

“Yeah.” Roman agrees. “Thank you for the food today, I promise I’ll bring him home in one piece.”
“Yeah, you better.”

Roman puts Virgil down when they get in the lift.
“That was cheeky,” He declares. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you wanted to irritate me.” He teases, not actually angry.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Mm,” Roman hums. “We’ll see if you still feel that way in about forty minutes.”

“Forty minutes!” Virgil exclaims.
“We have to walk through town.”
“No, we don’t. I’ll drive.”

“Since when do you drive?”
“Massive shock, twenty-five-year-old man has driver’s licence.” Virgil deadpans.
“Well, yeah. But you used to be pretty scared of it.”
“When I was twenty. And- besides, I had three boyfriends who all drove, and it kind of wasn’t like I left the house alone, so why would I have paid to learn how to drive?”
“Logan would definitely have paid for you, he was loaded. You never said you wanted to learn.”
“Well, I paid myself and I feel good about it. Learnt in the summer between my second and third year at uni. Not relevant. But, I’ll drive us to your house, as long as I can park.”

“Well, good.” Roman smiles. “That makes it ten minutes.”

——

Roman’s house is nice. Virgil doesn’t ask if he has a mortgage on it or anything.

In his driveway, he’s got the same car that he used to have. The same one he drove when he dropped Virgil off to stay with Janus after the cracks in their relationship begun to appear.

Virgil pushes his head against the back window whilst he locks his car, squinting.
“Did you get new seat covers?”

“Yeah.” Roman nods. “I got, uh, some stains on the other ones.”
“Some stains?” Virgil almost exclaims, spinning around. “Don’t tell me that you and your car have been cheating on me.”

“Surprisingly enough, Vee, you’re not the only man that’s made a mess of my backseats. It’s only fair if you can sit on someone else’s lap during a film.”

“I suppose.” Virgil replies, following Roman into his house. The door shuts behind them, and Roman’s mouth meets Virgil’s again.

They kiss against his front door for what feels like seconds but is really about five minutes. At some point during that time, Roman’s knee ends up between Virgil’s legs, almost lifting him up off the ground.

“Roman-” Virgil gasps, free hand practically grabbing onto Roman’s crotch to get back at him for the stimulation.

“Okay,” Roman whispers. “Do you want a house tour, or…?”

“Ro,” Virgil tries again, letting an annoyed whine slip from his lips.

“Alright, baby, I’m sorry.” He snickers, hoisting Virgil back into his arms. And Virgil buries his face in Roman’s neck, letting the gentle smell of his cologne relax him as he’s carried up the stairs.

Chapter Text

“Now strip,” Roman almost growls as he sets Virgil down on his bed. Virgil has to stop himself from whining.

He obeys, and then he helps Roman strip, too. He’s stood up as he kicks out of his jeans, and Virgil is pretty sure he feels himself getting harder as he takes in Roman’s full naked form.

He almost hates that it takes some self-control not to call him ‘Sir’ and beg for his cock. He’s above that. He’s above that.

“Alright,” Virgil says, voice slightly strained. “Come here. Fuck me like it’s been five years.”

A grin spreads across Roman’s face, and he practically leaps onto Virgil, both men grabbing at each other’s skin as they kiss passionately atop the bedsheets. It takes no time at all for the kiss to go further, and it seems like only a minute before there’s a single finger pressed against Virgil’s entrance.

“Three months, was it?” Roman asks in a teasing tone as he pushes the one finger into Virgil, adding a second very quickly after. “Don’t think you’ve been this tight since I took your virginity.”

Virgil scoffs. “You didn’t take my virginity, you only like to think you did.”
“I know,” He replies calmly. “But, god, did you act like you’d never felt pleasure before.”
“Semi-accurate, oh, fuck-”

“Come on, baby, moan like you mean it.” Roman prompts him as he pushes in a third finger. Virgil does, and from that point the position of Roman leaning atop him makes it a little bit of an awkward angle, and so he pulls out his fingers.

“Okay with manhandling?” Roman asks him.
“Go for it.” Virgil replies, and almost instantly Roman is using his superior strength to flip Virgil over, positioning him so that he’s laid atop Roman’s lap, as if he were about to be spanked.

But he’s not. There’s a gentle hand running through his hair as Roman’s fingers re-enter him. This time, they’re cold with lube and Virgil didn’t even notice Roman squirting it on his fingers.

He gasps from the change in temperature, and hears Roman’s soothing voice whispering unintelligible praise to him.

Roman lets his fingers shift around, scissoring Virgil open over his knee as the younger man lets out slight whimpers of pleasure. Virgil can feel Roman’s dick pressing against his bare thighs, almost poking between them.

“Please,” Roman begins, now pushing his fingers in and out of Virgil rhythmically. “Say no if not.”

“Oh, God.” Virgil groans jokingly. Knowing Roman, he could want anything. Literally.

“Can I get my whole fist in here?” Roman asks, almost shyly. He puts a hand under Virgil’s chin and tilts it up so that they make slight eye contact.

“Surprising. I thought you would’ve just wanted to stick it in me as soon as possible.”

“Well, I don’t know. Maybe I like watching you writhe around.” Roman teases back, and Virgil blushes a little.

“You can try.” Virgil replies, uncharacteristically shy.

“I can try? What? As if it won’t fit?”

“Well, I don’t know!”

“I’ve literally watched you take three cocks like a champ.”

“I was a lot younger then!”

“Okay. But it’s okay?”
“Yes, Ro. I’m tempted to tell you that you don’t have to ask. You know what I like.”

“I know what you liked.” Roman corrects as he enters a fourth finger into Virgil, sliding past his entrance. He then adds his thumb and thrusts again so that he’s buried wrist deep in Virgil.

“Ah, fuck, Ro-” Virgil whimpers, “Just give me a second.” He says, adjusting to the feeling.

Roman rests his free hand (the one not inside of Virgil) onto the other man’s hair, carding through it softly for a few moments.

“Holy fuck,” Virgil seemingly suddenly groans. “I can’t believe I’m in bed with you.”

“Well, hold on. You haven’t screamed my name yet.”

“You’re an awful tease.” Virgil rolls his eyes.

“And you’re an awful brat. I guess we’re even.” Roman replies easily, letting the hand in Virgil’s hair drag down the side of his face. His left still wrist-deep in the man, Roman’s right hand finds itself rubbing over Virgil’s lips, smearing his spit, and then he eventually works his index and middle fingers into Virgil’s mouth.

Virgil lets out a string of pathetic, needy, confused whines, and Roman pulls his fingers out of Virgil’s mouth and then thrusts them back in a little.

“You want my cock, right, baby?” He asks, and Virgil whines, both hands braced against the bedsheets. “Suck my fingers like you wish you were sucking on my cock. Suck on them whilst I fist you open, and if you do well, you might just get a good fucking in a few minutes.” He states, pulling his fingers all the way from Virgil’s mouth. “Is that okay?”

Virgil nods, a little breathless.
“Words, please, Vee.” Roman urges, voice a little more gentle.
“Yes.” Virgil pants. “Yes, it’s okay.”
“You remember your safe sign when you can’t talk?” Roman checks.
“Of course I do. Now, fuck me like the top you’re meant to be.”

“Ouch.” Roman laughs. “Not used to taking orders. ‘specially not from you.”
“Roman, I swear to god.”
And Roman chuckles a little. “Okay, baby, still impatient, I see.” He laughs, and Virgil opens his mouth to retort, but quickly gets two fingers down his throat.

And then he starts to thrust his hand in and out of Virgil, letting the younger man suck on his fingers all the while. He gasps, both hands settling on Roman’s right wrist, closing his eyes as he focuses on the task at hand.

Virgil’s body rocks with the movement of Roman fist-fucking him for a good few minutes. He knows he won’t come like this, but neither of them want it to be over so soon anyway.

Virgil taps on Roman’s hand after five minutes, and Roman pulls his fingers out of his mouth.
“Please,” Virgil begs. He’s at that point. “Please, Ro,”
“See, I like that sound much more than you mouthing off.” He comments, pulling his hand out of Virgil. “Say it one more time.”

“Please,” Virgil pouts, shifting his body, pushing himself up so he’s sitting atop Roman’s lap now. He wraps an arm around Roman’s neck and pouts at him.

Roman smirks at the younger man in his lap, running his hand, wet with his spit, up and down Virgil’s side. He waits a moment, just taking Virgil in.

Until Virgil doesn’t want to wait, and he leans forward, tucking his head into Roman’s neck, pressing their collarbones together. He starts to kiss over Roman’s skin, almost sucking at his neck, and then-

Roman’s hands go to Virgil’s head, guiding him in his endeavour. He moans softly, groaning as he tilts his head back to give Virgil more room. The younger man digs his fingernails into Roman’s skin. Roman wonders if it’s good for Virgil’s lip piercings to be doing this, but the feeling of the cold metal against his skin is doing things to him.

There’s one point, for just a second, where Virgil is leaning so far into Roman, and Roman leans back a bit, that their dicks brush each other. Virgil gasps, almost grinding into where he feels Roman is impossibly hard.

“Okay-” Roman groans. “Okay,” He repeats, using his leverage on Virgil’s head to pull him away from his neck. “I work in an office. I’m a- fuck, I don’t want to be, but I’m a professional.”

Virgil looks up at him, lips puffy, hair messy, eyes blown wide with lust. He frowns.
“I’m not.” Virgil grins. “Who are you?”
“Someone who can’t show up to work on Monday with hickies.”

“I think it’s too little, too late, Princey.” Virgil smirks, noting that there are already some marks on Roman’s neck.

“Your fault.” Roman states playfully.
“My fault!” Virgil repeats. “My fault, Mr- ‘Oh, oh, ah, ah, baby, fuck,’” Virgil makes fun of him, giving an exaggerated string of moans up at Roman.

“It is your fault.” Roman repeats, pushing Virgil off his lap and onto the plush mattress. Virgil can’t help but whine as he’s thrown onto the bed, dick hard between his legs as Roman straddles him. “You do things to me. You.”

“Me?” Virgil asks innocently, batting his eyelashes.

“Yes, Virgil. You. You, you, you.” He repeats, and then he dives down, repaying Virgil with his mouth on the younger man’s neck and collarbones, kissing him and sucking into the skin. Virgil moans, unashamed. He finds his fingers raking over Roman’s back.

And then Roman’s right hand finds his arms, first grabbing his right one, then his left, and holding them by his wrists above his head. He whines, loudly, and whines again even louder when Roman’s left hand grabs onto his cock, pumping him up and down.

“Roman-” Virgil gasps. “Stop, stop, I’m gonna come-”

And Roman pulls away both his mouth and his hand. He keeps his other hand holding Virgil’s wrists above his head.
“I think you had longer in you.”
“I’m not letting you edge me, you dickhead.” Virgil complains, although it seems futile considering the position they’re in.

“Okay, baby boy,” Roman replies smoothly. “Ready for my big cock then, hm?”
“Come on, Ro, give it to me well.” Virgil whispers with a smirk.

Then Roman’s hands come to his hips, flipping him around quickly.

“How do you want it?”
“Good,” Virgil almost slurs.
“Good,” Roman laughs. “What I’m asking, lovely, is if you want to be able to walk tomorrow.” He whispers, almost scarily, into Virgil’s ear.

“No,” Virgil replies instantly. “No, you’ll have to carry me everywhere-” He replies. “I’ll make you.”

“Gladly.” Roman replies. “I’ll carry you to the moon and back.”

And Virgil doesn’t really have time to process the romanticness of that statement before Roman’s hands are lifting up his hips, placing him on his knees, chest still on the bed.

“You ready?” Roman asks, lining himself up.
“Please,” Virgil begs again, and then Roman pushes in.

“Fuck, fuck,” Virgil whines in clear pleasure. “Oh, god,”

“Good boy.” Roman praises as he gets all the way in so that his hips are flush with Virgil’s ass. He stays there for a bit, letting them adjust.

“Ro-”
“Yeah, baby?”
“Please,”
“I know. I know.” He whispers, running a hand through Virgil’s hair.

And then, both hands on Virgil’s hips, Roman pulls out, then thrusts back in. Virgil gasps, and keeps gasping as Roman fucks him smoothly.

“So, so, hot. So perfect, fuck, I could fuck you all night.” Roman rambles.
“Please, forever.” Virgil babbles at him.

And then Roman speeds up, going rougher, and Virgil almost screams as Roman hits his prostate, abusing it over and over.

And then he stops.
“That your phone?” Roman asks.

Virgil focuses, and-
Fuck, it totally is. His phone’s ringing in the pocket of his jeans.

“Sorry,” Virgil almost laughs, Roman’s dick still buried inside him. From their position, Roman is able to reach the leg of the jeans, which he tugs onto the bed.

“Don’t worry. Could be important.” Roman tells him, grabbing the vibrating and ringing phone from Virgil’s pocket. He checks the name of the caller, and- “Oh.” Roman says, seeming confused, surprised, and disappointed all in one. “Anything you wanted to tell me, Virge?”

“What?” Virgil asks, lightly. He’s still not fully with it, but he holds his hand out for Roman to hand him his phone, which he does.

“Oh.” Virgil mirrors Roman. “Oh, no, it’s not- We’re not- Sorry, let me-” He cuts off his own explanation, answering the phone on speaker. There's a little internal moral debate about answering the phone to an unknowing participant in the middle of sex, but it's not like he's going to make it clear he's in the middle of sex, and just putting the phone down would mean that he'd have to give Roman a whole explanation, and it's not worth the effort when he can just see what's up.

“Hey,” Janus’ voice comes through the phone. “Sorry to call, I know it’s getting late.”
“No, you’re good.” Virgil replies, doing his best to sound like there isn’t a pretty big cock inside of him. “What’s up?”

Roman leans forward, as if he’ll get answers from looking at the caller ID, and as he does he drives his cock deeper into Virgil, and the younger man coughs to hide any noises he was going to make.

“It’s just, uh, I know I could google this but if I have your number, like- I’ve just taken off the cling film-”
“Cling film.” Virgil mutters with a roll of his eyes, swatting Roman’s hand which starts to drag over his skin absentmindedly away.
“And, I know you said to wash it with warm water and fragrance-free soap. But I only have scented soap, and I’m just wondering if it’s better to wash it with that soap, or with no soap at all.”

“What’s the soap you have?” Virgil asks. Roman’s hand settles back on his hip, deciding to stay there.

“It’s like, cotton candy scented.”
Virgil snorts. “That’s abhorrent, Jan, do not put that on your ink. Just go without, you won’t die. But maybe pick some up at the supermarket next time you’re there. Actually, you can get some actual good soap for tattoo aftercare from the shop. I think I was meant to try upsell it to you, but I forgot.”

Janus laughs. “Well, okay. Okay, if I’m in the area I’ll pop in. Thank you.”
“No worries.” Virgil replies. “I’ll talk to you later.”
“Alright, thanks, bye.”
“Bye,” Virgil finishes, and then the phone hangs up.

“Didn’t feel the need to tell me you’re talking to him?” Roman asks.
“No,” Virgil replies. “He just came to my work today, I gave him a tattoo.”
“Okay,” Roman replies, tone playful.
“What? You don’t believe me?
“I believe you.” Roman laughs. “Strange to hear his voice.”

“Plenty of time to talk later. We’re kind of in the middle of something.” Virgil reminds him gently.

“Okay, darling.” Roman laughs, pulling out half way, and then he’s right back to mercilessly pounding into Virgil like they were never interrupted.

Virgil’s mouth is agape, his phone bouncing on the mattress as it rocks with their movement.
“Roman-” Virgil gasps, “Pull my hair,”
“Fuck,” Roman replies. “You sure?”
“Fucking do it,” Virgil demands. “Please, Ro, fuck me like the slut I am, treat me like a whore, fuck-”

And, shit. Who is Roman to say no to that?

He grabs a fistful of Virgil’s hair, tugging his head back as he continues to fuck into him. Virgil moans loudly.

“So good. Good boy, so good at taking cock, aren’t you?”

“Yes!” Virgil gasps. “Fuck me harder.”

“I’m gonna come, baby,” Roman gasps.
“Please,” Virgil begs.
“Are you gonna come like this or do you want my help?”
“Touch me, please,” Virgil replies, still being fucked into.
“Gladly.”

Roman reaches down, rubbing Virgil’s cock up and down as he fucks him. He gasps, and moans, until he comes, making a mess of Roman’s bedsheets and clenching around him, causing the older man to come too, deep inside Virgil, where he leaves his cock as he collapses onto the bed beside him. Only then does he pull out, bedsheets already ruined, and his arms come around Virgil, pulling him close to his chest.

“You okay?” Roman whispers. “Was that good?”
And Virgil nods, rolling around so that he snuggles into Roman’s chest. “So good,” He whispers. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, I should be thanking you. Fucking beautiful. Oh, it’s been so long since I’ve had sex that good.”

“I’m flattered.” Virgil replies, laughing. He breathes in against Roman’s neck. “What time is it?”

“Like nine.”

“Nine,” Virgil repeats. He kisses Roman softly, pulling back and smirking at the man. “How’s your refractory period?”

Chapter Text

There’s a weight against his back, arms around his waist.
Virgil slips in and out of consciousness slightly, aware that the bed under him was so so soft, the body pressed against him was so so warm, and he ached a little.
“Welcome to the awake world.” Comes a little mumble against his ear, and Virgil groans, rolling over to bury his face in a pillow.
“Later,” Virgil whispers.
“You said that an hour ago,”
“Sorry,” Virgil replies. He’s not.
“Too tired to get up, my prince?” Roman asks, planting a kiss on Virgil’s neck.

“Your fault I’m tired.” Virgil just says. “Your massive fucking dick’s fault-”
“Alright,” Roman cuts him off. “Alright. I want to eat. Let me make good on my promise.” He says, and then, in what feels like an instant, he scoops Virgil up off the bed and holds him in his arms, bridal style.

Virgil pouts, barely awake, but he does wrap his arms around Roman’s neck, eyes still closed as he’s carried out of the room.
He can blearily tell that they go down some stairs, through a hallway, and then it’s a little colder and Virgil is set down atop a marble countertop.

“Sorry to wake you.” Roman apologises, placing two teabags into two mugs. Virgil rubs his eyes, getting a good look around the kitchen.

Marble countertops, an island (which he is sat on), rose gold handles and taps, one of those modern chandeliers, a breakfast bar, a fridge that has an ice dispenser on the outside. It was like one of those kitchens where every utility is behind the same cabinet, and the dishwasher takes you four random doors to find.
Fuck, is Roman… like, loaded?

“Posh twat.” Virgil mumbles before he can stop himself. “Is that a boiling water tap?”

Roman turns around, using said boiling water tap to fill up the two mugs. “It does sparkling, too.” He whispers.

“God, eighteen year old me had the right idea fucking you, you’ve got it made.”

“Just because I’ve got some money doesn’t mean I’ve got it made, Virgil. Do you still drink oat milk?”

“Yes. Also, easy for someone with money to say.”

“I concede that.” Roman says, and then he hands Virgil a cup of tea, the exact way he likes it. “Do you have work today?”

“If I had work today, best believe we would not have been up so late.” Virgil jokes, taking a sip from the mug. “Thank you.”

“For the sex or the tea?”
“Both.” Virgil replies, and then he pauses a moment. “You’re clean, right? Now realising I really should’ve asked before we exchanged bodily fluids.”

“Don’t worry. Yeah, I’m clean. Can you imagine if I wasn’t and slept with you without telling you?”

“I’d like to say I don’t think you’d do that, but I’m not sure I know you well enough to say so with certainty.”

Roman leans against the counter opposite him, shirtless and wearing only plaid pyjama pants. “I’d like to think that you think better of me, despite that.” He says, sounding almost a little disarmed.

“I do.” Virgil admits. “Oh, and about Janus calling-”
“Yeah, it’s fine.” Roman jumps in. “How is he?”

“I assume he’s well. We didn’t, uh, like fully catch up catch up. Other than job stuff. Just gave him a tattoo, and uh… yeah.”

“And, uh, yeah?” Roman repeats, scrunching up his nose. “Doesn’t sound very hygienic.”

“It wasn’t.” Virgil replies instantly.

“So you did sleep with him?”
“Eh,” Virgil hums. “Got half-way there. He was very… full-on.”

And Roman snickers. “Do tell.”
“No, just like- Well, we didn’t even really step into kink territory despite knowing that we both.. yeah. But he was calling me ‘pet’ an hour after I ran into him.”

Roman smiles a little fondly. He doesn’t say anything else.

“Have you got plans today?” He asks after a moment of silence.

“Uh,” Virgil hums, checking his phone calendar. “Oh! It’s the sixth. Yes. I’m doing this paint and sip thing with my friends. Someone got a voucher, I don’t know. It’s like pottery painting from a tutorial and also we’re drinking. I think.”

“Well, okay. When’s that? I can always drive you.”

“No, don’t worry. I’ll go back home first.” Virgil tells him, sliding off the counter. “Oh,” He says, stood next to the island. “This counter is at a very good height.” He muses, bending over it slightly to illustrate his point.

Roman laughs. “All you have to do is ask.”
“Sorry!” Virgil laughs, too. “Sorry, forgot where I was.”

Virgil’s phone buzzes in his pocket. He takes another sip from his cup of tea. It buzzes again, and he checks all his notifications for the first time today.

It was his group chat, with his friends, mostly.

Jaque: So.. 11 today? At mine?
Jaque: Then we can head down
Amalia: uhhhh
Jaque: ???
Gabriel: don’t do this to us mali
Amalia: no no we’ll be there
Niamh: ^^
Danny: Have u done something to V again
Amalia: we haven’t done anything
Niamh: @Virgil

That will’ve been the buzz.

Niamh: without saying too much he’s at someone’s house
Niamh: (last we heard) (could be anywhere) (could be dead)
Gabriel: if he misses our plans because he’s getting dicked down I will not be best pleased
Amalia: we’re 70% sure he’ll make it
Jaque: 11 at mine
Jaque: Or else
Jaque: @Virgil

Again.

Virgil rolls his eyes. He starts typing.

Amalia: he’s alive!
Danny: praise be
Virgil: i’m gonna come back to the flat before we go to jaque’s
Virgil: so don’t leave without me girls <3 <3
Niamh: you’re awful and you owe us for the takeaway last night

Virgil opens his phone camera and snaps a picture of where Roman is leant against the counter behind him. His face is obscured by his mug, but his jawline is very visible, as well as his shirtless torso and the top of his plaid trousers.

Roman laughs a little as he watches Virgil take the picture.
“My friends need to know I’m alive.” Virgil explains, sending the picture to the group chat.

Virgil: he’s awful and he owes you for the takeaway last night
Gabriel: oh my fuck
Gabriel: is he fucking single
Amalia: (virgil’s ex)
Gabriel: no!
Gabriel: thats like rule 1 virge
Danny: he’s hot
Niamh: not worried about your boyfriend in this chat, dan?
Jaque: I’m allowing it.. (he is hot)
Poppy: wtf is going on here
Gabriel: virgil’s having sex with a greek god
Virgil: point is I’m alive and I’ll be on time
Poppy: Glad to hear it
Niamh: oh we were glad to hear it yesterday evening
Virgil: fuck off
Virgil: i’ll see you in an hour

Virgil switches his phone off, putting it face down on the counter.
“I need to get going soon.” Virgil declares. “In about forty-five minutes.”

“Okay.” Roman replies. “Did you want breakfast?”
Virgil yawns, stretching a little. “Can we go back to bed?”
“In a genuine way or a euphemistic way?” Roman laughs. “I’m having toast. Do you want toast?”
“Please,”

Virgil slides off where he’s sat on the counter, and- ach, he does ache.
“I’m getting old.” He mutters. Roman laughs outright.
“You’re not getting old, it’s probably just been a while since you’ve been fucked so well.”
“Amen.” Virgil whispers. “You were really good.”
“You were really good.” Roman repeats. “Um, is this- like, are we intending for this to have been a one-time hookup, or a casual thing, or.. you know. Sorry. Just kind of want to communicate our intentions here.”
“Uh,” Virgil hums for a moment. “I don’t feel the need to make it a one time thing.” He admits honestly. “But, I mean- I’m gonna sleep with other guys. If we keep at this, it’s not something exclusive.”

“Okay.” Roman nods. “Just, um, maybe can I ask that you get tested if you sleep with other guys? Before me, obviously.”

And Virgil blinks. “Uh, yeah.” He says, nodding. “Yeah. I mean I’m not- I’m not irresponsible.”

“I don’t think you are, I just don’t want to catch anything if you’re sleeping around.”

And Virgil felt this- He felt- Shame, maybe? Or a little sadness.

“Do you not sleep around?” Virgil asks.
“Not really.” Roman replies. “Outside of the relationships I’ve had, you’re actually the only guy. Maybe one other, actually.”
“Oh,” Virgil says, feeling a little stupid for asking. “Okay.”

“You okay?”
Virgil sighs a few times, leaning himself against the counter. “Fuck, I feel like a slut.” He mutters.
“Virgil,” Roman says a little strongly. “Don’t. There’s nothing wrong with you hooking up with people.”

Virgil nods a little absentmindedly. “Thanks. I, um, I might shower. Is that okay?”
“‘Course, but this toast’ll pop out the toaster any second, so have that first. Whilst it’s warm.”

Virgil sits down for breakfast, next to Roman at the bar, and he lets his head drop onto Roman’s shoulder as he eats.

——

“Good morning!” Amalia grins at Virgil as he kicks the front door shut with his foot. Both her and Niamh are posed at the breakfast bar, utilising its purpose.
“Hey,” Virgil replies.
“Not too tired?”
“Slept in.” He says. “I’m gonna change before we go out.”
“Okay. Have you eaten?” Niamh asks, biting into a crumpet.

“Yeah, we had toast.”
“Have some coffee. You’re being weird.” Amalia tells him, and Virgil exhales as he nods to himself, making himself a cup of instant coffee. “Is everything okay?” Amalia follows up, watching him as he makes his drink.

“Yeah, sorry.”
“Was it okay with Roman? He wasn’t.. like, being a bad person, was he, Virge?”

Virgil sits opposite the girls on the other side of the counter, still with his spoon sat in the mug. He swirls the drink around. “No, no. He was perfect. Fuck, he was perfect.”

“Oh.” Niamh says. “That’s the problem.”
“Mm,” Virgil hums. “I don’t- You know, in hindsight, our relationship wasn’t great. And now he’s back in my life, would it be bad to fall back into something?”

“You don’t have to date him.” Amalia adds in.
“I know.” Virgil sighs. “He just told me that I’m the only guy he’s slept with outside of a relationship, like, ever. Made me feel a bit- I don’t know. I feel like a bit of a whore, but also I- Maybe hooking up isn’t great for me, maybe I do want a relationship.”

“Well, last time you were with Roman it wasn’t just you guys. And from what you’ve told us that relationship was only unhealthy because there was such a maturity gap. Do you feel more mature now than you were then?” Niamh asks him slowly.

Virgil groans, dropping his head onto the counter. “You know I do,” He says. “I hate how well you psycho-analyse me.”
“I do have a bachelor’s in psychology, but it does not take that.” She laughs.

“I’m gonna get changed.” Virgil announces for the second time. “Thanks.”

He takes his coffee with him, heading into his bedroom where the bedsheets are all messed up from he and Roman’s foreplay last night.
He’s already had a shower, and quickly changes into clothes that he did not wear yesterday, opting for some baggy darkwash jeans and one of his band shirts.

He contemplates eyeliner for a few moments, but decides it’s not like they’re going out out or anything. He also contemplates lathering foundation on all these hickeys, but, on the other end of the scale, it’s not like this is a business meeting. And they need to leave in the next five minutes.

So he re-emerges from the bedroom, with his bag and a change of clothes. He and the girls take the bus to their friend’s house, and then take the bus with the whole group into town.

But when he’s on the bus, his head on their friend Gabriel’s shoulder as he scrolls on his phone, a text message comes through.

Janus: hey
Janus: we said like we should hang out at some point
Janus: and i don’t know if you just said that because it would be awkward if you didn’t but if you did mean that then my place is free tonight
Janus: if you wanted to

And Virgil switches off his phone. He doesn’t have the energy right now. He’ll reply later, he needs to be in the moment with his friends.

——

The group of them loitered outside the pottery painting cafe, making general talk about things until it hit exactly 12pm, when they had their session booked for. An assistant-looking young lady lead them in to sit down around a little rectangular table. It was wooden, and had them each sat on benches, Virgil closest to the front, sitting opposite their friend Poppy, with the rest of the group down the table.

Around the room were different pieces of pottery, and a shelf just full of loads of colours of paints.

And then their instructor exits a little back room, making their hubub calm down.

He’s a happy-looking man, wearing an apron and also a t-shirt - both of which slathered in paint. That’s what Virgil notices first - all the colour. His hair has colour, too, bleach blonde highlights dropping down through the slightly messy blond curls.

And Virgil’s eyes widen, neck sticking out a little in shock.
This was a joke.
The universe was playing a massive fucking practical joke on him.

The instructor, who sports silver-rimmed round glasses, an array of freckles, light blue painted nails, and a nametag which labels ‘Patton’, grins, giving the group a little wave.

“Hey team! Welcome, welcome. So, first thing’s first I’m gonna ask you-” He begins, clapping his hands in front of him as he speaks. He’s talking, and then his eyes roam around the table and settle on Virgil.

“To write little nametags-” Patton cuts himself off, making poignant eye contact with Virgil. He blinks, and then he smiles, sincerely, and then he continued to speak. “…for me. With the little, uh, little pens and sticky-labels there. I’m Patton, by the way, for those of you who don’t know. I’m gonna help you out with this today.”

Immediately, Amalia reaches for the one green felt tip to write on her nametag. It spurs a bout of laughter in which each member of the group reaches for a pen, all in different colours. But Virgil doesn’t reach for a pen. He stays staring at the man he used to date, five years older. He must be about twenty eight or so, although still looking youthful in all the ways that matter.

Patton glances back at him again, but not for long. He walks around the table a bit, picking the last pen, a purple one, out of the pot and placing it in front of Virgil to encourage him to do his nametag. He’s kind of snapped back to reality, and clears his throat as he picks up the pen.

“So, how do you guys know each other?” Patton asks, walking around the studio and grabbing a set of wine glasses from another shelf. “Are we all drinking alcohol?”

“Yeah,” Gabriel speaks up first. “And- uh, we went to uni together. All of us were in the LGBTQ+ society, a few flatmates, et cetera.”

“Awh, that’s sweet.” Patton replies. “So, friends? We get a lot of really awkward corporate groups come in sometimes.”
“Ha! Remember when we had to do an escape room for teambuilding at that shitty little cafe we worked at in second year?” Poppy exclaims, covering their mouth a little as they spoke. “Virge?” They ask, snapping their fingers in front of his face.

“What?” Virgil kind of whispers, squinting at her. “Yeah, oh, yeah. Yeah, that was awful.”

“You okay, Vee?” Danny down the table asks him.
“He was up late last night, weren’t you?” Niamh giggles.
“You were probably up late last night as well, having the flat to yourselves.” Virgil replies, shaking himself back into where he was.
“When has you being home ever stopped us?” Amalia asks, smirking.
“Okay! Have this conversation over dinner, this poor man does not want to hear about your sex lives.”

Patton laughs, placing a few bottles of wine on the table. He puts the white wine in front of Virgil. Virgil wonders if that’s intentional.

“You’re okay. I want you to feel comfortable, so talk about what you want to.” Patton says. “Right, so, each of you can pick out one of the small or medium sized pieces to paint.” He explains. Virgil takes some deep breaths. This is bizarre. This is genuinely bizarre, and he feels dysregulated.

Each of his friends get up as Patton instructs them, walking around the room to choose what pottery they want to paint.
“Virge,” Niamh suddenly whispers in his ear, bending down next to him. “Are you actually okay? Do you want to take a minute?” She asks, noticing how he hasn’t stood.

“Sorry,” He whispers. “I don’t know.”
“Let’s go outside.” Niamh suggests. “Come on,”

But then, very suddenly, Patton’s leaning down beside them.
“Hey,” He whispers. “We do have a quiet room here if you need space. Just through that door, for anyone who needs to take a moment. I know it can be overwhelming here.” He says, pointing to the door that he came in from.

“Thank you,” Niamh says, wrapping an arm around Virgil’s shoulder.
“Don’t worry.” Patton says. “I’ve been close to people with anxiety disorders, I know how tough it can be. Everything’s here for you when you’re ready.” He explains.

Niamh then drops her arm and takes Virgil’s hand. “Come on, let’s take a moment.” She tells him. As they stand, she makes eye contact with her girlfriend, giving her a look which communicates what they’re doing.

Niamh brings Virgil into the back room, through the door and then another. It’s a little room with grey walls and cushions and a lava lamp and a box of fidget toys.

Virgil sits down on one of the chairs, an oval one, and he brings his feet up to the edge of the chair so that his knees are in front of his chest.

Niamh holds his hand, squeezes it as she sits down in another chair beside him.

“We can go home.” She says softly. “We don’t have to be here.”

Virgil takes deep breaths. “I’m sorry.” He says. “There’s a lot going on.”

Niamh gives him a minute.
“How did he know you have anxiety?” Niamh mutters to herself.

“We dated.” Virgil says simply.
“What?”
He looks up from where he’s buried his head.

“We dated.”
“Have you dated every man in this city?” Niamh asks, and she does so jokingly, but Virgil tears up. “Oh, honey, come on.” She tries, moving over to him and pulling him in for a hug. “You’re okay.”

“He was- with Roman.” Virgil sniffles. “Sorry. He’s not a bad guy, I’m just overwhelmed. I didn’t tell you girls, I saw- I ran into another one yesterday at work.”

“Oh, fuck!” Niamh exclaims. “He’s the- That’s... 'Daddy'.”
“Niamh,” Virgil hisses. “Yes.”
“Right,”

Virgil blinks a few times, swaying in his seat. “Niamh,” He repeats. “Niamh.”
“You okay?” She asks.
“I’m-” He whispers. “I feel-”

“Okay,” Niamh whispers, rubbing the back of his hand. “That’s okay, we can wait.” She says kindly. “Want me to start talking to you about my dissertation topic so you feel all disgustingly adult?”

Virgil snickers a bit, mind mostly hazy. But he gets an idea. He doesn’t know how viable it is, or how rational it is, either. He’s not in a great place for rational thinking. But Niamh knows all about his regression, all about the psychology of it, why he does it, how it affects him. Amalia knows too, just to a lesser degree.

Virgil sways a little, holding her hand. “Sorry, didn’t- didn’t want… here.” Virgil murmurs.

“Don’t worry.” Niamh tells him. “Let it be.”

There’s more silence, Virgil shuts his eyes, feeling far away.

“Do you want me to do anything?” Niamh asks, keeping her tone soft.

Virgil takes a few seconds to process the words. He drops his head onto his knees, exhaling. He hasn’t slipped like this in months and months and months. Niamh is great, but she’s not fully equipped to help him out when he gets like this. He knows that.

He just- He’s so overwhelmed and he needs to be able to come back to himself. But Niamh has never been able to make him do that. There’s actually only three people who ever have, and-

“Virge?” She repeats. There's a gap of silence in which Virgil tries to find the ability to speak.

“Patton,” He finally whispers.

Chapter Text

Deep breaths.

Deep, deep, deep, breaths.

Virgil’s fingernails dig into his wrist. He pushes them into his skin deeper, trying to ground himself, trying to ground himself.

His head rests on his forearms, which are laid in his lap. Virgil’s teeth find his string bracelet, and he bites down on the silicon charm on the end of it.

He wants to lie down.

“Virgil?”

He recognises himself humming, but it feels far away.

And then he hears the door open. And the door close. A hand gently pulls his fingers away from where he’s digging his nails into his wrist. The hand traces over his, a voice that he doesn’t hear speaks, and-

“Fuck,” Virgil flinches, instinctively trying to drop the ice cube in his hand, but Patton’s hand cups it above his and it stays in his hand as he jerks himself back to reality.

He gasps a little, looking up. Tears prick in his eyes from how suddenly he was just yanked out of headspace.

His breathing picks up, that feeling of panic rising in his throat. He’s back to himself, yes, but it was so violent and sudden and he’s still a bit dissociative and disregulated and-

“Hey,” Patton calls at him, putting a two soft hands on his shoulders. Virgil looks down, away from his eyes, and lets his head fall a little so that it rests on Patton’s shoulder.

Patton seems to hesitate, and then his left hand comes forward to press onto Virgil’s chest, palm-down, giving him a pressure point to focus on.

His breaths start to slow down. He brings his wrist up to his mouth and bites on the silicon charm again until he feels completely in the right place.

And then he’s completely aware again.

And he’s resting his head on the shoulder of someone he hasn’t seen for five years. And that man’s hand is pressed against his chest.

“Sorry,” He says, clearing his throat.
He sits back up his chair, letting Patton’s hand fall away from him.

“I’m sorry.” Patton tells him, looking down at the ice cube now melting on the floor. “Your, uh, your friend. She seemed to think I could help, but-” He laughs a little. “Well, I- The only healthy way I knew how to get you out of headspace was gentle cuddling and reassuring words that usually turned into sex, and-” He gestures at the air before him. “Well, that would have been inappropriate.”

Virgil nods absentmindedly.

“I just- I remember how sometimes you used to slap yourself out of headspace, and, well I wasn’t going to do that, but-”

“The shock factor.”
“The shock factor, yeah.” Patton agreed. “Are you okay?”

“No, yes,” Virgil nods, rubbing his face. “Sorry- I’m not usually like this, I’ve had a long day.”

Patton nods in understanding.

“Hi,” Virgil says to him.
“Hey,” He repeats. “It’s good to see you. You look well.”

Virgil laughs, wiping away the tears from the edges of his eyes. “I’m sure.”
“No, I mean it. Demeanor-wise, expression-wise.”

“Thank you.” Virgil replies. “Likewise, I- How long have you been doing this?”
“Couple years. It’s a passion project.”
“It’s cool.”

“I think so too.” Patton says, taking off his glasses to clean them. “How are you?”

“Uh, yeah.” Virgil hums. “Got a degree, working hard-”
“Or hardly working?” Patton chimes in, laughing afterwards, and Virgil giggles a bit too.
“Tattoo-ing.” Virgil says. “It’s good. You?”

“Similar. Spent a few years working in a bakery, did a lot of cake decorating, and then I decided I liked this- So, took out a loan, opened this place-”
“You own this place?”
“Yeah! Yeah, it’s great. I really enjoy it.”
“I’m glad.” Virgil says, glancing towards the door. “Married?” Virgil asks, almost but not totally stopping himself.

“Uh, yeah, actually.”

“Oh, wow-” Virgil reacts. “Not, not ‘wow’ as in like, that’s surprising, just-”
“Virgil, please.” Patton laughs. “I know. Just don’t wear my ring for pottery stuff. Had a bracelet fall off my wrist into the kiln once, put me off for life.”

Virgil nods. “Makes sense.”

“You?”

“Hm?”

“Are you married?”

“Ha!” Virgil laughs, covering his mouth, and then he settles. “Oh. Oh, you’re being serious. Uh, no. No, not even with anyone. Which is fine. I’m young. There’s, uh, there’s time.”

He suddenly felt very insecure about all the hickeys on his neck. It was that feeling of shame again.

And Patton takes his hand across from him, smiling. “There’s always time. Don’t sweat it. You seem like you’re in a great place. I like those kids.” He says, gesturing to the door.

“Kids.” Virgil remarks with a scoff.

“Sorry,” Patton laughs. “This is such a student town, every student is a kid to me.”
“We’re not students, we were students this time last year.”
“Are they your age? Most people go to uni at eighteen, right?”

“I mean, I was twenty. Jaque’s turning twenty three next week, he’s youngest. The girls are all twenty-five. Others fit in somewhere.”

“You’re twenty-five.” Patton says. “Gosh. I take back the kid thing.”
“Well, I mean, you must be thirty next year, so-”
“Alright.” Patton laughs. “Shall we go and find the group?”

“Uh, yeah,” Virgil says. “Sorry, keeping you from your job.”
“Well, I’m paid either way.” Patton jokes, standing, offering him a hand.

Virgil takes it slowly, brushing off his jeans, and they head back into the main room.

“Virgil!” Amalia calls as he comes in. “Poppy painted something phallic on your bowl.”
“Snitch,” Poppy rolls her eyes. Virgil laughs, taking his seat again, where Niamh gives him a thumbs up from her seat. He nods, starting to think about colour palettes.

——

Virgil sits at the bar in their apartment, staring at the text notifications from Janus.
“Hey, I might go out tonight.” He says to his roommates, who are both reading in each others’ arms.
“Go out where?” Amalia asks in a jokingly curious tone.
“Uh, someone’s house.” Virgil hums.

“Roman?”
“No.”

He sees his roommates share a look.

“Virge, I- We don’t want to parent you, but-”
“You’ve had a long day.” Niamh cuts off her girlfriend. “An overwhelming day, we were gonna suggest maybe it’s time for a self-care evening.”
Virgil drops his head onto the counter, nodding.
“Probably right. I do feel awful.” He mumbles into the table. “Fine.” He says, looking up, inhaling strongly, and grabbing the little grey jar that they keep by the bread bin.

Both the girls turn to face him. “Pick out Indian food vibes,” Niamh prompts.

Virgil laughs, dipping his hand into the pot and closing his eyes. He pulls out a gift card, one of the many they’ve been given over the years that has gone into the pot, and it’s one for the general food delivery service they use.

“Yes!” Niamh exclaims. “I’m getting a jalfrezi.”

Virgil slides the gift card over the counter. “I think I’m gonna shower.”
“Oh! We should have a bubble bath,” Amalia turns to Niamh, lightly hitting her on the shoulder.
“So should.” Her girlfriend agrees. “I’ll run one now.”

And she disappears off to their en suite.
Virgil starts to walk towards his bedroom, rubbing his face, and-
“Vee,” Amalia calls to him. He turns around to her, where she outstretches her arms.

And Virgil frowns, scampering over to her. He sits on the sofa next to her, and she pulls him into her arms. There, he lets himself sigh, burying his face in her chest. Amalia starts to run her hands through his hair and down his side, and then suddenly Virgil feels that he’s crying.

“Darling,” Amalia whispers. “You’re okay.”
“I know,” Virgil murmurs.
“It’s been a lot.”
“I know,”
“Do you want to talk about it?”

Virgil sits up, shaking his head at her as he wipes his eyes. “Not today.”
“Okay, well let us know.”
“I will. Thank you, Mali, I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“I love you too!” Niamh yells from the bathroom, and both the roommates on the sofa laugh.

——

“Uno!” Virgil exclaims, placing his card down. Both women groan as he wins and the game ends. They’re watching old episodes of Friends on the TV, the evidence of their takeaway all over kitchen counter.

It’s getting late, maybe ten or eleven, and Virgil yawns.
“Bedtime?” Niamh laughs, and Virgil just about nods with a smirk on his face.
“Maybe so.”

And he’s had a lovely evening. Cozy, and high on laughter. He nods, hugging both of the girls and heading back into his bedroom.

The door shuts behind him, and he takes some deep breaths.

Behind his door, he hears his roommates giggling.
“I love you,” Amalia whispers.
“I love you more,” He hears Niamh whisper in response, and then he infers they’re probably kissing. Two seconds later he hears them stumble past his bedroom door. He hears their giggles in their bedroom next to his, hears low murmurs.

He’s never really able to hear audible conversations through the wall, but he can hear when they talk and he can hear the tone of voice that they talk in. He can practically hear the foreplay.

And he swallows, properly being alone without a task for the first time today.

He sits on his bedroom floor against the door, trying to sniffle back his tears, but he’s already crying and-

Fuck, what is it with him today?

Married.

Patton is married.

He doesn’t even know why that upsets him. It’s not like he was trying to persue something there, it was just-

Feeling like an unfaithful slut this morning when Roman made that comment about STIs, and- And that was justified, but-

He balls his hand into the front of his shirt, pulling it away from his chest for breathing room.

He felt-

It was just-

When he was with those three, maybe it was unhealthy in aspects, and maybe it wasn’t good for him- But-

He felt loved, then. At least he had felt loved.

And now, feeling like the only thing he can do is sleep around whilst the people in his life, people his age, are so in love, are married-

He’s just hit with this wave of loneliness.

And he knows how to cope with this. He needs to stand up off the floor, needs to take some deep breaths in front of the mirror, needs to go to bed, needs to remind himself that how he feels past 10pm is usually not accurate to his day to day life, but-

He fumbles with his phone, sniffling as he finds Janus’ contact. His vision is a little blurry with tears as he types out his message.

‘Can I still come over?’