Sanders Sides One Shots(HIATUS)

Midnight Tea(Moceit)

TW: Food mention, insomnia, swearing

      Janus sipped hot chamomile tea from his "Lie Lie Birdie" mug idly, sitting on the counter in soft flannel pajamas. The near-boiling tea almost burned his forked tongue. He relaxed, leaning backwards a little and closing his eyes, feeling the warmth from the decaf tea flow through him.

      It was currently 2:57 AM.

      It was a little sad to admit that this was normal for Janus. He had known that he was an insomniac for years now. To put it simply, it was nearly impossible for him to fall asleep. He didn't know why... it had just always been that way, and he had grown accustomed to it by now. In fact, this early morning trip to the kitchen for a mug of hot tea had become routine.

     It was rare for him to get more than two hours of sleep per night.

     Janus sighed, letting his thoughts wander. It was odd, hearing the other sides and his host call him by his real name. For a while it had only been Remus who had known it, and even then the duke had preferred to use a lewd nickname related to the fact that snakes had a hemipenis instead of his name. Of course, Roman usually preferred to call him Deceit, and Virgil didn't really talk to him that much. Logan would call him by his name, but he honestly didn't interact with the snakelike side, or anybody, that much.

    However, hearing any side refer to him as Janus, especially Patton as he talked to him most frequently, was kind of surreal to him. It felt so weird to be talked to as a normal side, a friend, a part of the famILY, by the moral side. But somehow it also felt so... right.

     "Janus? Is that you? Why are you still awake, kiddo?" A gentle voice cut through Janus's train of thought. He glanced over to meet Patton's eyes.

      Speak of the devil.

     Janus shrugged, not really knowing how to answer, a small smile on his face. "Beautiful time of night."

    Patton smiled softly. "Really? That's the only reason?"

     "What can I say? Everything looks prettier when everyone else is asleep." Janus responded dryly, smirking and sipping his tea.

     He was only a little surprised when Patton came over and pushed himself up to sit on the counter beside him.

     "Janus. You're mister self-care. Shouldn't you know better than to stay up this late? I thought you would agree with Logan on the strict sleep schedule thing." Patton murmured, tracing a pattern over Janus's hand softly.

     Janus shrugged. "Can't agree with calculator watch on everything. Although I do appreciate a consistent schedule, often it's... harder to fall asleep than to do other things."

      "You still need sleep, Jan." Patton insisted, scooting closer. "You need to take care of yourself just as much as you take care of Thomas."

     "Thomas stays up till at least midnight on most nights." Janus pointed out.

       "...touché."

       Janus sighed and leaned his head on Patton's shoulder. "To tell you the truth... I'm an insomniac. This is just normal."

     "Oh." Patton stayed silent for a few seconds after that, just enjoying the warmth of the side beside him.

     "Yeah..." Janus murmured softly. He wasn't thinking about how warm Patton was and how he just wanted to shift to sit on his lap and maybe press his lips to Patton's forehead. Not at all.

     "At least try to get some rest?" Patton asked after a couple of minutes of silence.

     "I've tried. It doesn't usually work. And don't say it's because of the tea, I only drink decaf when it's this late." Janus responded, almost purring at the pleasant feeling of Patton's hand on his but repressing his natural instincts. He vaguely wondered why he instinctively wanted to purr when he was part snake.

     ...Did snakes purr?

     "Then I'll stay with you, while you're up." Patton broke his train of thought with the declaration.

    Janus shook his head. "I don't need you to do that. This is my problem, and my problem alone."

     "Then go to bed. At least lie down." Patton insisted, smiling. "Janus, I care about you. I want you to at least try to sleep."

     "...fine." Janus muttered, slowly moving to get off the counter.

    "Thank you, Janus." Patton smiled, not letting go of his hand and making sure to stay close as the snakelike side moved to put his empty mug in the sink.

     Janus hoped that it was too dark for Patton to notice his very obvious blush.

     When he turned around to leave the kitchen, however, Patton hasn't been expecting the gesture. They ended up facing each other, holding hands, staring into each other's eyes, lips mere millimeters apart.

     Neither of them made a move to change their position. Janus just stared into Patton's deep amber eyes through his glasses frames and blushed deeply when he realized how close together they were. Only a couple of inches and they would be kissing.

     Struggling to gather his thoughts beyond holy fuck he's hot, Janus slowly brought his other hand to Patton's cheek, cupping it and stroking it softly with his ungloved thumb.

     "Janus..." Patton trailed off, his eyes traveling to his lips. Not that Janus could blame him, he had been doing the same for a couple of minutes now.

     Slowly, they locked eyes. Janus nodded ever so slightly.

     The world around them slowed as their lips melded together in a soft kiss.

      Janus ran a hand slowly through Patton's hair, pulling him ever so slightly closer. Patton smiled into the kiss, an arm wrapping around Janus's torso. It wasn't passionate or fiery or strong like those cheesy kisses and makeout sessions in teen romance novels. No, it was just a soft, beautiful first kiss, years upon years of repressed feelings poured out into the simple act of touching one's lips to another.

      Nevertheless, Janus did feel sparks traveling through his body, in some sense of the word.

     He shivered softly as Patton trailed a hand up to his face to stroke the sensitive scales on his cheek. They were pressed against each other now, more embracing than kissing, just softly showering each other with love.

     And that was what it was, wasn't it? The odd fluttering in Janus's chest whenever he thought about Patton. The warm feeling that filled him whenever he saw him. The strange warmth in his face whenever they touched. The joy that he felt when he heard Patton's voice. The smile that he repressed when he heard him laugh.

     Janus could only tell the truth when they broke apart, grinning softly. "I love you." He breathed, staring into those beautiful eyes and leaning into the warm embrace that he had been enjoying these past few minutes.

    Patton had a huge smile splitting his face. "I love you too."

BONUS:

     Janus blinked open his eyes, feeling oddly well-rested for the first time in... well, forever. The first thing he noticed was that it was around 2 pm.

     The second thing he noticed were the arms wrapping around his torso and the warm head nuzzled into the crook of his neck. Janus smiled when he realized that Patton was spooning him, and he leaned back into the touch.

    "You awake, Jan?" Patton's melodic voice carried through the room.

     "Yeah." Janus murmured, turning over to face Patton. He grinned as Patton kissed his nose softly.

    "You wanna get some food?" Patton murmured.

     "Sure." Janus smiled, curling up in his arms and cuddling into his chest.

     And if Janus and Patton walked downstairs holding hands and maybe kissed a couple of times, no one questioned it except for Roman, who shouted, "Get a room, lovebirds!"

    Janus may or may not have flipped him off.