Remus woke up in the dark side common room. He coughed, feeling a scratching in his throat.

He blinked, looking around. "Haggard hickeys hidden in hellish hippo hair." Remus mumbled under his breath, testing if he had dialogue or not.

He looked around, trying to find something that was out of place.

He kept his eyes fixed on the TV remote, convinced it was about to grow teeth and bite him. Which he was kinda into, not gonna lie.

He coughed again, narrowing his eyes at the remote. After a few moments, he stopped glaring at the remote.

He moved to stand up, before realizing he couldn't move his legs. They were frozen in place.

He cocked his head, confused. Is this what it felt like to bang someone so hard, you can't move anymore?

He let out a small cough, picking up the TV remote. As of right now, it was his only lead as to what this dream was about. Which wasn't saying much, since it was barely a lead.

"HELLO?!" He called out, wondering if someone else was going to show up. He blinked, stunned at how awful his voice sounded.

It really did feel like something was stuck in his throat. He cleared his throat. He usually liked having things in his throat, but this was just uncomfortable.

He coughed again. And then again. And again, and again, and again.

He was hacking now, doubling over on himself.

Remus' furrowed his brow. This hurt. More than normal coughing should.

Finally, the thing that was lodged in his throat came out and fell onto his hand.

A single, yellow, bloody flower petal.

The common room faded into white. The petal remained for a little longer, before it, too, disappeared.

Remus frowned.

Huh. Weird.

---

Remus appeared in the common room, where Roman and Janus were chatting.

"Hey~!" Remus chirped. Roman jumped, not used to how the dark sides just appear.

"Good morning, Remus." Janus greeted him.

Remus shot Roman a look, and he instantly got the idea.

"Well, I should take my leave." He said, standing up.

"So soon?" Janus asked, tilting his head.

"Well, we wouldn't my brother to interrupt. Would we?" Remus narrowed his eyes at Roman, sitting down in the spot next to Janus.

Roman frowned. In an instant, it was replaced by a cheerful smile. "That's exactly it! You two have fun, I'll just, uh, go hang out with Patton!" Roman chirped.

He left the room.

---

Roman walked all the way back over to the light side, a stormy expression on his face.

Janus was definitely going to pick Remus. They've known each other longer, and Roman was constantly causing Janus pain.

And he hated that he just gave him up so easily.

He laughed humorlessly. He supposes he pulled an Angelica Schuyler. Giving the love of his life to his brother. And why?

Maybe it was because he felt he didn't even deserve Janus in the first place. Or maybe it was because of how much he loved his brother.

God, Roman really was an idiot.

He finally made it to Patton's door. Just as he was about to knock, he heard something coming from the inside.

Was that crying?

Oh.

No, it was laughing.

Roman lowered his hand, a frown on his face. Patton was most likely with Virgil. He should let them have their alone time.

But damn, Roman really didn't wanna have to be alone right now.

"Roman? What are you doing?"

Roman turned, spotting Logan coming up the stairs.

"Read-It-Ralph!" Roman chirped, skipping over to him. He smiled widely, which apparently alarmed Logan.

He cursed, trying to swiftly walk back to his room.

"Hey--Wait!" Roman exclaimed, skipping turning into running.

In return, Logan ran as well.

Of course, Roman was faster than Logan. So he easily caught up to him.

He looped around Logan, blocking him from going any further.

Logan scowled. "Fine. What do you want?"

"Wanna go to the Imagination with me?"

"I'd much impale myself on a lamppost."

"Why?"

"I find working much more enjoyable than your 'boring ass' adventures."

"Boring a--??"

"Could you please move, I'd like to return to my room."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"Roman, put me down."

"No! There's no way you find working so enjoyable! I know the look of passion, Four-Eyes! And you don't have it!"

"And the Imagination will solve this how?"

"It won't! But I need a distraction!"

"From what?"

"Life!"

"Hold on--"

"Are those your vocabulary cards--"

"Mood."

"...pfft--"

"Stop laughing. Tell me if I used it correctly."

"I-I'm not laughing!"

"You are carrying me over your shoulder, Roman. I can feel your shoulders bouncing. Tell me if I used it correctly."

"You nailed it."

"I did not nail anything. You are carrying me."

"Mhm."

"Put me down."

"I won't unless you go to the Imagination with me!"

"You could just sink out right now, I'd be forced to come with you."

"Yeah, but that's literally kidnapping. So...?"

"...fine. Your level of annoyance is tolerable today."

"Don't worry! I'll make it enjoyable for you, Lo! We can go to a rainforest and look at the animals or something!"

"Can you summon a poison dart frog?"

"A what?"

"A blue one, specifically. I like the color blue."

"I thought you liked indigo?"

"Is red your favorite color, Roman?"

"No, it's yellow."

"Then don't stick your nose into my shit."

"...pfft--"

"Stop laughing."

"I'm not! I'm not!"