Chapter Text
Roman was trudging through the woods, the sun beating down on him and making him sweat. Sweat dripped into his eyes, but he continued forward, following the sparse trail of bent treetops. He was on a quest, and a noble one at that! He couldn't rest until his quest was done! The other princes of the realm had gone missing. Until recently, there were no leads. However, Roman had seen the creature for himself only a few days ago.
The dragon had snuck into Roman's grand bedchambers late at night. Roman had woken from his slumber to the feeling of breath fanning across his face. Embarrassingly enough, his first sleep-addled instinct had been to try to kiss whoever was hovering above his face. But instead of smooth lips, he was met with a large patch of scales. That terrifying development had him shooting up awake and leaping for his dagger. The dragon had vanished in a puff of smoke, but Roman saw it reappear far off in the forest through his open window.
So now Roman was on a mission to retrieve the lost princes or to serve out justice if they could not be found. He blew some hair out of his face between huffs and puffs. He squinted at the bright sky, looking for any sign that he was getting close. There! In the distance was a dark shape. A mountain. Surely the dragon must be hiding there.
Looking intently ahead at the mountain, Roman missed the large shape moving towards him from behind.
Suddenly, large, scaly talons wrapped themselves around Roman's waist. He yelped as he was abruptly lifted into the air, sword slipping from his grasp. Oh fuck, he had never been good with heights. He clutched onto the talons for dear life as the ground got further and further away. It sped past him as he was hurtled towards the mountain at breakneck speed. He squeezed his eyes shut and tried to go to his happy place. Right now, that happened to be anywhere on solid ground. His whimper was lost in the wind that rushed past him, ruffling his hair.
After what felt like forever, but was only a few minutes, they landed. Roman hit the hard ground with a thud that would leave bruises.
"Shit!"
Roman dared to pry his eyes open to investigate the loud, rumbly exclamation.
Well. He'd found the dragon. Or at least, the dragon had found him. Super.
The dragon was massive. It was golden with patches blacks and greys dappled across its scales. Four strong, shapely legs supported it's slim, but very large build. It stared at Roman with an intelligent, but frustrated expression. For a monstrosity, it was rather attractive. Then it was changing. Right before his eyes, scales melded together into flesh, and the dragon had shrunk down until it was only a head taller than Roman instead of its previous towering size.
The left side of its face still sported golden scales and a slit running from the corner of its mouth to its ear, looking more snake-like than dragon-like. That was only emphasized by the golden slitted eye. The only things it had that differentiated it from a snake were the twisted horns atop its head and the wings folded neatly on its back. A tail swished from side to side behind it. Damn it, it was handsome. The way it looked at him like it was going to eat him should absolutely not excite him.
It stepped towards Roman. Roman shook out of his daze from the fall and rolled away. That is, he tried to, but he soon discovered that there wasn't much floor between him and the sickeningly sheer cliffside. Holy fuck were they high up. The trees below were hardly visible, just tiny green specks.
Hands gripped Roman's shoulders and he hissed, wincing at the touch on his bruised side. The hands on that side withdrew slightly, but the ones on the other side only tightened. The dragon pulled Roman onto his feet easily and pressed Roman's back to its chest, its face alarmingly close to his neck. He felt its hot breath fan across his skin and shivered.
"Didn't mean to drop you like that, new treasure," it purred. Roman opened his mouth to retort, but he was cut off as the dragon spoke again. "I'm Janus, he/him pronouns, but you'll know me as Master~"
Roman froze. Master? Just what was this… this snake getting at?
"What do you want?" he demanded. The snake- Janus- pulled away slightly, then laughed.
"So spirited," he purred, "I like that." Roman glared and tried to pull away, but the grip on his shoulder tightened. Janus held him close, wrapping his arms around Roman's chest. "I find you'll do nicely here~"
Roman didn't have time to ponder that before Janus' wings unfurled and he was once again lifted into the air. He would forever deny the squeal that was ripped from his throat as he latched onto the warm arms around his chest. Roman was carried further into the dimly lit cave, unable to track the twists and turns through the narrow tunnels, until they came into a large, brightly lit chamber carved out of the stone of the mountain. Near the back was a throne, which looked to also have been carved out of the mountain's stone instead of simply placed there. It was large and covered with plush pillows and draped with colorful blankets.
Off to the side of the room was a gigantic nest of blankets, pillows, and clothing. Next to it was a large wooden chest that was closed. The chamber was lit with various torch sconces and what looked to be a huge chandelier dangling from the ceiling, giving the atmosphere a faint golden tint. Directly opposite from the nest was what looked to be a food preparation area.
But what caught Roman's eye were the five men sitting in the nest, all of them naked except for matching jeweled collars around their necks. Roman could see them more clearly as Janus flew him closer and they all turned to look at him. Was that…. Remus???
Roman's mouth fell open. He hadn't known his long lost brother had been captured! By the order of their king, Remus had been married off to the princess of a neighboring country for diplomatic relations as soon as he was of legal age, and Roman hadn't seen him since. His gut filled with horror. Remus had been captured, too!
Janus landed in the nest and shook out his wings before folding them back behind himself, looking utterly too pleased with himself. Roman glared at him. How dare he look so smug at such a crime!
"Managed to actually snag Ro-bro this time? See? Told ya he was pretty, Master."
Roman whirled on Remus, shocked at what he'd just heard his twin say. Remus was lounging against the wall of pillows at the edge of the nest, looking far too relaxed for the situation. He was twirling the mustache he'd grown since Roman had seen him last and looking Roman up and down with an expression that should not be used for one's kin. It made Roman flush, feeling like he was the naked one in the room.
"He is rather pretty, isn't he?" Janus hummed. Roman was reeling, utterly confused. He set his jaw and turned on Remus.
"What's going on?" he demanded. Remus snickered.
"Well, Ro-bro," he drawled, "welcome to the dragon's hoard."