Chapter Text
In the freshness of a new morning, both men woke up together in the bed. Eugene smirked as he recognised a faint blush on Vincent’s cheeks as the man processed he was in Eugene’s bed and slept there throughout the night, embraced by none other than him.
“Slept well, sleeping beauty?” Vincent’s face only reddened further and he quickly sat up and slid his legs to the edge of the bed, standing up and fixing his clothes. “I don’t want to hear a word about this, Eugene, I swear…”
Eugene gave an uncompromising lazy nod before he slowly sat up on his bed using his arms. “I think dear Jerome is gonna be late to work today.” He teased lightly as he checked the hour on his bedroom’s wall clock. “Oh, so sweet you actually worry about Jerome, heh, but don’t worry your pretty head about it, Gene. Jerome—even if he’s supposedly the perfect Gattaca worker—has some free days accumulated and it is only right to occasionally use them, like a normal worker. Hmm?” Eugene raised an eyebrow, not exactly having expected that outcome. “I already informed them yesterday night anyway, before whatever the hell happened in your bedroom-” Vincent suddenly went silent as heat spread across his face, realizing how bad that sounded. Eugene, surprisingly, just chuckled and didn’t make a comment about it to prod Vincent further, probably more exhausted after yesterday’s argument and who knows how much time mentally unwell and alone.
The rest of the morning remained rather calm and slow paced. It was almost domestic, in a way. Vincent prepared some simple breakfast and they ate together at the table, in comfortable silence.
Eugene barely touched his piece of toast, though, and before Vincent could bring it up, he spoke. “I'm sorry for yesterday. I- I never really thought you'd have felt in a similar way as me. Although it should've been obvious… I'm sorry.” Eugene kept his gaze down, not really ashamed or embarrassed, more guilty and utterly exhausted.
Vincent took some seconds to really think about Eugene's words before a small smile reached his lips and eyes, a gentle hand soon reaching Eugene's shoulder, too. “It's okay, I already forgave you like- uh, yesterday? Not sure, but I never held it against you, Gene.”
“Thanks, Vincent. I think I've learnt a lot ever since we met.” Eugene mumbled, still a little down after everything that was going on, but he felt better. “No problem, I've learnt a lot too from you, Gene.” Vincent grinned, hand now rubbing circles over Eugene's upper back.
“Sometimes…sometimes I feel like this world doesn't want me anymore, doesn't need me.” Eugene started, quietly. He hesitated to continue, but Vincent's soft nod was enough encouragement to open up.
“Everything I've ever known and been taught—by my parents, by my rich kids valids school, by life—was that a person's worth is rooted from their genes, from their success and functionality. And I accepted it. I was actually very happy with those rules, because I was supposedly perfect, I was above everyone, even other valids with ‘worse’ genes. Fuck, it- it felt good.”
Gene paused a second, taking a breath to calm down as emotion was starting to seep into his voice, cracking, and hands trembling slightly under the table.
“It felt so awfully good, I thought my life was already solved since I was a kid and I hoped for it. Of course, it's not like I didn't have some stuff going on like my parents’ treating me like a science experiment, like their golden chicken but- uhm.” Eugene trailed off a little and decided to change back the subject.
“Well, you already know what happened. I got silver, and everything went down with it. Haha…I mean, it's what I deserved anyway, right? I couldn't live up to the expectations, to what my very own genes had marked for my life and- and if I was gonna be a shameful valid, then better not be at all. And well, you know it didn't exactly work out the way I wanted, but at least I'm not a valid anymore. No one who looked at me would guess so, aside from maybe my clothings. Either way, I forced myself to become an invalid, it was what best represented such a waste of genes like me anyway, a broken shitty ladder covered in gold, rotting in the inside of my very DNA.”
Eugene finished his rant, and remained quiet afterwards, head low and a self deprecating smile on his face. Vincent sighed, his hand on his back—which never stopped rubbing circles there—moved to grab him by the shoulder to bring him into his side, in a half hug.
Vincent took a deep breath before he started talking. “Well, as you know my parents chose to make a ‘child a faith’, the doctors took a drop of my blood and told them the chances and probabilities of my future when I was barely two seconds out of my mother's uterus. Later on, they decided to get me a younger brother, he was genetically modified.” Gene raised a tired eyebrow at the new information, resting against Vincent's side while listening sincerely.
“Before him, my parents were already quite protective and nagging about what I could do and what I could not, what was dangerous for my so fragile, imperfect health and whatnot. Now, with the reality of raising a valid, it had worsened tenfold. And as I grew up, it started feeling less like normal parental care and more like plain out patronising, a constant ‘you’re gonna break if you even dare to try, because you're not enough, never will’, and I couldn't stand it. I decided to leave when they started interfering with my actual future, my studies, my job, my…my dream.”
Vincent sighed, moving his free hand to rest against his own chest, his heart's flutter was like a direct reminder of his imperfection. He smiled softly as he felt Eugene's arm wrap around his waist. “It’s okay, don't worry. It just sucks, people placing limits or saying what you can and what you can't based on your genes solely. I'm just happy I continued pushing, that I found a way out, that I met you.”
Two pairs of blue eyes met each other suddenly, Vincent was smiling fondly, while Eugene blushed and stuttered a little. “Hey, don't play humble suddenly, it's so out of character for you.” Vincent joked, judging him gently. “Now, honestly? You made me believe, you made me see that those limits weren't real nor proven to be true, in your own way. You tested the strength of my dream, if my mind and body, you showed me that I could do it. It was so nice, you know? To be trusted, to be seen and cared for but not in an overbearing way that made me feel like glass, but in an encouraging one. I might actually end up seeing the stars and Titan, or maybe not, but I think I'd be able to die happily now, knowing and feeling that I am enough and everyone else was wrong.”
As Eugene remained quiet, a little zoned out from processing everything and trying not to tear up, Vincent added a final sentence. “I know, ironic, hmm? A guy who had everything, who was told he could be a demi-God if he wanted to try, that ended up breaking apart so harshly that fell into ‘invalid-ness’ as a way to cope—yes, he managed to inspire a guy who's been told since his very first day on Earth that he's broken that he could be more than people thought he could be, that he was not just an invalid. Oh Eugene, you're the only star I need in the darkness of space to guide me through, to keep me going, even if you can't see your own brightness anymore due to the rest of the galaxy's stars surrounding us. You're my star.”
As half expected, Eugene only seemed to be further at a loss of words at how to reply to Vincent's sincere, tender words. He was used to praise, to being complimented before his accident, but this was so different it overwhelmed him, being the last straw for him to start tearing up ever so quietly into Vincent's shoulder.
Vincent kept smiling and now fully embraced Eugene as the man wept, a hand rubbed circles over his back and another holding the back of his head, pressing Eugene’s face into his shoulder.
Then, after a good amount of time in warm silence—to Vincent's surprise—he caught Eugene whispering before dozing off. “Vincent, you're the only gold medal I need to feel between my hands, around my neck. You're a good medal that's been unfairly turned into silver or even bronze, and I'm happy to continue living until you show the world the true gold inside you under all the rust that this life and all the people have stained you with.”
Vincent froze as he took in Eugene's words, but before he could say anything, the man was already snoring against his chest. He sighed and slowly maneuvered the man into bed again, deciding it would be a nice, sleepy day for both of them. Even if Vincent skipped work and Eugene wasn't going to work on collecting any samples today, it was a very productive day for both of them.