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Vanitas hadn’t believed in a smile that could light up a room until he’d met Ephemer.
He couldn’t say what exactly it was about Ephemer that set him apart from the crowd in Vanitas’s eyes. Maybe it was how his ocean-blue eyes filled with enough starlight to outshine the sun when he smiled. Maybe it was the little crease of his nose whenever he laughed. Maybe it was the fact that he snorted when he laughed too hard, and it was stupidly adorable in a way that Vanitas didn’t know how to put into words.
What wasn’t cute, he’d decided, was how Ephemer was currently leaning against Ava as they laughed together over a joke he couldn’t hear.
Vanitas’s eyes reflexively shifted away from the two as Ventus took the seat to his left, setting down his book bag on the floor and a coffee on the desk. “Which one?” He had that infuriatingly conversational tone as always, as if he’d asked Vanitas about the weather over the weekend.
“What?” Vanitas asked sharply.
Ventus took a long sip of his coffee, and then gestured towards Ephemer and Ava, cup in hand. “Which one of them pissed you off?” he clarified. “You’re glaring like they drowned your pet goldfish.”
Vanitas very much wished he could rewind time just so he could pull the fucking chair out from under him as he sat. “Eloquent as ever,” Vanitas retorted snidely, propping his chin up in one hand and unlocking his phone to scroll through Instagram. It never really deterred Ven from talking to him, but hey - thousandth time’s the charm. “No one’s pissing me off right now but you, by the way.”
“Gee, thanks,” Ventus frowned. It was more for show than anything; they both knew he no longer took Vanitas’s insults to heart. He shifted in his chair, turning towards Vanitas just enough that it was clear he wouldn’t be dropping the conversation anytime soon. “But, really, did something happen? I thought you were okay with them.”
Vanitas quickly scrolled past Ephemer’s most recent post, hoping Ven didn’t catch it on the screen. He’d have to go back later and see what it was. “I don’t know Ava.”
“Okay, so I thought you were alright with Ephemer, then.”
“He’s fine,” Vanitas murmured, stealing a glance towards the two. It didn’t seem he’d overheard them yet. He wished Ven would keep his voice down for once in his fucking life. He wouldn’t be caught dead talking about the other with Ventus of all people.
“If you say so,” the blond huffed bitterly, sinking back defeatedly into his seat.
“For fuck’s sake, nothing happened,” Vanitas said, locking his phone. It had been a lost cause from the start. “What’re you expecting me to tell you, anyways? He beat me up and stole my lunch money? Jesus, Ven.”
Ventus looked utterly exasperated, allowing his head to drop back as he rolled his eyes. “I dunno, I expected something, I guess! Usually you don’t glare at people for that long unless they’ve done something to piss you off, but Ava doesn’t have a mean bone in her body--” Ventus cut himself short, sitting up ramrod straight all at once, his eyes wide with realization. Vanitas didn’t like that look one bit. “Oh my god. You’re jealous!”
Vanitas felt his blood boiling just under the surface of his skin, and he narrowed his eyes sharply at Ventus. Hopefully, it was a clear warning to consider his next words very carefully - but knowing Ventus, his ire would only encourage him to speak all the faster. “I’m what?” Vanitas snarled through grit teeth.
Ventus looked suddenly giddy, a wide grin on his face. “You’re jealous! You were giving Ira that same look the other day when he was sitting with Ephemer at lunch! And then last week, when he was talking to Sora and Riku! Oh my god, Vani, you’ve got it bad- ”
It seemed his voice had risen just enough that Ava heard the mention of her friends’ names; she turned her head, her blue eyes questioning and a kind smile lingering on her face, and Vanitas stomped on Ven’s foot under the desk. Ventus yelped in pain, and Vanitas felt his heart stop for a moment when Ephemer turned to investigate, too, cheeks pink from laughing. “Ventus, if you don’t shut the fuck up, I’m gonna find your fucking laptop and throw it into the goddamn pond!” he hissed under his breath.
Ven shot him a nasty glare as he jerked his foot away, but it didn’t last long - that smug look of satisfaction was back on his face in an instant. “Okay, okay, chill out!” He gave it all of five seconds before he whispered in that infuriatingly know-it-all tone of his, “But I’m totally right.”
Vanitas waited for Ephemer to turn back around before he kicked him.