Chapter Text
With the swing of an axe and the stab of a cane, the last demons in the area had been defeated. Kay let out a sigh of relief, glad to be done with the large group as she wiped the sweat from her brow. They knew a lot of demons had been gathering around here, but it was a bit more than she expected. Not that she couldn’t handle it of course, she kept up just fine.
“You ain’t gettin’ tired on us now, are ya?” She heard a voice beside her and felt something land on her shoulder. Griffon had decided to perch on her instead of V, something she noticed he was doing more often. She had a feeling the demon bird was warming up to her, though she knew he’d never admit it if she confronted him.
“Are you kidding? You and I both know it’ll take a lot more than that to wear me down,” she countered. “If there’s anyone you should be worried about, it’s V.”
“The battle took more out of me than I had anticipated, but I should be fine,” V spoke up, walking toward them a bit slower than usual as his cane supported him. Kay couldn’t help but worry seeing him like this. She was aware he was frail, but every time he overdid it she felt her heart ache. At least he didn’t have to summon Nightmare for this fight, that always managed to take a lot out of him.
“We should take a break then. We got more areas to check after all and I don’t want you collapsing.”
V smiled, warmed by the way she cared about him. “Very well, we should find somewhere safe for us to rest.”
“Oh! I saw this store nearby that hadn’t been touched by any roots!” Griffon said. “It’s the perfect place to recover for a spell!”
“In that case, lead the way.” V said, gesturing for the familiar to take them there.
Griffon removed himself from Kay’s shoulders. “Just follow me! It won’t take long!”
As Griffon flew down the ruined street, Kay held out her hand to V. “Need any help? I know he said it wasn’t far but…” she trailed off, ending with a nervous laugh. The two of them had only confessed their love a few days ago, so she was still getting used to them being in a relationship.
V took hold of her hand, stepping closer to her. “I would be remiss to deny such an offer.” he said. He couldn’t help but find Kay’s behavior around him adorable. She couldn’t hide her emotions no matter how hard she tried, but that only drew him closer to her. She was an open book to him, one that he would read over and over again.
As the two of them walked, Kay began to feel drops of water touch her skin. She looked at the sky, finding dark gray clouds overhead. It was starting to rain. Now that she thought about it, there hadn’t been much rain ever since the Qliphoth took root. Guess it was a good thing they were taking some time to rest. The rain wouldn’t stop her, but V’s familiars might have trouble in it. Were demons even affected by rain? “Looks like we picked a good time to rest.”
V glanced up at the sky, cool raindrops beginning to fall down on him. “Indeed we did.”
They soon caught up with Griffon, finding themselves outside of an abandoned bookstore. True to his word, the place was untouched. As the rain began to pick up, they gathered inside the building before they became soaked.
“Did I do good or what?” Griffon asked. “And jus’ before the rain picked up! If that ain’t perfect timing, I dunno what is!”
V glanced through a shelf of books, his fingers brushing across the spines. If only he could return to this place later, he would love to peruse through the shop's selection more thoroughly. “You did well to notice this place,” he said as the sound of rain picked up. “We shall have to wait until the storm subsides before continuing.”
Kay had picked up a book off another shelf, glancing through the pages. “Well, I guess there’s worse places to be stuck in,” she said. “Least with all these books around we won’t get bored!”
“Maybe you can find something new for Shakespeare to read, he musta gone through those poems fifty times now!” Griffon said, stirring a laugh out of Kay.
“Then perhaps you can offer a recommendation, Griffon,” V countered. “Since you are the one who suggested it, I am certain you know my taste in literature.”
“V, I don’t read that kinda stuff and you know it!” Griffon squawked, trying to keep his pride from being bruised.
“I’ll just go check out the poetry section and see what they have,” Kay said, trying to defuse the situation before it escalated. “This might not be one of those big chain stores, but there’s bound to be something there.”
V smiled at her. “I trust your judgement, Starlight.”
Kay’s face turned pink and she quickly ran behind a set of shelves, trying to escape the situation at hand. Still so easily flustered by his words, even after all this time it was still adorable.
“Ya know, maybe you should find something for her while we’re here! I bet she’d love to get a gift from you!” Griffon whispered. “You should do it while you still have time.”
V sighed at the reminder of his borrowed time. He couldn’t run away from it forever, he had to defeat Urizen and he had to do it soon. He was getting weaker by the day, it was only a matter of time.
Shrugging off the reminder of his fleeting mortality, he turned to the demonic bird. “I am afraid I do not know where her tastes lie,” he admitted. “I regrettably have not had the chance to speak of such things with her.”
“That’s a load of shit, V. There ain’t no way she hasn’t said somethin’ about the kind of books she likes to you. There’s gotta be somethin’ you can go off on!”
The conversation was broken by the booming of thunder from outside. The sound had managed to startle them both, being much louder than expected and rather sudden.
“Woah! Guess it really turned into a storm out there!” Griffon exclaimed. “Least we ain’t out in that shitty weather. Anyway, back to-”
The loud thump of books falling to the floor caught their attention. V’s heart threatened to burst out of his chest at the sound. Kay was in danger and he’d been too busy chatting, if anything happened to her he wouldn’t forgive himself. He grabbed his cane and summoned Shadow, using the panther demon to speed through the store.
It didn’t take long to find the poetry section, which he was relieved to find free of demons. As Shadow returned to his normal form, V attempted to find the source of the noise. There was no sign of an attack, so what caused her to drop the books and where did she go?
Another roar of thunder answered his question, as he heard the sound of whimpering from behind the shelf. Going to the other side, he found Kay slumped down on the floor with discarded books surrounding her. Her hands were covering her head, as if she was trying to make herself look smaller. Something was definitely wrong.
Cautiously, he made his way closer to her, taking care to not startle her. He didn’t know just what state she was in right now. But she didn’t even seem to notice him, even when he sat down right beside her. Now up close, he could see her shaking and barely hear her muttering, though he couldn’t tell what she was saying. What could have caused a capable demon hunter to cower like this? He placed a hand on her shoulder, the gentle touch snapping her out of her trance as her head shot up and turned to face him. Tears were pooling in her eye, threatening to spill at any moment.
“V?” she asked, unable to hide the distress in her voice.
“What happened? “ he asked.
“I-” The thunder cut her off, and in a matter of seconds she was burying her face in his chest, her hands gripping his coat for dear life. Before he had a chance to ask any further, he could hear her muttering again, now much more clear. “Make it stop, please, just make it stop…”
Well, that confirmed his suspicions further. V could tell this was no ordinary fear of thunder. Still, he wouldn’t get any answers like this. All he could do was wait until the storm subsided. Until then, he would have to protect her. He held her close, pulling her in closer and gently petting her head in an attempt to soothe her. He could feel her tense up with every roar of thunder that proceeded. He’d stay there as long as she needed him, though hopefully it would end soon for her sake.
--------------------------------------------------
The thunder had finally stopped. No longer in a state of panic, V had managed to move her to a small lounge area and situate her on a couch. Shadow had jumped up beside her and lied next to her, allowing her to pet his fur. V sat on the other side of her, holding her hand in his. While the thunder had passed, the rain was still falling outside. And with Kay still shaken up, V knew they couldn’t leave just yet.
“I will not pry into this matter if you do not wish to speak about it, but if I may do anything to help do not hesitate to ask.” V said. His curiosity had been stoked, but he could tell this was something sensitive. It was only fair that he give her an out should she require it.
Kay let out a deep breath, looking over at him with a weary expression. “No, I can tell you about it. No doubt you have questions about...that.”
“Are you certain? I do not mind if those questions are never answered,” He placed his hand on her cheek, brushing away a stray tear that had fallen. “My curiosity does not come before your comfort, Starlight.”
Kay leaned into his touch, a sad smile gracing her features. “Thank you, but I should still talk about it. Maybe telling someone will help me deal with it.”
V sighed, there was no stopping her once her mind was made up. And if this ultimately helped her, then it was worth it. “Very well then, but do not hesitate to stop if it is too much for you.”
“Alright. I will,” She took another deep breath before beginning. “Ever since I was a kid, I’ve never liked thunder. But my fear of it got worse after…” she trailed off, her hand ghosting over her right eye, the one she kept covered with her eyepatch and hair. “...After the incident with my eye. It happened on a stormy night, which I know sounds cliche as hell but that’s just the facts, and the thunder was booming. Ever since then, I associate thunder with what happened that night and it reminds me of...everything.”
It wasn’t much, but it was the most she’d ever spoken about her eye since he’d met her. Despite being an open book with her emotions, Kay never divulged much about her past. Getting her to speak about her life before Dante found her was near impossible. V was surprised she told him this much, even if it was still rather vague. Not that he was any better, he still hadn’t told her about his true reason for being in Red Grave. But he would tell her, just not now when she was already so vulnerable.
It was just as he’d suspected, thunder connected her to the mysterious trauma she’d once endured. He couldn’t fault her for such a thing, the pain his past self once endured affected him. He understood what it was like having to forcibly recall that which was better left forgotten. He noticed her free hand was shaking, taking it back in his own to help ground her. “Is Dante aware of this?” he asked.
Kay shook her head. “No, I’ve never told him. Whenever thunderstorms have hit he’s either out on a job or in a different room. You’re...actually the first person to see me like that. I usually try to hide it. I mean, it’s pretty pathetic to be so freaked out by something like thunder, you know?” she tried to laugh it off.
“I disagree,” V stated, causing Kay to look up at him in confusion. “It is hardly pathetic to be frightened by such a thing. Especially when it brings back terrible memories for you. There is no shame in such a thing.”
“...You say that as if you have experience with this stuff.”
“In a sense, I do.” he replied.
“Guess I’ll just add that to the list of mysteries that surround you.”
V looked at her expression, her smile was softer now and her body seemed less tense. That was better. “We both keep our secrets close it seems. Perhaps one day, we shall lay them bare to one another.”
“Well, I suppose if anyone were to know them, I’d want it to be you.”
V felt his heart skip a beat. For her to admit such a thing showed a great deal of trust, something he didn’t feel deserving of. But to think that she was willing to divulge such things to him and him alone, it made him feel truly special. “I guess that makes me a rather lucky man.”
“Ugh, get a room, you two!” Griffon squawked from the arm of a second couch. The bird demon had been quiet as Kay told her story, knowing better than to make any quips during such a serious moment, but he couldn’t keep silent any longer. “I swear, you two are so lovey-dovey it’s like a bad romance novel or somethin’!”
V glared at the familiar, ready to tell him to keep his beak shut before he heard Kay gasp beside him. “Crap, all the books I dropped are still on the floor!” she said.
V stood up from the couch, giving Kay a smile as he did. “I will handle the books, Starlight. You stay here and rest. It’ll only take me a moment.”
Kay turned away, clearly hiding her blushing face from him. She still wasn’t used to his term of endearment for her. “S-Sure! I um, can’t really get up anyway!” she stammered, pointing down at Shadow who had gotten very comfortable in her lap. It was clear he wasn’t about to move any time soon.
“I will return shortly, then.” V said, slowly making his way back to the poetry section. As he walked away, he could hear Griffon telling her that at least she had him to keep her company. It truly was amusing just how quickly his familiars had taken to her.
It didn’t take long to find the spot she’d been crouched down in fear. The books she’d been holding were still on the ground, left discarded in the wake of more pressing matters. Even if the store was abandoned, he couldn’t just leave them there like that. Too few places had managed to remain untouched by the Qliphoth and the demons, he wanted to keep it that way. At first, the books were what he expected to find: collections of poets from the Romanticism era. He couldn’t help but chuckle at this, she was clearly thinking of poets similar to William Blake. How sweet that she would take notice of such things.
As he placed the books back on their shelves, he found two books still on the floor that stood out among the rest. The first one he recognized wasn’t poetry at all, but rather a novel. A closer look revealed it to be the same book she’d grabbed when they’d first entered the store: a fantasy novel called Howl’s Moving Castle. Smirking at her choice in books, he tucked the book underneath his arm and looked at the second and last book on the floor.
Unlike the others, this book stood out to him due to it being open. All the others he’d gathered had been closed, but this one remained open even after being dropped. Perhaps she’d been reading it before the thunder struck? He took hold of it, taking care not to lose the spot it was open to as he glanced at the cover: Edgar Allen Poe: Poems and Short Stories. Well, that was quite the contrast to the other book she’d grabbed. Opening back to the page it had been left on, which happened to be The Raven, he took the two books with him.
Returning to the group, he saw Kay looked more relaxed as she laughed at something Griffon had said. Upon noticing his return, she turned to face him. “Welcome back,” she said. She quickly noticed the books he carried, though didn’t appear to recognize them at first. “Find something you like?”
V gave her his signature half-smirk as he handed the open book back to her. “No, but I do believe I found something you would,” he said, sitting next to her as he did before. “I did not take you as the type to enjoy Poe.”
Kay looked down at the book as if it were an old friend. “Yeah, my tastes are kinda all over the place,” she admitted. “Being stuck in the office all the time gave me a lot of free time, so I used it to catch up on books and movies and whatnot. I keep going back to Poe for some reason, I think I have some of his stuff memorized by heart at this point.”
“Do you now?” V asked.
Kay set the book aside, clearing her throat before she began. “Then this ebony bird beguiling my sad fancy into smiling, By the grave and stern decorum of the countenance it wore,” she recited, not even glancing at the book beside her. “‘Though thy crest be shorn and shaven, thou’, I said, ‘art sure no craven, Ghastly grim and ancient Raven wandering from the Nightly shore- Tell me what thy lordly name is on the Night’s Plutonian shore!’ Quoth the Raven-”
“‘Nevermore’.”
Kay stopped as she heard V complete the verse, turning back at him to see him smiling at her. “You did not exaggerate.”
“Well, The Raven is probably my favorite of his works,” she said. “It just appeals to me, I guess.”
While it was mere coincidence, V couldn’t help but see the irony in her favorite poem being about a man who lost his lover too soon. Would she still enjoy the poem when he was gone? Would he be her Lenore?
“Ughhhh, don’t tell me you’re gonna start quoting poems now! It’s bad enough when V does it, you know!” Griffon’s complaining snapped him out of his thoughts. “You’re a bad influence on her, Shakespeare!”
He turned to face the demon, lightly tapping his beak with the other book. He could think about such things later. “I believe she has a gift for reciting poetry, if she chooses to do so I would not dissuade her from it.”
“Oh no, I’ve just read that one so many times I know it like the back of my hand,” Kay insisted. “Besides, I think I’ll leave the poetry to you, your voice was made for reciting it.”
V turned back to her, ignoring Griffon and his annoyed muttering. “You flatter me, Starlight,” He handed her the other book. “I believe this caught your eye as well.”
Kay laughed sheepishly as she took the novel. “Yeah, I’ve been wanting to read this one for a while, but I never had luck finding it,” she explained. “Of course the first time I find it is during the end of the world, just my luck I guess.”
“I don’t believe I’ve heard of this one,” V said. “Perhaps you could tell me what it is about?”
Kay’s eye lit up, a huge smile spreading over her face. “Oh, gladly! It’s about a young woman who lives in a hat shop and gets cursed by a jealous witch because she mistakes her for someone else, and she ends up finding her way to the moving castle of the wizard Howl who’s known for his charm, and he’s under contract with a fire demon who wants out of the deal, so he offers to help break the curse if she can find a way to break the contract and-” She stopped suddenly, looking away from V and petting Shadow instead. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to ramble…”
“You need not stop, I was rather enjoying your description of the plot,” V said, truly enraptured with what she’d been saying. “And seeing you so excited over this book was rather adorable. A vast improvement over your previous state,” Kay didn’t respond, opting to bury her flustered face into her hands instead. She could hide as much as she wanted, but that just made her even cuter to him. “Well, perhaps you should take the book with you if you are so eager to read it.”
Kay looked back at him, her cheeks still pink from his flustering. “Oh no, I couldn’t! I mean, I’d practically be stealing it, wouldn’t I?”
“Like you said girlie, it’s the end of the world! Ain’t nobody gonna care if one little book goes missing from a bookstore.” Griffon said.
“...Okay, maybe you’re right, but I wouldn’t have any time to read it,” she countered. “I’m not like V, I can’t just read in the middle of a battle. It’d just be gathering dust if I took it.”
“It’s gathering dust being left here too. Just take the damn book with you!” Griffon pointed out.
“I just...don’t feel like I should take it right now, okay? Once Urizen and the Qliphoth are all taken care of, then I can come back for it,” Kay grabbed hold of V’s hand. “In fact, we can both come back here. I can find something for you while we’re at it! It could be like a date maybe? Well, a real date that isn’t just demon hunting or whatever…”
V smiled at her, ignoring the sinking feeling in his chest. “I think I would like that,” He didn’t want to tell her that he’d never set foot in this store again, at least not as himself. He wasn’t being dishonest though, he would like to come back here with her, to go on proper dates with her. But he couldn’t tell her the truth just yet. Soon, but not yet. “For now though, perhaps you could indulge in a chapter or two to pass the time. The rain has not yet settled after all.”
Kay picked up the book, brushing her hand over the cover. “Yeah, sure, I could do that.”
As she opened up the novel, she felt a hand around her waist and turned to see V pressing up against her, his signature book of William Blake poetry in his other hand. “Perhaps this could qualify as a real date?” he asked.
Kay tried her best to snuggle up with him, a difficulty seeing as Shadow was still comfortable in her lap. “Yeah, I think this can count.” she said, relaxing in his embrace.
And so the two of them stayed, waiting for the rain to pass as they enjoyed their respective books together. A distant roar of thunder, faint but still noticeable, caused Kay to tighten in his grip. She soon relaxed though as she felt his hand push her slightly closer to him. As she returned to her book, she thought about how safe she felt around V, how he managed to protect her in battle and now from her own thoughts. Perhaps...she could open up about her past to him more.
So caught up in her books, she didn’t notice the silent stare exchanged between V and Griffon, a conversation being held between them without any words.