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Vyncent’s world was odd, to say the least.
There were things here William couldn’t even comprehend, didn’t even want to understand. Quite frankly, Vyncent’s world was horrifying, offering monstrosities like bug-rats, undead soldiers, and steamed rats. (seriously, they could’ve grilled them, roasted them, literally anything would be more appetizing.) Unfortunately, that was just among the many disturbing novelties, because somehow, somehow they also got potatoes and carrots mixed up, slicing the former while mashing the latter. Seriously, what was wrong–
William was getting carried away.
The basic idea here was that there were many things that felt decidedly, completely, and morally wrong in Fauna compared to Prime. And despite his concerns, it was Vyncent’s home, no matter how odd and unsettling his home was.
But seriously, their morals were beyond confusing. Where murder was acceptable if the person was “evil” enough. How did that even equate to murder equals okay? What was wrong with these people?
At least it gave a better understanding of why Vyncent was so numb to the idea of killing. Even with Dakota and William’s protests of, “no, you can’t kill that villain, that would be- Vyncent, don’t you dare throw that dagger.” he never seemed to feel the burdening guilt that a normal person would feel. No wonder, Vyncent was never from this world to begin with, a fact William has always decided to conveniently forget.
The blaring truth was: nothing about this world was like Prime, and William was starting to hate it for this fact. Here, it felt like the risks were so much higher, like life and death were made more real. Like he couldn’t possibly save anyone from their demise, and he was right; William couldn’t save anyone. He couldn’t even save one man from a collapsing bridge, who was right before his grasp, but so far from his reach.
And the guilt from that, the guilt was too much. He remembers the man so vividly; his pounding pulse, the desperation in his voice when he asked if he was going to drop him, the fear in his eyes. He had died, died so easily because William had been incapable of saving him. He was supposed to be a hero, goddammit. So why, why was he not able to protect anyone?
Why can he still hear his echoing screams as he plummeted to his death?
But probably the worst thing, the absolute worst thing that Vyncent keeps mentioning all the fucking time: was the lack of Italian food. It was depressing, staring at the rat. Sorry, steamed rat as Vyncent kept talking about that goddamn food. Sure, maybe it wasn’t that deep, it was a different world with different meals after all, but William just wanted some type of comfort, a small way out when everything felt so suffocating.
So William settled on using his magic, fooling himself into tasting pizza as the chewy rodent hit his tongue.
He sorta wanted to cry.
But beyond all of that, the entire atmosphere was just weird, the dinner filled with chatter and stories he could barely understand. Seriously, what were Mrs. Sol and Vyncent even talking about? He couldn’t help but feel awkward, feeling so far away from Vyncent despite him being across the table. His hand thrummed against his thigh as he watches Dakota initiate an eating contest, shoving as much food in his mouth as grotesquely possible. William sighs, far more dramatically than necessary.
William’s gaze can’t help but fall back on Vyncent, watching as he laughed at another joke that old, squinty man made. He couldn’t help the small squeeze of his chest, both delighted by the noise and frustrated that it wasn’t him making him laugh.
The more Vyncent talked, the more he felt like he didn’t know the boy sitting in front of him. And that hurt his pride way more than he’d like to admit. Because William’s whole life was about knowing things, and he wanted, so desperately, to know Vyncent. But those ten months together had apparently only scraped the surface, and William couldn’t help the burning jealousy settling deep inside his chest as he watched the boy he barely knew laugh with people he’d known almost his entire life.
Maybe Vyncent belonged here, without the Prime Defenders, without him. His stomach twisted at the thought, his face forming a distressed frown as Dakota stared at him like a lost puppy, a question on his lips.
“What’s wrong?” Dakota had finally swallowed his food, face no longer stuffed like a chipmunk with rats in his mouth. His concern was palpable, and William couldn’t help but feel guilty for being selfish. This was Vyncent’s home, he reminded himself, of course he was going to feel comfortable here.
That didn’t stop the thought from stinging.
“Nothing.” He monotoned, eyes still watching Vyncent, following the singular dimple forming on his right cheek. “Nothing at all.”
William began to sit up, half his rat left on the plate as he picked it up. Everyone had about finished anyway; no one would miss his almost unrecognizable presence.
“...Is it about Vyncent?”
With a heap, his plate clattered back onto the table, utensils clanging against the wood. And now, everyone was looking at him. God, could the world just swallow him whole already? William mutters an apology, his face swiftly turning toward Dakota. The red-haired boy simply smiled, smiling like he knew something when there was nothing to know. Something about that confidence irked him.
“No.” He hissed, leaving before Dakota could say anything else.
Now, this is how William found himself slowly fading into the wall as he sulked. Because no, it wasn’t entirely about Vyncent. Why was that Dakota’s first thought anyway? But, either way, he was also sorta kinda maybe right. Which was annoying as well. Dakota wasn’t supposed to be right; that was William’s job. Yet, Dakota always seemed to know when something was up, especially if it concerned Vyncent’s dumb, stupidly endearing face.
At some point between his wave of thoughts, William must have dozed off, finally feeling the comfort he had so desperately longed for in the cave. Maybe it was the lively atmosphere, people who could die literally whenever from the outside world’s undead acting like it wasn’t possible, like death wasn’t looming over their every move. Maybe it was the way his group, the purps, finally settled in, trying to help.
Well, besides William, who was decidedly not helping and was instead almost-phased into a wall.
But that’s beside the point because the point was that the cave was nice. It was a lot livelier than expected, and it calmed William way more than he’d like to admit. And that’s exactly why he fell asleep.
Until he woke up, probably not even twenty minutes into his nap, to the sound of Vyncent and his mother. Now, if William was literally anybody else, he’d have phased away; it was a private conversation, after all. But he was William Wisp.
The conversation about The Greats held no interest to William, if he was being honest. Although, the slight jab from Vyncent’s mother was well-deserved. His ears perked up when Vyncent called out for him, and without even thinking much of it, William appeared from the shadows.
His action received the startled reactions of both Vyncent and Mrs. Sol, which was odd; William was the one who should be scared by the sudden call of his name. But to each their own, he guesses.
Vyncent nods down to the dishes in his hand, still dripping from the stream’s water. “Do you wanna…like, help put these away?”
He pauses, looking down at the plates while debating his answer. Eventually, he shrugs, responding with a “yeah, sure” as he reaches to grab the rest of the dishes. They’re heavy. William pretends he doesn’t struggle from their weight; he really hopes he doesn’t go intangible.
The two trek into the kitchen, walking side-by-side as William spaces out in between Vyncent’s soft humming.
William can’t help but go back to the entire idea of this place, Fauna. And honestly, he can admit that it wasn’t all that bad. What he means is that it makes Vyncent happy. And that’s good enough in his book, even if his skin crawled whenever he saw those horrid bug-rat creatures scattering on the ground.
This is Vyncent’s home, and by extension, this is a place that he loves. A place that William is willing to learn to love, for Vyncent.
And maybe that sounds dramatic, but William isn’t even sure how long they’ll be stuck here. It’s not like Dakota and him had a serious plan when they jumped in after Vyncent. No, their only desire was to stick by their friend’s side, to follow their teammate into whatever Hell awaited him.
Another bug-rat skitters across the floor, causing William to stumble. Vyncent holds out a hand, steadying the smaller boy before it's even possible for him to somehow comically ragdoll. The plates jostle a bit in his hand, but otherwise, they’re safe. William begins to set the plates down, breathing out a small sigh of relief.
Though, he thinks, they could do without the bug-rats.
Vyncent walks over to William, effectively knocking him out of his stupor with the knock of their hips. William drops his plates from their hovering position, ringing out a loud clang of porcelain.
Funny, this is the second time he’s dropped a plate today.
William whips his head around, intending to intimidate the otherworldly boy with his cold stare, but is only met with the most infuriating, mischievous grin he’s ever seen on Vyncent’s beautiful face. He kind of wants to slap it off of him. He also kind of wants to kiss it off of him.
What.
William's face begins to burn something fierce, blubbering incoherently at the audacity of his teammate. Vyncent’s grin only grows wider, his eyebrow rising in a taunting manner.
“What was that, Will?”
“You- you..!” William chucks a plate at Vyncent. The plate lands flat against his chest, sliding down at high speed only to roll down in a circle on the floor. The two follow the movement, the plate now settling perfectly intact on the floor. Of course, William can’t even throw a plate right. He has got to be the unluckiest guy in the world.
Shaking off his momentary shock, Vyncent resumes his uncharacteristically tantalizing behavior, “Now what was that, William?”
“It’s your fault. What are- what are you even doing?” William can feel the heat spreading down his neck.
“Hm? Oh, nothing.” Vyncent moves to put a dish away, purposefully reaching over William just to annoy him. William fumes, grabbing the taller boy’s arm and giving him a shove.
Vyncent doesn’t even have the decency to feign shock or offense. Instead, he just laughs, a pretty little laugh that chimes in William’s ears like a melody. He wants to hear it again.
Before William can get another word in between Vyncent’s giggles, Vyncent decides to speak through his laughter. “I…” He breathes, hard. “I can’t believe you threw a plate at me.” Vyncent breaks into another fit of hysterics, and William bites his lip to stop the dumb grin bubbling.
“Yeah, well, you deserved it.”
Vyncent cocks his head, tilting his head back so that William can see the entirety of his neck. William’s throat bobs up and down, suddenly feeling extremely dry. “That’s not fair.” He pouts, his pretty lips jutting out with a twitch of his ear.
William feels a ghost of a smile tinge his lips. He opts to say nothing, pointedly ignoring that stupidly cute face of Vyncent’s.
What William fails to realize is just how close they are. Which...probably shouldn't have been an issue; Vyncent was literally reaching over him. Of course they were close. But, as William tilts his head back towards Vyncent, the realization is startling, enough so that he jerks back as their noses touch.
Vyncent, the oblivious fool, doesn't even react. Instead he- what the fuck?
He lunges at William, and William just accepts his fate and falls, only to turn intangible as Vyncent narrowly misses his attack. William, regaining his composure, darts across the kitchen, running through the countertops rather than around.
“Hey! That’s cheating!” Vyncent shouts, recovering rather gracefully after toppling to the floor.
“I didn’t know this was a game.” William chides, turning visible once again just to display the disappointed look on his face.
Vyncent grins deviously, leaping over the island to reach William. William, who is too slow to react, mind you, can only scream as Vyncent lunges for him once again, hands landing fiercely on his shoulders.
“Got you.” He smiles, toothy and wide, as he lets out small huffs.
And William just turns intangible under the touch. Vyncent stumbles over, his weight shifting from the sudden disappearance of support as he sputters. “Where- where..?”
William rushes behind him before he can gather his senses and just fucking goes for it. And, well, William isn’t the biggest dude, but Vyncent has already lost his balance, so he should be able to knock him over, right? Right?
Yeah, wrong. Very very wrong.
It’s sorta like an awkward hug, William shifting a little too much weight into it as Vyncent only stumbles a few steps forward. He’s able to recover rather quickly, unfortunately, and now William just feels like an idiot as his arms squeeze around Vyncent’s. And wow, he’s pretty toned now that he’s paying attention.
The two just kinda…pause there for a second. William was no longer tangible either, so from the outside perspective, it just looks like some kind of weird bear grip maneuver. It’s just- it’s just weird.
William lets go, coughing, and Vyncent breaks his silence with the loudest squeak William’s ever heard as it rolls into a heap of laughter. He covers his mouth in an attempt to muffle the noise, “I’m- I’m sorry. I’m not making fun of you,” he takes in a few deep breaths, turning to face William. “I swear, I’m not.”
William sees the glisten in Vyncent’s eyes, tears threatening to spill from amusement, and he just cannot help the heat that rushes to his face from sheer embarrassment. And William cannot let this be on his track record, no, not at all. He calls for his wisps, using them as more strength as he puts extra effort into his attack. Vyncent will fall.
And, somehow, he does. Vyncent’s laughter ceases as he lands on his back with a thud.
So, uh, what William did not take into account was the compromising position of two bodies, facing each other, and on top of each other. Or the closeness of each other’s space as all he could do was stare down at the awestruck boy underneath him.
Vyncent looked disgruntled, to say the least. His hair splayed in every which direction, and his eyes lined with shock. But as he continues to stare at William, William could only find fondness lining his face, a look that he had grown to love.
“You beat me.” Vyncent eventually whispers out, breath heavy as he breathes in and out. His eyes continue to watch William, not even bothering to move.
William shakes his hands that were basically pinning Vyncent in place, trembling as he panics. Because, oh my god, what the fuck was happening right now. But, also, holy fuck, this is what Dakota meant when he spoke about the “good crazy,” because this a very, very good crazy.
“I did.” He eventually strains out, voice low.
Scratch that; William is going insane, actually. And for the love of god, he can’t even take his eyes off the pretty boy below him. And Vyncent isn’t even all that reluctant to stay in the position either, which…god, he’s going to have a heart attack.
The silence draws on for what seems like minutes, maybe even an eternity. Both boys breathe in and out, breaths heavy from the sudden usage of energy. Vyncent, against William’s better judgment, opens his mouth to speak again.
“So…you come here often?”
William might just collapse onto Vyncent right now.
He stares down at him, mind an absolute fucking hurricane on how to rebuttal to that. ‘You come here often?’ Hell yeah, he does because, well, now he has to. Vyncent keeps neutrality, face flushed from the chase. God, how does he make looking pretty so effortless?
Vyncent, noticing the eerie silence from William, waggles his eyebrows, a smile permanently plastered on his face.
William fights the smile pulling at his lips. “Hm, I could make it a regular thing.” He murmurs.
And if the face on Vyncent is an indicator that he was surprised by the sudden response, it didn’t show. Instead, he only grinned wider. “Yeah? I’d love that.”
Well, shit. William just wants to bury his face into dirt, the oblivious fool. “Yeah?”
“Yeah.” Vyncent whispers back.
William feels himself collapse from his own weight, body tired from carrying himself. He adjusts, forearms now supporting himself from falling onto Vyncent’s chest, not that he’d complain. They are now noticeably closer than before, eyes interlocked in a dangerous game, asking, silently, who was going to look away first.
He finds himself analyzing the entirety of Vyncent’s face; the small indent of his right cheek, the rosy tint coloring the entirety of his face, the small freckles peeking out from too much time on the beach. He watches his eyes, searching for something. Something he’s not sure he’d willingly admit aloud.
William finds it hard not to reach out to him, to touch the purple strands obscuring his pretty face, to see if his cheeks feel as warm as his. But he doesn’t, his hand staying steady beside Vyncent’s head as blue watches grey.
Vyncent reaches out first.
The touch is slow, startling, but warm, too. Comforting. William can’t help the way he leans into it, like a moth to a flame. But it’s also everything William wishes it wasn’t; slow, taunting, dangerous. And there it was; dangerous, this was getting dangerous. William doesn’t know what he’ll do if given the chance, and he knows it’ll be more than just reaching out to touch Vyncent.
Vyncent’s thumb runs along his cheekbone, his hand taking the entire half of William’s face and wrapping it in its soft caress. He lets out a steady breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding, nuzzling closer to the heat. Vyncent snorts. “You’re like a cat.”
“Shut up,” William mutters, sending a heatless glare toward the taller boy.
Vyncent smiles back shortly, face falling back into one of concentration as he continues his ministrations. William watches, a bit enthralled by everything going on. Here Vyncent was, below him, touching him like he was something to be cherished. And, get this, nothing about it felt weird; it was like this was always supposed to happen. Sure, William’s like ninety-nine percent sure Vyncent has no idea the effect he has on him, but let him just have this.
Vyncent’s hand slides down further to just underneath William’s jaw, his eyebrows set as he runs his thumb against the bottom of William’s lip. William fights literally everything inside him urging him to jump backward, because, what? He exhales a shaky breath, a question on his tongue as he watches Vyncent’s eyes set in some sort of morbid fascination.
“What…” His voice breaks. Vyncent thumb pauses just at the corner of his mouth, attention now back on William. “What are you doing..?” William feels the tremble of his voice, a quiet hope thrumming through his veins as it nestles deep beneath his skin. God, is it going to hurt when Vyncent decides to rip it out.
“...I dunno…I just- I wanted to.”
“You…wanted to?” He hesitates, licking his lips nervously as he searches Vyncent’s eyes. “Wanted to what exactly?” William’s heart thrums in his ears. He ignores the sensible voice inside his head telling him to stop. Screaming at him to stop pushing before he destroys whatever this is.
“To touch you.”
“You-” William gulps, hands trembling. “You can do that.”
He nods, slowly. Deliberately. “What if…What if I wanted to-” Vyncent cuts himself off abruptly, looking anywhere that wasn’t William. William had half the mind to jerk his face back to him and just tell him, “Look at me, look at me, and tell me, please.” He doesn’t.
Vyncent opens his mouth to speak again, and hope blossoms in his chest that maybe, maybe, Vyncent could feel the same. That all those times with those other women really did mean nothing. And maybe that made him a jealous, lovesick fool, but that didn’t matter. No, what mattered was whatever Vyncent was about to say.
“Nevermind.”
Something inside William cracks, desperation and fear leaking out as he claws, desperately, back to his senses. He wants Vyncent to speak, to tell him whatever is going on. He wants this to mean something; he wants to mean something to him. “No, Vynce, say- say it.” Please, his mind screams. Please say what I think you’re going to say.
Vyncent keeps his gaze pointedly away from William’s, his face reddening as he purses his lips. William knows that face; it’s the face he makes when he’s thinking about something way too hard. He wants to stop this, to soothe him and tell him he doesn’t have to say anything, but William wanted–needed to know.
“What if I wanted to kiss you?” Vyncent whispers out, voice meek and oh-so-small in the desolate room. But to William, it was deafeningly loud; to him, it was the only thing he could hear, the only thing he wanted to hear. His words glided like honey, smooth and sickeningly sweet, as William grinned, looking like a fool.
“What if I wanted you to?” William whispers back.
A question. A request.
Eyes flick back to his, surprise and relief flooding grey as Vyncent adjusts his hold, bringing William closer to him. With slow movements, William follows his direction, but Vyncent pauses, and William can see the hesitancy in his eyes. Vyncent opens his mouth, probably to ask something; William’s not entirely sure since it dies on his lips the moment William’s impatience finds his lips crashing onto Vyncent’s. The two fall flat on the ground.
And, well, William really doesn’t know what he’s doing. It’s messy and uncoordinated, and he finds himself brushing harshly against Vyncent’s nose, but it is everything he’s ever dreamed of. His hand finds its way to Vyncent’s face, fingers moving some strands out of the way. Vyncent is warm, so much warmer than William, and it makes him ache.
William pulls back, pulse hammering, and he just feels like he’s on fire. He watches Vyncent, feeling the way his hand tightens as they separate. He looks disgruntled, to say the least, obviously unprepared for William’s sudden initiative. William thinks it was worth it.
Vyncent brings himself up closer to William, propping himself on one of his elbows. He sort of looks like a lovelorn puppy staring up at him; it’s cute. William finds himself smiling wider. Vyncent takes the response as a challenge, hands tugging at William. And in one swift movement, William is back on top of Vyncent, the taller boy wrapping both arms around his shoulders as he pulls him into another kiss.
Vyncent’s face is on fire when they separate once again, and William can’t help but try to chase after him. He settles for the corner of his lip; the taller boy preens at the touch.
William opens his mouth to say something, though he’s not entirely sure what it is that he wants to say. “I really like you, Vyncent.” He settles on, hoping Vyncent understands the importance of their meaning.
He does, his lips curling into a silly little smile. He goes to say something, but the words die in his throat at the sudden introduction of noise. His ears twitch.
Beyond them, William vaguely recognizes the loud padding of feet coming towards them. He tilts his head towards the noise, catching sight of red. His eyes widen marginally, sending Vyncent a quiet warning with his eyes. Vyncent removes his hand from William’s face, William doing the same as they scramble to move, although far too slow for Dakota.
Dakota shouts after someone, it sounds like, his voice carrying as he continues following whoever’s metallic steps were rushing to the kitchen. “Yeah, ferret, take those carrots to the kitchen!”
“What even is a ferret?!” The second voice sounds out, far too young and screechy to be considered an adult. William recognizes it as the teen with the far-too-big armor they saw at the doorway. He makes another move to untangle themselves.
The two stumble, continuing to remove themselves from their compromising position. They only end up back where they’d begun, William’s head banging against the cabinet as Vyncent tries to stifle his giggles in an attempt to stay silent.
“They’re- you’re dropping the carrots!” Dakota shouts, his head whipping from side to side to take in the entirety of the kitchen. He catches sight of the two boys almost immediately, much to their dismay, “oh.” he mouths out, putting a fist to his mouth as he coughs. “I’ll uh, I’ll leave you to it.”
Dakota starts walking towards the teen and wrapping his arm around his shoulder in an attempt to guide the boy away, shooting a thumbs up to the duo. William feels hot.
“Who are you talking to?” The boy exclaims, armor clunking as he hauls in the carrots onto the countertop despite Dakota’s vice-like grip pulling him away. He whips his head around, catching the boys as well, “Oh, hey Vyncent, hi, William.” He waves, feigning indifference. Vyncent waves back, and William just wants to dig their grave now.
The teen swiftly snaps his head back around, face noticeably paling as he faces Dakota. He points a finger at the two, covering his mouth as he whisper-yells, “Is that- is that a…Prime custom?”
Dakota lets out a long-suffering sigh, looking far too old for his youth, and slaps his other hand on the teen’s shoulder.
“No, that’s just two idiots who don’t know what personal space is.”
“Hey!”
Vyncent laughs, all bubbly and sweet; it sings in William's ears. “I mean, he’s not wrong.” He shoots an adoring smile towards William, hand reaching to flick the shorter boy’s nose.
William loses his strength, tumbling onto Vyncent as he sputters a string of incoherent words. Vyncent lets out a small huff.
There’s a long moment of contemplative silence before Dakota speaks again, although hesitantly. “…You sure there’s nothing going on with you two?”
A pause.
“…No.” William eventually muffles out, face still buried in Vyncent’s shirt.
And that might be William’s most obvious lie yet. Because, well, William thinks there’s a lot going on with them. But that was a discussion for later. For now, they can just revel in the warm tingle inside their chests, the roaring roll of their stomachs, and the far too affectionate shared glances.
Yeah, they could figure it out later; besides, they had all the time in the world.
Right?