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Noé sighed as he took a sip from the champagne in his hand, unable to spot Vanitas amongst the sea of decadently dressed humans dancing in the large ballroom. Domi was at his side, wearing a beautiful purple ball gown, wrapping an arm around his, scanning the crowd as well.
They were both guests at a large ball in Paris because apparently Vanitas had heard some rumors that a cursed Vampire might make an appearance, so he and Noé decided to infiltrate the ball to try to capture it. Of course, they also needed access to the ball, and Vanitas, instead of his usual method of sneaking in uninvited, for once decided to ask Dominique to pull some strings to get them access (or rather, asked Noé to ask Dominique).
He also, to Noé slight annoyance even if he won’t admit it, asked Jeanne to come along, both for the extra muscle and because apparently he and Jeanne would play “a couple” because it was less conspicuous than for Noé and Vanitas to arrive together (Noé didn’t really get why, but he also didn’t want Vanitas to think that he was upset about Jeanne being there, because he isn’t!).
So, Noé and Domi were currently waiting in the ballroom, not just watching for any suspicious possible curse bearers but also for Vanitas and Jeanne, who had yet to arrive, as they wanted to stagger their arrivals to avoid anyone thinking they may all be in one group.
“You look very nice tonight, Noé” Domi said, breaking the silence.
Noé was wearing a light purple dress shirt with white pants and a white dress coat, similar in colour to his usual wardrobe but a nicer quality, supplied by Dominique’s family of course. “Thank you, you look beautiful as well.”
“Oh, you’re too sweet Noé!” Domi laughed, squeezing his arm. “I’m not looking forward to Vanitas’ cursebearer appearing. I’d really hate to ruin this dress.” She let out another sign and looked around. “Speaking of, where is that human friend of yours, and Jeanne of course.”
“They should be arriving soon,” Noé answered, trying to hide the slight frown that instinctively appeared on his lip.
Domi must have still seen the pout because she pushed herself closer to him and whispered, “Don’t worry Noé, they only acting for the night, aren’t they?”
“Hmm,” Noé responded. He knew there was some truth to that, but it still didn’t change how they were around each other the rest of the time. There was of course the beginning of their strange relationship when Vanitas would sometimes act downright cruel, which annoyed Noé as most of his actions did in the early days, but then it moved to whatever weird place their pairing currently was. Most recently, he had caught Vanitas sneaking off to meet with Jeanne and do who knows what, and when asked, he would only respond with a giggle and a whisper of “I don’t kiss and tell,” while blushing. Every time he found out that they had been spending time together, it felt like Vanitas’ clawed hand was squeezing his heart.
Dominique had a feeling she understand what Noé was feeling. She also tried to stay quiet for months as she had Jeanne talk endlessly about Vanitas, going from complaining to gushing to blushing like a virgin when asked what she and Vanitas had gotten up to while she only stuttered and replied that “she doesn’t think it would be ladylike to describe it.” She knows that if she truly wants to be with Noé she should probably encourage the other contender for his heart to fall in love and leave him alone, but at the same time the idea of Jeanne falling in love with Vanitas disgusts her too much!
“Domi,” Noé whispered, taking her out of her thoughts. He gestured towards the front entrance, where two familiar heads of hair had just entered.
Domi felt Noé tense up when he saw Vanitas and Jeanne walking towards them, with Jeanne’s arm wrapped tightly around Vanitas’, and shit-eating grin on his face. She tried to move her hand gently against Noé’s to calm him down, to no avail.
Both Vanitas and Jeanne were dressed up nicely. She was wearing a large pink dress which fit her perfectly, while Vanitas wore a black coat over a white dress shirt with his signature blue ribbon tied around the colour, his hair tied back in a bun with only a few strands loose.
“Apologies for being late,” Vanitas said quietly, “Jeanne got a little hungry on the way here.” He suggestively raised his eyebrows in a way that made Domi’s stomach turn while Jeanne blushed. “Isn’t that right my dear?” he added, looking towards her.
Jeanne seemed to hesitate, her face a bright red. Vanitas was watching her, like he was expecting something, but before she could speak, Noé walked over to Vanitas.
“If Jeanne did have a meal on the way than your blood sugar will be low,” Noé said, rather curtly as he grabbed some food from a passing waiter to give to Vanitas. He hated having to hear about Jeanne getting to drink from the well he so badly wanted but wasn’t allowed to sip from, but nonetheless he still worried about Vanitas. “We can’t have you passing out during the battle, can you?”
Vanitas chuckled. “Oh Noé, you think too little of me.”
“Or perhaps he doesn’t think little enough,” Domi let out under her breath.
“Well that’s enough about us,” Vanitas let out, “Have either of you spotted any sign of our curse bearer?”
“Not yet,” Noé responded.
“It’ll probably take longer into the night for them to reveal themself, so I suggest we work to blend in,” Vanitas suggested, before a slight smile appeared on the edge of his lip. “How about Jeanne and I dance around while you two explore?”
“Is that what Jeanne would like?” Domi asked, looking right into her eyes.
Jeanne was still red in the face, but she nodded. “Vanitas and I will keep an eye out for anyone suspicious.” She had a determined look, but upon Vanitas watching her, she added “And I can’t bear to be without my human for too long…”
There was something odd about the way she said that, but before anyone could question her on it, Vanitas was whisking her away to the dance floor with a call of “Happy hunting!”
Noé and Domi’s glares continued to follow the two of them until they reached the dance floor, where Vanitas placed his arm on Jeanne’s waist and proceeded to start moving around the room, their chests suspiciously close.
“I thought he said he wasn’t much of a dancer…” Noé let out under his breath.
They watched as Vanitas moved Jeanne around, and could see his lips moving, saying something that made Jeanne blush and look in their direction, which caused Domi to clench her fist. Noé looked at her out of the corner of his eye, which got Domi nervous for a moment. “I- I’ll go look around!” she said, moving away from him.
Noé wasn’t exactly sure why the three of them were acting so strange all of a sudden. Vanitas always had a strange thing for Jeanne, but his advances didn’t seem to have the same… playfulness they usually did. It seemed like there was something genuine in how he was treating Jeanne tonight, and she seemed to be completely enjoying it…
…It made Noé sick.
He hated the way his eyebrows seemed to furrow against his control as he watched them. He wanted to be happy for them, but he just couldn’t think about them without feeling like his blood was boiling. And on top of all that, Vanitas’ collar was open enough that he could just see the hint of Jeanne’s mark on his skin.
Noé turned away. He suddenly feared that if he watched Vanitas for any longer, he might blow his cover and reveal his vampirism to the largely human crowd. So instead, he found a hallway off to the side of the ballroom that was mostly empty, except for one lonely woman towards the end. Noé took the opportunity to look over the artwork decorating the walls, but somehow they shades of blue and black in them only reminded him of Vanitas more.
Noé was suddenly taken out of his brooding by the sound of movement down the hall. The woman who was there had suddenly crossed over and slammed a door open rather strongly. Noé watched her with curiosity, managing to stay out of her site as she entered this room and slammed the door behind her. Noé ran over to the door and placed his ear against it, but didn’t hear a thing.
He slowly opened the door, hoping not to alert this mysterious woman to his presence, but was greeted to an empty room, with an open window. “Where’d she go?” he asked himself, feeling to outdoor breeze that was giving him an ominous feeling.
It didn’t take too long for Dominique to find herself marching over to the couple and grabbing a tight hold of Vanitas’ arm, interrupting their dance.
Jeanne looked over at her with wide eyes, while Vanitas just had his annoying shit-eating grin as he asked, “and why have you interrupted us?”
“I’d like to speak with Vanitas for a moment,” she explained as she began dragging him out of the ballroom, leaving Jeanne standing there.
Domi dragged Vanitas off to a quiet room away from the rest of the party, where she quickly grabbed hold of him by the throat and pushed him against the wall, his feet dangly a few inches above the floor.
“What are you playing at?” she demanded.
“Oh? I thought we were all here to catch a curse-bearer.”
“You and Jeanne have never acted this… this… in love before!” Domi complained. Vanitas started laughing, which only made Domi angrier. “Careful, human. I can still crush your throat.”
“And why is it that you’re so concerned about our dear Jeanne? Don’t you want your friend to be happy?” Vanitas asked, a mischievous look in his eyes.
“Of course, I do! I just highly doubt that that happiness would come from you.”
“Well, Jeanne appears to be happy with me,” Vanitas rebutted. “We date constantly and do much more than that. And of course, she does love the taste of my blood.” He ended his sentence with a turn of his neck that showed off his mark even more.
“Well, All I know is that someone as wonderful as Jeanne could do much better than you,” Domi responded finally letting go of Vanitas.
“And who would you suggest?” Vanitas asked as he rubbed his hand against his neck. “Noé?” Upon a slight gasp from Domi, Vanitas let out a chuckle. “No, you wouldn’t want that either, would you?”
Domi ignored his pestering. “I just suggest you stop your whatever you’re playing at, or else a curse-bearing won’t be the only angry vampire you have to deal with tonight.”
Noé was trying to get a good view outside one of the ballroom’s windows when his name got called.
“Hello, Jeanne,” he responded, only glancing towards here before his intent gaze moved back to the exterior.
“What are you doing?”
“I spotted someone suspicious, but I think they fled outside…” he explained.
“Oh, well I’m not sure you’ll spot them at this time of night…” Jeanne awkwardly laughed.
Noé turned to face her, noticing how she still seemed redder in the face than usual. It also wasn’t like her to throw off concern about a curse-bearer like this. He looked around her for a moment. “Where’s Vanitas?”
“Talking to Domi,” Jeanne answered.
Noé let a beat of awkward silence pass. Eventually, his curiosity got the better of him. “You and Vanitas seem… closer.”
Jeanne giggled. “Oh yes, Vanitas has been… quite romantic lately… Ahaha!”
Noé focused in even more. “Is he treating you well?”
“Oh Yes! Vanitas makes a wonderful p-partner! Anyone would be lucky to have him a lover!”
“Oh, so she needs to rub it in now,” Noé thought to himself, silently clenching his fist. “Well, I’m glad you two are happy,” he said almost between gritted teeth as he turned back to the window.
“Um!” Jeanne started again, grabbing his arm to stop him from turning away, “I just know that… you and Vanitas are close, and I wanted to make sure you were happy with us together.”
Noé couldn’t believe what he was hearing. How could he be happy about this? Vanitas was his! If only it weren’t for his stupid memory seeing ability than it could be his mark on Vanitas’ neck and not hers!
…but, he would hate to be the cause of a failed romance, on top of the fact that if he were to reveal his jealousy to Vanitas than he was 100% sure that his partner would abandon him on the spot. “Of course I’m happy,” he answered, “I only want what’s best for Vanitas.”
Jeanne smiled. “Its good that you care for him. He deserves someone like you in his life.”
“He could have someone like me even more in him- er, in his life if he wanted…” Noé thought to himself, before wondering when he started let those thoughts about Vanitas out into the open. Whatever he felt about the relationship between Vanitas and Jeanne, he could not let anyone else figure out that he was thinking this way about Vanitas, or he would definitely run away.
Noé just nodded to Jeanne before trying to walk off, but she continued along with him at the side. “You know, Vanitas’ blood does taste quite good…” she began, causing Noé to stop walking, staring at her with a look mixed with jealousy and confusion as to why she suddenly brought that up.
Before he could question her, they heard two pairs of feet approaching them. “What’s going on here?” Vanitas asked, his voice reaching a slightly higher pitch, which Noé knew meant he was slightly annoyed but trying to hide it.
“W-well, I was just talking to Noé, since I know you and him are such close friends.”
“Well, I think that is entirely unnecessary for our goal tonight, Jeanne.”
“What are you talking about?” Noé asked at the same time Dominique said with a stern voice, “You don’t get to decide who Jeanne does and doesn’t talk to, Vanitas.”
Vanitas’ eyes moved between the three of them rapidly. Noé watching him closely, trying to determine what he was thinking as a silence took over the group. Eventually, Jeanne decided to break it. “Noé also said he thinks he saw a curse-breaker. Perhaps You should go with him Vanitas to look for it!”
Vanitas glared at her for a moment before adding on, “and you and Domi can continue to watch over the ball together!”
Domi quickly grabbed on to Jeanne’s arm. “Works for me!” she called as she began walking away into the crowd.
Vanitas watched them walk away close to one another for a moment before turning back to Noé, a slight smirk on his face. “Why are you so pleased with yourself?” Noé asked.
“Oh nothing! Lets go find this curse-bearer then!” he cheered as he walked away, not waiting for Noé to keep up.
Noé scrambled after him. “Vanitas, you’re acting stranger than usual tonight.”
“Oh, perhaps love has taken its effect on me then!”
“Love…” Noé let out, not liking the way it felt on his tongue in this context, “…for Jeanne.”
Vanitas tripped slightly over the air, but kept walking, not looking back at Noé. “Yes! T-that’s right!”
Noé thought to himself for a few more steps. “Well I don’t think Domi is really a fan of you two being together.”
“Oh? What makes you say that?”
“I’ve known Domi for a while, I can tell when she’s upset about something.”
Even though his head wasn’t facing his way, Noé could tell that Vanitas had a sly smile on his face again. “And why do you think she’s upset?”
“Probably because she doesn’t like you very much,” Noé said matter-of-factly.
Vanitas turned around to face him. “Oh, is that the only reason?”
“What are you suggesting?”
Vanitas let out a small laugh. “Oh nothing, my dear Noé. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about it!”
Noé felt a small jolt of pain in his heart at the term of endearment. “Do you really think you should still be calling me ‘Your dear’ now that you’re with Jeanne?” he asked, trying to hide the anger in his voice.
A hint of surprise appeared on Vanitas’ face before he quickly turned to the side. “I suppose that has become something of a habit for me, hasn’t it…” His voice was quieter, his eyes turned to the ground.
Noé watched him for a moment, trying to decipher what he was thinking. He reached out for his arm, “Vanitas…”
Vanitas quickly turned back, pulling his arm back with a forced smile on his face. “Well, what Jeanne doesn’t know won’t hurt her!”
Noé pulled his hand back, now frowning. “Vanitas, you shouldn’t be keeping lies from Jeanne if you are in a relationship with her.”
“Oh, I don’t imagine Jeanne will be caring that much either way!” Vanitas let out with a light voice.
“What is that supposed to mean?” Noé demanded. “And why did you act so weird when I pointed out how much you call me ‘your dear?’”
“Why don’t you show me where you saw this curse-bearer, Noé?” Vanitas asked instead, ignoring any further questions that might get asked.
Noé glared at him before walking back to the quiet hallway. “This way, and our conversation hasn’t ended yet.”
Vanitas laughed. “Good, because I have another question about Dominique: who well do you think her and Jeanne get along?”
Noé faltered for a moment. “Why are you asking about that?”
“I’d like to know more about my lover’s friend, is that okay?” Vanitas asked, batting his eyelashes at Noé.
Noé placed his hand on Vanitas’ face and pushed him to the side, his annoyance with the man he lov- was partnered with reaching a high. “They get along just fine.”
“So you and Vanitas seem to be doing quite well!” Domi remarked, her arm around Jeanne’s as they walked together.
“Oh! Yes! Vanitas has been, er, very kind lately!” Jeanne let out, somewhat awkwardly. Domi knew the girl always was a little uncomfortable talking about romance.
Dominique stopped walking, turning to look Jeanne in the eyes. “Are you happy with him? I know he wasn’t the most… kind when you first met.”
Jeanne blushed and looked off to the side. “Oh yes, he’s quite… kind.”
Domi watched her expectantly. “Is he anything else?”
“Well, he is handsome…”
“Is Vanitas really who you want to be with?” Domi suddenly injected.
Jeanne blushed even more. “Well, I just want someone who can make me happy.”
“…and that’s Vanitas?” Jeanne didn’t say anything. “Is there not someone else who might make you happier?”
Jeanne turned around so that Domi couldn’t see her face. “Well if there is, that person hasn’t revealed themself to me just yet.”
Dominique bit her lip as she thought. She would be a much better partner for Jeanne than Vanitas… but would Jeanne want her?
The two of them were both quickly pulled out of the thoughts by the sound of broken glass coming from the main ballroom. They quickly remembered their actual purpose for being at the ball, and ran back towards whatever was going on.
Noé and Vanitas made it back to the ball just in time to hear someone cry out “Vampire!” as people began running around like crazy.
“Noé, did you see where the curse-bearer went?”
Noé scanned over the crowd. “No, I don’t see them anywhere! They must be hiding amongst the humans!”
Domi and Jeanne came running towards them. “We just checked, someone locked all the doors. There’s no way out.”
“So this vampire has been fallen deep into a curse-induced delusion for quite some time for them to have planned this far in advance,” Vanitas said to himself as he began reaching inside his jacket for where he’d stashed his book. But before he could, Noé saw someone in the crowd running towards Vanitas’ back. He only caught a small glimpse of fangs before he sprang into action.
“Mine!” he shouted as he grabbed Vanitas, pulling him into his arms just before the fangs were about to bite into his shoulder, while kicking the Vampire back at the same time, before jumping a fair distance away with Vanitas his arms.
Once Noé and Vanitas were away from the Vampire, Jeanne and Dominique quickly moved as well. Jeanne punched the cruse-bearer hard enough that they slammed into the nearby wall, while Domi summed enough ice to keep it immobilized there.
“Noé,” Jeanne shouted, “Is this the Vampire you saw earlier?”
“No! She had a different-coloured dress on!”
“So there must be more than one curse-bearer here,” Domi thought out loud.
“Or someone has orchestrated this whole thing,” Noé added on.
“Uh, Noé…” a soft voice suddenly let out. Noé looked down and saw a completely red in the face Vanitas still held in his arms. “I think you can let me go now.”
Noé froze, suddenly realizing how tightly he was holding on to Vanitas, and how close their faces suddenly were to each other. He gracefully let go of Vanitas, placing him back on his feet.
Vanitas quickly turned away from Noé to smooth out the wrinkles in his suit. “A-anyway, we need to find the other vampires that are here,” he declared, clearly trying not to think about Noé holding him. “We know there is at least one…” he added as he began walking towards the incapacitated curse-bearing while thumbing through his book, trying to find their true name. “Noé, defend me while I cure this one. Jeanne and Domi, find me the other curse-bearers.”
“Got it,” Jeanne said as she and Domi ran off, while Noé quickly moved to stand behind Vanitas, watching for anyone who might come at that while Vanitas worked.
Noé and Vanitas had their backs to each other, and as Noé scanned the crowd he asked rather bluntly “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather have Jeanne here with you?”
“What are you talking about Noé?” Vanitas responded as he continued flipping through his book, unbothered by the sound of the cursed vampire struggling and failing to escape from the ice.
Noé clenched his fist, upset with himself that allowed his mouth to let out that question. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that.”
Vanitas shook his head lightly. “Honestly my dear, I don’t know what’s gotten into you tonight.”
“Maybe I’m just jealous…” Noé let out before realizing what he’d said, quickly slamming a hand over his mouth. Vanitas had frozen too, his finger still in between two of the pages of his book. “Sorry! I didn’t mean that!”
“Jealous of who?” Vanitas asked, looking back at him from the corner of his eye.
“No one!”
“Do not lie to me Archiviste…” Vanitas practically growled.
Noé sighed and turned to look Vanitas in the eye. “I suppose… I’m jealous of… Jeanne.” And just like that, the gates were opened. “Not just that she gets to drink your blood, but that’s certainly part of it. Its also because you spend all your time with her! And go on dates! And… other stuff!”
Vanitas dropped his arms and turned to face Noé. “What are you talking about? I spend all my time with you! We explore Paris together all the time! Why are you so upset?”
Noé felt a tinge of pain, knowing he’d now messed everything up, but also knowing he was well past the point of no return. “Its because she gets to kiss you! And hold you tight! And… whatever else it is you two do together! I want to do that! I want you to be mine!"
Vanitas’ eyes were wide open, staring at Noé, not saying anything. Noé’s heart was beating fast, just waiting for the inevitable moment when Vanitas would leave him. Noé couldn’t believe he’d allowed his stupid feelings to ruin their relation…
“Move!” the man in front of him suddenly yelled out, pulling Noé out of his self-depreciating thoughts. Vanitas pushed him to the ground, and suddenly a Vampire was flying over top of them, fangs out.
“Vanitas! Noé!” Jeanne called out as she ran towards them. Noé couldn’t pay much attention to her though, because all his thoughts were on the fact that Vanitas was on top of him right now, having fallen there with his head against Noé’s chest.
Vanitas pushed himself off of Noé, but froze when the two of them locked eyes. Noé could almost swear he saw a hint of a blush on his cheeks.
While the two of them were still on the floor, Jeanne managed to grab that vampire and hold it’s arms behind them. “Vanitas, cure them now!” she called out.
That seemed to pull Vanitas out of whatever trance he was in, as he quickly got up, pulled his book out and turned to the two vampires.
“These appear to be the only two curse-bearers here!” Dominique called out.
“Good,” Vanitas mumbled as he stopped on a page. He quickly called out their true names with his usual flare for dramatics, and the two vampires returned to their normal state.
Noé stood back up as they expressed their confusion over what had happened and their apologies for their curses making them act out of control. The group sent them off telling them to stay out of the eyes of humans for a little while to let things cool over.
Jeanne and Domi had also apparently opened up the doors to release the trapped humans during the commotion, so the ballroom they were in had now turned empty.
Once the two cured vampires were gone, Vanitas turned back to the three vampires he’d allied himself with. “Well, I think that went swiningly,” he smiled before turning to face Jeanne, “Don’t you, my love?”
A loud snap was heard. Everyone’s head turned over to Noé. Noé looked down to discover that apparently his hand had been against a nearby table, which now had a chunk missing out of it, the remnants of which appeared to be in Noé’s hand.
Vanitas’ face immediately looked worried. “Oh, I forgot…”
Noé saw red for a moment. “You forgot!” he yelled, approaching Vanitas. “I reveal my feelings to you and you forgot, only to go and call Jeanne ‘your love’ without even glancing at me?” He was now towering over Vanitas, whose face had various unreadable expressions crossing it. “I… Uh! I can’t stand you sometimes!”
It was now Dominique’s turn to get angry. “So you lead Noé on, all while dating Jeanne at the same time? Give me one good reason not to rip your head off right here human?”
“Uh…” Vanitas started, but Jeanne quickly stepped in between him and Domi.
“Its my fault!” she declared, earning looks of confusion from the three others.
“Don’t go apologizing for him, Jeanne. You’re too sweet for that,” Domi replied.
“No, I convinced him to do it!” she said, red in the face.
“Convinced you to do what?” Noé asked.
“Fake a relationship.”
“Huh?!?!” Noé and Domi both let out at the same time.
“Jeanne, do you really think…” Vanitas asked, but she continued, ignoring him.
“Vanitas and I realized we were unfit for each other a few months ago,” she explained. “He understood that I was not…” she glanced at Vanitas, who Noé could tell was trying to hide his nervousness about what she was reveal, “… his type,” she finished. “And I… well I understood that I’d actually fallen for someone else.”
“So then why were you acting like a couple here?” Noé asked.
Vanitas took a deep breath. “Because I knew that jealousy could be a good motivator to encourage romantic feelings, and they could be even more encouraged if the person they were jealous over was as revolting as me.”
“Don’t say that Vanitas,” Noé chastised while Domi said nothing.
“So, as an apology for my behaviour when we first met, I agreed to help Jeanne here acquire the heart of her actual love.”
Jeanne seemed clearly embarrassed while Vanitas was attempted to keep an emotionless face that would not betray however he was actually feeling.
“That’s not all, actually,” Jeanne then added.
Vanitas’ head whipped around to her. “Huh?!?”
“Well, I had managed to put together that Vanitas also had his heart set on someone else, even if he would not admit it, who would also be here tonight. So I thought if the jealousy plan worked for me, perhaps it could work for him too,” Jeanne explained, eyes not meeting anyone else there.
Vanitas spat out. “Me? Have feelings for N- er, anyone else? Please! I never asked you to do this!”
“But I know you well, Vanitas,” Jeanne replied. “This would make you truly happy.”
“Well you don’t get to decide what makes me happy for me!” Vanitas rebutted.
“I can see why you two didn’t work out,” Noé said as he watched the two of them.
Vanitas huffed out a laugh. “Yeah…”
A silence passed over them, all four sets of eyes glancing at each other before moving away, waiting for someone to say something. Domi broke the silence eventually, asking “Well, were either of you successful?”
Vanitas started laughing. “You can’t seriously not be able to piece together who it is that Jeanne is referring to!”
“Vanitas…” Noé growled.
Vanitas rolled his eyes. “I think we all know who Jeanne would really like to be with, even if you won’t admit it.”
Domi’s eyes went wide. “You can’t seriously mean…”
Jeanne nodded. “Lady De Sade,” she said, approaching her, “I think you are the most beautiful, stunning Vampire I have ever set my eyes on. I only truly started to feel this way after seeing you at the amusement park. You are powerful, but not without your kindness.”
Dominique was red in the face now. “I never thought…” she let out as Jeanne reached out and took hold of her hand. The two of them looked each other in the eyes for a moment, like they were passing silent words between each other. Then, Dominique wrapped an arm around Jeanne’s waist and kissed her.
Vanitas and Noé watched with wide eyes as they stayed connected at the lips, Jeanne at first seeming surprised but then growing more comfortable kissing back.
When they separated, Domi kept her arm around Jeanne’s waist said, “Come my love, why don’t we leave these boys to figure things out?” Jeanne nodded, and she was whisked away by Domi while the two giggled together, exchanging even more kisses.
Noé watched the two of them leave with a smile, happy one of his oldest friends was happy and in love, the initial surprise of Jeanne and Vanitas’ plans for the evening finally starting to wear off.
Once they’d left the ball room, his attention turned back to Vanitas, who was standing next to him, looking down at his feet. “Vanitas…”
“Noé,” he replied in a soft voice, his eyes still looking down.
“Why did you have to deceive me?”
Because you would’ve given the whole plan up,” Vanitas replied, avoiding Noé’s gaze.
“And who was it that Jeanne talked about? That you really had… feelings for?”
Vanitas breathed out. “Don’t play stupid Noé. You’re the only other person at this ball that I know.”
Noé let out a small gasp, surprised that Vanitas had just come out and revealed it like that. “When did you…”
“I’m not sure,” Vanitas cut him off. “I think I might have been attracted to you since the beginning, on the air ship, but I just wouldn’t let myself admit it.” He turned away, looking at the mess that had been made of the now empty ballroom. “I only really let myself admit it a little while ago. I thought I would never be able to love someone who loved me, but as you’ve proved tonight, you were able to sneak past that barrier once again.”
Noé took a step forward, placing a hand on Vanitas’ shoulder. Vanitas didn’t move, but also didn’t immediately reject the hand. “If you don’t want to talk about it, we don’t have to. We can just go back to normal.”
Vanitas sighed again. “No, I think we’re beyond that point.” He turned around, leaving Noé’s hand on his shoulder as he did, to look the vampire in the eyes. “You said you wanted me to be yours. Well,” he let out one final deep breath, “Perhaps I would like to be yours too. In every sense.”
Noé’s eyes lit up. “Every sense…” His mind went crazy with the implications.
“Yes, even… that. I don’t think Luna would mind you seeing that memory if they were able to meet you.”
Noé held back a gasp. It was rare of him to bring up his former guardian.
Vanitas smiled lightly. “I think they would’ve liked you too.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because I like you.”
“Oh.”
Vanitas chuckled. “I like you a lot, Noé Archiviste.”
“I like you too, Vanitas.” Noé then leaned forward and captured Vanitas’ lips with his own, getting his first taste of the human he so desperately longed for. Vanitas matched him, moving his lips against Noé’s, arching his back as a strong arm wrapped around it, pulling him in closer.
Noé separated from his mouth, leaving kisses along his face before approaching his neck. He grew deeply excited about the idea of seeing his mark there, a reminder to all that this human belonged to him, and that he got to taste the delicious blood that flowed within him.
“I know how badly you want it,” Vanitas whispered in his ear, “But I’d rather not have our first time be in some random ballroom.”
Noé pulled back. “But when we get home…” he asked, putting on his best pout.
Vanitas smiled and bit his lip. “You can have whatever you want from me. I want you to use me as you see fit, my love.”
Noé smiled widely and immediately scooped up Vanitas into his arms, swallowing his mouth in another kiss. “Of course, darling,” he purred at Vanitas, making him turn bright red. “I’ll make sure to show you a wonderful time before I finally get to have a taste.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” he grinned in response.
Noé carried him off, his mind rushing with all of his plans for once they’d gotten home. “Just one thing though,” he added, “please don’t try to pull anything like what you did tonight again.”