Chapter Text
Today, you had such a bad game after game. It was dreadful given that you always either had to kite first thing and you always got down very early on or managed to kite for 2 ciphers before being sent back to the manor after that kite. It was getting frustrating especially when you wanted to try new things.
The map that you got in was Chinatown. You looked around for a cipher machine before noticing the white tombstone camera stand which made you let out a tired sigh. The hunter for the last game of the day had to be Joseph. As per usual, you hid in some sort of corner, hoping that he wouldn’t find you in the mirror world but instead, you felt your heart beating heavily, meaning the hunter was near you.
God, now you are forced to hold your breath, crouching behind a crate and hopefully, he missed you. You peeked, trying to see which direction he was coming from but you didn’t expect to feel a breath on the back of your neck as you heard the familiar voice whispered into your ear. “Ma chérie, who are you trying to hide from?” You let out a yelp as you turned around and saw Joseph in his special outfit rather than the usual one.
He was wearing a golden crown studded with rubies and his hair was loose with two small braids tied in the back of his hair with his long wavy bangs framing either side of his face. You were going to be angry and scolding him for jumpscaring you but with that stupidly beautiful outfit of his, you can’t really be pissed at him for so long. “Are you seriously not going to hit me, Joseph?” You questioned since usually, Joseph is rarely nice to survivors and he would often win the match by a sweep. As you tried to stand up, Joseph offered his hand for you to take to assist you standing up which you gladly took even though you didn’t really expect him to be a gentleman towards you.
Joseph hummed before smirking at the sight of how miserable you looked when he saw you. How could he hurt you when you looked like that? He shook his head as he smiled softly. “I was until I saw how annoyed you look. I can’t possibly be mean and hit you at your most vulnerable, ma chérie.” He uttered as he slowly guided you to a cipher machine since your teammates are clueless that Joseph is being friendly right now and he wanted it to stay that way.
After all, he simply wanted to spend time with his favorite survivor… Not that you need to know anyway.
He stood in front of the cipher before hitting it with his sword. “Decode this and don’t send your decoding progress. This way, no one can interrupt us right now and you’ll bring some sort of use to your teammates.” He said as you frowned slightly as you did as he told, decoding the cipher machine in front of him. “By the way, ma chérie, I heard you are having a bad game streak today. Want to talk about it?” He asked as if he was offering a listening ear and giving you a chance to rant. You raised your eyebrows and he probably read your facial expression as he explained, "Well, Ithaqua, Michiko, and Jack mentioned that you looked more and more pissed that you kept messing up ciphers and making mistakes while kiting them after playing a few matches before them which is unlike you at all."
Now you could only feel embarrassment. You couldn't believe hunters were discussing how bad you were doing among themselves but... you are frustrated thinking about the match beforehand that you had. “Please, where do I even start?” You began to rant about Orpheus and his stupid attack and crows, going against the Will brothers, failing your rescue because of his wheel form thanks to the thorns, and then having to kite against a Naiad. While you were ranting, you didn’t realize that Joseph was not only listening to your words but also starting to braid your hair, in an attempt to make you feel more relaxed.
As soon as you finished ranting and decoding, you now realized that Joseph had finished braiding your hair spectacularly as he placed both of his hands on your shoulder. “Joseph, what is this?” You touched your hair, could feel the braid on your hair and some butterfly clips? Since when he was carrying those?
“I thought it might make you relaxed, ma chérie. And also you look very beautiful right now. You can keep the hair clips, I was going to gift you these sooner or later.” Joseph whispered close to your ear, you could feel his breath brushing your ear. This made your face go red flushed, feeling flattered by his compliments and his gifts despite you not knowing what the butterfly clips looked like. Joseph is always somewhat nicer to you outside matches. He often compliments you if you two should ever pass by in the manor and sometimes you receive gifts from him. It was like a custom for the two of you now.
A compliment from him was enough to set your heart ablaze and butterflies swarming in your stomach. Whenever you have a change of outfit he was always the first one to compliment and offer to take a picture of you so he could keep the memories alive. “Please, allow me to take a picture of you… I don’t want to forget this moment.” He uttered as you looked at him in surprise before slowly feeling embarrassed.
“Me? But others could see it through the projection, no?” You questioned, slightly scratching your cheek. Joseph chuckled at your sudden shyness as he smiled softly at you.
“No need to be shy. Let them see how beautiful you are.” Joseph said as he held your hand, bringing you the closest camera and placing you in front of the camera. His hand was warm, soft, and comforting. You wished he would hold it a little bit longer.
What was happening right now? You wondered and did not voice that thought out loud so you ended up standing still in front of the camera as he went to his camera, placing a film in the camera before counting down from 3 and taking a picture of you. Soon, you saw that holographic picture of yourself behind you. The way he braided your hair, making you look as beautiful as ever, and those butterfly clips on your hair?
They were beautiful, perfect even. They are exactly what you would want to buy. “See, I told you… You are the most beautiful person I laid my eyes on.” He whispered as he had the polaroid picture of you in his hand, keeping it close to him before caressing your cheek. This felt strangely affectionate and you were getting more and more flustered as he stared deep into your eyes with that glittery look in his eyes.
“Uhh… Joseph?” You called out his name before he snapped out retracted his hand back and cleared his throat while looking away from your gaze, hoping you didn’t see the light pink dusting on his cheeks right now. He couldn’t believe that he had gotten carried away because of how attractive you appeared.
“Apologies. I didn’t mean to touch you like that without your consent.” He was quick to apologize given that after all, he didn’t want to lose you. He didn’t want you to find him weird. Yet he wanted to show you how much you meant to him. How much he loved you but he was afraid it wasn’t requited.
He knew he couldn't afford to feel heartbroken at all. He placed a distance from you. As a way to keep his heart safe from the heartbreak that he’d experience if you’d ever rejected him. Awkward silence is filling up between you two after that one slight intimate moment. Joseph was having a conflicted thought right now but decided to push it away and put on a smile. “Come on, let us go to another cipher machine.” He said, having his hand out, hoping you would take it.
You stared at his hand, feeling your heart beating fast at the thought of holding his hand once again as your hand inched towards his and once it landed on his palm, he immediately intertwined his finger and lightly squeezed it before leading you to a cipher machine. In your communication device, you heard Martha’s voice in your ear calling out your name. “Is Joseph being friendly? We saw the picture.” She inquired, wanting to know your situation as a rescuer if you need help or not.
Demi was also preparing her Dovlin for you to drink and heal up if you ever got injured. Joseph noticed that you were distracted, perhaps by the voice of your teammates in your ear before he pulled you slightly closer, demanding your attention on him. “Tell them, you and I are busy.” He commanded because right now, all he wanted was to be alone with you. You let out a gasp at his sudden action but adhere to his request.
“Umm… Guys, just focus on decoding. He just... wants to talk to me in this match. We'll get a free win anyway.” You tried to come up with an excuse that wouldn’t make you and Joseph look bad or do something that your teammates might get the wrong idea about. Thankfully no one was questioning the reasons and continued decoding the cipher machine. Once you finished sending your message, Joseph looked pleased now knowing that nobody would interrupt you two. You could hear another cipher pop in the distance, leaving 2 cipher’s left to decode. While you were decoding, you couldn’t help but voice a thought that had been bugging you. “Joseph… Have you ever fallen for someone?” You questioned as you looked into his blue eyes. He immediately choked on air after hearing that question.
That was too sudden for him.
Were you interested in him?
His mind ran wild at the thought of the possibility of you liking him back. But he is a hunter and you’re the survivor… Such romance was forbidden, right? You knew that question also took him off-guard but you felt the need to know. He thought of what to say but ended up taking so much time that silence engulfed the two of you, making the situation more awkward. Now you felt the slightly embarrassed feeling washed over you as you began to retract your words, “You know what… Forget it-”
“Yes.” He cut your words and looked at you in seriousness. He is trying to gain the courage to confess to you. He took a deep breath before saying it again. "I have and am in love with someone." He said it as his heart raced in some sort of anticipation.
You however stayed silent. Thinking for a brief moment. You could also feel your heart hammering at the thought of him loving you as well. "Does this person happen to be me?" You asked boldly, didn’t care if he was going to reject you there.
The worst possibility is that the answer is going to be no right?
Joseph however felt like his breath was taken away. Did you know the entire time? Did you? He could feel the butterflies swarming in his stomach and excitement started to fill his heart, thinking of the possibility of you liking him. "Yes. You… are the one I love, ma chérie." He said hesitantly, feeling his face heat up while saying such lines.
It sounded embarrassing but he wanted you to know how he felt. How every time he queued with you, he got this giddy feeling of being able to talk to you and meet you. How his heart would flutter just by being near you. His mind fell into a train of thoughts as his hand subconsciously traced around your face, caressing it gently. Your skin was soft and warm in his hand.
He adored how your face flushed red there. Your heart was anticipating something while Joseph could feel the butterflies batting its wings in his stomach just thinking of doing what he wanted to you. “...Ma chérie, can I…” He hesitated, worried you were going to reject his move so he stopped his sentence. “Never mind, I-”
His words were cut off when you ended up holding his hand that was near your cheek and smiling at him gently. You were not oblivious to what he wanted. You knew exactly what he wanted. “Do it.” You whispered to which now it was Joseph’s turn to have pink lightly dusting his face.
He started to lean closer to you, lowering himself to you to make sure you could reach him and kiss him. “Are you sure?” He asked, making sure he had the full consent to do romantic things to you as you nodded. With that one nod of approval was enough for him to give in, you felt his lips meet yours, and the warmth of your lips met his cold lips. Your arms managed to make their way around Joseph’s neck, holding him close while one of his arms was basically snaked around your waist while the other ran through your hair, gently stroking the back of your hair.
The kiss felt like it was an eternity, the actions were simply him expressing how much he loved you, cherished you, and adored you after spending his time, getting to know you in this survival game.
In this very manor that you two had stepped foot on.
- - - - - - - - -
The matches ended and you are simply sitting at the survivor's lounge, sighing heavily and feeling elated that he actually loved you back. It seemed like Demi picked up as to what had actually happened in that match. "So you finally confessed your love towards Joseph?" She asked as your face heated up hearing those words. You didn't have to answer since your expression gave away. She laughed heartily before Norton who happened to be going towards the dining hall but heard the question that he let out a gasp.
"Joseph is finally dating you?" He shouted as you instantly covered your face. Now you are at the center of the attention since many seemed interested in how it happened. Although you are happy now that he is your lover now.