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"I have tried to marry three times, but it wasn't until you that I was finally able to know what it is like to be promised eternity. Though we don't know each other very well, I look forward to having the rest of eternity to learn." Vegetta said with a longing smile cast down to their conjoined hands. It made something in Foolish hurt and if he weren't so thrown by the fact that he was literally in the underworld, he'd likely have laughed as he usually did when he was nervous. But, even he could feel how cruel it would be to laugh in the face of such a sincere confession.
"Yeah, I just... you do realize that I--I hadn't really meant to um, like get married to you?" Foolish stuttered, running a hand nervously through his hair.
"No, of course not." Vegetta shook his head, eyes shining with mirth. "That was just the proposal, no? You would never have us get married in the middle of nowhere with neither of our families here, right? Though," Vegetta hummed, putting a finger to his chin as he thought. "Though it would be hard to get your family in the underworld."
A flash of white movement beside them was the only warning they got before their legs were being hugged tightly by Leonarda. The ghostly girl was still a little scary to look at, in Foolish's opinion, but after learning how she had gotten the scales that lined her face, he couldn't help but be gentler towards her. He matched her smile and patted her head.
"Well, I guess we don't need the rest of our family here as long as we have some," Vegetta said softly, putting his hand over Foolish's on Leonarda's head, who beamed up at them. Foolish could feel his heart skip a beat, as he met the other's eyes. He knew that he should turn him down, explain clearly where the misunderstanding had occurred, but how could he do that when the other was looking at him with such loving eyes? Could he break the heart of this gentle person? It wasn't just that he wanted to hurt the other's feelings. There was something that changed over the last few days. Being who he wanted to be freely and openly was like a breath of fresh air.
Not only that but Vegetta had been so patient with him, even when Foolish had freaked out on him. (Though granted, most people would freak out if they suddenly woke up in the underworld after seeing a walking corpse.) But now, Foolish was finding that he no longer feared the other. No, instead the purple eyes that once scared him now beckoned to Foolish like a siren. Perhaps it was this compulsion that had led him to turn his palm up, entangling his fingers in the cold skeletal hands of the other, eyes trained on Vegetta's expression for any signs of discomfort.
The other smiled at him and squeezed his hand back, and maybe that's what him melt. There was nothing grand or extravagant about this; it was a brush of fingertips and shared piano melodies as their pseudo-daughter slipped out of their reach and began twirling around to the music. He'd always been a quiet architect, hidden away in the schematics of beautiful buildings, but that didn't seem as important anymore. Because it didn't make time to slow down or cup his face like this. Foolish let out a contented noise as the other leaned their foreheads together.
"No, to be quite honest, I find myself feeling very selfish, for you are beautiful even surrounded by death," Vegetta whispered these words, and Foolish felt his heart break all over again. Would it be so terrible for him to have this? Has he not spent his life in the shadow of his father's lost dreams? His dream was not to add to his family's vaults but to be left to his own devices with his buildings and his ideas. Responsibility had too soon made itself known as a staple in his household.
"Fulich, are your parents still in the living world?" Leonarda asked as she paused her dancing, as though the question had just come to her. "Even if pa Vegetta's family can't make it, we should try to get yours." Her bright eyes held such hope in them that even as Foolish knew how his parents would react, there was some small hope in her voice that made him wish he could fulfill the vision she had for the wedding.
"We can certainly try, Leo," He said softly, unable to help the soft touch on her head. It didn't feel like he had been in any other state of being than this little family that had so fiercely adopted him, not knowing the ache his heart had felt until then for true affection unmired by the callous hand of capitalism. If he had not been born into gold, would Mariana have even looked in his direction? Foolish chided himself for casting the blame on the young man who was simply doing what his parents wished best for their family. Mariana, for all that they fought, had been someone that Foolish could see himself falling for. Not now, but in another universe.
How could he even think to shame when it mirrored his actions up until recently? The Foolish from days ago would be aghast at how he had abandoned all responsibility and given in to the indulgent lifestyle Vegetta inspired.
His eyes slid over to the said man, and Vegetta was already looking back at him, though his only acknowledgment of being caught was an uptick of his lip. A small smile, a secret thing. Foolish's breath caught. Just for him.
Perhaps this whole affair would not work out, but how Foolish wished that it would. That he could accept the freedom Vegetta was promising him, freedom from his family's legacy, and the freedom to be himself. To finally be able to play on the piano without the weight of an expectant and snooty crowd. No, his audience of two proved to be all he needed. The Greeks had it right in their interpretation of beauty. All the ornery of the most hallowed halls could not dare to compare to feeling the soft touch of Vegetta's hand over his, to the open-mouth wonder at his designs. Oh, to be seen, Foolish found that he would do most anything for it.
