21
Moaning, Yazoo stretched his sleepy body, drowsily blinking at the cloudy sky that showed before his open window.
Looked like rain again…
Uncaring he rose from the sheets, discarding of the nigthgown and dressing in a white loose shirt with wide sleeves. After putting on some black wollen trousers and going through his hair with a comb, he exited the room on bare feet to go down and wash his face.
Upon coming to the kitchen however, the unbeloved voice of his major coffin nail reached his delicate ears. Cloud seemed to be in a serious state of agitation, and the silver haired young man decided with a smirk that he could as well have some fun and eavesdrop a little.
After all, his mentor himself had delegated him to observe everything suspicious and though the spiky haired teen hadn´t tried anything yet one could never know. Over the years he had come to grudgingly tolerate the others presence, mainly because it was just fun to get a rise out of the overly serious and earnest young man.
Pressing himself against the chalked wall Yazoo pricked up his ears.
“Why not? I will talk to father about it, and if he refuses we can just… go away and start over somewhere where no one knows us! I don´t care about status groups, I love you and that´s all I need!”
“Cloud,” the maid sighed, sounding sad “I´m very honoured by your proposal and I like you a lot too, but it just can´t be…”
That was the moment when Yazoo decided that he had heard enough and stepped into the kitchen.
Cloud was kneeling before a chair Aeris was sitting on, holding her hand and looking desperate. The maid did not look less distraught, especially after she noticed Yazoo standing in the doorframe with a frosty expression.
The other teen looked up as well, face becoming distanced again once he had made eyecontact with his special friend.
“Yazoo,” the maid said surprised, quickly withdrawing her hands from Cloud´s grip. “You are early today.”
The silver haired teen wasn´t fooled by her warm smile, and went straight to the rising blond to grab him by the collar and pull him to his feet roughly. He was surmounting Cloud by at least a head, which helped his intimidating appearance a lot as he icyly stared down at the other.
Unfazed, and almost stubborn, Cloud looked up at him too, both of them ignoring Aeris and her attempts to pacify the situation.
“Please boys, we just can talk about it-”
“Shut up woman,” Yazoo cut her off tightly, immediately stirring Clouds wrath for being so crude to his beloved one. Snarling and scowling at each other, the blond let himself being dragged out of the kitchen and into the backyard, wanting to spare Aeris the ugly sight of their fight.
As soon as they were out in the warm summer air a heavy punch followed the next and soon the two were standing opposite each other, panting and bleeding, their vitriolic glares substituting for words and insults. There was not much to say anyway; Cloud wanted Aeris and Yazoo would not approve of it, let alone hand her over to him.
Wiping away some blood from his mouth the silver haired teen leaped forward again like lightening, his childhood experiences with street fights providing him with a clear advantage over the sheltered, inexperienced, but no less determinded blond.
Eventually the fight came out in favor of Yazoo, and he crashed the bleeding boy into the wall. Instantly he pressed a hand over the offenders windpipe, watching the other struggle and turning red.
With a withering glare he hissed into the bloodied ear of the blond. “Be glad that I am not in the mood today to stain my hands with your stinking blood. Should I ever see you even near her again however,” he squeezed a little harder, murderous intend radiating from his cold eyes, “I will kill you.”
Eyes going wide the blond gasped for air.
He harboured absolutely no doubt that Yazoo woud stay true to his word; the usually calm and collected, albeit mocking and annoying youth had been clearly pushed past his limits and was barely refraining himself from killing Cloud on the spot. Coughing he slid down the wall as Yazoo finally let go before he could take it too far and turned away from his victim.
“Get out.”
Hurriedly, Cloud shuffled to his feet, holding his abused throat, snarling “We´re not done yet,” and stumbling out of the garden, his expensive cloths muddy and ragged, his fair face scratched and dirty, blue eyes blazing with anger and shame.
Whatever the bastard or his father said, he would take Aeris with him some day, come what may!
*
“Yazoo…” Aeris stood in the middle of the kitchen, her face looking pained as she watched him limping over the cold stone floor.
Instead of saying something he stopped a mere inches in front of her, looking to the side, his jaw clenched.
“Please don´t be like tha- AH!”
Suddenly she found herself on the floor, looking up at his expressionless face in shock and a hand flying to her burning cheek where he had slapped her.
“So that was what the two of you were scheming all the time. Who´d have thought you´d turn out to be such a bitch. What did he promise you for speading your legs? Jewelry? Money? Marriage even?”
Hurt, Aeris held her cheek, but her eyes were not showing anger but sad sympathy.
“You know that I wouldn´t leave you,” she said softly.
“Oh? Didn´t sound like it right now. When were you planning on informing me about your plans of marriage?” the youth answered sarcastically, still looking past her, and hands clenching into angry fists.
“Yazoo…” She had come to a sitting position, grabbing one of his fists and pulling him down to her with little resistance.
“I do not plan on getting married at all, you heard that too, didn´t you?”
Patiently the maid drew the agitated young man into her lap, placing his head on her bossom and gently stroking over his hair. “I told Cloud that too. I will not leave you alone.”
“So you would have gone with him if it wasn´t for me?”
She remained silent, continuing to stroke over his head.
“Do you love him or what?” Yazoo demanded to know with a cynical undertone, looking her in the eye sharply.
“Of course I do. Just as I love you and Master Vincent-”
“That´s not what I asked for.” The teen interrupted her “You know exactly what I´m talking about.”
“Well, it might be a little bit different from my love for you or Master Vincent,” she admitted quietly, looking down at his suspicious face with lenience.
“Really. How different?”
Sighing she placed his head back on her chest, explaining calmly “I think you know. I cannot really explain it, but maybe you can compare it with the feelings you and Master Vincent share.”
“…What?”
She almost laughed at his blank expression that reminded her so much of the one he always had when she caught him with his hand in the cookie box.
“Oh, don´t try to fool me, it´s as plain as the nose on your face,” she smiled at him warmly,to signal that she was alright with it.
“Really,” the boy said facile, not liking where the topic was going, but not feeling guilty for committing the ‘sin of sodomy’ either.
“Yes,” Aeris smiled benevolently “so I´m sure you have an idea of what I´m feeling.”
“Hn,” Yazoo snorted, not feeling generous enough to grant her the same absolution she had to him.
“But,” the maid sighed, “since I love you two even more, I´ll just die an old virgin.”
The teen smirked in thriumphant satisfaction and they sat on the floor for some time, enjoying the warm closeness until Yazoo announced quietly “I am sorry for hitting you. Does it hurt?”
Aeris shook her head, patiently letting him inspect her red cheek, Yazoo looking somewhat guilty, but at least uneasy.
“It´s alright, I know that it hurts you more than me.”
“Hm,” he bit his bottom lip and averted his eyes.
“How about some breakfast now, hm? I´m sure you must be hungry and you haven´t eaten anything at all.”
He nodded, rising from the floor and helping her up so they could have a late breakfast consisting of the usual cake and a glass of fresh milk.
*
“That´s what happened,” Yazoo finished his report, which came pretty close to the truth even though he might have left out the one or another detail (mainly his hand connecting with Aeris´ cheek). Curling one of Vincent´s long, black tresses around his fingers, he looked at the ceiling idly.
He was still groggy from their love making, and jawned behind his hand.
“I see,” the vampire simply said, looking at his protégé with warm eyes. “She is more perceptive than I thought.”
Inwardly he wondered how much more Aeris had noticed, especially about the true nature of his being. But since she hadn´t mentioned anything he assumed that she didn´t know.
“Hn,” Yazoo affirmed, adding with a teasing smirk “that´s all because you´re always so lovey-dovey when you´re with me. You need to work on your poker face.”
“You wish,” the vampire snorted, but looking amused as he adjusted the blanket over the teens naked body.
“Well, maybe I do,” came the purred reply, making Vincent hesitate for a moment, but then deciding to not deepen the subject.
“So she found someone for herself,” he instead said quietly.
“Like hell she did!” the silver haired teen snapped, unconciously pulling strongly at his masters hair.
“Language,” the vampire chided with a lifted eyebrow, uncurling the boy´s fingers around his hair. “Miss Aeris has every right to get married to whomever she seems fitting. And you have no due to hinder her ambitions. She is almost beyond marital age now, and Cloud Strife seems a honest young man to me. Aeris Gainsborough is a good woman who deserves a decent partner.” Silently he added that Strife would be in for the high jump if he dared to fail her or make her unhappy.
“That bas-… Strife´s nowhere near to be a ‘decent partner’ at all, he´s just an annoying, spoiled little boy.”
“Oh? And what does that make you then, I wonder?” the vampire pondered, ignoring the withering glare thrown into his direction.
“Anyway,” Yazoo concluded, stretching his back a little, “they cannot go beyond the status difference, no matter what he says and Aeris already said that she won´t leave us.”
“Now who is the little boy here? The girl spoiled you far too much for her own good,” Vincent muttered.
“Hm?” Yazoo innocently fluttered his long lashes.
“Nothing.”
Vincent hid behind his collar, asking himself who he thought he was to judge others like this when he wasn´t exactly the best rolemodell at all.
Snuggling deeper into the vampires embrace, Yazoo sighed, eyelids becoming heavy, but with a satisfied smile stating “It´s just perfect as it is, she doesn´t need anyone else besides us, and so don´t we,” adding mentally, after drifting half into sleep 'Just would be nice to wake up beside you, though…'
Vincent pressed his lips together briefly, watching his sleeping lover for a bit longer, before going back to his coffin and holding out the day.
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Xyleel: Dann ist ja gut, bin mir da manchmal etwas unsicher... Die Idee mit Vincent und dem Atmen ist gut, ich werde sie so übernehmen wenn´s ok ist. Muss nur noch schauen, wo ich das anmerken kann. Ja, die Fragen kommen noch später, die hätten da wirklich nicht reingepasst. Außerdem macht Vincent nur nach und nach kleine Zugetsändnisse und muss sich erstmal dran gewöhnen, dass ein Mensch überhaupt von seiner Existenz weiß. Dachte ich mir so :)
