Chapter Text
Yami Sukehiro has no words to describe the situation they find themselves in. To be a little more precise: the behavior of one good friend in the situation they found themselves in. And if absolutely accurate…
What the hell have you done, William Vangeance?
"Stop thinking so loudly. It's Annoying."
Yami nervously lights a third cigarette in a row, Morgen shifts his tired gaze from the body lying on the bed to the man.
"I'm sorry. Simply… I find it hard to believe that William could have acted so recklessly.
"...me too," after a few seconds of silence.
The silence becomes oppressive again. Morgen doesn't seem to have anything to say, and Yami has too many thoughts in his head and has no idea where to start. Perhaps there is only one answer to all the questions: it was profitable for William to do so, to take a risk. Or maybe…
Oh, the devil knows. The brain boils with so many thoughts. He doesn't want to think.
"Keep an eye on him. I want to get some fresh air."
Morgen nods. Yami glances at the thick bandages that barely hide the scar on neat face before turning away.
***
This is an idiotic situation. The two of them were caught again. Yami was pinned against the wall, and a bullet from a pistol aimed at his forehead in the hands of an impatient sergeant could take his life at any second: the brats know that he will not negotiate and will not surrender without resistance.
And Vangeance is like that... Fool. There were all chances to escape, but he was the first to take up cold steel, absolutely unable to wield it, plunged the knife blade into the sergeant's liver and, as expected, could not cope with a much more physically developed guy.
The first three bullets were fired at random, but the guy aimed perfectly: it was almost impossible to get closer, barely dodging them. And then William's head was forcefully pressed against a metal cabinet, the mask fell off, and the seconds spent by the sergeant in confusion at the sight of his face turned out to be priceless. This allowed Yami to grab the gun from his weakened grip, throwing the policeman aside, and grab Vangeances' body.
It was a body because he was unconscious himself, and later, touching the back of his head, Yami felt hot blood on his palm with irritation.
Idiot.
But they're both alive.
Vangeance is an idiot anyway.
Fresh air is not enough to put your thoughts in order and calm your nerves. Only Morgen saves, quietly closing the front door and leaning against the wall next to Yami.
"Is he awake?", a frown after a puff.
"Awake," for some reason, pleased, in response. Although Morgen is almost always happy, which is not surprising.
Sukehiro exhales, takes the cigarette out of his mouth, puts it out against the wall, throws it on the ground. Littering is bad and blah, blah, blah, but right now he genuinely and completely...
***
He would have been surprised if William hadn't smiled when he woke up. He is clearly smiling at some thoughts of his own, without blinking, looks out the window and notices the newcomer only after he approaches his bed. Or he pretends to notice; although after he hit his head with gusto, Yami is ready to sincerely doubt the background of any of his actions.
His gaze involuntarily returns to the bandages on someone else's aching head, and he realizes that the picture in front of him seems almost unreal.
In all these years of dating and joint missions, Yami Sukehiro never once thought that William might get hurt. They almost always took risks, often intentionally, often more than was necessary, and only Yami always had blood left.
Someone else's blood, of course. Vangeance does not like to get dirty in it. And then everything turned out somehow wrong, somehow the other way around.
"Aren't you going to complain that Morgen saw your face? Old Owen, too, by the way, but there was no choice, I'm sorry."
For some reason, William is silent for too long before answering.
"Don't worry. Morgen knew. Owen too."
"And the old man? Then I take my apologies back."
There was a soft chuckle in response.
"If it makes you feel better, they saw my face later than you did."
Sukehiro grunts in displeasure. Look how joyful he is. It seems that Yami has displeasure written on his face from this information. As if he really is like that…
"Yami."
Damn.
Looking at a person who calls you by your first name is a reflex gesture, banal, there is nothing like that in it. And it still feels like he's letting William pull on an invisible leash and point in the direction.
Irritate. Maybe.
"What?"
William gestures for him to come closer. Yami is listening. William asks me to lean in to him. Yami frowns. William asks:
"Close your eyes."
Yami decides that someone is too arrogant.
"Here's another thing."
And William freezes with his hand raised, blinks a couple of times, as if surprised, looks not at Yami, but through him, and his eyes... his eyes are completely empty, so the smile is unnatural. Strange. Why didn't Yami notice it right away?
What's the matter, Vangeance?
Is this the first time you've been embarrassed by your masks?
You look lost.
And, as if really embarrassed, William looks away, looking somewhere at the wall and still through it. The smile does not disappear, it remains in place, tightly sewn with invisible threads. For some reason, this is completely uncomfortable. Not as usual.
Yami grits his teeth in frustration. It is a pity that there is no cigarette between them: it relieves stress a little better. Morgen's words involuntarily come to mind. About recklessness. Something William never knew.
People act recklessly, giving in to emotions, allowing the body to make independent decisions before a safer solution comes to mind. William is not rich in emotions. And this rash act was simply the only way out in a situation where every second is precious.
At least, this is much more likely to be believed than in a sharp outburst of emotions, alien to this eccentric. It is unclear just what benefit he gained by risking his precious life.
Yami sighs. He leans on the edge of the bed, closing his eyes before William turns to him.
"If you're going to do something suspicious, then you understand the consequences..."
And he stops talking. Freezes. He feels the warmth of cold lips on his cheek, realizing what William wanted to do.
He's aware.
...good.
This can be considered as...
"Suspicious enough?" — there is undisguised amusement in the unctuous voice, in the eyes — everything is just as empty, but in a different way, it is already familiar.
He wants to smoke more and more. Yami doesn't quite understand how to react to this.
"More than enough. And what did you want?.."
"This is gratitude. A small gratitude to you. For salvation, — in the bottomless emptiness of other people's eyes, the sparks of life burn so brightly that they almost blind, but these are just reflections of the rays of the setting sun. Yami denied it for a long time, but still — it's very difficult not to look at Vangeance in the fiery red light of the sunset.
"Did you really think that I would leave you there?"
"Couldn't you?"
Couldn't you have asked about that, damn William Vangeance? Don't you know the answer to your question?
Yami frowns into the opaque dark eyes, and behind the ostentatious curiosity hides only the germ of a sincere misunderstanding.
..Doesn't he know? Seriously?
"I couldn't. It should be obvious to your annoyingly smart head."
"That's how it is. Then can I take my gratitude back?"
He's having so much fun, that bastard.
"Nope. Your gratitude is too little to make up for all the time I've been putting up with you."
William tilts his head slightly to one side and squints playfully and disgustingly.
"I'm just glad to thank you with... something more."
It's hard not to smile at such a bold proposal. It's hard to resist. However, Yami is not going to give up.
A split second before the kiss, it seems to him that William himself leaned forward impatiently, but... It's always like that with him. It always seems like overkill, too much is assumed, but really? The devil take it apart. During these endless hours, Yami is too tired to think, and he can afford to at least not strain his brain a little next to this miracle.
William has always been surprisingly assertive. Sometimes — at inappropriate and unexpected moments. Like now, for example.
It gets hot from someone else's bitten lips, touching the bandage on the back of the head with your fingers is irritatingly unpleasant, or maybe to hell with it all?
Of course, he would like to think so, because William never allowed them both to go beyond simple touches, as if it was not at all interesting to succumb to unhealthy lust here.
He would like to. Sure.
But Yami pulls away, and William, as if in a daze, reaches for him, and he has to put his finger to his lips, stopping him.
"I have no desire to fuck your insensitive body if you suddenly decide to switch off."
It takes Vangeance some time to recover, his eyes are almost clouded with desire. A moment to smile again. He doesn't answer anything, but his view is very clear: after recovery, he compensates for every second of waiting in double size.
Yami doesn't mind at all…
"What an abomination. Are you ready to do it even here?"
Nacht's face looks gloomily at them from the aisle to the accompaniment of a sadly creaking door.
Good timing, asshole.
"You don't have to watch it if you don't like it. Or do you want to join?"
Nacht definitely wants to answer as rudely and obscenely as possible, only the devil pulled him to pay attention to William, who laughed softly. And from a short eye contact, all the insults seem to disappear from his head, and he flinches as if from a sudden blow.
"Dream on."
What a cultural reaction, Yami is almost pleasantly surprised. Almost: Nacht did not consider it necessary to please with the habit of closing doors behind him, so he left. And the look involuntarily, out of habit — a stupid excuse — meets with another.
It's funny that Nacht is wary of this "nothing".