|
Believe - The Name of This Emotion Whispers followed him as he fairly ran out of the hospital, all the nurses and the nurse-in-trainings clustering in hushed whispers. Rumors had it that one of their youngest and brilliant doctors now had a girlfriend and that was why he took off the holidays from time to time, whereas before, he had always taken those holiday shifts. Even tonight, he asked to work tomorrow night's shift instead. Vincent quickened his pace even more as if to flee from all the whispers that he could actually hear. It was a mixed blessing to have superhuman acute hearing. With a sheepish smile playing around the edges of his mouth, he ran over to his car in the employee parking lot. He was running late as it was. Having parked his car in the now familiar driveway, Vincent walked up to the front door, ringing the doorbell. Beyond the charming wooden door, his keen ears clearly made out the musical chiming of the doorbell, and he waited as the patter of light feet approached. He could just see it in his mind as she fumbled a little with the door lock, then the door opened, spilling warmth onto the chilly October night. In the light from the living room, a slender shape stood shadowed, a warm mahogany halo welcoming his eyes. Dark forest green eyes stared up at him reproachfully. "Vincent! You're late!" she mock pouted, wrinkling her nose at him. Normally, he would have laughed and apologized, but he was struck speechless, his eyes riveted to the shimmering wings sprouting from her back between folds of palest rose hued dress. The mahogany wealth cascaded down her back, making the translucent wings stand out in relief, and he could not look away, somehow mesmerized by the ethereal beauty of them. Noticing the direction of the maroon gaze, Aeris arched her eyebrows. She shook back her thick hair, one slender hand forming a fist that came to rest upon her hip. The movement snapped his attention away, and he shifted his gaze, taking in the beautiful face, and the soft revealing contours of her slender body through the pale rose colored robe that loosely hugged her frame from moderately open front down to her slippered feet. "Well?" she demanded, waiting until she thought he was done with his observation. He gave her a smile with a hint of shadow within the maroon eyes. "You are beautiful," he murmured almost grudgingly, making the laughter in her eyes disappear. She reached up, and he felt the delicate warmth cover the coldness of his cheek. "Is something wrong, Vincent?" she asked softly, raising her other hand to hold his face within her hands. Wordlessly staring into the ever beautiful green eyes the color of shadows of a sunlit forest, Vincent searched for words to pinpoint the murky and ugly emotions swirling within himself. Yes, she was beautiful. Yes, he loved her - he could no longer deny the fact nor did he wish to. But... He closed his eyes, breaking off eye contact. Even with his eyes closed, he could still see her in his mind's eye, hear the steady tip tap of the blood running within her veins, feel the soft velvet of her palm on his cold cheeks, and smell the sweet fragrance that was her. All this he loved and more. He loved her quick smiles, loved the flute like silvery voice, and most of all, loved the bright pure soul that enjoyed life with an everpresent cheerful front. But... Then he sensed the warmth float nearer, and in the next moment, a sweet caress fell upon his lips. Resisting the urge to grab her and crush her slender form to his, instead, Vincent slowly opened his eyes. The tender leaf green eyes were so close to his own so that he could see the dark ring of the outer iris in the pools of spring green. "Now are you feeling better?" she gently teased him, her laughing countenance blowing away the clouds of ugly darkness within his heart. Involuntarily, he grinned back. "You have magicked away my bad humor, sweet enchantress," he murmured even as he stole a kiss from her. Giggling, she danced away, then stuck out her tongue at him. "I'm a fairy!" she protested in an injured tone, turning slightly to show her shimmering wings. "See? An enchantress doesn't have wings!" "The typical image of a fairy doesn't wear long dresses either," he observed with a lift of his eyebrow. Aeris made a face. "They do, too, wear long gowns!" she retorted, then grabbed him by the arm. "Anyway! You have to dress up for the party!" Hearing the echoes of the doorbell, Vincent sighed loudly. Having heard him sigh more than ten times on their way to the party, Aeris primly ignored him. "Do I have to?" he muttered, again, for the umpteenth time. They both heard the footsteps as someone ran to open the door, and Aeris tugged at his arm. "You look great!" she whispered quickly. "The costume fits you perfectly!" Then the door opened, flooding them in the bright light from within. "Aeris!" a bright enthusiastic voice fell upon them. "I'm glad you made it!" The young black haired woman hugged Aeris before turning to regard Vincent. "And this must be Vincent?" she smiled upon finishing a close inspection of him. Knowing that he had passed some kind of test, he managed a smile, offering a gloved hand. "You must be Miss Lockheart." Startled, Tifa blinked her eyes as she shook the proffered hand. For a moment, their hands gripped, each staring at the other to measure their worth. "Are people already here?" Unaware of the tension, Aeris asked eagerly, breaking the staring contest between her friend and her lover. Tifa turned a bright smile upon her friend. "Yes! You got to come in and meet everyone!" her eyes softened as they rested upon the slender figure. "They'll love your lovely costume! No one our age can possibly dress up as a fairy and look elegant in it!" A twinkling laughter bubbled from her cherry lips. "Come on, then!" They entered the house, and taking off their coats in the hallway, they followed their hostess to the living room where most of the guests were congealing. "Everyone!" Tifa's cheerful voice easily rose above the happy din within, and the guests' eyes turned towards them. "Aeris and her boyfriend're here!" A smile frozen on his face like a mask that threatened to crack, Vincent took in the sea...well no, it wasn't that many, so... a lake of unknown faces: all curious and on the male part, some hostile. Silence fell upon the room, however, as they saw the couple standing in the doorway. Only the music in the background failed to respect the quietitude. In a loose but form fitting robe of pale rose hue, Aeris glowed like a pure gentle flower in spring, her loveliness surpassing everyone in the room. Everyone had expected that and had waited eagerly for her to come so that they could feast upon her beauty and rest their weary eyes. What they had not expected was the tall still figure standing protectively over their fairy. Shining coal dark hair slid down a straight broad back, slanted almond shaped eyes glowing strange maroon in an expressionless light, and the slightly pale skin stood out against the black black silk of the formfitting evening jacket from under which grew long straight legs. A black cape hung from slender and well toned shoulders, the length of black silken material flowing about him in a natural shadow. Seeing him, every male in the room gave an inward sigh of relief that he did not choose to dress up as a vampire. None of them could possibly hope to outshine such a perfect Count Dracula. A collective sigh rose from the crowd, some in relief, some in appreciation of the beautiful couple, dispelling the pall of silence upon them. Released from the frozen tableau, few of them broke away from the crowd to greet them. "Happy Halloween!" they greeted with wide affectionate smiles for Aeris and tentative ones for Vincent. Pasting on his social smile, Vincent wordlessly watched them as people crowded around them, although they took care not to come too close to him. He smiled imwardly in ironic amusement. Despite everything, mankind was not stupid. They always sensed the strangeness that separated him from them, and they shied away, wondering even as they did so. The only person to have broken through the invisible border without even aware of its existence, had been Aeris, his beautiful fairy who even now turned to smile at him as if sensing his thoughts upon her. He smiled back, forgetting to put on his mask for a moment, and failed to notice as the people about him unconsciously relaxed, one going even so far as to clap him on the shoulder. Startled, he looked down at a young girl who dressed up as a witch. "Heya, man," she grinned up at him. "I'm Yuffie. Do you wanna come sit and talk with me?" she winked on the side away from Aeris. Before he could even formulate an answer to this sudden invitation, slender arms tightly wound around his body. "You're not taking him away from me!" Aeris exclaimed with a mock glare at her young friend. Yuffie burst out laughing, hitting Vincent's caped shoulder as if laughter could not express her amusement enough. "You're soooooo jealous!" the teenager laughed at her. ' Jealous ' Upon hearing that word, the world faded away on him for a moment. He vaguely took note as they bantered back and forth, but he did not pay attention, his mind taken up with an astonishingly simple revelation. ' Jealous ' Of course. He had been jealous. Jealous of letting other eyes gaze upon the beauty that could not help but attract. Jealous of the leaf green eyes that had to turn away to look upon the rest of the world and not only him. Jealous, because he had come to accept the fact that he loved her, and that miraculously, she loved him as well. How simple it all was, and how blind he was to himself that he did not see! A crooked smile lifted the corner of his lips as he watched Aeris laughing with her young friend. |