My little lie, how many could you change?
It was quite a long day for Vanitas already, and it wasn’t even afternoon! That vampire, who wakes him up at four in the morning, was running around the town like a crazy yelling something less or more understandable. What is rather questionable is that they didn’t try to bite him like a little mosquito they are, but instead just ran away fast enough to not get caught until they bumped into the whole ass tree and lost their balance. So, the young doctor manages to uncurse them mostly because of pure luck and a bit of his condition.
Fortunately, it wasn’t too deep into the curse, making it quite easy to use the Book of Vanitas and go back to sleep. At least they wanted to go to sleep; who wouldn’t after all that running? But just as he crosses the doors of his little apartment, which he shares with a white-haired man, his eyes meet that stupid British owl behind the window that Noe just opened. Fucking Vampire.
“Don’t-!” But before Vanitas was able to shut the windows back down, the bird was already sitting on another man’s shoulder, looking quite proud and happy with their little victory of moving inside. “Shoo! Shoo!” He tries to throw it away, but Noe was definitely on the wrong side of the conflict right now, smoothly avoiding the doctor’s hands and, with that, leaving the owl safe.
“What are you doing, Vani-ah!” The vampire couldn’t finish his sentence as the owl flew on his other shoulder, digging its claws into his poor body. A young man could only hope it wouldn’t leave any bad-looking marks.
“Can you stop moving? Or actually throw that little shit away!” Vanitas’ patience was running thin faster than usual, probably because of the morning run he had, making him almost cough out his own lungs. But Noe doesn’t actually answer his questions, looking at the owl and trying to find the reason for the doctor’s madness at the simple bird. It took less than a glance to notice the little paper rolled on its leg. Message? He heard about pigeons, but owls? Humans won’t stop surprising him.
“What’s that?”
“None of your business!”
But it was, in fact, his business… At least in Vampires’ crazy little mind; also a bit too late because the white-haired man took the paper from the owl's leg, feeling how his own curiosity was just winning over him (like it usually does anyway). The lack of an unnecessary burden makes the animal fly away from the open window, satisfied with the completed little mission. Vanitas almost immediately cursed it in at least three different languages, shutting the window without holding back his strength, making it shake a little from the impact. Probably that’s the real reason it doesn’t want to open normally without a little scuffle with it; this man is supposed to keep his strength in control! However, it’s understandable in its own way: the vampire’s doctor is at least furious (for whatever reason this time) and tired, making even the vampire step back as the gaze was moved on him.
If there is one thing he learnt from all that time working and living with Vanitas, it is to not make him more angry if he is already so furious! It can’t end well. Never. But it also had that little bit of fun in it, making from it a good laugh later, when everything and, especially, everyone cools down.
“Give that back.” The doctor hissed in an orderly tone, reaching for the paper to confiscate it from his partner. Though Noe seems to have quite a different idea in his weird mind, he moved his hand back away from the man so he wouldn’t take it so easily. “Noe, give it back.” The doctor repeated it a little in shock that the other one decided to pull that move and a bit more angry that it wasn’t going in his way. Even so, it was definitely too late for him to bring the white-haired man back to his senses. The vampire has already decided that he wants to find out why the other one is so obsessed with keeping it a secret from him, since it took one glance from Vanitas to recognise the owl and try to throw the animal away.
Being between the hammer and the anvil, Noe decided to risk his whole existence and run away before his partner could notice his not too clever idea, which would definitely reap the harvest later in the day. What man wouldn’t do to satisfy his curiosity? Even if curiosity is the first step to hell. Seeing no other option, he ran into the bathroom, not looking back, knowing pretty well that Vanitas was on his tail, ready to kick out every stupid idea man could possibly have left.
Shutting the door behind him, Noe didn’t waste more of his time, leaned at it and pushed the door handle up so it would be even harder to just walk into that little room he decided to hide himself in. There is no hesitation in saying that one wasn’t raised alone, since that movement couldn’t be pulled out by the random Kowalski, definitely not, clearly a sibling-way.
“You better open the door, Noe!” The doctor yells, banging at God's guilty doors and trying to push the stupid handle down. However, both of them know that if the white-haired man wouldn’t let go, there was no chance of opening these doors. “You better start to pray to God for mercy or-!” It didn’t stop Vanitas from threatening the other one with everything that could come into his frustrated mind. Even if he wouldn’t walk into the bathroom to confiscate the letter, he could at least pull at something his frustration and looks a bit more reasonable while doing that. Still crazy, but in a reasonable way crazy if that makes any sense to anyone.
Taking advantage of his strength and winning position, Noe quickly opens the paper, noticing that it's, in fact, a letter — not just another creative way by people to advertise another interesting but a bit silly thing, which isn’t really helpful in anything, but looks funny enough to just buy it without second opinion of your wife. A letter, or should we start to use the “the”? It was to Vanitas, which is definitely more and more surprising since the young man did not get any form of letter... Not counting the ones with many, and we meant it when we said “many”, threats. Happens to the best of us, even if the vampire’s doctor isn’t someone who is on top of everyone.
The letter was from the place called “Hogwarts,” and the worst part of it was that Noe Archiviste, no matter what anybody would tell, knows something about the Magic School. Not many, but just in line to recognise that Vanitas, looking at the man’s age, did not get the letter about being accepted as a student, definitely not. And even if the man knew that he shouldn’t read it no matter how much it would call him with that sweet little voice from hell, Good Lord... He would just die if he let it be the way Vanitas wants it to be. Fuck the “all privacy and everything” stuff; he wants to — he needs to know now —too deep into the case to leave it in the end.
Perfectly ignoring the doctor's yells and hitting due to all this time of dealing with no surely clear on the mind man, Noe opens the envelope (tearing it a little bit by the hurry of curiosity, which at the end of the day just killed the cat). His lilac’s eyes going over the text, taking the words with more and more confusion and shock showing on his angular face. With every word his mind got into, his elbow went weaker, not even caring too much when suddenly Vanitas rushed into the bathroom. After all, he managed to read the letter twice already and still couldn’t believe his own eyes, ready to accuse them of conspiring against himself.
“You little French stupid mouse! If you think it was a-”
“Professor? Really, Vanitas?” The question stabbed the hurry, killing it in an instant, leaving the room in silent thickening air, which could be cut, as well, with the knife, more probably the one to meat because I doubt the butter-one would do the good job here. The thickenist was feeling so well that it even stopped the doctor from his long and definitely full of insults arguments. Noe was looking at Vanitas; Vanitas was looking at Noe — both just staring, no words coming out of their mouths, like time had just, surprisingly, stopped. Freezing everything on its way, its path.
“... Do you have a problem with that, huh? If you do say it in my face!” The black-haired man hissed, whipping the letter, from the beginning addressed to him, from Noe’s hands, hiding it in his big black coat with unnecessary violence, crimbing the paper in the way. Just from the way Archiviste was looking at him — the same look of unbelievable, the lack of understanding, and even that bit of disappointment — Vanitas could not stop himself from giving up, sighing before he decided to answer it properly, just to wipe that stupid gaze from man’s eyes. “There are a lot of cursed vampires around Hogsmeade, close to Hogwart.”
The doctor takes a step back into the room, a little away from the bathroom, to take it into a more elegant and socially approved level. His nails in glove start scratching his own God’s guilty wrist, still feeling those beautiful eyes looking at him, trying to find the lie under that pretty smart excuse. But apparently, he couldn’t. White-haired let a soft smile appear on his lips, which only irritated his friend even more. From bad to worse, man has no rest today, that’s for sure.
“What?” Vanitas looks back at the vampire, squinting his eyes at the unspoken warning, even if both of them know that the man won’t pull a gun on Noe ever again. One time was enough for it to happen. However, his fists are still quite strong if it comes to something more.
“Nothing!” The man’s voice was a little too excited to be the actual "nothing." That sweet childish innocence, too pretty to be real.
What a shame it all was just a silly lie from Vanitas, the one to keep up his appearance and not admit to his shameful accident back in London a week ago. It’s the actual first time in months that Vanitas lies to Archiviste, and it’s the first time Noe believes that his words are true.
Quite ironic, isn’t it?