Living Together

Living with Vanitas turned out to be simpler than Noé had anticipated. Considering how easily the man's moods changed he had thought they might argue. Instead, Vanitas was rarely to be seen in their shared space.

Noé shifted slightly in bed attempting to find that perfectly comfortable spot all people longed for.

"Are you still asleep?" a teasing voice asked. Noé reluctantly opened his eyes and took his surroundings in.

Thankfully he hadn't fallen out of bed this night. Noé didn't find the floor particularly uncomfortable but he really would prefer the warmth of his blankets.

It took awhile but he finally oriented himself well enough to figure out where Vanitas's voice was coming from. As it turned out it was coming from outside the window.

"Why are you out there?" Noé asked in bemusement.

Vanitas flashed him his trademark smirk. "I like the view. Are you coming? Breakfast was ready hours ago."

"Hours?" Noé hastily got out of bed and followed Vanitas who had popped back out of view up onto the roof. He spared a moment to wonder if it was really safe for a human to be traversing such a steeply inclined structure but recalled only a week ago Vanitas had climbed an airship and flung himself through an unopened window. A rooftop was fairly mundane in comparison.

When he sat himself down next to Vanitas he once again asked, "What do you mean breakfast was ready hours ago?" He looked out at the expanse of homes before him covered yet in shadow. The sun was just barely beginning to make its way above the horizon.

"I mean just that! I've had this little breakfast of ours ready hours ago."

Noé frowned as he took in Vanitas's complexion. "You got breakfast at this hour?"

Vanitas hummed softly. "I wanted to. The kitchen downstairs is quite lenient. I'm sure Amelia will bring our real breakfast up later as well."

Mulling this over Noé proceeded to reach for the rolls Vanitas had brought up. They still felt a little warm. He wanted to ask why he had been waiting up on the rooftop and why he'd gotten them both breakfast at such a ludicrous hour but seeing the strange emptiness in Vanitas's eyes as he watched the rising sun stalled him. He barely knew the man. Most likely he was just a night owl. Noé tried to ignore the twinge of disappointment at his own assessment. Somehow, he knew that wasn't quite right.

"These are quite good," he said instead. A strange smile flitted briefly on Vanitas's lips.

"Do you think so?"

"I do."

"Good."

The conversation lulled for a while after that. Noé continued to eat his roll and Vanitas continued to look outwards in silence, offering nothing of his thoughts.

Is this how it's always going to be? Noé wondered idly. While he had expected difficulty in sharing a hotel room he hadn't thought it would be from lack of conversation. Vanitas was normally very talkative. Noé was forced to admit that as frustrating as Vanitas could be he found himself growing curious about what made him tick. But right now nothing was being revealed.

"Do you often have trouble sleeping, Noé?" Vanitas finally asked.

Noé blinked in surprise. Out of all the things they were going to be talking about he hadn't expected this.

"Yes, I suppose that's true. Have I been keeping you up?" he asked worriedly. He couldn't recall seeing Vanitas spend any real amount of time in their shared quarters.

"No, that hasn't kept me up." It implied something else did but once again Noé let it go. Someday he would get answers but he suspected today wasn't a good day to try his luck.

Vanitas nodded distractedly. "As a doctor I can help you with that." Noé thought Vanitas's doctor title was dubious at best but nodded obediently.

"What would you suggest?"

Vanitas finally looked over at him. "Tea. And exercise."

Noé laughed openly at that. "Exercise? I feel like I get plenty of that already."

"And you'll be getting plenty more as my assistant," Vanitas smirked. "You'll be better in no time."

"You're the one assisting me," Noé corrected automatically. "You're my partner."

"If you insist," Vanitas replied magnanimously. The glint in his eye was far too mischievous for Noé to take him seriously but it wasn't something he was overly concerned with.

"I'm not sure I like tea though," Noé admitted.

"Truly?"

"I only like it when there's honey."

This time it was Vanitas who let out a chuckle. "I should have known. Well, I'll just make sure you get some of that, too."

"Maybe you're not a terrible doctor."

"Maybe? You wound me, my dear Noé."

The silence that followed was a comfortable one. Noé felt the wind gently tug at his hair and thought he could detect the scent of change being carried with it. He couldn't wait to see what it brought.

Notes:

Hello, all! As you can see this is a series for VaNoé Week 2018, so all chapters are following the prompts set out on Tumblr although at times they probably qualify as being "loosely inspired by" the prompts on Tumblr. I hope you all enjoy. I have this story rated G at the moment and it's likely to stay that way. If the rating goes up it would only be to T. Let me know if you have any questions or if you notice anything horribly amiss in the editing. Thanks!