Disclaimer- don't own them. if I did, DoC would have been a hardcore yaoi game. XD
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The stuffed animal was cute, fluffy, and perfectly adorable in every way- and it made a muscle in Vincent's jaw twitch just to look at it. "What... is this?" he finally asked, holding it at arm's length as if afraid it would bite.
"It's a plush cat, what do you think?" Reeve sat back on the end of the sofa and grinned at his lover's reaction to the gift. Fully two feet tall, the plush cat was black with a white chest and paws, with two large green glass eyes that matched his and a pink silk patch for a nose. The WRO comissioner had tied a red bandana around its neck; a blank gold nametag hung from the knot. "What, don't you like it?"
Vincent glanced from it to him and back again, one eybrow raised- then let out a soft chuckle. "Only you, Reeve," he teased, lips curled up in a bit of a smile. He stretched his left arm over the back of the couch, placing it around the other man's shoulders as he eased into the spot next to him. His crimson eyes were slightly swollen, shadowed by nights of restless sleep and days of avoidance. "Mind if I ask what the occasion is?"
"No occasion." He pushed back the long ebony locks to brush his lips against the other's cheek. "Just... I can't always be here, no matter how much I may want to be." Which was part of the problem. Vincent nodded slowly, tapping his claw against the fluffly thing's nametag. "And if I can't be here, a part of me can... well." He shrugged, looking sheepish. "It's silly and childish, I know, but-"
"- and it's you." Vincent silenced his lover the best way he knew how, by claiming the other man's lips with his own. Hands wrapped tentatively around his waist; he ran the claw through the other's rich chestnut hair before pulling back and bringing the plush animal up to his face. It was all Reeve, all right- soft, warm, comforting. The fur tickled his nose like the soft thatch of hair on Reeve's chest did when he laid his head over his heart. It even smelled like him. He smiled over the thing's fuzzy head and kissed Reeve again. "Thank you."
He smiled and ruffled his lover's hair. "As long as a part of me is here, then you're never alone, Vincent. Remember that."
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It was well past midnight when he finally stumbled into the bedroom, tie in hand and his shirt halfway off. Two glowing circles of crimson met him before he clicked the light on. "Vincent?"
His lover was sitting up against the headboard of the bed, shivering violently, the stuffed cat held tightly in his arms. His face was buried in the thing's fur; fresh tear tracks marred his porcelain cheeks. Vincent managed a wan smile as Reeve sat down across from him on the bed. Fear still sparked behind the crimson irises, a fear born from the shadows of a past that still lingered. "I'm all right," he said before the other man could begin to question him. "It was... just a nightmare."
"Why didn't you call me?" Reeve reached out and stroked the dampness from his cheek; Vincent leaned into the touch. "The meeting wasn't that important. I would have come back."
Vincent made no protest as his lover reached out and gathered him into his arms. His ruined hand fondly stroked Reeve's beard as he set the plush animal aside; the fur on its head was wet, stuck together in miniature spikes where his tears had soaked the fabric. He managed a smile when he glanced at it questioningly. "It's all right. I wasn't alone, Reeve." He looked down at the plush cat, then into his lover's vibrant green eyes. "You were here with me."