BrokenArrows14

awesome vid as always but holy shit that

Heartless plushie where did you get it omg

i really want one?

RaceforSpace69

IS THAT A HEARTLESS PLUSH OMG I

DIDN'T KNOW SQUARE WAS MAKING

HEARTLESS PLUSHIES PLEASE TELL

US WHERE YOU GOT IT (○A○)

Vanitas smirked at all the messages in his inbox screaming about the plush and pointedly swiped them into the trash instead of answering. He'd hoped his new little Heartless would get some recognition, but the amount of screamers about it was more than he'd been expecting. Which only proved his fans were, indeed, insane.

Still, so far, so hilarious. And it was only going to get more so after today's video went up.

Spreading some pillows on the floor to his gaming room in front of the tv he'd also shifted to the floor, Vanitas double checked the space was in shot with his camera. Usually he recorded at his desk with the camera on his face, but there was simply not enough room for both him and Sora to sit without making the whole desk - and therefore the camera - shake. So, floor it was.

The pillows were more of a precaution. Sora had, by now, warned him more than a few times that he tended to throw things when scared. Not that Vanitas hadn't thrown or dropped controllers before, he didn't want one to break accidentally mid-stream and give Sora the excuse to back out. Vanitas was determined to watch Sora freak the fuck out over ShadowCasts, which had even made Vanitas want to throw his controller, and that was what was going to happen.

The doorbell rang as he placed the last pillow and he sent a quick look to his clock. A bit early for Sora to be there, but he wasn't complaining. He was downright grinning as he vaulted over the pillow stack and moved to the front door.

He froze, however, when it opened. Ventus shot him an amused look, which effectively reminded Vanitas to scowl, and he did so with great enthusiasm. Not that it seemed to faze Ventus in the slightest, as it never did. Asshole.

"Don't even pretend you're not in a good mood," Ventus rolled his eyes and that only made Vanitas scowl more. "You going to let me in?"

Vanitas considered shutting the door on him, but he knew Ventus would just stand there and be even more annoying. So, with a sigh, he cautiously let the man slip through. "What the fuck do you want?"

"Nice to see you too." Again with the eye rolling. Vanitas wasn't the only one in a good mood here.

"Ventus," Vanitas crossed his arms, hating that Ventus could make him feel so on edge. And why? Because he'd seen him happy for all of one second? Fuckery.

"You big ass baby," Ventus huffed and dug into his side bag. He pulled free a white envelope with a fancy looking script on the front, one Vanitas didn't recognize, but it was clearly not Ventus' chicken scratch. "Just wanted to give you this."

Vanitas took it like it was a bomb. It was, perhaps, worse than a bomb once he realized what he was looking at as he wiggled the card free.

"You want me to go to your wedding." It wasn't even a question, he asked it so flatly. Ventus snorted.

"I want you to know that you're invited," he countered, which really didn't answer much of anything, but of course made all the difference to the stupid golden boy. Ventus and his honorable sensibilities. No doubt he'd brought this just to make himself feel better.

Still, there was no denying how… happy Ventus looked. Content. Glowing, maybe. It hurt to look at him, so Vanitas didn't, just shuffled to his kitchen to set the wedding invitation on the island. Gere looked up from his food to give a questioning merow before returning to the salmon. Vanitas pet his ears.

"I didn't know you had a cat," Ventus said, suddenly right fucking there. Vanitas had to resist the urge to smack him. "He looks about as grouchy as you do."

"It's why we get along," Vanitas said and Ventus laughed. Laughed. In all their years orbiting one another, Vanitas could count on one hand how many times he'd been able to make Ventus light up like that. It made something in him lurch.

"I could believe that," Ventus assured him, smiling wide and looking around at everything with curious eyes even though he'd been there before when Vanitas had first moved in. He was twirling something around his ring finger, which only seemed to add to his contentment.

Vanitas wasn't sure how he felt. Hollow was certainly a word. Confused, another. But for all they hated each other, he found a smile easier than he thought he could. "Well, let's see it then," he huffed, grabbing Ventus' wrist a lot less rougher than he wished. Ventus blushed, but let him study the ring resting there, a polished wood getup made of two colors, one a deep, rich brown, the other stained a dark blue. Vanitas had to snort at how damn predictable it all was.

"Oh, shut up,' Ventus puffed out his cheeks and pulled his arm away.

"They fucking deserve you," Vanitas said, hating how much he meant that. "You're all fucking cheesy as shit."

"Shut up," Ventus said again, but with an edge of laughter in his voice. He shoved at Vanitas' arm and went back to twirling the ring, looking so blissfully happy.

Vanitas again wasn't sure what to do, or feel. He wasn't used to dealing with Ventus when he was like this. For all they'd been together, dated, all that shit, Ventus had never looked like this while with him. Vanitas was truly out of his depth for once when it came to Ventus, and for all that was like standing on the edge of some cliff somewhere very fucking high… it was also a relief. That maybe there were sides to Ventus he'd never seen and wasn't meant to drag out. That maybe they could finally stop being so damn alike. That their coin could find a way to sever, so Vanitas was once more his own half and Ventus his own as well.

Love had truly worked wonders for Ventus, it was plain to see. And that was another relief, that Vanitas wasn't the only one that had failed when they'd been together. Vanitas didn't know how to be in love, but if this was what Ventus looked like head over heels and Vanitas had never seen it before, then Ventus too had never been in love with him either.

And that… eased something inside Vanitas he hadn't even realized was coiled tight. Like taking a deeper breath when he hadn't realized he'd been barely breathing.

"So, how the fuck does this all work, anyway?" he heard himself ask, a smile on his face. And wasn't that just the weirdest sensation. "I'm pretty sure threesome marriages are still not a legal thing."

Ventus' cheeks puffed out again in embarrassment and a bit of annoyance at Vanitas' choice of words, but for once he just went with it. "Terra and Aqua are getting married officially," he explained. "Then at the reception, we're doing a ring ceremony to symbolically join me to them. We decided it would be the best option, because they were dating first before they decided to date me as well."

"Again with that fucking symbolism," Vanitas caught on, because God, they were just that fucking corny. "Dating when they started dating you, now married when they add you in too. You guys are -"

"So damn cheesy, I know," Ventus laughed again, blushing and grinning wide. "But that's what's going to happen, so suck it up."

Vanitas rolled his eyes. "I don't know if I could stomach that much romcom shit," he admitted, petting Gere's ears again.

Ventus shrugged, and it was clear he wasn't expecting Vanitas to show. His honor had only led to the invitation, that was all. "That's up to you. I just wanted to let you know you were invited."

"And the future spouses are fine with that?" Vanitas asked dubiously.

"They weren't at first, but they understand our history," Ventus told him. "Like it or not, you were a major part of my life. It didn't seem right for you not to be at least be invited for my biggest chapter."

"You sound like a fucking Hallmark card," Vanitas said, shaking his head. "I'll think about it."

Ventus just nodded, again expecting that, and shouldered his bag strap higher on his shoulder, which told Vanitas he was ready to leave. But any pleasantry he was going to throw was cut off by Vanitas' phone going off and, nosy by nature, Ventus stalled in a clear attempt to peek into Vanitas' business.

You have one (1) new message.

Sora has sent a photo.

Vanitas raised an eyebrow to see a picture of his own house, though the meaning became clear enough as a follow up text quickly bleeped through: IS THIS THE RIGHT PLACE I AM SO LOST?

Ventus looked over his shoulder as Vanitas barked a laugh, blinking in surprise. "Sora is coming over?"

"We're doing a collab," Vanitas said, hardly paying attention to him while he typed out a quick affirmative. "I convinced him to try ShadowCasts."

"Oh my god," Ventus laughed in utter, older brother delight. "You know he's going to chuck his controller straight at your face, right?"

Vanitas nodded, honestly looking forward to just that. "He told me he punched you once."

"Laugh all you want, but he has a mean left hook," Ventus' nose scrunched in memory. "My nose didn't stop bleeding for half an hour."

"That is why he's my favorite," Vanitas cackled, moving back towards his living room. Ventus followed with a playful indignace on his face and Vanitas had to force himself not to stop and stare. What was all this playful teasing suddenly? More unknown territory.

But Vanitas didn't have the time to be defensive. The doorbell rang, giving Vanitas the perfect excuse to look away from Ventus and focus on something else. And that was a beaming, out of breath Sora, who really shouldn't be looking at Vanitas like he was the moon or some shit. Fuck.

"Sorry I'm late," he breathed, eyes downright sparkling with joy. And that shot something through Vanitas' chest a little like awe and a lot like embarrassment and he was all too aware of the way Ventus was smirking at his back. Like he was the romcom fuckery and not Ventus. Double fuck.

Vanitas could only mutely open the door wider to let Sora bounce through, which he did with a gleeful look, but stopped dead in his tracks seeing Ventus there. "Oh, uh…"

"Don't worry, we weren't trying to kill each other," Ventus said, still with that smug look. Vanitas glared at him over Sora's shoulder, but Ventus just smirked more, the dickwad, and hugged Sora tight. "Have fun with the horror game."

"Uh, yeah," Sora said, obviously off balance, but the reminder of just why he was there had his expression pinching into one of disgust. Vanitas laughed at him.

"Oh yes, this will be fun," he grinned all teeth, the way he did when he teased Sora over the phone. It felt damn good to be able to do it in person so Sora could get the full effect of his expression. He was expecting Sora to puff his cheeks out the way all the Uchiyama-Irimo siblings seemed to when embarrassed, but instead he got a blush, which was almost better given the way Sora sputtered, sending Vanitas into another round of laughter. Well, at least until he realized how fucking flirty this all looked.

Ventus practically floated out the door on a cloud of smugness having seen their pathetic romcom fuckery firsthand. Vanitas made a mental note to kill him later.

"Have fun you two!"

Sora was still blushing when Vanitas not too subtly shut the door on Ventus' face, but positively lit up all over again hearing the tell-tale thud of Gere hopping off the kitchen island and the tinkle of his bell collar as he trotted over to say hello. New people always had Gere's interest for all of two seconds before they tried to pet him, which either resulted in purring or biting. Vanitas almost felt like warning Sora about that.

But Sora was obviously used to cats, given he knelt down and offered his hand for Gere to sniff, not moving to pet him until Gere rubbed his face into Sora's palm. "Nice to meet you," he gushed, scratching under Gere's chin. Then his sunlight smile was on Vanitas full force and it sorta felt like walking into a fucking pole. "He's even more handsome in person."

Vanitas snorted at the stars he could see in Sora's eyes. "It's part of his allure," he said, unable to keep from grinning. "As I said, too fucking powerful."

"No wonder he's spoiled," Sora giggled and moved to stand, though immediately bent back over to pet the purring cat weaving around his legs.

"He likes you." And wasn't that weird as shit? Gere was very particular about who he let close and generally saved the buttering up for Vanitas alone. Vanitas crossed his arms to assess the younger man more closely. "You some fucking Disney prince or some shit?"

"I've been accused of that before," Sora shrugged, trying to get upright again but Gere just kept rubbing and purring and Sora was enough of a sucker to pet him more. "Oh man, allure is right. How do you get anything done?"

"Talent," Vanitas sighed, because it was honestly hard to get shit done when Gere got into cuddly moods. "Generally I keep him out of my gaming room."

"You should let him on camera," Sora said and cautiously moved to pick Gere up. Gere allowed it, purring even more, and Sora beamed in happiness. Definitely a Disney prince. "Your fans would adore him."

Vanitas reached over to muss Gere's ears, smiling fondly at his cat who was clearly enjoying all this attention way too much. "Yeah, maybe," he allowed before tilting his head towards the game room, indicating for Sora to follow him. Sora made that disgusted face again, but obediently followed and set Gere down outside the room.

"Since you like to throw shit, I decided to improvise," Vanitas explained the set up after Sora shot him a very confused look. "That, and both of us need to be in frame. Desk is too damn small."

"Ah," Sora sighed, blushing again, and took the seat Vanitas indicated. He grabbed one of the pillows and hugged it to his chest. Catching Vanitas' knowing smirk, he stuck out his tongue. "Shut up. You want me to play a scary game, I get to strangle a pillow. Or strangle you. Your choice."

"Fine, fine," Vanitas chuckled, grabbing the headset he'd bought for Sora to use and sliding them on Sora's head. "Fit okay?"

Sora adjusted them slightly and nodded, breathing deep and getting into that calm professionalism Vanitas had seen him use for his own videos. Not that it would last.

If Vanitas had known what the next few hours would be like, he would have invited Sora over so much sooner. As it was, he started up the camera and the game and took his place by Sora's side, handing him the controller.

When that video went up, everything would change. He just didn't know it yet.