Ventus couldn't help but think about his brothers for the rest of the day. Worried thoughts kept him up well into the night, and still plagued him when he woke up barely after dawn. After tossing and turning in vain, he gave up on trying to sleep, and made his way to the bathroom, his mind still swirling.
Sora had assured Ventus that he'd make an effort, sure. And he'd looked genuinely guilty, both after Ventus had shared with him his fears regarding Roxas, and after he'd come out of his talk with their grandfather. As for Roxas, he hadn't shown any signs of getting worse; if anything, the fact that they had been able to even talk so openly was a good sign, as far as Ventus was concerned.
Maybe Ventus was just worrying over nothing, he told himself as he stepped under the shower spray. He hadn't taken a lot of time to process moving out of his home yet, now that he was thinking about it. There had always been something to do, between Terra touring campus with him, the residence party, his night spent in Vanitas's room—and of course, driving home to take care of his brothers. Maybe he was having trouble letting go and trusting his brothers to handle themselves.
Yes, that had to be it. He just had to trust that everything would be all right—and that if they did need him, they'd call for him. He had his own life to focus on, right here at DSU. With classes starting the next day, he couldn't let himself be distracted.
With newfound determination, he turned off the shower spray, grabbed his towel absently, stepped out of his stall…
…and cried out in surprise as he almost walked straight into Vanitas. Vanitas stepped back just in time, and Ventus froze. Vanitas was naked safe for a towel around his waist, his dark hair wet and clinging to his face. From up close, Ventus noticed the exact shade of his eyes—a bright, unnatural golden yellow. Before he could stop himself, Ventus let his eyes drift down to Vanitas's chest. The tattoo on his jaw and neck continued down, creeping over the left side of his chest like a hand grasping his pectoral muscle and ending in a swirl around his nipple, where a silver barbell glinted under the neon lights. A similar, jagged design was tattooed on both his upper arms, circling them in red and drawing Ventus's eye to the sculpted definition of his muscles there.
His eyes had caught sight of a scar on his left flank when Vanitas cleared his throat, and Ventus blinked, suddenly aware that he himself was naked, with his towel in his hands, covering very little of his own body—especially the growing semi hard-on he felt pressing against the cloth, which he doubted had escaped Vanitas's notice.
"I'm so sorry," Ventus mumbled, scrambling to wrap his towel around his waist without uncovering himself any more. "I didn't hear there was anyone else in here."
"Something on your mind?" Vanitas asked. Then, with a grin, "I thought you were jerking off, seeing how long you were taking in there, but clearly that's not it." He glanced down, then back up, raising an eyebrow. "Unless you recover really fast. Which would be good to know."
Ven ignored the burning in his face, his frustration from the previous day bubbling up and pushing his embarrassment aside. "Knock it off," he said. "I was thinking about my brothers."
Vanitas's cocky look wavered with a frown. "Should I report that—"
"I said, knock it off," Ven repeated. He moved to push past Vanitas, and to his surprise, Vanitas stepped out of the way. Still, in the cramped space of the bathroom, Ventus felt the skin of his arm brush up against Vanitas's chest, sending goosebumps across his body and setting his heart aflutter. He stopped by the sink where he'd left his clothes, and took a deep breath before turning back to Vanitas. "Not that it's any of your business, but one of my brothers went missing yesterday. And the other—" He stopped; Roxas's issues weren't his to share, especially not with Vanitas. "That's what I'm preoccupied with, not—" He forced himself to look Vanitas in the eye, challenging him to make another lewd joke. "Also, I'm not interested." He waved at Vanitas, short on words, but hoping it was eloquent enough.
He wasn't sure what he expected, but Vanitas gaping at him, eyebrows raised in worry, was certainly not it. "Are they okay? Your brothers?"
His question cut off the momentum of Ven's anger, and he sighed. "They're fine."
Vanitas nodded. "And you're not interested." His tone had subtly shifted to skepticism. "Mind telling me why? You seemed interested."
He glanced down again. Ventus's hard-on had died down by now, but the implication was clear, and Ven felt his anger swell up again. "Are you done checking me out?"
"Are you?"
He scoffed, unable to find a proper retort but still feeling unfairly maligned. So what if Vanitas looked good, and his own body was reacting to that? "Look—" he started, unsure what he was going to say. Then he decided to confront him upfront. "Terra told me about Unbirth. What you do."
Vanitas scoffed back, crossing his arms, his eyes narrowed. "What about it?"
"Is it true? You created some kind of unregulated super-drug and you're just…letting your dad sell it?"
"My foster father didn't exactly ask for permission," Vanitas retorted. "But you know what? If he'd asked for it, I would have given it to him."
"But—" Ventus paused. Part of him, he realized, had expected—hoped—Vanitas to at least be remorseful. Maybe even that his father was using him somehow. But that answer smashed those ideas. "Why?"
Vanitas opened his mouth, then closed it, scowling at him the whole time. "You know what?" he said. "I don't think it's any of your business. As you put it yourself."
He walked past Ventus, shoving his shoulder into Ventus's side in a way that had to be intentional—not painful, but enough to force Ven to step back.
"Vanitas, wait—" Ventus started, though he had no idea what he could say—what he wanted to say. Either way, Vanitas didn't stop; he only slowed down near the bundle of his own clothes. His leather jacket was among them: he put it on and zipped it all the way up, keeping the towel around his waist, and only picked up the rest of his clothes before exiting the bathroom.
Ventus stared at the door for a moment after it closed, trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened.
Noise came from outside, reminding him that he was still naked in a bathroom that was more or less public. In a hurry, he put on his clothes, barely getting dressed in time before Ienzo came in, greeting him with a drowsy "Hey". Ventus barely nodded in response before slinking off back to his room.
Terra was still sleeping when he came back, but Ven didn't mind; he threw himself on his unmade bed, groaning from the lack of sleep and the leftover emotions from his run-in with Vanitas. Silence felt extremely welcome right about now.
What exactly was it that irked him so much about their conversation? He'd confronted Vanitas about Unbirth, Vanitas had shown no remorse. He'd been wondering how he felt about Vanitas, and that should have been his answer. Vanitas had been nice to him, sure, but he wasn't someone Ventus wanted any further contacts with. Right?
A buzz on his phone provided a distraction from his musings. It was a text message from Roxas.
You up?
Ventus glanced at the time; half past six in the morning. Unusually early, even for Roxas. Yeah. What's going on?
Grandpa decided to teach us kendo for discipline. At dawn.
Ventus winced at the 'us'. He wasn't sure what was more ridiculous—including Roxas in an obvious punishment, or trying to get Sora to do anything at all in the morning. Ouch, he texted back.
Pretty sure Sora almost poked out his own eye.
He didn't, right? Ventus had to check. Roxas was likely joking, but it sounded almost too likely to be false.
He's fine. Just grumpy.
I bet. At least his grandfather was trying to do something, he guessed. Something beside freak out after things went awry, at least. Maybe the twins could use some bonding time with him.
How come you're up? Roxas asked.
Couldn't sleep, and I had a weird run-in with a neighbor this morning. Vanitas had technically nothing to do with his sleeplessness, but he didn't want to talk to Roxas about his worries over his brothers.
Weird how?
Ven hesitated. He hadn't told Roxas—or Sora—about Vanitas yet, and he wasn't even sure what to say. That Vanitas had been flirting with him, and that he'd spent the night in Vanitas's room, would make Roxas jump to conclusions in a way Ventus didn't need. And the drug thing…Ven himself didn't know how to describe it.
He typed a message, then deleted it without sending. The truth was, he still had no idea what he thought of Vanitas. Even though Ven now had Vanitas's side of the story regarding Unbirth, it still didn't feel complete. Vanitas's lack of remorse didn't fit in with the caring side of him that Ventus had been privy to. He'd claimed not to care about people's opinions, and yet he'd been defensive about this—which meant there had to be more.
Was Ventus just making excuses? He couldn't deny his attraction to Vanitas, and he couldn't deny that a boy showing attention to him might influence him a little. Still, he didn't think he was that vulnerable to his own hormones as to imagine things. Do you think I can skype you in 10? he finally sent. It was too much to talk about via text messages.
Yeah, Grandpa's done with us for now.
Awesome. He sent the message, grabbed his laptop, and headed downstairs to the residence's dining hall on he first floor. Breakfast wouldn't be served for another hour and a half; he would have the room to himself to talk to Roxas.
A few minutes later, Roxas came online, and Ventus started a call. Roxas looked out of breath and a little sweaty when he picked up, but he had a grin on his face.
"So. A weird neighbor and it's complicated? I want all the details. Is he cute?"
Ven rolled his eyes at Roxas's teasing tone. "It's not—" he started, then he stopped himself, because it was a little bit exactly like that.
So he told his brother everything. The encounter in the elevator, then again at the bar at the residence party. Ventus forgetting his keys, and Vanitas letting him crash. The telescope, and Ventus briefly thinking about dating him. Terra telling him about Unbirth. And, finally, their encounter in the shower.
Well, everything except for Ventus being half hard during that last conversation. That was one step too far, even when talking to his brother.
"First of all," Roxas said when he was done, "I hope you're not expecting me to tell you what to do."
Ven let out a nervous laugh. "I'll take any advice, but mostly I think I just needed to vent."
"Okay. Well, if you're convinced there's more to it, try talking to him again. Maybe not while you're naked. Either you're wrong, and then you'll know. Or you're right, and he tells you, and then you'll also know."
"Or I'm right, but he doesn't tell me," Ventus pointed out.
"And then you're exactly where you are now."
Ven sighed. "I guess."
"Do you even trust what your roommate told you? Maybe there's more to that, and Vanitas wouldn't tell you the truth because he thought you already picked a side."
"I—" Ventus hadn't really had any reason to question anything Terra had said. The idea to question him felt daunting, as his roommate and currently his only friend at DSU, but it wasn't entirely impossible that Roxas had a point. Terra had made it clear he and Vanitas didn't get along. "Maybe?"
"It's worth asking. You know, considering how much it apparently bothers you."
Did it bother him that much? Ventus knew he had used it as an excuse for his sleeplessness, so maybe that's what Roxas meant. Or maybe Roxas knew him well enough to gauge it from listening to him.
"You're right," he said. "I need closure on this, at the very least."
Ventus thought about waiting until after breakfast, but he decided that he should at least try talking to Vanitas now. The longer he waited, the more he felt he might chicken out. So he found himself going back to his floor, walking up to Vanitas's door, and knocking.
To his surprise, he door flew open almost instantly, revealing Vanitas, now fully dressed—including the leather jacket, the zipper now open and showing a crimson shirt underneath.
"What do you want?" Vanitas simply said, irritation seeping into his voice.
"I wanted to talk about earlier," Ventus said. "I—"
"I thought you weren't interested? Well I'm not either."
Vanitas moved to slam the door, but Ventus caught it before he could.
"Please? Just give me a minute. I just want to have the whole story."
The skeptical look Vanitas cast him felt cold as ice. "One minute. Don't waste it."
Ven almost protested, then realized Vanitas was serious, and took a deep breath, before launching himself into the speech he'd outlined on the way here. "Look, Terra said that your father's company sold a drug you invented, and that his roommate suffered from addiction until he dropped out. I don't know how much of it is true, and if it's not, and Terra just hates you for some other reason, then I'm sorry I believed him. I just—I saw how everyone acted almost scared of you at the party, and it made sense, but I wanted to at least hear you out, because you didn't strike me as a bad person. But then you said you didn't mind, and now I—don't know what to think anymore. All I know is, there's more to your story than that. I'm sure of it." He paused for breath, realizing he was rambling. Maybe he should have done more than outline this. "Look, I'm not gonna pretend I'm not attracted to you, not after—this morning. And I think you like me too?" He blushed, but carried on. "I just want to figure out—" His voice trailed off, as he tried to explain himself without sounding too forward.
"If I'm good enough for you?" Vanitas suggested with contempt.
"Yeah?" Ventus said, tentatively, and immediately realized that was the wrong thing to say. "Or just—if you're a good person, I guess." Vanitas fell silent, and Ventus squirmed under his gaze. "Please say something."
"Yeah, I'm attracted to you," Vanitas said, but his cold tone made the words feel off. "I don't flirt with people I'm not interested in."
Ventus looked up a him, feeling his heart race—from delivering his speech, but not just that. "So—"
"But I also think you're a self-important, judgmental brat with a far too narrow understanding of the world and of what's 'good'." Vanitas spoke the words evenly, but that only made them more insulting.
"I—what?"
"I told you that I would have given my foster father permission to sell Unbirth, if he'd asked, and you took it to mean that I don't mind, which I find interesting. But I also think that it's easy to blame addiction on the substance, while Zack Fair was a troubled, useless garbage human who was trying to run away from the skeletons in his closet, and Unbirth was just his latest attempt." He scoffed. "So no, your roommate didn't lie to you, but that doesn't mean you're off the hook for deciding I wasn't good enough because of it. I also think it's funny of you to take the moral high ground, even though you won't even let people know who you are, Ventus Enix." He glanced at something behind Ventus, grinned, then returned his gaze to Ventus. "Come on, I work in chemical engineering. Of course I knew who you were."
There was a brief moment of stillness where Ven just gaped at him, frozen in panic. Then, a voice came from behind. "Ventus—?"
Ventus turned around, but he had already recognized it. "Terra, I—"
But Terra's angry gaze wasn't directed at him. "And you wonder why you have no friends, Vanitas."
"I don't," Vanitas retorted. Then, to Ventus, "You had your minute. Bye."
