"Are you sure you're okay?"

Vanitas's question came halfway through the ride back to DSU, and it took Ventus by surprise. "Okay about?"

"Your grandfather." He paused. "I know he didn't—throw you out or anything, but I saw your face. It got to you."

"I was shocked, but I'm okay" Ventus said. "It's hard to explain." He himself wasn't sure how to explain it, not to someone who hadn't live his life for the five years since his parents' death. "My grandfather—I don't hate him, but I don't need his approval, either. There's a reason I only came out to him for Sora's sake, not my own."

"Okay. Just making sure."

Ventus caught the edge in his voice—like he was conceding, but not satisfied. "Are you okay?" The glance Vanitas shot him spoke volumes. "It sounds to me like you're projecting your own issues here," he said. Vanitas fell silent, and after a moment, Ventus glanced at him, worried he'd said something wrong. "Sorry, I'm overstepping—"

"No. No, you have a point."

Another silence. "Wanna talk about it?"

"Later." With a sigh, Vanitas relaxed his pose. "Really, later. It's old stuff—it can wait. I just wanted to make sure you're fine."

"I'll hold you to that," Ventus said. "But yes, I am. What about you? Any regrets about dating me yet, after meeting my family?"

"Don't be ridiculous," Vanitas said with a small, relaxed laugh. "Your brothers are great."

"You sure? Because Roxas didn't exactly go easy on you."

"You told him everything," Vanitas pointed out. "About us—since we met. Right?"

"Yeah, I did. Is that—weird?"

"No, but—well, he has good reasons to be wary of me." He paused. "So should you."

"I'm over it," Ventus said. "I promise. And you? Coming to terms with—what did you call me again? Pretentious and judgmental?"

"Self-important, not pretentious," Vanitas corrected. "And I was wrong on both counts."

It took all the effort Ven was capable of not to preen. "See? You're over it too."

"You know, considering it hasn't even been twenty-four hours yet since we got together, I'd say you're a little too optimistic."

"It's barely been twelve hours. Should we celebrate that?" Ventus teased. "Our…half-day anniversary?"

Vanitas stared at him, deadpan. "Don't even joke about that."

"Okay. I'll save the celebration for a full day, then." Ventus couldn't help but laugh at the dismay on Vanitas's face. "I'm kidding. But what's so wrong about me being happy that we're together?"

"Nothing's wrong."

"Good. Because I'm not going to repress it."

Vanitas opened his mouth to retort, but it never came; instead, a smile appeared on his face, and he remained silent.


There was a sense of peace hanging between them for the rest of the ride; but when they exited the car and Vanitas reached for Ven's hand, and they walked back to the residence with their shoulders bumping into one another, that peace was quickly replaced with something else in Ven's mind.

"You know," he said as the elevator doors closed behind them, "we have the rest of the weekend to ourselves." He wrapped his arms around Vanitas's neck, as if to make his intent clearer.

Vanitas ran his hands up from Ven's hips and along his sides, but a teasing smirk formed on his face. "Not the entire weekend. I know for a fact your Biology TA expects you to keep working hard on those lab reports."

Ventus groaned. "So much for sleeping my way to success. You're supposed to be the bad boy who extorts favors out of me."

"Tough luck. Though, for what it's worth—" He brushed a hand to the side of Ventus's face, electrifying Ven's skin under his fingers. "We still have the entire evening to ourselves."

"I like your thinking." Ven couldn't hold himself back any longer: feeling suddenly bold, he leaned in and kissed Vanitas.

Just then, the elevator doors opened, startling Ventus into stepping back. When he turned around, he saw Lauriam, casting them a vaguely curious look as he waited for them to leave the elevator. But when they crossed the hallway together towards the door to Vanitas's room, Ventus was sure he caught the man smirking at them.

He put the thought out of his mind—they had no reason to hide, did they?—and followed Vanitas into the bedroom.

"So—now what?" Vanitas asked.

Ventus couldn't help but stare at him. "You're asking me? Aren't you supposed to know what couples do more than me?"

Vanitas frowned back at him. "First of all, I'm pretty sure 'what couples do' is whatever they feel like doing. Second of all, how many boyfriends do you think I've had, exactly?"

"A few?" Ventus hasarded, suddenly feeling like he had to tread carefully. "You obviously have experience. Not that there's anything wrong with—"

"I've slept with a few guys," Vanitas said. "Thirteen, to be exact. But the first one was the only one I dated. Well—it was complicated, but I think it counts as dating."

"Oh." Ventus felt another rush of embarrassment rising. "Sorry—I shouldn't have assumed. And I meant what I said, there's nothing wrong with it." He sighed. "I've made this awkward, haven't I?"

"I'm the one who brought it up. I just wanted to lay it out for you. After—" He hesitated, and Ventus waited patiently for him to continue. "After you took me with you to meet your family, it's only fair I'd give some personal information in return. Something like that."

"Okay," Ventus said. "You don't have to, but—thanks for doing it."

"Right." Vanitas nodded, as if to move on. "So. What do you want to do?"

Ven didn't have to think for very long—mostly because hunger had been gnawing at the pit of his stomach for the whole ride back. "Like I told Sora, we haven't eaten anything all day, so—"

Vanitas chuckled. "If you want to ask me out, there are more straightforward ways to do it."

"I was thinking more about ordering in," Ventus admitted. "So we can—stay here."

For a brief moment, Ventus was worried he'd disappointed Vanitas by suggesting that, but the smile he got in return was genuine. "Takeout, then. Any ideas?"

"If you're as hungry as I am—anything, as long as it's a lot," Ventus said. "It's my treat."


It wasn't long until their food arrived—probably a little more than was reasonable. Ventus had ordered from four different places: an assortment of dim sum from a Chinese place, a large pizza that was even more gigantic than he'd imagined, and a collection of entrees from a traditional Destiny Islander restaurant that Vanitas was a regular at. And, of course, dessert from Tiana's Palace.

They moved to Ventus's room, mostly to turn on the Playstation and have something to do while they made their way through the food. Vanitas wasn't much of a gamer, by his own admission; after a decent attempt at playing co-op, he gave up, but suggested Ventus should just keep playing.

"You sure?" Ventus asked, unable to hold back a frown.

"Yeah. I like watching Xion play, too. I'm used to it, it's—it gives me an excuse to do nothing for a while." With a smirk, he slid closer to Ventus on the small couch. "Well, maybe not nothing," he said, pressing his lips to the crook of Ventus's neck.

In spite of his teasing, he mostly just cuddled up to Ventus, idly talking and eating as Ventus played practically on autopilot. Their earlier discussion still lingered in Ventus's mind, and he couldn't help but ask, "Did you do anything like that with your last boyfriend?"

"No," Vanitas simply said. "We never did anything that—nice. As I said, it was complicated."

Ven glanced at Vanitas, searching his face for hints to change the subject. "How did it end?" he asked cautiously.

"It ended when I left home and enrolled at DSU." After a brief pause, he added, "He ended it. I guess I was only interesting when I was around."

"Home? I—kind of assumed you lived in Radiant City already, since your lab's here, and your sister, too—"

"Yep. I lived with my father, across town. DSU was still too far; that's how dependent our relationship was on proximity." He let out a bitter chuckle. "I would have ended it too—he just got to it first. Just for the record. I'm not hung up over him."

"I—hadn't even thought about that," Ventus admitted.

Vanitas looked up at him with a mixture of surprise and amazement. "Really? You weren't even a little concerned?"

Ven shrugged. "You don't really seem like the type to pine. Besides, I trust you. Is that too soon?" Everything did feel like it was moving fast, but not in a way that made him concerned.

"I don't know. But it's nice." Vanitas nuzzled into the crook of his neck again, simply resting his face against Ven's skin. For a moment, all Ventus heard were his deep breaths. Then, he said, "Don't lose that."

Ven felt himself blushing, but he said nothing.


Against all odds, they managed to make their way through the impressive pile of food Ventus had ordered. Ven felt halfway to falling into a coma, which in hindsight may not be the best look for his first evening spent with his new boyfriend. Although as he lay back on his bed, controller discarded on the floor, trying to summon the energy to move again, Vanitas simply laid down beside him. There was precious limited room, which forced them to stay close to one another, and Ventus figured that perhaps this hadn't been such a bad idea after all.

"This is nice," he simply said.

Vanitas chuckled in response, lazily throwing an arm across Ventus's stomach. "It's not so bad."

"Oh, come on, is that the best you've got?" Ven took Vanitas's hand in his. "I never really thought about what it meant. Being together with someone."

"Oh, really." Vanitas let his skepticism ring loud in his voice."

"Well—" Ven let out a nervous laugh. "Obviously I imagined the part where I got a stupidly hot boyfriend I could have sex with. And I guess I have that now," he said, grinning at Vanitas. "But this? I hadn't thought about this. This is pretty good too."

"'Nice'. 'Pretty good'. You're being a real wordsmith here."

"Yeah, not majoring in English anytime soon."

"Aw, and here I was, expecting I'd be dating a true poet."

"I could make an effort, if you want."

"Ugh. Please. I don't even want to joke about barfing right now." A moment later, Vanitas raised his head. "Although, maybe you should try reciting poetry for me. It could be hilarious."

"Wow. Trying to set me up for failure so you can laugh at me. Real classy."

"Do I look like a class act to you?" Vanitas tugged lightly at the piercings on his face, as it to prove his point.

Ventus tilted his head, faking thoughtfulness. "Well, maybe not. But you do look like an amazing boyfriend."

Vanitas snorted with laughter. "Corny, but at least you're making progress on the compliment front."

"Maybe at some point I'll even be worth your time?"

With a knowing smirk, Vanitas leaned down to kiss him. "You already are, or I wouldn't be here right now. But speaking of worth my time—" He sat up on the bed, causing Ven to shiver at the sudden loss of his body heat next to him. "We should be taking full advantage of our time right now."

Ven still didn't know if he was capable of moving at all. "Are we in any rush?" he whined.

"This is college. If you're not in a rush, you're probably headed for failure."

"Harsh."

"But true."

Ven grimaced, but he had a point. Ven was probably already falling back on studying for classes, and it had barely been two weeks. "So what do you suggest?"

"I don't know. We don't have to do anything or go anywhere. Just—not doing nothing would be nice too."

Ven watched him with an amused frown as Vanitas paced. "Aren't you the one who said you liked watching me play games because it gave you an excuse to do nothing?" Vanitas's glare was enough to silence him, and to finally summon the energy to sit up. "Okay. Now what?"

"I don't know. We barely know each other. Shouldn't we work on that?" There was an uncertainty there that looked out of place on Vanitas. Had he never done this before, not even with his previous boyfriend?

Perhaps they'd known each other before dating, Ventus guessed. He doubted Vanitas wanted him to ask about his ex again anyway. "Okay. Get to know each other. I can do that." Although, even as he said so, his mind was drawing blanks on an actual topic of conversation. "Um…when's your birthday?"

Vanitas stared at him, amused. "That's your best—"

"I don't see you asking grand, revelatory questions."

"Fair." Vanitas closed his eyes with a smile. "Same as yours, actually. January 9th."

"Should I be surprised that you know my birthday?"

"You're a public figure. Get over yourself."

"Okay, stalker," Ven teased. "So we're like, the same age and everything?"

"That is how our concept of age works, yes."

"I can't believe you've known about it this whole time and didn't tell me until now. It's like—fate."

"It's only a coincidence. And I didn't tell you because for at least half of this whole time I've hated you."

"Ouch," Ven said, though Vanitas's words left him undeterred. There was no bite to them—Ven felt like he was getting better at telling the difference. "You slept with me after a week," he pointed out. "That's exactly half of the time we've known each other so far. Surely you can't have—"

Vanitas let out a deep sigh and silenced Ventus with a kiss, before retreating away from the bed. "Shut up." He turned his back to Ven, though Ventus did not miss the hint of color on his cheeks. "What's this?"

The question was likely meant as a distraction, but Ven still pushed himself off the bed to join him by his desk. Vanitas was holding the Wayfinder made of seashells Sora had given him. "It's a gift from Sora. Which he got from his friend, Kairi."

"Regifting?"

"More like—trying to wish me luck. It's a Wayfinder." Glancing at Vanitas's blank look, he remembered what he'd told him in Spanish class—how he had no connection to his Destiny Islands ancestry or culture. "We all have one—Sora, Roxas and I. It's meant to represent our unbreakable connection."

"An unbreakable connection to your family—" Vanitas looked away.

"Hey, is everything—"

Vanitas didn't let him finish. "There's one question you haven't asked me yet."

Ven frowned. It sounded like Vanitas was trying to distract him, but the determined look in his eyes made Ventus think that perhaps he'd been working the courage to get to this, and the distraction had been the rest of this discussion. Still, he wasn't certain what Vanitas was talking about.

"Your grandfather. Why he doesn't like me."

At those words, Ven wasn't sure if he should frown harder or just laugh it off. Vanitas had said they could talk about it later, but Ven hadn't realized he was being literal about it. "In case you didn't notice, I wasn't expecting that to go well at all. You're probably not the kind of guy he wished I was dating. It's no big"

"It wasn't just that I'm not the right kind of guy. It's personal."

The seriousness in his expression forced Ven to drop the attempts at levity. "You're not just assuming that, are you," he said, softly. Vanitas shook his head. "Okay, what is it then?"

Vanitas's determination faltered, and he stepped back, looking away. "Honestly, I kind of thought you knew already. It's my last name and everything. But—"

"Ansem? Like the DSU dean?"

"Like my foster father. Xehanort Ansem."

The name knocked the wind out of Ven's chest. His grandfather had never mentioned his last name before, but the first name was unique enough that— "My grandfather's ex-husband?"

Vanitas nodded. "Yeah."

"Oh. That's—" Ventus paused. "Is that why you know so much about me?"

"It's not like I was actually stalking you, but—" Vanitas bit his lip. "It was hard not to know about your family growing up. My foster father, he's—I don't want to say obsessed, but he's not over it. And I don't think it's because he wants to get back with your grandfather, either. It's more like he's been holding on to his anger this whole time." The tension in him was obvious, from the clench of his jaw, the twitch of his fingers as he tried to avoid closing his fists, the sudden hardness of his breaths.

"Is that why you hated me?" Ven asked. "When we first—"

"No." A faint smirk peeked on Vanitas's lips. "That was all you. As was…"—he waved between the two of them—"this."

Ventus couldn't help but smile back. "It is better if I actually earned it myself."

In spite of that, Vanitas's smile wavered. "So you're not mad about this?"

"Mad? Why would I be mad?"

Vanitas shrugged. "Because I kept it from you?"

"No, that's—" Ven took Vanitas's hands into his, forcing him to look up at Ven again. "It's not like you've been keeping it from me. Like I said, we barely know each other—but that's normal. It doesn't mean everything we don't know about each other needs to be a dramatic reveal. If anything, I'm glad you told me now."

"How are you taking this so well?" Vanitas asked, his voice lowered to barely a whisper, as if it was on the verge of breaking.

"It's…kinda weird to think about, I guess? But they were their own people, and so are we. This doesn't really affect us unless we let it." He pulled Vanitas in closer, cupping his face gently before kissing him. "Do you want to let it?"

Finally, a genuine smile broke on his face. "No," he simply said, leaning in for another kiss.