It was happening again, and V was getting desperate. It had everything to do with his "houseguest", Evey; he hadn't truly appreciated the new pressures - however subtle - she would be adding to his life.
He had thought he had it under control earlier. Everything was just fine… until he rounded a corner and spotted her curled up on the sofa with a book. Then, sure enough, his body developed its own ideas again. What was worse – he knew she had noticed.
She'd been glancing at him all evening, although she'd tried to be discreet about it. If not for the fact that his eyes were almost continually drawn to her, he might have missed it entirely.
Thanks to a few awkward moments in the first days of her stay, he'd learned to shift his head slightly to one side as he watched her so the mask would not seem to be "staring" at her. Using that little trick, he'd noticed her furtive scrutiny easily… which on this night, of course, didn't help matters at all.
It had caught him very much by surprise when it first happened. Fortunately Evey had been absorbed in a movie at the time, and he was able to make a brief escape. He couldn't hide from her forever, though… what sort of host would he be if he couldn't even be in the same room with her without… this!… happening? Such irony; after years of learning to bring his body under the most perfect control, it now seemed to be in rebellion against him. It indicated a much larger-scale problem, of course – one that had to be dealt with directly and as soon as possible. So, he had ventured out once again in an effort to take the proverbial bull by the horns.
All it took was seeing her again, and all his meditative efforts and resolute intentions amounted to nothing. As a result, he'd spent the evening finding excuses to leave and return to her presence, determined to exert his mastery over himself even if it killed him.
And she--! The little minx, she was actually amused by this! She'd tried to hide her smile in her book, but he'd caught it all the same. Her lips had twitched as she tried to look nonchalant, and the laughter in her eyes had been unmistakable. The only thing that had saved him from absolute despair was the hint of … fondness? in her expression; it softened the blow to his already-abused dignity and at least gave him hope that she wasn't offended.
Part of him – an increasingly persuasive part – just wanted to give in and let things run their course as they may, rather than continue fighting like this. He was getting horribly frustrated, and this was beginning to hurt!
V hated having the hiccups.