Gee, took me so long to actually have the opportunity to post something about THIS ship! But now it's done and I want to hug them babies~
This is set somehow in the LiverPepper AU. But really, it's actually just an Earth AU in which Vani and Ven are siblings. So even though it was meant to be LP, it's not that much XD I have no idea how old they are supposed to be here. Let's say that Vani is around 20 and Aqua around 22-23?

Theme: One last drink, he said

"Vanitas, I think it's time for you to go."

Vanitas glared at Aqua. People would always think it was fun that his golden eyes would give so much of a cold vibe when her blue ones would look so warm.

"One more."

"You've had plenty enough already."

"I said one more."

She sighed. He was sitting at the counter of a bar where he probably spent the whole evening. He was beyond drunk, his hands were shaking, his eyes had trouble focusing on anything.

"If I let you have this last drink, will you let me walk you home?"

"Ventus sent you, didn't he?"

"He's worried. We're all worried."

He snarled. "Yeah, I'm sure Terra is worried."

"He is. Believe me or not, he is."

He gulped down the shooter the barman put in front of him. Aqua took her purse out of her bag.

"It's on me. But you shouldn't be serving him when he's already that drunk."

"If I thought that way, I wouldn't be making any money, miss."

"Come on. Let's get you home."

"I don't want to go home. I just don't."

Aqua lowered her eyes. Ventus wouldn't tell her what was exactly going on, but he told her that Vanitas would often spend the night away from home and would never tell anyone where he was going. And when he'd see him at school, Vanitas would always look drunk and yet dismiss any question.

"Then I'm taking you to my place. You'll be fine there. Come."

He stood up and staggered. She rushed to help him. "I've got you. Let's get you to a proper bed."

They walked to her apartment, not so far from the bar. That was how she actually knew where he was: she spotted him while doing her usual jogging.

"You will tell them I'm here, won't you?" He mumbled as she brought him to the bedroom.

"I will tell Ven you are safe, yes. I don't know what's going on, but you should at least talk with him. He's your brother. He will listen."

"How would you know? You have no brother."

Aqua gave him a painful smile as she put a glass of water on the night stand. He gasped. "Oh, right… Sorry."

She was an orphan. She lost her parents when she was five, and had been raised by a friend of her family since then.

"You should sleep. I will sleep on the couch, you can have my bed. It's will be comfier for you."

She helped him taking his shoes off and put him to bed. He did not resist, almost already sleeping before his head touched the pillow. She looked at him for a while, at the dark circles under his eyes, at his cheeks growing hollow. Was he sleeping properly? Was he eating properly? Surely, he couldn't spend all his free time drinking, could he?

As she was about to leave him, his hand grabbed hers. She turned her eyes to him - his eyelids were fighting to stay open.

"Do you need anything else?"

"Stay."

And she did. She slept next to him, holding his hand, wishing she knew how to help him.

Even if it was just a smirk, even if it was to make fun of her, she was willing to do anything just to see him smile again.

I actually once tried to write an Earth AU fic about them (not as a ship, but as strong friendship), but I kinda failed. My headcanon for this AU is all set up though so perhaps this will happen one day. I feel I should give once again a shoutout to Taliax for making me fall for this ship!

Also, on a side note, this fic was meant to be really darker at first. My first idea was that Ven&Van's father was badly sick (or dead, 'cuz, 'know, angst) and that was the reason Vanitas was acting as such. However, as I said earlier, this fic is kind of set up in the LiverPepper AU, so I really couldn't get myself to do that on their father... Because in a way, I really felt I had no right over this character. That's stupid because I have no right over any of the characters and that doesn't stop myself to write lots of non-canon things about them (that's the main idea of fanfictions XD) but I really felt that I couldn't kill characters from an AU that isn't mine to begin with. So instead, Vanitas's reasons for being so dark are unknown (well, they are known in my headcanon, but I won't tell too much as I might actually write that fic one day XD)

See you tomorrow~

Let's play a game! I tell you tomorrow's theme and you tell me what you think it could be about. (even if you read this long after the next prompt is posted, you can still play! Leave a review about what/who you think it might be about, then read the next one to check. I would be so interested to know about what comes to your mind with the themes!)

Next theme : Love will find a way