Memory: The First Time

A deep inhale from the newly married man as he looked over his ring. Just a simple silver band that wrapped around his left ring finger. Cardin absolutely enjoyed the blue sheets they had gotten from their wedding together. Wedding gifts were the best, a good start to a relationship at the peak of its happiness.

The room he laid in was freshly painted a nice baby blue which matched the sheets perfectly. He wasn't a good designer which was exactly the reason he gave Velvet all the say in how their home looked. There wasn't much care from him, he was happy when she was happy. Though, a lot of people had taken note about this, jokingly saying "That's good! Your marriage would last longer than most that way." Which they would then laugh. Of course he would join in on the laugh, not wanting to be rude but still, not understanding what they meant by it.

Being so lost in thought made Cardin not realize what was going on around him, so much so that he neglected to feel his wife crawl on top of him from the end of the bed "You've been looking at that for too long." She smiled hopefully. "How does it make you feel?"

What was he supposed to say? She knew he couldn't feel anything about it, so he opted to not answer her seriously "Makes me feel like I'm married." He grinned at her and by the giggle she gives as a response, it sounded like it was an acceptable answer for her.

"As it should." She leaned down and pressed her lips to his. For such a long time, Cardin hated being touched for so many reasons. But being with Velvet for so long, it didn't matter to him. It wasn't something he enjoyed nor did he really want it, but she was the only one in the world he felt comfortable being physical with, even with his defection.

Cupping her cheek for a moment as they kissed, he had tangled his hand in her hair lightly just to feel the softness and familiarity it gave him. When the kids broke, she laid her head on his chest and sighed happily. "Thank you."

"Thank you?" Cardin asked, adjusting slightly to be more comfortable.

"Well… I guess, I was just thinking about what we talked about when I proposed and how it would be hard for you to do something like this. Marrying me." She traced small circles on his chest offhandedly.

Of course this made him uncomfortable to think about that while having just been married "Yea. Well, I'm still nervous about things. You know? I can never fully love you, and I don't want you to make a mistake doing this with me. I don't want you to think in a couple years 'why did I marry this machine?'. It's just scary."

This made her sit up on him and press her palms down on his chest as she gave him a serious look "Do I need to repeat what I said at the altar?"

A smirk from the man "Yes." He did love having his ego stroked, plus, when she got like this, it was entertaining to him.

But not very entertaining to Velvet whose features faded into actual hurt "Not funny."

A moment passed, he mulled over her words and attempted to understand but logic won over like always. He didn't feel how she felt, he was just teasing her to lighten the mood. "Sorry." He said lightly, not only could he not feel love, he just didn't understand it and it's complex desires. It would have been easier if his problem was Happiness or something, but with Love… it was much more difficult.

Sitting up slowly, he slowly wrapped his arms around her. "Hey… I wanted to save this for a lot later, but maybe now's a good time." He leaned back and saw the confused look in her eyes as he reached in the bedside table drawer and pulled out a small box, wrapped in white paper and red ribbon. It was about as long as his hand from middle finger to wrist, but as wide as the distance of his middle finger to his pinky.

She lightened a bit at this and took the box in her hand "Cardin, you didn't have to." Looking to the box, then him, then the box again as curiosity overtook her. Holding it to her chest and looking at him pleadingly as she spoke. "I can open it right now?" She bounced lightly on him which wasn't as comfortable as he would have liked it to.

He rolled his eyes and smirked again "Duh. Why do you think I pulled it out?"

Immediately she shredded the paper like it was nothing after fumbling with the red ribbon. The box after it was unwrapped was white and decorated with light blue snowflakes and a name across the top "Schnee Co."

"You… Didn't." She was stunned for a moment, knowing exactly what was inside. Timid fingers slowly opened the lid of the box and inside, a syringe filled with a dull pink fluid. "Cardin are you sure?" Though she held concern in her tone, her eyes showed the hope she felt.

"Yea. I pulled a couple favors to get it. You wouldn't believe what I went through. But, it pays to have dated the CEO's daughter." He chuckled cockily as Velvet slapped him lightly and jokingly on the chest again.

"First, I highly doubt you did without me knowing about it." She giggled "Second… No one knows, right? You weren't seen, right?" Of course she was nervous but Cardin was certain in his tone as he replied.

"No, I just contacted her, asked for a favor and got it." Of course this wasn't how it went down, he did try to just get the medicine like he explained, but when Weiss didn budge, he had to explain. Everything.

"Come on, let's try it. I don't wanna wait any longer." He pulled the syringe out of the box still in the woman's hands and as he searched his arm for a vein to inject it to, as per instructions given to him by Weiss when the medicine was sent to him.

"Will it hurt?" She asked, worried.

"I'm stronger than I look." He said cockily as he slowly plunged the needle into his arm and pushing the liquid into his veins. It was… Warm. An immediate feeling of calmness, anticipation and… Well, he's never felt this last feeling that was building up inside of him.

Pulling the syringe out, he made a pained look, reacting to the slight sting his un-trained hands caused as the needle came out of his skin with relative ease. Which caused Velvet to put her hands on her hips and mock him "I'm stronger than I look." But Cardin didn't react.

Things were lighter, colors were much more prominent and detailed, it was something he couldn't explain, everything was just… Nicer, it was freeing. But all of that meant nothing as his gaze laid upon Velvet. His eyes widened slightly as dilation extended his pupils while the medicine worked through his veins.

"Wow…" It was like looking at her in a whole new light. The straightness of her brown hair, each strand much more prominent than the last. How could he have not noticed how well she took care of herself? Her lips, pink, smooth, so kissable. His chest had a feeling of warmth as the thought of meeting her lips with his came to him, causing him to blush while staring.

"What? Is it working? You're red all over, did you do too much? Are you ok?" Her tone was worried, a hand being placed on his shoulder which in turn caused another pulsating feeling of warmth come to Cardins chest.

"No, No. I'm ok it's just…" his hand cupped her cheek softly, his thumb brushing slowly over her cheek. Every inch of her soft skin on his rough hand was exactly how she had described how she feels when touching him. Warm, comfortable, secure… "You're just so beautiful."

Velvet had to take a deep breath, she could tell he meant it, never hearing him put so much emphasis and passion into those words about her. It was like she was falling in love all over again and for the first time in four years, she felt she would have her feelings reciprocated.

She smiled wide, tears welled up in her eyes before falling as she giggled, wiping them away almost as fast as they fell "Thank you." She said in between light giggles "Thank you so much."

She leaned in to kiss him but then noticed the loose bit of blood coming from the wound the needle had left. She shot up immediately and yelled "Band-aid! You need a band-aid!"

Before she could get far, Cardin grabbed her wrist and suddenly, for the first time in his life, kissed her with passion that matched what she gave to him. He didn't know how long this would last, he wanted to use all the time he could to show her the love she deserved from him and after a moment. He pulled away and said the lines she's wanted to hear for so long.

"I love you."