Sunset Savanna was breathtakingly beautiful, especially during the wee morning hours. Vil could see why Rook loved his home. While it sucked having to sleep in the guest room instead of curled up with Rook, he put up with it. He had earned this vacation dammit.
Rook certainly appreciated the new outfit Vil was wearing, especially the fact it showed a bit of skin. He dressed sensibly for the weather, and decided not to bring any of his heels with him.
In a weird way, it almost felt like coming home. Atem certainly appreciated it, as it was pretty close to Egypt.
Vil didn't bother hiding his smile when Rook wrapped his arms around him possessively.
"Breakfast is almost ready, mon Roi," said Rook. He was so close to Vil's ear that his voice sent pleasant shivers down his spine.
"What's on the agenda today?" asked Vil.
"Maman mentioned they were doing some photoshoot to drum up sponsors for the sanctuary. She said something about a highly sought after model being there."
"Wonder if it's anyone I know," mused Vil. His agent hadn't mentioned anything about it to him. Then again he had been out of contact due to the tournament.
The two of them ate in amicable silence, though Rook's mother did her best to try and make some small talk. She was a bit leery of her son bringing home a boyfriend so suddenly, but she had begun to warm up to Vil after the first two days.
Vil wondered if it had anything to do with the fact she saw him running the second day. Rook had said it was fine and had directed him to a small area where he could run laps for his morning routine, and he knew she had seen him up almost at the crack of dawn.
His father didn't care either way, so long as Rook was happy and Vil didn't cause any trouble for the family. Then again he was away most days as a ranger for the sanctuary, and had only met Vil briefly the first day.
Rook's brother and sister were still dumbstruck over the fact Rook's obsession had actually produced something, and that they got to observe his beloved Roi du Poison up close and personal.
His younger brother was particularly shocked to learn Vil's alternate identity as Yugi Muto, especially since he had to explain to Rook the rules of dueling. He was mostly a dabbler, but he still played the odd game with his friends.
Vil got dressed, and put on the bare minimum of make-up, mostly to deal with the excess sunlight. He found that the kohl always seemed to make his eyes pop in a way that most modern eyeliner didn't, so he only used it for special occasions. Rook certainly loved it.
They hitched a ride into the sanctuary with Rook's mother, and were mostly left alone. She knew she could trust Rook to keep his boyfriend out of any mischief.
Vil was very glad for the hat, because it allowed him to mostly hide his identity. It was too hot for him to wear a scarf anyway.
Once the photographers recognized him, Vil and Rook found themselves observing from the sidelines. The promoter almost had a heart attack when he realized Vil was there, though he relaxed a tad learning that Vil wasn't there as a model.
"So you're planning to bring out some of the tamer animals for the models to work with?" said Vil, interested.
"Some of the kittens of the big cats, and a few babies at most," agreed the promoter. "Their handlers will be nearby if anything happens and we have a full medical team on standby."
Vil hummed, though he was interested in seeing what sort of animals they planned to use.
"If you happen to take any candid photos of me while around the animals, I'd have to approve them before you use them."
"We can't afford..." started the promoter, before Vil shook his head.
"I won't charge for it. After all, this shoot is helping to promote the sanctuary my boyfriend's family runs. I can write it off as charity if nothing else," said Vil patiently.
Rook beamed at him hearing that. The promoter was slightly dumbstruck, before realizing that the other blond Vil had been with was his boyfriend.
If nothing else, that bit of news would spread like wildfire in mere hours. They could use this to their advantage if they played their cards right.
As they were wandering around set, giving a respectful distance to the people working on it, Vil finally found out who the model was that they hired. And he made a face.
Of all the people they could have roped into this, why did it have to be Neige?
Rook chuckled a bit. While he was still a member of Neige's fanclub, his loyalty lay exclusively with his beloved Vil.
Vil looked at the time.
"Do you want to get an early lunch?"
"That sounds like fun!" said Rook cheerfully. It wouldn't take much to get a ride into town, and he knew of this delightful cafe that most of the locals adored.
Of course he couldn't be that lucky and slip away without being noticed.
"Vi-kun!" said Neige, his eyes alight with surprise.
Vil gave Rook a pleading look to get him the hell out of there, but Rook shook his head. Their ride was another three minutes out.
Vil had a pained look on his face, but schooled it quickly. Something about Neige always made his skin crawl, though he could never fully explain why.
Having to make small talk for almost four painful minutes was near agony. If he had known Neige was here, he would have avoided the area like the plague and gone somewhere else.
"Is that a new pendant, Vi-kun?" asked Neige.
Vil had almost forgotten he was wearing the puzzle. He was so used to having it on, he sometimes forgot it was there.
To his great relief, he spotted their ride coming. However he just knew Neige would follow them if they didn't find a way to distract him.
"I'm only here to see what sort of photoshoot was going on," said Vil. "Now if you'll excuse me, my boyfriend and I were heading out for an early lunch."
"Boyfriend?!" said Neige, his mouth agape in shock.
At his startled yelp, everyone turned to look at them.
"Did you have to be so loud?" said Vil.
"Since when do you have a boyfriend?" said Neige.
Vil glared at him, and could see their ride sitting idly watching the drama unfold. His life, why?
"My beloved Vil and I have been dating for six months. However I respect his privacy, so we have yet to make it public on his personal page," said Rook smiling.
Vil hid a shiver at the expression in Neige's eyes, and the flash of darkness that was pervading his aura at that moment. As someone so intimately tied to the shadows, he knew they fed on dark emotions...and Neige had a lot of them at the moment. Enough to give Vil some concern about what would happen if the pest actually had access to shadow magic.
It was a relief to get into the jeep.
"That was interesting," said Rook's cousin.
It was a relief to reach the restaurant, as they were given a private booth.
~*~*~*~*
Vil wanted to avoid Neige, so Rook took him to where they were holding the animals that would be used for the photoshoot. He was openly cooing over the small cubs.
Vil could care less that Rook was openly photographing him with the animals. So what if his hair was a mess? There was a reason he didn't bother putting on any perfume today, and wore clothes he didn't mind getting a bit messy.
To his relief, they didn't see Neige at all. He was too busy taking glammed up photos with the babies.
As Vil was heading towards the outdoor bathroom, mostly because he was determined to avoid Neige for the rest of the day, there was a strange stillness in the air.
There was a predator nearby...a dangerous one at that.
Vil listened to his instincts, which were the main reason he didn't end up mauled when a fully adult male lion lunged at him.
He was so very, very glad that he had practiced this very maneuver with Jack so many times it had become muscle memory. Jack had found the practice interesting, since he rarely fought in his wolf form.
The lion was stunned as Vil dropped and did a slight roll, using his knee as leverage to pivot the lion away from him...and into a nearby wall. It stunned the beast long enough for Vil to tackle the lion and put his arm into a choke hold around it's neck. The lion was strong, but Vil was a determined bastard and he'd be damned if his career ended because of an oversized cat.
The lion did it's best to kick Vil off, but Vil was a sneaky bastard. He spotted the injury and ruthlessly exploited it, causing the lion to roar in pain as it's injured leg gave out from under it.
Finally, the beast was subdued...mostly because Vil had done his very best to suffocate it into submission.
Breathing heavily, he grabbed his phone. There was no way that lion would stay subdued for long, and he did not fancy another round.
With shaky hands, he managed to dial Rook's number...it was a good thing he had it on speed-dial.
"Roi du Poison?" he asked.
"Rook, bring a tranq gun."
Alarmed, Rook asked for his location. Vil gave it to him, but kept a firm eye on the lion just in case.
Rook's expression when he saw the beast was priceless, but he swiftly shot the lion twice with the tranq gun. Then he called for the handlers, because they needed to get the creature subdued immediately, for everyone's safety.
Once the lion was secured and being taken to a nearby facility to be checked over, Rook looked to his lover.
Vil was shaken, but that was mostly from the excess adrenaline rush. He made slow, open movements and soon had his arms wrapped around Vil.
Vil didn't bother to hide his emotions. He hid his face in Rook's clothing and let out shaky, terrified laughter that he was alive after that.
Needless to say, Rook took his boyfriend back to his house and let him sleep it off in his room. His parents could complain all they wanted, he knew Vil desperately needed some cuddle time right now.
The next morning...
Rook's father was many things, but he was not oblivious. The second he heard about a rogue lion so close to humans he immediately went to view the security tapes.
His expression became dumbfounded watching Rook's rather prim and proper lover openly toss an adult lion into a wall, before he choked it out. All without any back-up. He had to rewind that part of the video five times to make sure he wasn't seeing things.
He rubbed his eyes, before making a copy of the video to show his wife. He had barely tolerated the idea of Rook dating someone so...high maintenance...when he brought the boy home. He'd have to re-evaluate everything he knew about Rook's boyfriend now.
His wife was waiting for him.
"Where are they?"
"In Rook's room. He was understandably rattled by the encounter," she replied.
He was not going to comment.
"What happened?"
"Better to see for yourself...I still can't believe that prima donna pulled it off," he answered.
Rook came in just in time to see Vil toss the lion into the wall, and stared.
"At least you found someone capable of handling themselves in a dangerous situation," said his father, drinking a much needed whiskey.
"What's to come of the lion?" asked Rook.
"So far it's being put under observation," said his mother. "If it's sick, then it'll be put down immediately. It's too dangerous to keep alive if it's already reached the stage of attacking humans so openly."
Rook nodded, and got some water. He went back to his room to cuddle with Vil, who was sleeping off the shock of what happened.
To be fair, very few people reacted well to being attacked by a large creature perfectly capable of eating someone.