I Write Sins, not Tragedies

[i_pwn_the_world]

Setting: Ansem's Gummi Ship, en route to Wonderland
Character(s): Vincent Valentine (bloodyredvelvet ) and Ansem ( i_pwn_the_world )
Status: [Completed]
Summary: Vincent has a dream, and two unwelcome guests become rivals for his heart/body/soul.

Comments

No, it's much better to face these kinds of things with a sense of poise and rationality.

[bloodyredvelvet]

Simply put, Vincent didn't know where he was going, didn't know where he was, but was relying on pure instinct to somehow pull him through.

However, he began to gain his bearings once he had traveled with Ansem for a short while. The fluidity of his body was something he had needed to get used to--the night before, he had spent many hours merely wandering around the mansion, merely adapting to the advanced functionality of his system.

Certainly, he had never been able to see in the dark when he had been a Turk. The mako had added some functionality in that respect, but he hadn't been able to see clearly in the darkness. He also had additional strength, his body a loaded gun when it came to energy. He had barely been able to sleep, and wondered how he had managed to sleep for so long inside a casket.

A day spent with Ansem was interesting--the man was careful not to give Vincent the impression that he was distant by speaking to him about past relationships, but Vincent could easily tell. However, Ansem had bought him enough belongings that he felt as if he were being pimped out, which made Vincent question as to how close Ansem really wanted to be to him--but perhaps, he surmised, it was merely because he paid well.

And then there was Veld, who plagued his thoughts constantly. He began to mentally cringe at every single time he mentioned him unconsciously to Ansem, but he couldn't help it.

He also purchased another gun, which was considerably expensive--at Ansem's raised eyebrow, Vincent felt he didn't need to know. He needed something new, since the weapon he had was outdated and probably would not jive with his newfound abilities very well.

Vincent had tried his best to avoid drinking anything he hadn't poured himself, and had poured himself a pitcher of water before going to his bedroom. Not having had in mind the fact that it could have been a closed system and the water could have been contaminated, not knowing how a gummi ship worked, he made his way back to his room, oblivious.

Drinking one glass was enough. It took only a few moments for the serum to kick in. Drowsy, for no particular reason, he unclasped his cloak and draped it over a chair, before collapsing into bed. It had been too fast for him to figure out that something might be wrong--it was as if the bedroom had been there, and then it wasn't.

Well in fact, Well I'll look at it this way: I mean technically our marriage is saved.

[i_pwn_the_world]

Ansem smirked, feeling the wall of the other man's conscious drop like a curtain of steel. The heartless that had hidden earlier poked their heads about the ship again, making slight clicking sounds as if to lull Ansem's guest into sleep.

Spreading his hand, Ansem touched the wall, spilling a dark shadow across it, the wall then rippled like the tide and then, he slid in, the wall growing hard behind him.

Vincent Valentine's conscious was sadder than he'd expected, it lacked the hard edge he'd assumed a fighter to have. Taking a deep breath, Ansem then found a picture, something he could give the dream lift with. Raising both of his hands high, he then snapped them down and with the motion, a dark alleyway sprang to life.

A fire escape, a dingy hotel, the smell of brothels filled his nose. Ansem's lip curled as he said the word in Vincent's mindscape. "Midgar."

Navigating around a puddle, Ansem let his own thoughts fish about for Vincent, certain that he was in control and that the other wouldn't feel him. He was looking for that weakness, that thing in Vincent's heart that kept it beating.

…though, he got the strange impression that he was not alone inside Vincent's head, and it was something altogether interesting, that there would be more than one creature here naturally.

This would be interesting, for the first time in years, Ansem smiled brightly and picked up his notebook.

Well this calls for a toast, So pour the champagne, pour the champagne

[bloodyredvelvet]

The shadows lingered behind Ansem, red eyes blinking and closing as they focused on the newcomer within its territory. This dreamspace had become both it and its brethren's home, ever since it had been freed from its shell, and it had never seen anyone quite like Ansem. The alley was dark and lit with bright lights that shined green as a result of the mako, the ground covered in puddles. The corners were piled with trash and smelled rancid.

Water dropped into a puddle outside a warehouse door with a plip-plop sound, and a splash resounded through the alley. Vincent lifted his foot out of the puddle, backing up rapidly from the door. He was dressed in a uniform, brandishing his gun towards the door he had just exited from, and when he turned away from it to move down the alleyway, he reached out and grabbed Ansem's arm. "Let's go, Veld. I cleared 'em out."

A mission. One of a drugbust, of Vincent's parents. The flash of a memory permitted the sight of his parents, bloody and broken upon a warehouse floor, limbs akimbo. Of Vincent aiming his gun one more time and emptying bullets into their dead carcasses. Of hate, for their abandonment of him. Then sorrow, for what was not.

The shadow watched as Vincent squeezed Ansem's hand in his own, his face pale and tight, almost ill. The shadow had never been partial to any of Vincent's attachments to anyone, had hated humans, but the resounding love that Vincent felt for Veld was infectious, and while it had always been hellspawn, Veld had been the exception this rule, and it still cared for him. It was odd that this man had taken Veld's part in this dream, but the shadow wasn't about to object. This was interesting, and most definitely new, so it tagged along.

It was not so much interested in the human interactions as it was with the invasion of the creature before him. It seemed human by appearance, but just by its existence here, there was something wrong.

I picture Vin and Ansem singing this in a bar or something, it wins.

[i_pwn_the_world]

Their hands let go and Ansem felt himself move forward, his hand resting on Vincent's back. Vincent leaned into the contact. "Let's go hide out for a while, alright?"

Vincent nodded, leaning his head against Ansem's shoulder. It was awkward, though not just because Ansem was suddenly shorter than Vincent. There was something strained about the situation, about this other person. Small, but dangerous, perhaps?

Tilting his chin up, Ansem stepped backwards, and another form melted from his own. Soft brown hair tickled under his lip as another man walked out with Vincent. There was a shock of white, just to the front of his hair, but he was too young to be going grey.

Ansem's eyes drifted to their hands. The man looped his arm around Vincent's waist. "You sure you're alright, kid?"

Watching them for a moment he turned his head to look over his shoulders. "I suppose you wouldn't be so kind as to simply explain the matter to me?" He smiled. "I DO hate to sneak about when the answers are right before me."

He'd let Vincent enjoy the start of his dreaming, there were things more interesting than Ansem's pretty new toy in this headspace.

Re: I picture Vin and Ansem singing this in a bar or something, it wins.

[bloodyredvelvet]

"Kind wouldn't be a word to describe me," the shadow spoke, not so much with a voice, but with the mental image of words. "Are you in love with him as well? Certainly you wouldn't be here if you didn't want to see the answers for yourself."

The shadow said nothing for a few moments. Human emotions were silly, and it had been able to see that Veld had felt the same way for Vincent miles away--but of course, the perspective provided the bias and the misinterpretation of situations. He'd seen memories, knew their reality, but Vincent didn't understand all of them. "Or perhaps you aren't intending to love him, but to own him?"

Melting into a form, the Shadow became a man--Vincent, yet not Vincent. Its eyes glowed with a orange-red fire, and its skin was lit with shadows. He could sense Ansem's basic directives--perhaps not to the point of reading his mind, but enough to direct and guide him.

Ansem was also in its territory now--and as easily as he had entered, he could be crushed out of existance, if he so chose to step the wrong way. "What is it that you are searching for? You seem to be interested in taking something from him."

Somewhere, Veld is angry

[i_pwn_the_world]

Ansem was thrilled. This wasn't human; it wasn't some form of insanity either. This was a separate creature that was residing within Vincent. THIS is what the heartless were afraid of.

He focused, allowing himself to see a little deeper. This creature wasn't from his world, it was from some connection of Vincent's however and drew Ansem's thoughts back to Hojo and Gast's notes on summons.

"You assume he's the important thing?" He glanced back over his shoulder to the two men, feeling smug that he'd figured Vincent out so quickly. "I think that I've found something more interesting in you."

Love? God what an outdated concept. There were more exciting things than that. There was something else… Ansem enjoyed challenges. "I'm simply curious as to what makes him tick. Would that man be Veld?"

Very, very angry.

[bloodyredvelvet]

"I think you know the answer without me telling you," the Shadow smirked. "I am interested in you, as well. And being that you are in my territory, I advise you against reading too much into me."

Moving forward, the shadow narrowed its red eyes and studied Ansem. "You were human, and now you're not. Odd. But perhaps it was your choice that has made you this way." He reached forward and flicked a rogue strand of hair from Ansem's face, before moving away. "And interested in what makes Vincent Valentine tick? As in, makes his heart beat?" The concrete scraped underneath its feet.

"Answer this question for me, before I answer yours--what would you do if I showed you?" It was within its best interest to protect its host--without it, the Shadow would have no home.

And sad, like a kicked puppy.

[i_pwn_the_world]

"The key to playing in the mind of another, my friend, is to not allow one to go into your own. I assume Vincent himself will explain the matter to me, one way or another."

There was power here, Ansem could feel it, it was raw and unfettered and strange that it even exsited within such thin, pretty packaging.

This would be a test then, to see what one of them had more control. The monster was at quite the advantage, Ansem knew, but he'd been so bored lately.

"Veld was not a simple relationship, but no relationship is... there must be something to push that one from his heart."

Awww...poor Veld.

[bloodyredvelvet]

"Do you think he is that simple?" The Shadow stopped and studied Ansem critically, before snapping his fingers and changing the scene entirely. This time, they were in a bedroom, and the Shadow's gaze focused on the pair tangled erotically upon the bed. "They were partners for many years. Within work and without. But, what keeps Vincent here is not just Veld--it is his own misgivings, his failures when it came to Veld. True, Vincent loves Veld, and that attaches him as well. You are a fool to think that you can own Vincent just by eliminating the threat."

The shadow looked at Ansem and a playful kind of look appeared on its face. "Not only that, but I am hardly your friend. And you have entered his mind unbidden--do you think I will allow for him to expose all of his secrets to you without my permission?"

The man in front of him would make a nice toy. "If you want him, you must earn it. Or I will devour you here before you become a further threat."

He feels unwanted XD

[i_pwn_the_world]

Sex in and of itself was of little interest to Ansem. Unless it got him somewhere, he'd had quite his fill of it. "I'm not human, my friend, and not as oblivious as Vincent." It isn't that one eliminates a threat and replaces it. The trick to removing an obstacle is to get the other person to push it away themselves."

A young boy was somewhere in the hints of his mind, another a trainee… yes… this is what Ansem would show his new rival. Without a snap or any indication whatsoever, the room swirled and changed. Now they stood, one on either side of Vincent, who was seated in a chair.

Ansem toyed, absently with long black hair, this was one of those watching dreams, the kind where the dreamer was unaware of themselves. "You make their doubts their greater emotion."

The door then flew open, and Veld, tumbled in, locked in a violent, sexual struggle with that young trainee. Though now, they were both older, the grey looked in better place and the Wutain was far from a lanky child.

Ansem simply smiled then, wondering how long it had been since his new friend had any challenge of his own.

But Vincent really does want him! ;_;

[bloodyredvelvet]

The Shadow was not interested in human emotions, up until it was threatened.

"Interesting that you would bring him into the picture."

The emotions were sticky and painfully laced with jealousy, until the Shadow swept his hand over the vision, filling it with the memory of Veld and Vincent within a cabin, curled up warmly together upon a couch in front of a fireplace. "Unfortunately, real memories have more hold than one that is fabricated."

The sound of a page was turned--Veld was holding a book, and Vincent was reading over his shoulder, arms wrapped around him. The jealousy faded into familiarity, and the Shadow smiled.

But he doesn't KNOW THIS he just sees the tall dark charisma oozing thing!

[i_pwn_the_world]

"See, that is where I tend to disagree. Humans are weak, doubting creatures. And any form of doubt will play upon them in ways that we cannot forsee."

He did enjoy this dark creature, and would leave his pokings for another night. He had garnished enough ideas for the coming days aboard the ship.

He made a sweeping bow to the shadow creature. "Good day to you, whatever you may be." With that, he turned on heel and made his way back to reality, leaving Vincent with his memories and his monsters.

Believe me, Vincent will make it known. Once he sees Veld, there will be no doubt.

[bloodyredvelvet]

"It is interesting that you would think they are weak. I am the one who resides within him. I was borne out of the darkness of his world, but his strength is what gives me purchase within him." The Shadow followed him, as far as he could, as he spoke. "I am warning you now that if you think I am strong it is his nature that is stronger, and to toy with something like that is to awaken something that may destroy you, as inhuman as you make yourself out to be."

The Shadow could have destroyed him at that moment, crushed him, but he did not. To do so would have damaged his host, and he was not prepared to do that until he knew that destroying this creature would not have dangerous repercussions.

And as the dreamworld sunk back into darkness, the Shadow smiled. This would be a dangerous, yet fun game.