as humans, we cannot escape the terror of loss. loss comes in many forms: loss of perception, loss of emotion, loss of our loved ones, but the worst out of all of them was the loss of one’s self. the complete and utter lack of the soul that made you, well, you. at first glance, it’s a very scary concept very few people decide to even think about, yet v had to grapple with it every day of his life. with his back against the wall, running against a clock that seemed to go faster with each tick. and the more he moved, the more he walked back, instead of forward. it was scary, but it was an inevitability. something he needed to come to terms with, if they, one day, wanted to overcome it. he wasn’t going to give up any time soon, but the looming, impending feeling of doom hanging over his head like a hangman’s axe definitely didn’t make things any easier. not to mention the devil sitting on his shoulder, but that wasn’t something he was willing to go into, not now, not while thinking about her. not as they’re this close, their hearts beating almost in unison. it’d be a shame.
and he doesn’t want to waste any time. when he looks at her, he doesn’t see what everyone else does. any dumbass could look at her and see a mox, but titles, at the end of the day, were only that. words that mattered little to nothing. he saw candy sinclair. a woman with needs, desires, strengths, and weaknesses. he saw a woman who managed to turn her weaknesses into her own strengths, and cloak herself in an armor that was nearly impenetrable. a woman who could melt the right side of a glacier and still have it in her to move on to the left. a woman whose smile was so bright it could’ve blinded him. hell, he could keep going, but for the sake of everyone involved, he didn’t. she was looking right at him, and it takes him a while to notice it. but when she looks back at him, her eyes aren’t hidden. no more hearts, no more façades to put on. baring herself to him, she looked as vulnerable as anyone else. it makes his heart skip a beat.
❝ i know you ain’t. ’m just tellin’ you things how they are. ❞
it’s just a lot. the laughter that spills from his lips is that of a man who knows what’s about to come, but little did v know that he was about to be sorely mistaken. he sees her shake, tremble, twitch under the pressure of an invisible burden on her shoulders. the grip on her hand tightens, as if she was about to be swept away by something else. something that was going to take her away from him. something inside him breaks at the thought of her disappearing, of losing her forever. please don’t tell me you’re leaving, it’s a thought that hammers at his brain like a headache, if you want to leave, don’t tell me.
when she says those words, they don’t understand them at first. prepared and willing to face utter rejection, hearing the total opposite leaves v feeling completely out of place. she loves him. she always has. his heart leaps in his chest like a thing in pain, and the hand wrapped around hers is pulled away. she was shaking even more than before, she… she meant that, didn’t she? when he moves away, he wastes no time in joining her side of the booth, wrapping both of his arms around her, to offer as much comfort as he can, while at the same time trying to overwhelm his brain. to try and stop the tears from falling and ruining everything. hands move to tangle in bleached blonde locks, swiping them back from her face. it takes him a brief moment. ❝ i love you too. i do, i— i never thought you’d feel the same way. ❞ her words hit him like a ton of bricks. ❝ i’m terrified too. of losin’ you. i never wanna leave your side, i don't— ❞ v holds back that feeling that made the corners of his eyes burn. ❝ don’t want t'lose you, ever. ❞ it’s a relief, hearing that coming from her. but god, was it fucking scary. can you love someone so much it hurts?
trepidation is not something that comes natural for candice sinclair, it feels foreign and wholly uncomfortable. when it came tourists that vacationed in her embrace, it was hard to lose them sure, but there was a quiet knowing, a silent understanding of lack of permanency. it would bother her for a week, maybe two, and she’d wonder if they were alright, but eventually a new face would come and distract her and the cycle continued. she was never devastated by the inevitability of losing them, but v? oh this was someone that if the mere notion of him just going missing had been spoken to her, she would have been worried, scared. inconsolable. it was one of the only truths ever to genuinely terrify her.
this fear is lit anew as his hand leaves her’s, and the fear of losing him is too real for her. it hurts in a way she can’t express completely, that she won’t express completely. the idea of losing him is a crushing reality and —— she had prepared herself for what she thought was inevitable, only to learn shs was wrong. the woman doesn’t have time to react when he pulls her into a tight embrace, her own tattooed arms wrapping around him. he holds her as if she’ll disappear if he let’s go, and it occurs to candy that this is the first time she’s felt important to someone in this way. her breath hitches as he speaks, because he’s actually saying it.
she’s not hallucinating it.
this isn’t some vivid dream or braindance, it’s real and his words hit harder than any bullet that has ever hit her skin. the words break apart, shrapnel embedding into her skin, breaking carefully constructed defenses. ❛ y’not gonna lose me, v. ❜ the blonde retorts, knowing full well she can’t control that. night city ends stories all the time, but she has a particular person she’s fighting for. someone that isn’t the moxes, to whom she is another tool. his eyes are glassy, and her hand cups his cheek gently, thumb gently brushing just beneath the scar. she kisses him, the first time she’s done so sober. his lips tastes like coffee and loneliness, but so does her’s. seven years of looking at someone from across tables and rooms, yearning but not acting, will do that to you. she breaks the kiss for a moment to look at him, really look at him.
❛ i promise, v. never. ❜