a kiss from theo to vincent.
it is a love song that does not end, that refuses to end, a tune frozen in eternal unrest—for a moment they are hallow and well-loved, for a moment they aren’t forsaken and are so deeply, vehemently alive.
my god, it hurts! to be loved, to adore. it’s agonizing because it is not, in fact, something he could ever, ever hate, ever deny—for it is not pain, not ache, no. it is a sort of self-taught terror of surrender---in order to be loved he must relinquish his sick beliefs, allow for his mind to, at last, welcome healing.
to drop the knife.
to cauterize the wound.
to unmake the threads with which he had sewn himself into a person, with which he weaned something and forced its wan soul back into the vessel.
he knows that. he knows that. deep down, vincent is aware of the fact of his vulnerability more than he’s ever been aware of anything else. and he welcomes it. when the touch comes, he welcomes it—when the sensation of theophilus’ lips touches his own, he welcomes it. let it be damned, his own wayward soul.
there are hands on either side of theophilus’ jaw, haggard, ravaged by soft tremors of exhaustion and bliss and hunger, a pure, old hunger that is known only for growing if untended. he can feel the warmth radiating from them, their gentleness, their love, their unadulterated love clear as a wild river untouched by mankind’s corruption-ridden hands and for once, for the first time, there is no hatred to be felt, no fear.
i surrender.
this body is ensavaged, it is a cementery, a monument built out of animal bones chewed into a pathetic alabaster tedium, risen back from ash to life; i surrender. he surrenders his corpse-self, his grave-dug heart, his limbs reanimated from asphyxia into warmth and breath. that which escaped the lick of flames. that which melted the ice. that which survived and endured and bore and grit its teeth.
that which now belongs, alive as it has never been.
rendered near-breathless, he pulls away if only a little and cracks open his weary eyes---oh, my angel dearest, my pale halo lover, my warmth, my sun. vincent has never seen anyone so beautiful---he will never see anyone of near striking beauty, not ever. part of him wants to trace every single inch of theophilus’ face---to, once again, draw it out in his head, to create a map of ardor that leads his steps towards home each time he veers in fright into the steep cold night. but there will be another time.
“ i love you, ” it is a soft whisper, a small thing, the creak of the floorboards in the dead of the darkness’ maw---what would in any other situation be near nonexistent is now clear and bright and so very there. “ i love you. i love you. i think i’ve always loved you---i think i will... always... ” with legs trembling he allows himself to lower his weight back to his heels, pulling theophilus downwards with him. for a second vincent hesitates, but it is brief, a simple thought that lasts a tad too long---and he is kissing him shyly, a gesture gentle as a lithe bird-thing’s irreverent singing at the crack of dawn. it is love’s song. god knows it’ll never end. “ always love you. ” god knows he will never let it.











