Something for twst oc week’s day 2 and 3 prompts’ relationship and fairy tale✨✨ that one scene in the Aladdin movie where they kiss in the balcony after a magic carpet ride,,,, except its close enough for jamchi🥺💕💖
For the TwstOcWeek on twitter! Day2: Relationships/Matching
I decided to mix together both prompts and show how strong are Kero and the Shroud brothers' bonds and how happy they look together... <3
There is a lingering tension between Vil and Ann, like a waltz. A waltz for two solo dancers, each gliding at their own tune, so close yet so far. Wanting to get close, but not enough to touch each other. Yearning gazes being the only betrayal of those hidden thoughts.
Thanks to polyphenols@AO3 for beta-reading this!
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Vil stood in front of Ann, fixing her tie and her hair, unaware or uncaring of the soft smile on her face. Her heart always beat this fast when she was with him, always aware of the way he made her feel.
She loved Vil deeply, ever since that day.
“That’s why I want to give my all to be able to vote for myself proudly.”
Her heart was taken by those words, the deep conviction in his heart.
But she knew things couldn't go the way she wished, because she was a person who did not deserve anything.
It was why she was content with these faint touches, these ephemeral interactions that would go nowhere. At times, it almost felt like Vil was affectionate, an elusive softness that felt like a mirage. But, even if her heart trembled, she pushed her delusions to the back of her mind while simultaneously surrendering herself to the moment until her mind reminded her of her own reality, which marred the moment with a deep shame and grief.
"I cannot enjoy this, no matter how much I desire this. No, it was wishing for anything in the first place that caused me to lose everything."
A risky double thought.
-
"I don’t like the Potato, Rook," Vil said dryly.
The vice leader arched his eyebrows, with a matching knowing, taunting smile.
"Sure you don't, Roi du Poison. That's why you're mesmerized by the trickster."
"How could I be?" Vil scoffed with disdain, glaring at Rook, a sign to wipe that smirk off his face. "She doesn't know her place and dares to talk back to me. She's untidy, she doesn't take care of her skin, have you seen how she's always yawning in art class?"
Rook nodded to everything he said. "Oui, she is exactly as you say. When you demand her to move, she asks you 'Why?', instead of 'Is this far enough?'. Instead of being mesmerized by your beauty, she waves you hello. You expect her to fear and respect you, admiring you from afar, but she invades your private space to tell you she doesn't like how you treat others. Didn't she tell you, 'I'm on a raid, don't interrupt me or I'll kill you' without batting an eye, when you were filming in the courtyard she was sitting in?"
"You are proving my point, Rook."
"Unyielding against your charms and uncaring at your status as the Queen. To call this a crush would be a mistake. No, your feelings run deeper than this, ahhhh~ the scorching and relentless feeling of love!"
If looks could kill, the hunter would have been buried thirteen times already, for saying something so ridiculous. Vil Schoenheit in love with her, of all people?
"The Trickster also seems interested in you."
The words aimed directly at his heart, why did he choose Rook as vice leader when he was not careful of his place? And why was everyone telling him things he didn't want to admit?
"Of course, isn't that obvious? I am Vil Schoenheit," he uttered, attempting to assert his dominance, to defend his wounded pride.
"You know that's not what I mean."
He turned his eyes away, she had seen through him, the ugliness he wanted to hide. She saw it and yet...
"Stop spouting nonsense, Rook. I'm in a foul mood. I will be in my room."
He entered his room and closed his doors, fist slamming on them. His heart ached, frowning deeply as how easily he could recall her face and her cheeky smile.
And how he desperately wanted her to look at him.
When she was nice to everyone...
How could he tell if she is looking at him...?
He slammed his fist against the door, once more hiding his blushing face on his sleeve, as he was only accompanied by the sound of his racing heart.
-
Her feelings were like an open box, the best way to hide something was to be upfront about everything. It was how she had managed to fool herself. Never had she tried anything to reach him, to try to get him to love her.
It was fine if her love was one-sided, as hurtful as it was.
She was okay with being just his ‘professional headache’, the girl who sometimes got scolded by him, the possible friend that sometimes hangs out with him. She enjoyed their talks, their accidental meetings, their bickering.
As long as that line was never crossed, she was fine.
There was a silly contradiction to that trail of thought. She was fully aware of her love, and always acted on it, whenever she greeted him or talked to him. Her reassurance came from the bottom of her heart. However, she had no intention of it being known, she wouldn’t go and confess to him or anyone. She was no idiot and she knew how to avoid the usual talks of romance and love between her friends. It helped that Ace and Deuce hardly talked about the matter, focusing on the day-to-day happenings, and less on whatever she was feeling.
So long she could see him, from an invisible wall she had erected to protect him, she would be fine with whatever they never were.
-
He was surprised to acknowledge she had similar traits to him, even if they looked like immediate opposites at first glance. She didn’t look much like it, but she favored hard work, that was his first surprise. All of her potato friends had been duped by Azul’s scheme, but she was the one who bailed them out. She had also a hidden passion as well, given her devotion to that game of hers she played, and the art she seemed fond of making. While she was young and inexperienced, given how she often lost track of time, it was precisely this trait that showed her ambition and determination. The fortitude to throw herself into a task she had to accomplish no matter what. It honestly annoyed him, she somehow thought it adequate to go to bed at unholy hours as long as she did what she wanted, her skin care be damned, but it somehow made her shine when he scolded her the next morning.
“Sorry, Vil-senpai, I was at a good part of my game and I couldn’t stop.”
With his cosmetics, he could somehow make up for a tired look on her skin, but at times, it was as if she was glowing instead. He wouldn’t have imagined she had pulled an all-nighter, even if she was supposed to be the potato and him, the beauty expert.
She did possess something he lacked. It was that kindness of hers, one not restricted to her friends. His world didn’t forgive the easily duped, the ones who did something for others, expecting nothing in return. The school they studied at held this principle deep in its roots, where being kind and soft would only leave you as prey to be used. He was far from the likes of Azul and Leona, but he wasn’t the kind to help others for no reason. To give out his secrets for free, it was a way to coddle laziness and neglect. In the industry, it was a sure way to get you killed. But it seemed this concept didn’t apply to her, as her webcomic was a way to help her study (one of the potatoes had come to read it often) and her Magicam was full of advice, the accumulated experience of a high-ranked player in her home world. Everything for free, nothing expected in return.
He himself had been on the receiving end, with her annoying encouragement and unwanted advice. With his own life being saved from overblotting, like she had saved the others. Riddle, Leona, Azul, Jamil. Some of them people who had attacked her or her friends. Yet she still helped them, she helped him, not asking for anything, not even a thank you. They had argued, he had been cold to her, but she still extended her hand to save him.
-
There was something Vil Schoenheit possessed that no one else had, a brilliance that lay deeper than his obvious beauty.
Ann knew he was beautiful, but it was the elegance he carried himself with, the strictness he had for himself and the diligence to reach his goals that made him who he was.
Vil never excused himself, taking responsibility for his faults, like his own admission of his failings for his Overblot and making amends for it. He never asked for help, he worked on his own. She had learned his father was a famous actor, and Vil, while loving him dearly, had never resorted to latching on his father’s fame as an easy way into the business industry.
Instead, he had worked hard, went to auditions and prepared himself. The few times she helped him carry props for his Film Appreciation Club, she had seen the worn out scripts, the hundreds of notes and stickers. He took care of everything with meticulous care, she might have found him rehearsing nonstop even on his busy schedule.
Vil worked out and prided himself on being perfect always, even though he was close to wearing himself thin, and it wasn’t out of simple vanity. He was complex, far from perfect, with his secret failings that didn’t make him less beautiful in her eyes. Someone who wanted to better himself, to reach perfection even if such a state was impossible from the start, how could she not love him for giving his all to a goal?
Even if he denied it, he was kind, secretly helping others being their best person they could be. As harsh and strict as he seemed, he looked out for everyone, not only those close to him or in his dorm. He wouldn’t even mind being painted as something he loathed, as long as that person got the drive to improve themselves. It was why for her, he was a true selfless hero, with shortcomings that he struggled with. And it was why she wanted him to achieve his dream, and had tried to help him in the only way she could, through words, written or spoken, and through art so that others might see him in a different light, the things Vil never mentioned about himself that were easily missed by others just looking at him at glance.
-
He wanted her to look at him. To praise him. To tell him he was the most beautiful.
"I don't care about your opinion. "
It was a bold lie, one to hide his own deepest feelings, the actual fear of her opinion of him. He was aware that he was in the eye of everyone, but...
He wanted to be in her eyes but feared hearing her thoughts. Because she saw right through his efforts. Through everything he did. Would she praise him?
He felt bare, exposed. And, he was unsure if he could handle her rejection. That was why he shut out her opinion fast, fearing the words he didn't want to hear.
Why wasn't she telling him he was beautiful, like everyone else? Why did she approach him easily? She didn't know her place, he kept repeating that to himself, but there was a lingering fear it was because he was nothing to her, hence why she acted so nonchalantly.
He wanted to be her very first thought in the morning and the last one at night, just as she invaded his dreams and haunted him everywhere with her presence or absence. But he couldn't easily go and tell her, "I saw you in my dreams again. We were together, you by my side, the place I yearn for you to be."
He sighed. There was no use getting upset over this. But these words didn't reach his heart, its pace increasing as he thought of her again.
(He knew that it was because she didn't say those words, that she looked deeper, focusing on his sweat, blood and tears, that he looked for her everywhere now.)
"You've worked so hard to get where you're standing on and that's really amazing."
He was in deep.
"I think your beauty doesn't only lie in how you look, you are beautiful, but it's your determination and hard work that makes you shine."
He stopped breathing when she said that, heart aching so much because she wasn't aware that her words pierced his heart, permanently latching on it like the sword in his crown. Whenever he repeated them in his mind, like a broken record, he clenched his chest, losing all strength, a sweet tasting poison that bewitched his soul. It hurts him but, he couldn't stop himself from yearning it.
"Please, look at me."
"...Please love me..."
He whispered quietly in the darkness of his empty room.
There was an irony of the Pomefiore Queen falling victim to her sweet tender poison.
(Was it really poison? Her words were sweet and gentle, beautiful and without any ill intentions. But they killed him slowly, so they might as well be the most dangerous venom in the world. And he wouldn't stop wishing for it, taking them all until there was nothing left.)
-
"Vil-senpai, good morning!"
She would smile brightly at him and he would avoid her eyes, feigning indifference because he couldn't hold her gaze back. He preferred to nitpick, to tell her that her lips were dry, that she should pay attention to her appearance, harshly scolding her as his hands carefully arranged her tie.
"I won't be always fixing you. You should be always presentable, what am I going to do with you?"
He fussed over her, giving her even some lipstick he had, after applying it to her lips that surely her potato friends would comment on later.
What was he going to do? Wasn't it obvious? He'd look for her next and fuss again over her appearance, because that was as close as he could allow himself to be, safely hidden by the pretense of her untidy appearance.
-
"Tell me, Trickster Ann-kun," Rook's piercing voice shot through the silence like the arrow from his bow. "Do you have feelings for the beautiful Vil?"
He had suddenly approached her, as she had taken a night stroll in the surroundings of Ramshackle Dorm to clear her head, even though she knew the chaos would remain.
She closed her eyes, she knew that looking away or up front would show the answer, a fawn in front of the perceptive hunter. Vil had already confronted her, her eyes telling a different story than what she wanted to say. Rook would surely suspect, no, she had a feeling he was asking to confirm his suspicions.
"What do you mean?"
"Your eyes shine the most when you are next to him, even if you then look away moments after. You approach him often, during the free times he has or even when your paths cross, in between classes and your personal activities. There's a tension, a soft lingering warmth when you talk to him. I look at Vil the most, so naturally I would notice first anything that happens around him."
She looked up at the sky, her lips drawn in a thin line. There were no stars to reflect on her eyes.
"Would it bother you?"
"Non, naturally there are many who have feelings for him. In fact, I would be most bothered if people didn't realize his beauty."
"You did mention it before, you wanted us to see his beauty back during our VDC training."
"Oui, Vil has a beauty no one else possesses. It would be foolish to ignore it when close to it. But we are not talking about me, we are talking about you, Trickster Ann-kun."
"..."
"Befitting of your name, you try to fool your opponents and the people who surround you. But you should already know I am a hunter and it's my pride to say I do not let my prey get away.”
"I had a feeling you would say that, though whatever. Whatever I feel, it doesn't really matter."
She could feel his sharp eyes on her, carefully examining her every movement, conscious or unconscious. For a moment, she thought he was concerned, but she wouldn't engage in eye contact for her sake. She knew better than engaging in a fight she would lose.
"If I like him or not, it doesn't matter. Someone like him shouldn't be with someone like me."
"Do you think of yourself as inferior to him, Trickster Ann-kun? Vil is the kind of person who can appreciate beauty, no matter how unconventional."
"I don't really know where I fall in that category, and I don't think too much about it anyway," she said with a casual shrug, but it didn't shake off Rook's inquisitive gaze.
"You should be aware that you're already someone important to him. What happened in the VDC put you in another place in his eyes."
What would it be? Vil’s overblot and her desperate tries to save him? Their talk alone after they lost the VDC? She was sure Vil couldn’t know her punching Rook was largely due to her own anger at him for doing this to Vil.
But no matter the reason, it changed nothing.
"...It's because of that...Things are fine the way they are now. I'm fine with that. "
"Perhaps you are, but what about Vil?"
She unconsciously turned to him, his green eyes revealing a strong protectiveness and concern. She winced and looked away, though perhaps she had already shown too much.
"...He is better this way. I...I don't deserve him, that's all."
"Is this why you don't grasp for him? The yearning in your eyes, you cannot hide it from me, but you don't wish to claim him."
Ann couldn’t reply, and the look in the hunter’s eyes told him he knew more, her silence a confirmation for him. He pressed for no more answers, not that she would give them. Her love was doomed from the start and she was fine with that.
“But what about Vil?”
That was the only problem, though she prayed it never happened.
-
The truth is, I want him to love me. I want him to hold me.
But I can’t have him.
I have to look at him from afar, no matter how much my heart aches for him.
This was a waltz for two solo dancers, each gliding at their own tune, so close yet so far. Wanting to get close, but not enough to touch each other. Yearning gazes being the only betrayal of those hidden thoughts.
-
His lips touched hers and a bolt of electricity passed through his body, heart aching so much, as his tight chest reminded him to breathe. Her lips were so soft and tender, and when he pulled back in shock at what he had done, her warmth lingering on his lips almost made him wish to continue. Locking mouths, their skin needing to be one, to be this close always, it was a feeling he had been blessed to have just experienced and cursed, because it would never be enough.
Especially when her eyes reflected a pain he would have never expected to see.
The one time he had let himself be overcome with emotion, his relentless feelings deciding something so bold, it had to be the time where he quietly poured them all in one action only to feel a quiet unmoving slap in the form of her gaze.
She didn't have to say anything, too shocked to move but the rejection in her eyes was more than clear, and her lingering lips on his skin added insult to the injury.
It was the pain he felt as he left the room that let him know how hard he had fallen for her, how much he yearned for her love and adoration, and it was crushing him.
-
"Potato."
"Huh..."
The next thing she realized was his perfume so close filling her nostrils, his soft lips on hers.
And she felt her world crumbling, the small bubble she had crafted for her delusions rupturing and bringing her to the terrible reality she had to confront.
Something took over her, a violent mix of terror and guilt, of her realizing the thing she had done and how far her silly nonsense had reached.
She wanted his love, she yearned for it deeply, but she couldn’t accept it.
Vil was in love with someone else, right? Not her, someone like Rook or someone else who deserved him.
But his lips were on hers, a delicate blessing she wasn’t worthy of receiving. Hence she could only stand in horror, unable to move or react, because what was she supposed to do?
He pulled back abruptly, his cheeks light pink and brilliant violet eyes avoiding hers. He shook his head before vanishing through the door.
She pressed her fingers on her lips, they were warm, so tempting to keep bringing back the ghost of his skin over hers, the thing she had wished deep down for so long.
But the hurt in his eyes kept haunting her, and she felt like dying.
For the TwstOcWeek on twitter! Day 1 School Days/Domestic
For the first day, I chose the domestic prompt! For Kero, there's nothing more domestic than just chill or nap on Idia's bed while Idia plays online games and Ortho offers his help when he looses~
Prefect got extra gold and silver from the last alchemy lesson. Decided to make better use of them they made matching accessories for the 1st year group.
Rumor has it that NRC is full of crows, all of them mean and dangerous. One day Grim and Ann have a small incident with them over a delicious treat, cupcakes.
Ann Hawthorne is my MC OC, and the main character in my VilAnnthology series.
Thanks to polyphenols@AO3 for beta-reading this!
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Living in the forgotten rundown building had its perks, as Ann Hawthorne eventually found out. While cleaning it had taken a long time, the young girl had managed to make it a somewhat hospitable and almost comfortable place. Even more, she had been slowly adding flowers and shrubs from the seeds she got at Sam's shop and the botanical garden. She was able to do whatever she wanted without caring what others said. Such as taking care of the unexpected wildlife around the dorm.
Every other day, on the makeshift table made out of stone she brought together, Ann would leave some food. Chips, bread crumbs, French fries, even cookies or whatever leftovers from the Heartslabyul parties or when Ace and Deuce visited, the list was endless.
As soon as she went inside, the crows living in the trees around the building flocked to the stones and happily ate the simple feast. Ann didn't have pets, but she liked watching the crows eating from her window. Eventually she began waving at them whenever she left for school, even though Grim would laugh at her.
"Wouldn't you want to be waved at if you were a bird?"
"Are those dumb birds going to call me Grim-sama?"
"No."
"Funa! Then I don't care! But I'll show them and later they'll be begging me to listen to them!" The monster cat hollered as Ann rolled her eyes.
But she liked doing that and her dumb younger-sibling-like cat pet monster wouldn't stop her.
"Grim," Ann said as she arched an eyebrow. "You should probably wait until we reach the dorm." Grim was happily unwrapping one of the cupcakes they had baked with Trey not long ago, barely paying attention to his surroundings. They had just left the Hall of Mirrors, on their way home. Ann was holding a box of cupcakes meant for them except that the impatient monster had sneaked one out from who knew where.
"I'm hungry! And you're too slow!" Grim said as he was licking his lips, but before he could take a bite, a nearby crow dove straight and stole the pastry.
"Funaaaaa! My cupcake!” he yelled, chasing the bird fruitlessly as it rested on the a top branch of a nearby tree.
"Give it back, dumb bird!" Grim yelled, staring as the bird cocked its head.
"Give up, Grim," Ann replied with a sigh, having caught up as she didn't want to ruin the ones in the box. "We still have 6 and you stole that one anyway."
"Give it ba-Eek!"
Grim could only watch in horror as the crow chomped the cupcake and swallowed it all, uncaring of the critter's cries and jumps.
"Let's go, Grim. Look, it already ate it. You don't want crow barf or poo so give it a rest," Ann replied dryly.
However, Grim's eyes narrowed dangerously. "My cupcake!" he yelled, throwing a flame at the crow, which narrowly missed, slightly burning its feathers.
"Grim, bad idea!" Ann said as the crow dove down to peck on Grim's head. The bird flew high and cawed loudly, summoning in an instant a cloud of 10 or more birds.
Without a second thought, Ann grabbed Grim by the waist and ran in the direction of Ramshackle dorm, a trail of crows following close. Their croaks were similar to the sounds of hell, reaching closer and closer.
Ann didn't dare to look back, eyes locked on the familiar gate, coming closer and closer into view. She opened it with a shove, accidentally hitting Grim on the head with one of the metal bars. Her arm would hurt the next day, but it was better than being murdered by crows in her book. The squawks were so loud now and she felt some of the hellish fiends flying closer to her sides. The building was so close, even if her lungs were beginning to ache and her legs were giving out...
Suddenly, 11 flashes of black from the opposite direction flew towards the pressing crows, the noise becoming unbearable, as black feathers scattered everywhere like rain. Ann wouldn't look at the scene, focusing on opening the door and hiding inside with Grim.
Only after they were inside, she peeked through the window and found more a massive war of crows, their cries filling the air. She recognized some of them, the crows of Ramshackle dorm were attacking their pursuers. The cries didn't stop for several minutes until the invaders flew away as the defenders cawed in what could only be a warning message.
Seeing that the cupcakes on her box were a total mess, not surviving the pursuit, Ann took the remnants and left them on the stone. She figured they deserved a reward, as their unexpected saviors.
-
The next time Ann and Grim came back from the Hall of Mirrors, Ann was carrying a couple of boxes. Ignoring the warning caws of the defeated crows, all eyes on her and Grim, Ann walked by the tree where the fight had started. At the top the crow with the burnt feathers was sitting, squawking dangerously at them.
Ann cleared her throat, "Grim."
"Huh, I don't have to."
Ann shot a dangerous look at him, and the cat groaned. "I'm sorry," he grumbled. "But you-"
"Fine now," she quickly interjected before Grim could get a fired up again and start a fight. "We brought these as an offer of peace," Ann said and opened one of the boxes, showing a dozen cupcakes. "They are safe to eat," she added as she took a small part of one and ate it in front of the dozens of eyes staring at her.
Carefully, she put the box on the ground and slowly rose up, walking away, never showing her back. Only when she felt she was far away, she turned her back and the crows flocked at the baked offering.
The crows at Ramshackle dorm also received another tasty reward as Ann warned Grim that next time, she would leave him there if he attacked the crows.
-
"Hey Ann, when did you get so good at Animal Languages?" Jack asked the young girl as she was leaving the table to get some dessert.
"What?" Ann arched an eyebrow.
"Ah, Trickster Ann-kun," Rook said, suddenly appearing behind her, causing her to jump and hide behind Jack. "Rumor has it that you commanded an army of crows to save Monsieur Fuzzball the other day."
"I what?"
"Ruggie-senpai saw you two being attacked by crows, then another group saved you. When he walked by Ramshackle dorm, they chased him away. Said it was your turf."
"Crows are fickle creatures, even those most skilled at Animal Language have difficulty agreeing with them," Rook said, looking at her intensely. "What trick did you use to bewitch them?"
Ann frowned as she said flatly, "Contrary to what you all believe, kindness, gratitude and selflessness come a long way. Also, I don't have a gang of crows."
"You do. That's what they said, " both replied in unison.
Quickly realizing she wouldn’t change their minds, she gave up and went to her dorm. As she looked outside on the window of her room, a small sparkling glimpse caught her eye. On the stool of the window, there laid a small beautiful star-shaped crystal. She lifted it up, looked at the crows on the tree and smiled.
-
Crows are incredibly smart, they can remember people's faces and are capable of holding grudges. In fact, crows can tell other crows about people who hurt them. They also remember people being nice to them as well. I think there's a reason why crows are mean to the students in NRC lol
Some crows even bring gifts to the people who are nice to them. It ranges from rocks to even uhhh dead animals, anything that is small enough to fit in their beaks.
