Shadows within darkness

THANK YOU VERY MUCH

Golden Kitsune (Ah, I´m afraid smut would be a little misplaced right now, but there will be! So I beg for your patience?)

Rina76 (Yes, spookily romantic library: that was what I was aiming for! I want one too... With Vincent in it. What, you are not lame at all! Yazoo with a Sweeney Todd accent is brilliant XD But I´m afraid he´ll get rid of it eventually. I will not rush with the smut, I promise! Just as you said: their relationship has to develop (and Yazoo has to grow a little older first).)

for reviewing and jsakurachan1 for betaing!

10

His head resting on his arms, Yazoo observed one busy Aeris bustle around the kitchen preparing food and humming a happy little melody. He was bored out of his wits but she didn´t let him do anything because she said that he had still to rest and stuffed him with her, admittedly very delicous, food.

Still, after five days of doing nothing but eat, sleep and listen to her chatting, he slowly started to become restless. Not that he didn´t like sitting in the warm kitchen, smelling the various delicious odors that came from the oven, but…

He just wasn´t used to sitting around, doing nothing. So the evenings, when the sun had vanished behind the horizon and Aeris had gone through the house and lit the candles and oillamps, had almost become welcome.

For the last few nights he´d been summoned to the library, accompanying Vincent in his readings. The man had read several things to him, wanting to know his opinion on them, but never commented on what Yazoo said, and the boy didn´t understand why he did it at all.

Though it had been quite interesting; not that he´d admit it -he was still giving the man the cold shoulder and remained distanced. Unlike Aeris, Vincent was… eery. Yazoo didn´t know what to think of him and he believed that the man didn´t like him. Not the best start for an intimate, long lasting friendship…

Though he had some kind of respect for Vincent, somehow.

Maybe.

Anyways, it was nearly night and Aeris prepared to go through the rooms and illuminate them. He slipped from his seat and followed her, occasionally giving a monosyllabic answer to her questions, until the maid noticed his constant looks towards the library to see if Vincent had finally come to release him from his boredom.

Smiling, the maid stroked over his head and carefully put a candle in his hand. “Why don´t you go ahead and start lightening the candles in the library for me? You have seen how I do it often enough now, haven´t you?”

He nodded, looking very serious and almost solemn as he conceived the dripping wax shaft.

Shaking her head a little she watched him walk off to the library with an air of importance around him. He´d become a splendid young man one day. If only he could get rid of that horrible slang of his, that so did not match his effeminate appearance.

Oh well, they were making a little progress, at least she had been able to teach him the meanings of “please” and “thank you”. (A lot of candy had to be sacrificed, though).

Yazoo pressed down the handle of the doorknob and slipped into the dark room, the flickering candle still carefully wrapped between his fingers.

By now he had mapped the stacks of books and shelves sticking into the room, and without much problems made his way to the big candle bearers. Soon a warm light engulfed the room, and satisfied, the boy turned to the last bearer when he tripped over a book lying in the way.

Damning the thing with colourful curses, Yazoo put his candle into the bearer and crouched down to violently shove the offending book out of his way, when his eyes got glued to a picture on the yellowed, open pages.

There was some kind of monster, with huge teeth and a long tail. It was entirely covered with hovels and out of its mouth came hot flames. Huge wings made it hover over a tower where a lovely damsel was looking out of a window, terrified by the creature.

In the lower corner, an impressive man in shining armour on a black horse was approaching, his long lance directed at the evil monster to save the damsel in distress from its disgusting claws.

Taking in every detail, the boy was so consumed by his study that he didn´t even notice the shadow approaching silently behind him.

Interested, Vincent watched Yazoo stroking over the painting with careful fingers, head tilted to one side as he was lost in thought over the story that had let to the events depictured.

“I see you are rather busy tonight.”

Flinching at the sudden voice from behind, Yazoo´s breathing stopped for a moment. Then he turned his head around to glare at the vampire for scaring the shit out of him. Did he always have to be so damn sneaky?!

Vincent looked amused instead of guilty -or frightened by Yazoo´s withering glare- and bent down to catch the book from the floor. After a glance at the title, he gave it back to the boy and turned towards his usual seat on the sofa.

Mimicking his actions and looking at the cover, but not being able to decipher the signs, Yazoo jammed the thick, old book under his arms and followed the man, asking
“What´s it ´bout?”

“It is a collection of old tales and sagas,” Vincent informed him absent-mindedly, being already occupied with his own stories.

“What´s it say?”

Oblivious to Vincent’s activities, the boy had come to stand next to him.

Lifting an eyebrow, Vincent looked at him for a moment, but then set aside his own work to take the book and flip it open on the passage where the picture had been.

“Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there was a princess so beautiful that even the sun appeared pale in her presence. But she was not only pleasant to the eye but also of a lovely and warm personality, thus attracting the attention of all the fair knights and princes in the country.

But she had eyes for only one, the most skilled and honourable knight under her fathers, the kings, men. And knight Siegfried was also deeply in love with her, and asked the king for Princess Beatrice´ hand in marriage and the old king happily obliged, filled with joy that such a splendid man would become his succesor and provide the kingdom with his offsprings. The whole country was overjoyed too, and a great feast was held that lasted three days and three nights and everyone was singing and praising the damsel’s beauty and the knights braveness and everything was good.

“On the night of the marriage though, before knight Siegfried could visit his Princess´ chambers, a shrill scream of fear filled the castle and before the knights eyes, a huge, ugly dragon from the mountains came. The devil reached into the damsel´s chamber and had her in his wretched grip, where the princess fainted from his ugly sight. Helplessly the brave knight had to watch the creature spread its wings and flew into the sky, spitting fire and grumbling like thunder.”

He stopped, feeling the boy climbing on the sofa beside him and peeking over his shoulder.

“What happen dan?!” Yazoo impatiently breathed into the vampire’s ear, completely fascinated with the story.

“Then,” Vincent said somewhat wryly “they lived happily ever after.”

Disbelieving, Yazoo narrowed his eyes and stated “Ya lyin´. Da knight has ta save da damsl first.”

“Oh? But it says that they were living happily ever after right here.”

With a gloved finger Vincent cooly pointed at a text passage, inwardly amused by the boy´s irritation.

Sceptically, Yazoo snatched the book out of Vincent´s lap, sticking his little nose between the pages and with a concentrated look on his face he tried to let the symbols make sense.

Eventually he came to a conclusion and self confidently declared, holding the book away from his face, “’Da knight kills da ugly dragon and den he´n´da princ´s go back to da castl ´n bang’. Dats what it says. ”

Vincent kept to himself what he thought of the last part of Yazoo’s interpretation, simply remarking, “I honour your vivid imagination child, but you certainly are wrong.”

“Oh yeah?! An why´s dat, hn?” Lifting his chin in a challenging manner, a little pout gracing his features Yazoo haughtily stared down at the man, the book tugged under his arm again.

“Because,” Vincent said, his own eyes already scanning the pages of the divine comedy again, “you can not read.”

The pout increased, as did the cold look.

Then the boy crawled from the sofa, finding himself a spot on the carpet, and with his back demonstratively turned towards his patron, Yazoo flipped through the old pages again, lost in his own constructions.

Shaking his head, Vincent turned back to reading, but his gaze was drawn to the boy every so often as he observed him out of the corner of his eye. Eventually he lay his own book aside, grumbling in a somewhat defeated manner “Very well then. I will read it to you.”

A victorious little smirk tugging at his rosy lips, the boy instantly was on his feet as if he had expected nothing else anyway because of his witty calculations. He went over to the man, who had crossed his legs, one arm lying on the armrest, and watched him with red, glowing eyes. Yazoo knelt beside the vampire on the sofa so he could have a good look on the text and pictures to make sure that Vincent didn´t try to shit him again, handing over the book of fairy-tales.

After a side glance at the boy, Vincent flipped the pages open and was about to read in that sonorous, monotone voice of his, when Yazoo seemed to remember something and, off-handed, offered a “Thanks.” It sounded rather bland, but Vincent blinked in surprise though. After a short nod, he began to read out loud.

Yazoo sank deeper into the cushions, listening to the tales. He felt the soft texture of the velvet under his bare feet. It was warm and cosy and his stomach was full, a state so very foreign and new to him. With his brothers it had always been cold and humid in their houses, the stench of rotten food and sweat sweeping into every corner, and their stomaches had grumbled almost always. Instead of the nice, warm candles there had only been the cold moon light and a foot or sharp elbow in his rips because they always slept together on the ground, thinking it was less cold this way…

They had made it through five stories, when Vincent felt a light weight on his arm and spared a look to his left, continuing his monologue, but stopped mid-sentence, when he noticed the burden to be a silver head that rested against his figure.

Breathing evenly and eyes closed, Yazoo had tipped over, sleeping.

Vincent stared straight forward again, feeling very awkward and not knowing what to do.

Normally people didn´t fall asleep in the presence of a vampire unless he wanted them to and the unfazed attitude of the boy somewhat startled him. Vincent wasn´t sure if this meant that Yazoo was trusting him, or if it was a sign of utter disrespect. Maybe the boy was just tired. Either way, it didn´t make the strange feeling go away.

Soundlessly, the vampire laid the book aside and after a moment of contemplation, he decided that Aeris had to be gone to bed already. He carefully gathered the sleeping form in his arms, the boy doing nothing but stir slightly, and brought him to his room, where he placed him on the bed.

After a moment of just staying beside the sleeping form, he awkwardly pulled the cover over Yazoo’s shoulder. When he was satisfied with his task, Vincent crept deeper into his collar, shaking his head again and vanished to go hunt for a meal.

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I´ve been criticised that in this chapter Yazoo appears rather Kadaj-ish. Now that might be true, BUT I think the reason why one would think so is that Kadaj himself seems to be childish sometimes. Ergo is Yazoo not Kadaj-ish but simply childish. And since he IS a child I took the liberty of portraying him like this :) (Also I think Kadaj would have been a lot more forceful, demanding and hyperactive. Or not?).

So I hope you still liked it!