Beauty and the Beast | Vergil Sparda x reader

chapter 13 - let me...

Proud? Proud. You're proud of him... for being so weak? There was once a time he broke a decades old spell in pursuit for power, and now he sits crying into the hands of a peasant women. How could you be proud of this... weakness, this monster, this beast? You have the nerve, the gall to say you're proud of him?

"I've seen you sob, but never fully cry. Never real tears. That takes a lot of courage." He doesnt know how truly readable he is, no matter how hard he pushes everything down it will all show up in the end. He can't hide from you. Your hands slide from his face, and fall down to his lap. His hands coming to immediately, taking them in and dwarfing them in his own.

This, right here, is perfection. Peace. Something he knew so well that he did not deserve. "Let me..." You whisper, voice almost caught in the breeze. Pausing, trying to figure out exactly what to say. His heart begins to pound as he awaits your next word. Every cell in his body screams that you're going to ask him to leave. But, you'd never do that, right?

Right?

"Go." Whatever you had to say, the thought of you asking to go home held strong in his mind. This was all too much. "Leave me." You take a step back, confused. Had you gotten to close? Did you overstep his boundaries? "But.. you shouldn't have to be out here alo-" "Now." His voice booms, and you flinch. Eyes wide as you nod. You try to suppress the frown and tears of shock.

This is stupid to get be this upset, and yet... you walk back the way you came. Tears streaming down your face, your shoulders shake as you tried not to sob. He knew he'd made a big mistake. The look... the fear in your eyes. Was everything going to reverse back to how it once was? Would you now quiver when he came near you?

The walk back to your quarters seemed a lot shorter. It doesnt matter though. You just wanted to help, you just wanted to be close to, be around him. Curling into to sheets you close your eyes only for a second before falling into a restlessness sleep. You went about your morning as usual. A stroll without him, breakfast, and whatever you feel fit.

The palace felt cold, empty, just as it used to. You've made a home out of it these past months, and in less then a day it feels barren. How comical, how stupid of you to believe you would make things better. Today, you cooped yourself up in the library. Angered and embarrassed by yourself, what did you do wrong?
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You read over the same fairytale over and over again, about how she falls in love with a beast who's heart shows through his ghastly figure, and he falls just as deeply in love with her. You wished... Anyways, there are so many iterations of the tale, it's hard to get used to reading another. It was now easier to hold the large book, with its heavy detailed leather. Your arm had healed up fully, Arkham was right though. It doesn't have the strength it used to.

If anything like this had happened when you still lived down in the village you would've been out of work completely. Dispite the reason you're hear in the first place, you're lucky you now have the privilege to rest it off. You drag your fingers down the pages, the ink had caused the letters the raise off of the page so beautifully.

That's how you knew this book was old, understandably so. This tale is as old as time.
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He paces back and forth in the halls, slow melodic steps as he contemplates his childish reaction last night. He had you so close, just as he wished. And for some reason he shoved you away. His eyes close, and he imagines your hands placed on his face once more. He growls in frustration, maybe it's better to keep you at arms length.

For preservation of your heart, he'd rather keep you distant then to break you.

His pacing lasts into the evening hours, the sun casting golden glows on everyit touches. This time yesterday he was trapped in memories of the past, and now.. it's all you. No matter what he trys to think, remember, everything comes back to you. Your soft skin, kindness, gentle touch, how wonderful you'd look stretched arou- no. He shouldn't have these thoughts.

He leaves said hall, desperate to distract himself from his own mind.

He's unsure why he could ever want you to be close to him, months ago he only had thoughts of ending your miserable life that were only soothed by his pity. His own desperation leads him to the library, and right to you. You look up from your book at him, quickly looking back down at it. Pretending to read.

Avoiding you, letting himself into the shelves. The silence permeating through the room feels as though its suffocating you, you have to at least apologize for upsetting him. You rise from the chair, leaving your book behind. You try to track him down through the labyrinth of books. Your shoes click on the ground, alerting him to you approaching.

"Vergil?" He flinches, but doesnt bother to look over his shoulder. "I'm sorry if i... upset you or over stepped. I just wanted to help." Your eyes cast down at the floor. "Now I see that I was just an annoyance." No, no you were not. A sigh leaves him. "You were not, but I will not let you leave." Confusion hit, your gaze immediately looking back onto him. "What are you talking about?"

"Last night, you were going to ask me to leave, were you not?" "No! I wasn't. I thought I made it clear before that I didnt want to leave." A soft hmm leaves his throat. "Then I was mistaken." You squint, sadness filling your chest. Heart hirting and feeling as though it's going to dry up. He's pushing you away. You can't just let that happen, not after all of this.

"Vergil, you didnt even give me a chance to say what I needed." You say with a short laugh, trying to lighten the mood. "Then tell me." You feel your face heat, remembering exactly wha TV you were going to say. "I-I cant now. Its not-" "Not worth it? I figured." Every word that he spits is him trying to push you away. Not this time. "That's not it!" "Then say it if it's so important!" His voice echoes through the library as he spins around, now facing you.

The two of you stand there, a tense glare holding. He makes the choice to break it, storming off through the library. You follow, quick on his coattails. Yelling at him to listen to you as he storms through the halls. "I was trying to make everything better, I want you to be happy!" He continues in front of you, his wide strides making him start to get ahead. "It shouldn't matter to you!" But it does.

"Let me take care of you, god damn it!"

The words leave your mouth, almost as if someone else had said them. He stops as soon as you say it. "I want to make you happy. I want to do everything In my power to make it stop hurting." You take a few steps forward, reaching for his hand. "Let me get close to you, I know I can't make everything go away. That doesn't mean I can't try to make things better."

Gently slipping your hand into his, he slowly grips your hand. It's not tight, but tight enough to feel his warmth. He's at odds with himself, eyes glued on the wall. There's his want to protect you form the beast he truly is, and the want to draw you into himself and make you his own. But he can't, as much as your kindness overflows, that isnt what you mean. Right?

He can not take advantage of your kindness for his own primal desires.

"Alright."
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1380 words.