Vanitas × Noé

Through Your Eyes

Vanitas groaned, pulling himself up from the wet, filthy ground, Noé mirroring him a few moments away. They were both dead on their feet, bleeding and bruised. It was a miracle they had been able to escape, though their chosen alleyway wasn't the nicest place to be seeking respite. They stumbled upon it accidentally in a mad dash, tripping over themselves to reach its dark embrace. There was no telling how long they had before danger would be snapping at their heels again.

They were too weak. That was the unavoidable truth of it. If they kept going as they were they would die, enemies outstripping their abilities too far. Vanitas was a human and Noé, though comparatively more powerful, had no way to hold his own against other vampires with combat prowess. He could barely rewrite the world formula. However, that problem could be solved. Vanitas thought so anyway. It wasn't as though Noé didn't have the potential.

"You're so feeble because something happened to your eye as a kid, right?"

"Hey!" Noé barked, automatically reacting to the perceived insult.

"Is it true or not?"

"Yes... In a sense." He narrowed his eyes.

"Good. That's good." Vanitas brushed the hair from his face and laughed. "I'm thinking of taking a page out of your teacher's book on this one. He's certainly got some interesting eyes."

"What are you talking-"

"Say, Noé, how would you like one of mine?"

"Huh?"

Vanitas grinned. "A blue eye like that, I think I know where he got it. If Luna's eye is so special he'd replace one of his own, one of mine is the next best thing. They're not vampire eyes but they still have the power of the blue moon clan."

"You're telling me... to take your eye?"

"That's the gist of it." Vanitas extended his hand in invitation. "Come, Noé."

"Wait, what? You can't just use someone else's eye!"

"I can't. Humans can't." He poked Noé's chest, hard. "Vampires can. If you replace yours with mine you'll be stronger."

"You're asking me to do this?" Noé lurched toward him, clawed hand stopping an inch from Vanitas's right eye. He blanched when Vanitas didn't so much as flinch.

"That's right." Vanitas showed his teeth. "I'm not offering this lightly. By all rights you should be more powerful, Archiviste."

"There has to be something else we can do. This is insane."

"Look at us, Noé. If we can't pull something 'insane' we won't be able to compete. I know this will work. It might only keep us alive one more day, but you can do a lot in a day."

"Vanitas, I'm not rejecting your offer outright. I only think we should consider our options more carefully." Noé started to pull his hand back.

Vanitas's fingers locked around his wrist.

"You have two choices here, Noé." Vanitas drew him closer until the point of his longest claw was pressing against his top eyelid. "Either you gouge my eye out within the next ten seconds or I'll push your fingers in myself. We both know which will be messier."

"Vani-"

"Wasting your ten seconds."

"Are you sure?"

"I wouldn't give this to just anyone. You believe I'd discard a piece of myself on a whim?"

Noé wanted to argue that he would. Remind him of how he had sat back while Doctor Moreau's thumb eased towards his eye. How he would have already lost it had Noé not stepped in. Even so, Vanitas seemed sincere in his proposition and the logic behind it. Noé couldn't pretend to understand it fully, he'd have to trust Vanitas's judgement or call his bluff, tear himself free from the vise on his arm.