Vessel X OC/reader

Chapter 9

Okay, weird.

I snuggle up to my blanket, and drift in and out of sleep for a little while. I get up, and use the ensuite to wash my face and put a little makeup on. Once I'm dressed, I decide to explore the manor a little bit. There's thirty rooms I still haven't even looked in, and I haven't got anything better to do today.

I find a dark room with a piano in it, and some other instruments. A ukulele, a few guitars. I sit at the piano and look at the lid, and lift it, to expose the keys. Vessel can't be a very musical man, so I don't even want to imagine how out of tune it is.
I gently press a key for a quiet sound. And another. And another. It's perfectly in tune. Wow. I play the only song I know I by heart - Hallelujah.

I shut the lid, and once I'm done exploring the manor, go back to Vessel's room. He's sitting on the side of thebed, lifting weights. Bicep curls, to be specific. I keep a straight face, but, you know, hormones. I want to sit on his face at my earliest convenience.

"I didn't know you lifted weights." I say, sitting beside him.

"I didn't know you played piano." He replies, still lifting his weights, and I go red. Must've heard me playing.

"Yeah, I learnt when I was little. Why'd you have one?"

He puts the dumbbell on the floor, and wipes the small drops of sweat from his forehead.
"What a stupid question." He replies."I play."

"You play piano?"

"Yes. What's your point?" He asks, and I roll my eyes.

"Don't be so fucking grumpy." I hiss at him, and oddly, he smiles to himself. "Why don't you play for me?" I ask him.

"I proposed to you. It's a bit of a step down to serenade you, isn't it?"

"Okay, yeah, true, I was just thinking of something we could do."

"You know that this marriage doesn't mean you have to actually spend time with me, or care about me, or take any interest in me?" He asks, and I freeze up.

"Seriously? So you don't care about me or have any interest?"

"That's not what I said, is it, Gaia?"

"Heavily implied."

"If you hate me so much, why do you care?" He asks me, and to be fair, he has a good point.

"Well. I hate you a lot less since it became clear you didn't butcher my big brother."

He doesn't reply, and I smile.

"Vessel, you know... I don't have to do any of that stuff. But I want to. Forever is a long time to be with someone that I know nothing about."

He looks as if he's thinking carefully.

"Mhm." He agrees, and sighs. "You're right."

I lean down to try and pick up his dumbbell, and it doesn't move an inch.
"Jesus, how do you lift that?" I ask him, and he laughs under his breath.

"I'll get you some smaller ones, if you'd like to start lifting, maybe get stronger." He says, and I raise an eyebrow.

"Thought men didn't like muscles on women?"

"Don't be stupid. I think anything would suit you. You don't exist to impress me, anyway."

I glance at him for a few seconds, and sigh, irritated with myself. Oh, well. I kiss him, pretty roughly, and he puts his hand behind him, on the bed, to keep his balance.

I pull away, and he looks at me, a little shocked, and runs his fingers through his hair.
"I assume I said the right thing, then." He mumbles, and I grin.

"Yep. Perfect."

He puts his weights away, and nods for me to follow him. He takes me back to the grand piano, and sits at it. Habitually, he checks it's in tune, and starts to play.

I sit on the floor, beside him, and look up, watching and listening to him play. After a few minutes, he shuts the lid.

"That's such a pretty song." I say, quietly.

"It has lyrics, too. Maybe I'll sing it for you one day." He says, and helps me up off of the floor.

He doesn't let go of me, for a few seconds, and maintains eye contact.
"I have stuff I want to talk about." I say, and be breaks out of his trance.

"Shoot."

"Children."

His face softens up slightly. He must notice how anxious I am.

"I'm in no rush."

"You're not? I thought it was really important."

"It is. But not urgent."

"I just don't see myself as a mom."

He raises his eyebrow.
"You don't? I think you'd be exceptional."

I chew my nail, nervously, and he watches me carefully.

"Be honest. Is it that you don't want children?"

"No! No. I do. Eventually. Maybe when I'm a bit more... Mom material."

"Nothing about you will change. People don't. But you don't need to."

Woah. He's being nice. Concussion?

"Don't rush yourself. But at the same time... If I had a little girl, and she turned out just like you, I wouldn't be anything other than proud."

I stare at him, and quite suddenly and roughly kiss him. He kisses me back, with an arm tightly wrapped around me. Once he pulls away, he laughs quietly, under his breath.

"Maybe get the drinking issue under control, though." He says.

What? Is he teasing me?

I glare at him, and he grins. Pretty much every time I've seen him smile it's been sinister, or to taunt me. But it seems genuinely playful, and it was actually nice to see.
"Let's go get something to eat." He says, suddenly being stern.

"No, I don't want to."

He raises his eyebrow.
"I didn't ask, I told you."

I kiss his jaw, gently, and smile, giving him my best innocent eyes.
"Of course. Yes, sir."

"You can keep calling me that." He replies, and walks off, nodding for me to follow him. There's already food out on the table, and I quietly eat it, eating properly for the first time since I got here.

I glance at the glass of water beside my food, and raise my eyebrow at Vessel.
"Do you have wine?" I ask him, and he sighs.

"You'll bankrupt me with your bad habits." He says, and gets up to get a bottle and a glass.

"As if you'd ever go bankrupt. Please." I snap at him, and he says nothing. He pours the glass for me, and places it beside me.

"Thanks."

I sip the wine, quietly, and he finishes his food.
"I think we should name all of your personalities. Feels weird calling all of you Vessel." I say, once the wine had started to go to my head, and I'm annoyed about how quiet he is.

"This is coming from the woman who threatened to slit my throat and drink my blood, and the next day asked me to fuck her."

I fucking hate it when men have a point. I don't respond, and finish my glass of wine and eventually, my food.

"Thanks, this has been lovely. I'm going to go to my room, if you need me, that's where I'll be." I say, flatly, and get to my feet.

"If you want to act big and start an argument, why not act big and finish it?" He asks, wiping his mouth with a napkin before staring at me intently.

"You're not worth the energy." I hiss at him, and turn to leave.

"You're not going anywhere. I've told you before, don't walk away from me."

"Yeah? Or what?"
He doesn't reply, so I spin on my heel and storm off.