Identity V x Reader

Joseph x Reader [short]

Exhaustion. The feeling which pulled on every fibre of your muscles. Your lungs on fire in hopes to keep the coal engine running which was your body and mind.

There was only one finale cipher left and you were kiting for everyone's life. Collecting scratches and bruises all over your limbs before falling on the cold wet snow of Leo's Memory, after the second flash of the camera.

Behind you, the taller form of Joseph appeared, breathing heavily yet still seeming unfazed by the marathon which you both had put behind you. A game of cat and mouse which he enjoyed sharing with you each day.

The hunter was standing in front of your cowering form, the significant cocky, yet classy, smile gracing his porcelain lips, contrasting your pouty frown.

Pulling out one of his polaroids, he captured you inside of it as he did with his victims before your time. So many people he had met, so many faces he had seen. Yet none of them were truthly of inspiration to him in comparison to you. An perfectly imperfect beauty in his eyes. No matter how often he looked at you, no matter how often he was the audience of the fascinating show of your behaviour, it could never bore him in the slightest.

A pearl he has never met before in life. A treasure no one else in the world could dig up, not even from the deepest of grounds. A muse, an angel and a saviour which guided him through his days of cold loneliness. The cozy warmth which made him love again. The light which guided him back towards his missing passion.

He admired your features for a while under the bright moonlight. From the color of your flushed cheeks to the shining gems which looked back into his own dull irises. When he closed his eyes, he could hear the smooth ringing of your voice when you called his name. Feeling the warm tips of your fingers running over the skin of his hands and cheeks. The playful nudges you gave him when he successfully made your heart skip a beat.

Carefully guiding the card closer to him, he gave it a chaste kiss on the glossy surface. Afraid that something might happen to you inside. His heart was pacing up slightly when he felt a light sensation return from it. As if you were returning his affection inside the world he trapped you in.

The snow was crushed under his shoes as he took off to look for a chair. Holding your photo delicately over his heart, he waltzed you along with him. For a moment there was only silence. You could hear the snowflakes landing on their fellow friends with whispered thuds. It has been you who made his life as peaceful as the last snowy days of this abandoned factory.

Once he arrived at the desired destination which was a rocketchair right next to a warming container fire next to the factory entrance, he released you from the prison of his invention. The warm light of the fire reflecting his pearly white skin and his genuine smile which he gifted to no one else but you.

Kneeling down on one knee, he placed himself next to the chair. Gently placing his right hand under your cuffed one, tilting your fingers up by a bit so his cold lips could give it a kiss. One last sign of adoration before you flew off to the mansion with flushed cheeks and his beloved flustered face of yours.

„I'll meet you back in the mansion, mon cœur."

And maybe, just maybe, he could feel his heart warming up again after the merciless snowstorm he felt all those years. Each day a little bit more, when he was next to you.