#19.5

Maya’s lips clumsily move against Vergil’s, her eyes heavy.

She’s already coming down from the high of her climax, and even though she’s exhausted, she doesn’t want to close her eyes. If she does, then…

“You need to sleep,” comes his quiet voice, watching as she struggles to stay awake. He brushes her bangs away from her eyes and she leans into his touch. She knows he’s right, but she can’t help the way her heart tightens in her chest.

As her head presses against the pillows, she reaches out to him. “Can I hold you? Just until I fall asleep?” she doesn’t think he’ll do it. He isn’t the cuddling type, and she’s about to let it go until he feels his arm snake around her waist. She scoots closer to him, resting her cheek against his firm chest. Her eyes finally drift shut at the sound of his heartbeat.

He’s always so warm, and that just makes her drowsier.

She lays like this beside him; her sleep-muddled mind urging her to just say how she feels, but she can’t burden him with such heavy words. She has to let him go and let life take its course.

So she gathers up what’s left of her consciousness, pressing a kiss just above his heart.

“I’ll miss you,” she manages to say before sleep finally takes her, and she’s lulled away into a dreamless sleep.

Vergil waits until her breathing evens out, pulling away just enough to look at her sleeping face. He’s impressed with how long she was able to stay awake, the early morning sun lighting up the town in a soft blue glow. He maps out every freckle and curve of her face, his thumb brushing against her bottom lip.

Attachments are a weakness, especially when they can so easily be severed. Without power, you can’t protect anything and he refuses to lose anything else.

Leaving her like this is for the best.

With that, he unwinds himself from her, covering her bare body with her blanket as she snuggles into her pillow. He makes his way to her bathroom, turning the knob to the hot water as he lets it run over his body.

This sense of normalcy is still so foreign to him. It was all so…

Comfortable.

His life has been anything but, and a small part of him finds himself wondering what might happen if he stays. If he takes her words from the night before into consideration, then…

But he can’t entertain those thoughts. He can’t abandon his goals, not when he’s so close to the power he seeks. Even if he stays, the demons always find him.

He glares at the white tiles, shutting off the water as he runs his hands through his hair, slicking it back.

He’ll do whatever it takes to obtain the power he needs to protect what’s his, then and only then will he return here.

Return to her.

Once he dries off and dresses, he takes out the ascot she gave him, the blue silk soft against his calloused hands. He wraps it around his neck and slips on the gift Credo and his family gave him the night before; a pair of high-quality gloves.

He steps out of the bathroom, eye drifting towards Maya as he puts on his coat. She's moved onto her back at some point, and his feet move him towards her slumbering form.

There's so much more he wants to say, but he knows if he stays any longer, that temptation of normalcy will worm it's way back into his heart. That pesky part of him that whispers for him to stay with her growing louder as he brushes his knuckles against her cheek.

Then, the memory of flames against his tear stricken cheeks and the agonizing pain his body and heart suffered that night reminds him he can't afford to fancy such things.

“Goodbye, Maya,” he murmurs, finally tearing his eyes away from her before he makes his way out of her room. He secures his hood over his head, keeping his eyes forward as he closes the door to her apartment.

When he reaches the bottom of the steps, he looks around the library that’s sheltered him before he clicks the Yamato free from its scabbard. With two quick slashes, a portal appears that illuminates the room in a ghostly glow.