#ikevmap

6th June 2024

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Getting tangled up in old emotions was annoying, to say the least.

Theo dived into his work so often to keep his mind from wandering too far off the path he had beaten into the ground for himself. His primary focus was supporting Vincent and the many artists alike who were snubbed by the academy, of course, but when you were near it kept those feelings he hastily buried away firmly underground.

In the past, spending time with the residents when work was slow aided in the past. Arthur was an easy source of distraction, and Vincent would never shove him away. Nowadays? None of that helped, and despite the scolds from his brother Theo continued barking to keep you away. Until the month ended, until those pesky grains of sand filled the bottom of Comte’s hourglass.

Slowly, however, he noticed the way your gaze caught on the clocks in the hall. How there was a flicker of hesitation when you laughed with the others. It wasn’t hard to deduce the reasoning behind each of your long sighs as the days went by.

Damn him for getting involved regardless.

His conversation about regrets seemed to inspire you to choose your future more carefully. Theo didn’t acknowledge the reasons for meddling in depth, already teased by Arthur long enough for a lifetime, but seeing the relief in your eyes couldn’t keep his thoughts off that path he had built for himself. Wondering how different it was from your own.

When it was announced you were to stay in this time Theo felt his throat tighten, unable to celebrate like the others. He was sure you noticed, he knew you had with how you kept opening and closing your mouth the next day, unable to decide how to approach him. The easy answer was you couldn’t, not with how he avoided you. Keeping the mansion clean had provided you with a nearly strict schedule, one that he had unintentionally memorized.

How you decided to toss your timeline away with little regrets ate him up inside with reminders of what he left behind. While he loved his brother and would make the choice, again and again, to live with this thirst for blood, there were still so many loose ties he had. Words left unsaid. Affections he never got to see through to the end.

The fact that you could stay here so easily told him more than enough that your life before now must have been one to easily toss away for tireless work in a mansion full of people you barely knew, but this swath of negative emotions stormed away within him, unable to listen to reason.

He knew how childish he was being, but no one had the gall to call him out. If his brother had noticed, it wasn’t for the reasons Vincent thought they may be, his gentle scolds only coming out to try and convince him to be kinder towards you. Arthur attempted pointing it out, but after a quick bark to shut up, Arthur backed away with his hands up and a small huff about how difficult Theo was being.

Unreasonable, childish, stubborn. He was fully aware of how he came off, but he needed to clear his head. Process these emotions before he lashed out towards you any longer.

For days, he stayed like this, barely calming that storm inside of him. It wasn’t until he bumped into you outside in the gazebo that they sizzled out with the defeat in your eyes, the way you resigned yourself to the expectation that he would ignore you, or push you away with more gruff than before.

And finally it felt like he could speak again, throat no longer restricted by his own hand.

“Hondje, wait.”

It was hard to look at you when your eyes were so wide with surprise. Aware of how quiet his voice had been he cleared his throat, trying to meet your curious gaze for longer than a second.

“I…” He held his breath, looking away as the words he couldn’t say flooded his thoughts. How he was tired of regrets, how he was exhausted with the past coming to bite back at him. How, whenever he felt the affection you had for him escape, feelings he swore off clenched at his lungs so tightly.

And god, it was impossible trying to talk to you when you looked at him with such unrestrained hope. With a deep inhale he gingerly took your wrist, tugging you to his chest.

There wasn’t any resistance from you, and he didn’t know what killed him more; the fact that you seemingly forgave him so easily, or the way his heart thrummed at feeling your warmth mingle with his.

“I’m glad you decided to stay.”

Arthur: He’ll probably, like, make a noise or throw a rock. That’s what I would do.

*Building explodes and several car alarms go off*

Well, I should thank tumblr for introducing me to such a lovely person ≧∇≦

Thank you!

This made my day! 😻