#viackerman

Hollow stumbled back into the music center at 2:00 AM. Vi was sitting at the piano bench next to the entrance and stood up. Hollow looked down at the blood on his shaking hands. He had been assigned another mission and if he refused, he and all his friends would be in danger. It’s been like this since he was twelve. “Come on,” said Vi, turning around and expecting him to follow. Hollow did so and walked past the rooms of his sleeping friends. He glanced at Bea’s name on her door and looked away quickly. Vi turned into the bathroom and Hollow followed in.

“Here,” said Vi, picking up a bucket he had already filled with soap and water. He placed it in front of Hollow and Hollow sat down in front of it, placing his hands into the water and rubbing away the blood. Vi walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a fingernail scrubbing brush and took one of Hollow’s hand in his, and began scrubbing the blood out from under his nails. They did so quietly every time Hollow came home after an assignment. Vi never asked questions. How it went, who he had to kill, what he was thinking. Hollow spoke when he wanted to and Vi listened. It’s been like this since Vi found out about his situation.

Hollow decided to speak this time. “I want out, Vi. I want out so bad.” Vi stopped scrubbing.

He didn’t look up. “I know. I know, and I promise I’m working on it. I won’t rest until you’re out of this situation.”

Hollow took in a shaky breath and Vi continued scrubbing. Once he was done with that hand, he moved on to the other. “Did you get any on your clothes?” asked Vi.

“It’s on my shoes and my pants. But the rest of it is clean.”

“Alright. I’ll get them washed. Go to your room and change and we’ll take care of it, alright?”

Hollow nodded slowly. “Okay.” He stood up and left the room. Vi stood as well. He walked out and looked over at the door Hollow had glanced on his way over. Hollow cared deeply about her. But he didn’t want them finding out that she was especially important to him. She didn’t know what he did, but she trusted him.

Everything seemed like such a blur to Annie. She was introduced to multiple important-looking people, and didn’t remember any of their names. It was all so hyped and fancy, and she had no idea how to act. She nodded when she was introduced, and Vi made sure she didn’t need to answer any questions she didn’t want to (which was any question at all). They were taking a break by the table where Queen Emma had some snacks set out. Annie didn’t feel at all like eating.

Vi was watching the room, when he spotted someone near the exit. His face went from formal and collected to tense and unnerved, but only for a second. She looked over to where he was, to see a blonde girl about Vi’s age talking animatedly to a friend. “Who is that?” asked Annie. It was her first question of the day.

“Mm, just someone I don’t have a nice history with,” said Vi. He turned to Annie. “Do you know how to dance? I probably should have asked you this earlier.”

She hesitated. “Uh, no.”

“Well, I’m sure I could teach you something simple. Would you like to dance with me? No one really asks questions to dancing people.”

She realized he was referencing the blonde girl who was making her way over to where they were. Annie nodded, not wanting to learn what this history was just yet. He took her hand — in the process, causing her to internally sound off warning alarms — and lead her to the ballroom floor where others were dancing. There was someone on the piano in the middle of the room, the piano that Vi might play something on later, where a man was doing his best on a tune fit for dancing.

Vi lead her through the steps of the dance, which seemed complicated at first. It was slow, which was good, because that meant she could take her time. “No, your other wrist,” was Vi’s commentary. “Oh, better move over a little.” “You okay?” “There. That’s perfect.”

They had gotten into a rhythm and Annie was significantly less afraid of messing up in front of everyone there. She looked past Vi, to where the girl was standing where they were. She then looked up at Vi again. They hadn’t been this close before, so the height difference was more noticeable than usual. She usually had to look up at people, but it was different dancing with someone. He looked very nice from this angle. Shut up, Annie.

She then noticed that more people were looking at them, and she glanced around at them nervously. “People are looking at us.”

“We can escape, you know, just ask,” said Vi. She didn’t know where to, but she definitely wanted out of here.

“That would be preferable,” said Annie.

He nodded and they left the dance floor.

~.~

Vi was sure Annie didn’t really expect to go into a smaller corridor and climb up a ladder in formal attire, but here they were, ascending to his favorite spot in the castle. The night had indeed fallen, which was more obvious when they reached the top. They were on the roof, where the parapets kept them from jumping off the side, which Vi had thought about previously, and on multiple occasions. “I like to come up here when I’m stressed and look at the sky,” said Vi.

Annie climbed out through the hole and stood next to him. She looked up at the same sky he was. “Weren’t you going to play a song on the piano?” asked Annie.

He shrugged. “Not important. You needed to escape, so that’s what we did.” He said it so casually, as if it should be obvious and expected of him to ditch plans for Annie’s comfort zone.

He walked up to the parapets and rested his hands on top of one of them. “Jazz studies the stars, and he knows the names of almost every constellation. He likes to point them out to us sometimes when we’re outside at night.”

Vi talked about his siblings a lot. He was so proud of them, and what they were like, and everything they did. “They’re very nice,” said Annie.

Vi smiled. “Yes, I think so, too.”

Annie placed her hands on the parapet next to Vi’s, and watched the sky. Vi felt so calm under the stars, and he hoped Annie did too. “Vi,” said Annie. She sounded like she was about to dump something that had been wearing on her mind.

“Yes?” asked Vi.

“Have you ever been betrayed by someone close to you?”

He looked down at his hands and ran them along the cold stone. At first, the incident shattered the glass he was made of, and then built up a wall of more stone. “Yes. You almost met her tonight. You?”

She shrugged.

“I hope you never have to deal with that pain, Annie.” He looked over at her. “I can’t begin to explain how it feels.”

She looked down at the stone. She pulled her hands off of it suddenly as a bug fell on her hands. “Ouch,” said Annie. Her hand had rubbed against the uneven stone.

She was wiping it on her dress when Vi took her wrist. There was just a small scratch, but it was bleeding enough to be annoying. He pulled a white piece of cloth out of his pocket and wrapped it around her hand. He held onto it just a little longer than he needed to, rubbing his thumb over where the cloth was wrapped. Vi felt her other hand close over the top of his. “Thanks.”

He gave her a soft smile, the softest he’s ever offered her. Something inside of him told him that it wouldn’t stay like this. It couldn’t stay like this. It’s too nice, and Vi doesn’t keep nice things for very long. They either walk away or get ripped away, and he wasn’t sure which one hurt more. Despite this, he wanted to kiss her. She didn’t seem like the kind of person who would like that, though, so he didn’t. He knew he was going to regret this, but he slid his hand out from between hers. “You should clean that, just in case.”