#vicnova

The daywalker cabin is like a bucket full of sunshine and he can't help but smile softly the longer he looks, taking in symbols he can't wait to learn and running his fingers along what he thinks clouds would feel like, if he could ever soar high enough to touch them.

He lingers in the cabin for a while, forcing air through lungs that struggle to take any in. He feels so unsteady now, in everything he does whenever he's alone, no one else for him to look to make sure he's making the right decision.

He wasn't like this before. He wasn't like a lot of things before, uncertain in his own skin, hollowed out from within.

He hasn't seen the Eldress alone since. He thinks Vera and Vargas have gone out of their way to make sure the two don't cross paths, outside of when she tried to keep Nova and him from fixing the stone meant to keep them together. She hadn't spared him a glance when Nova had hugged her father, instead turning away as Victor bit his lip to ward off a much greater pain.

It's odd, missing something he's never been without. He's too afraid to raise his tongue to the empty spaces. He doesn't know how he will eat blood fruit from now on, the farthest thing from a vampire. She had threatened that he would starve next, and he was quickly beginning to believe her.

Victor sighs and makes his way back out of the cabin and over to the fire pit, flopping down onto the dirt. The tree stumps have been put away and he doesn't bother with finding the strength to bring any back over, instead pulling his knees up to his chin and staring into the embers as though they will explain to him all that he is missing.

He's not sure he wants to go back into Shadyside. The times he's been able to sleep have been spent on Vargas' couch, too afraid to step foot under the same roof as the Eldress. Auntie.

Auntie, as he had begged her to stop.

"I'm surprised you're still here."

The sudden voice makes him jump, heart squeezing between his ribs. Nova drops down beside him, playfully knocking her shoulder against his. Her smile could rival the sun when he turns to look at her, radiant and contagious as his own lips pull in turn.

"Missed me already?" he throws back easily, and her laughter is sweet enough to return his heart to a steady beat.

"You wish." She looks around the camp, taking in the emptiness with a small sigh. "I'm going to miss it here."

Victor follows her gaze to the window of the daywalker cabin and finds himself agreeing. He picks at his fingernails for a few moments, nervous and self-conscious in a way he can't shove back down. Nova seems to pick up on it, turning to meet him.

"You okay?" she asks softly, eyes flickering down to his hands. "You're going to ruin your moonicure." His lips pull again. She makes him feel at ease even when the rest of him feels as though it's fallen apart.

He feels ashamed, all too suddenly, scalding words pushing at his throat. Would she still look at him like he hung all the stars in the sky once she found out? Would he still be enough?

"Victor?"

His dark stone flashes, led by fear. Nova doesn't move away, and Victor wishes he could hate her for it, but he can't. Not when it's her. He closes one hand, hard enough that his nails press painfully into his palm. Nova reaches for his hand before he can get far, forcing his fingers apart and slipping her own in between.

Victor doesn't think he deserves such kindness. Not when he's barely a vampire, barely a success, barely the boy she's seen before.

"Nova," he whispers, her name stuck between his teeth. "She defanged me." His speech still isn't quite right if he doesn't focus enough, and he nearly slips up as he says it, terror latching onto him and holding tight. "I'm...I'm barely a vampire now."

Nova is silent. Victor is afraid to look at her so he keeps his sight on their intertwined hands as though that will make the truth any easier to bear. She is silent for so long that he starts to think that maybe she hates him too, until suddenly she's launching herself at him, wrapping her arms around him so tightly that it nearly hurts to breathe.

Victor hesitates, so, so uncertain. Nova clutches him like she's afraid he'll disappear into thin air, and he doesn't know if he has enough worth to hug her back. She buries her face into the side of his neck, lips pressing against his skin.

"Nova," he brings himself to whisper, blinking back what he thinks might be tears. "Aren't you - " and his voice chokes, because he can't bring himself to say out loud what is swirling around his head, and he thinks that he isn't worth words now, not when it comes to someone who shines so brightly he would be okay with fading into the shadows.

"Victor," she whispers back, as determined as the day he finally met her, "whatever she told you, it's not true, none of it." A pause as she pulls back so that she can meet his eyes, a tear running down her cheek that he nearly reaches up to catch. "You're a dream come true," she swears, and the words pull a watery laugh from him, her forehead falling against his. "Fangs or not, you're still you."

He can't help himself any longer as he reaches for her, fingers sliding down the curve of her cheek. She reaches up and rests her own hand on top of his.

"Stay with me?" he asks, a moment of vulnerability stretched into a safety he hasn't been able to find. Nova nods, pressing closer.

He wants to kiss her.

He wonders if he'll ever be worthy of such a thing.

Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 1,2,3 & 4 parallels

nb: these movies have lived rent free in my head since Z-O-M-B-I-E-S 4 came out. someday and dream come true have been living rent free in my head. so enjoy these gifs i made because the main characters give me so much serotonin and i have no self-control