The Midnight Train (Going Anywhere) • [AO3]
Teen | 1.3K+ (WIP) | Malvil | Romantic Fluff, Humour, Dating, Travel
A/N: This was inspired by the travel vlogs from Solo Solo Travel (on Youtube) which I like watching a normal amount and a bounty of excellent conversations with my beloved @villainsnest, who is the primary audience for this fic, why lie... but I hope y'all like it, too. ;)
CW: The only thing of note thus far is Vil's anxious thought processes and implied self-worth issues.
Chapter One: Prologue
Tonight, the moon looks twice as full as it should be. Maybe it��s just that Vil’s mind is full to bursting and he feels so small in the face of the question of, Should I? Should I ask him? He holds tense, with his arms around him, knees to his chest as he lays on his bed, staring out through the glass doors to his empty, moonlit balcony—
There is no one there, but any minute now, there might be.
“Malleus,” he murmurs—says the name like practice, like the start to a question, but there is nothing else. How will he ask what he wants when he can’t even say it—not even here alone? He’s so choked up.
With a groan of frustration, he rolls onto his stomach and stretches his limbs out, pounding fists into his mattress in a silent tantrum.
His cat, white and long-furred, on the ledge of a window across the room, turns her head to regard him with a judgemental stare. Mrow, she remarks, and when that is not acknowledged, she stands with an arched back, fur fluffed in indignation, and leaps down onto the rug.
Vil lifts his head from where he had buried it amidst the folds of his duvet. He cracks a smile to see his cat there on the edge of the bed, posturing proudly but clearly seeking attention. He clicks his tongue for her to come and offers a hand, which she draws nearer to sniff at; finally, she relents and indulges her desire, pushing into Vil’s palm and purring loud with contentment—
“You’re beautiful,” Vil whispers as he strokes her down her spine.
They lay like that a while in the dark and quiet, peaceful enough to simply drift into dreams—if Vil were tired at all, or at least his mind were quiet, too. He might stand a chance, then, but not like this—
He is haunted by the question. That, and whether he’ll even ask.
Again, he buries his face into the folds of his duvet. He sighs in a way that seems to empty his lungs. Still, his fingers weave slowly through the silk of his cat’s fur and he finds comfort enough there that he doesn’t despair long. No, instead, an idea strikes him—
“Prada,” he whispers, looking up into his cat’s eye’s. They are slits when he finds them, but he repeats her name and she blinks them partly open, showing slivers of emerald. “I need your opinion on something.” His voice is soft but serious. “Will you be honest?”
Prada opens her mouth—then simply yawns.
Unfazed, Vil presses on: “Meow once if you agree to be honest.”
Mrow, comes the delicate answer, just as quiet as Vil is speaking.
He nods and pushes up onto his elbows, glancing out to the balcony beyond the glass doors before he leans down into Prada’s face, their noses touching, conspiratorially close now—
“I want to ask Malleus on a date,” Vil confesses to the cat, who slow blinks as she listens. “I mean, a real date, off campus—as far as we can go, just the two of us.” I hope. He won’t insist on it, of course.
“I was thinking…” He trails off, biting his lip before remembering himself against the impulse. It’s an ugly habit and he won’t excuse it, even alone in his room like this. “There’s a train with private cabins that goes down the coast. No one would bother us…”
He sounds wistful, even to himself, like it’s just a daydream and not a real possibility—not a trip that he’s researched and budgeted for, not a trip that he’s ready to pack for if Malleus will just say yes—
Well, but he has to ask first. That’s the problem.
And should he ask at all, or is this too much, too soon—too unreal to even consider that Malleus would want this, that he wouldn’t just…
“Ugh,” Vil groans, his frustration mounting along with his nerves.
He’s not one for divination, but this isn’t the same, he’s certain—
“Meow once if you think I should ask Malleus on this trip with me.”
Prada stares at him coolly, flicking her tail tip.
“No, you’re right, that was rude of me.” Vil scratches under the cat’s chin in apology. She purrs in response, closing her eyes contentedly. “Prada, please meow once if you think I should ask Malleus on—”
He’s interrupted by two meows in quick succession, at which he withdraws his hand with a scowl. “Now you’re being rude, miss.”
Prada bats at his hand on the bed, claws half-unsheathed.
“Listen, this is serious.” Vil moves to sit up, one hand braced against the mattress as he shifts into a relaxed, cross-legged position in front of Prada. “You like Malleus, don’t you?” Prada chirrups agreement and Vil smiles softly, reaching out to stroke her neck. “Well… I do, too,” he tells her, “so it’s important I make the right choice, princess. You understand, don’t you?” He looks searchingly into green eyes.
Prada chirrups again and bumps her head against Vil’s wrist, then rolls onto her back to expose her belly, blinking up at him sweetly.
Chuckling, Vil just shakes his head. “You know I’m not so foolish.”
A coy little mrow is aborted as Prada’s pupils go suddenly wider and her ears flick toward the balcony. She rolls quickly back around and leaps right off the bed, tail swishing madly once she hits the rug—
Vil straightens where he sits, heart thudding in his chest. Malleus is here—or will be in a minute. He fists at his duvet, holding tension all over. He needs to relax. He needs to make a decision. His thoughts are like wild birds locked up in a cage, all fluttering and screeching—
Breathe, he thinks, inhaling deeply and closing his eyes. Just breathe. He exhales and unclenches his fingers, moves his hands to his lap.
When he opens his eyes, there’s a figure on the balcony, silhouetted by the moonlight. Prada is pacing and frantically vocal. She looks to Vil, then outside, to Vil again, then back outside. Invite him in already.
The door is open, but he needs this. He needs to feel wanted.
Vil understands.
He slides one leg off toward the edge of the bed, moves slowly with a mind to grace. Not just that. He doesn’t want to look desperate, or like he was waiting. But of course he was. Of course he always does, every night.
Vil steps into his slippers and crosses over the rug, into the reach of moonlight streaming in through the glass doors. He takes the handle and turns it, still not sure what he’ll do—though he’s sure what he wants, yes. He’s always known what he’s wanted, especially since…
“Mal,” he greets, looking up into green eyes, faintly aglow.
Malleus seems to appraise him, taking in his dark blue leggings and oversized t-shirt. “Did I wake you, Schoenheit?” he asks with a faint smile. His face is in shadows with the moon just behind him, but Vil has known him long enough know to hear a smile in his words—
Not just any smile either. He’s teasing, the bastard.
Vil scowls and turns his nose up, placing one hand on his hip. He’s about to retort when a loud yowl at his feet has them both looking down.
“Oh,” says Malleus with a chuckle, low and rumbling in his throat.
It’s not so unlike a cat’s purr, Vil thinks not for the first time. He watches Malleus stoop and murmur greetings to Prada, easily coaxing out a purr and other happy vocalizations—
Vil’s not jealous of his cat, or the fact she likes Malleus better than him, but he does clear his throat and say, because it must be now, because he cannot waste this courage: “Mal, I was wondering…”
Thank you for reading! Reblogs are always appreciated. If you’d like to leave a kudos or comment on AO3, I’d really love that, as well! ♥
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