012
( knife and slice perspective, yeah you're bound to change your view )

chapter twelve !

VINCENT WAS INCREDIBLY BORED.  Sitting beside Five in a big van with Dolores between them was not how he imagined spying on a prosthetic guy would go down. He expected something more interesting; more high-tech maybe. But no, all he got was a van filled with trash and odd smells. It wasn't fun. Not in the slightest. 

And Vincent was fine with being bored. There were times when he'd been so bored he'd pulled out a couple chunks of his curls and inherited an anxious habit of doing it whenever he was too unoccupied. It gave him something to do-- something to focus on when he needed it most.

Often times, he did need something to use as a distraction. He hated getting bored. It meant getting lost with his thoughts and his thoughts had only gotten darker as time went on. It seemed now whenever Vincent so much as closed his eyes, flashes of him dead would make an unforgettable appearance lodged in his brain.

It was different than how he'd think of himself dying. He didn't have many wounds but his legs were strewn around in odd positions, ones that were definetly not natural. His eyes were shut tight and his fists were clenched as well-- almost as if he were frozen rather than dead. And when Vincent first saw it earlier in the day he'd thought that perhaps he had been alive in the obscured image his brain conjured.

But upon closer angles his brain made up, he'd realized he wasn't breathing. Bruises around his throat and arms, bruises along his cheekbones and a fresh scar on his forehead, a harsh gash that made Vincent wince despite the knowledge that it wasn't real.

He hated it. He hated the thoughts of him dying but the images were even worse. The graphic way he'd died that he had never even thought to imagine. Sure, he'd imagined himself dying via gunshot wound or slit of the throat, but never him being mangled to death somehow.

And it was horrifying. Horrifying to close his eyes and see nothing but his dead body, unbreathing and bruised all around.

Vincent had started seeing it a little after getting into the van with Five. Five had left for a moment and left him with Dolores, who sat there in all her plastic glory in a barely open bag and did nothing, as expected. Vincent hadn't known what to do other then lean his head against the window and think.

He thought until it made his head hurt and then the boredom kicked in. The unapologetic feeling that squeezed at his brain and made the headache all the worse. He'd closed his eyes and made up fake scenarios to amuse himself with, until the flashes of him dead began to come.

They flashed quick. Like a slideshow being turned from picture to picture all too fast. Like a camera shuttering with every second and capturing every little thing. It was unexpected and frightening. Frightening in a manner that when he tried to open his eyes and fight off the images, he couldn't do it.

His eyes stayed glued shut and the images kept playing, playing, playing as his breathing came faster, faster, faster. Until Vincent couldn't quite breath anymore. Until he brought a hand up to his throat and gasped for air, eyes still shut and images of his bruised face, his bruised wrists, his bruised neck flashed with no remorse.

And then, just as quick as they came, the images left and his eyes opened. He gasped for air and, sure enough, it came. Vincent coughed a few times, blinked away the tears stinging at his eyes and swallowed hard. And he couldn't have helped looking at his wrists, assuring himself that what he saw was merely faux and he was fine. He was fine.

As fine as he could be, anyway.

Vincent took a deep breath after that and tried to block the images out of his goddamn head. Tried to just not be so bored anymore. Because fuck seeing whatever that was again
Fuck it.

Vincent's hand had weaseled its way up to his hair without noticing, a tick almost that couldn't be controlled. It came when his anxiety reached levels he tried to keep as low as he possibly could-- but it hurt. Pulling out a strand of his hair was painful and he hissed when he did it.

A stuttering breath fell from his lips as he moved his hand away from his hair, glancing down at his palm. A few strands of black curls laid in it, curled up at the ends. Vincent hated the sight of it. It made him feel sick, reminded him of how often he used to do that to himself.

And he hadn't done it in a while. It was scarce that he would grip his hair tight enough to pull it out nowadays. But he had just done it no problem, without even thinking. Nothing had gotten him that anxious in years. Nothing had made him feel so close to panicking and losing his absolute shit as those images of him dying did.

The drivers side car door opened and Vincent jumped. He wiped his hand on his pant leg quickly, watching as the strands of hair fell to the ground slowly. It was almost therapeutic to watch, as fucked as it was. Vincent knew he shouldn't put those thoughts in his head again, the thoughts that maybe inflicting that sort of pain on himself would give him that euphoric feeling that something like smoking a whole gram of pot would.

Not that Vincent had smoked a gram of pot lately. But fuck, how he wished he had.

Vincent averted his eyes to Five, watching as the boy raised his eyebrow before getting into his seat. He closed the car door before sighing heavily. He grabbed the bag that contained Dolores, opening it up. He grabbed a bottle of vodka first, handing it to Vincent, who's grin was slowly making its way onto his lips.

He next grabbed Dolores, placing her onto the center console gently. His eyes caught onto a man with a white lab coat walking into a building, leaning closer to the dashboard. "Sorry you were in there for so long, Dolores.." Five mumbled gently, ignoring the way Vincent rolled his eyes when Five supported her plastic head. How easy it would be to put her up in flames. Five sighed at the next beat of silence, muttering a "No, I'm not drunk. I'm working." Another beat of silence. "Yes, it's about the eye thing."

"Who the actual fuck are you talking to?"

"Shut the fuck up, you know who I'm talking to."

"Nah. If I did, I wouldn't be asking, cocksucker."

"Fuck off. You're the cocksucker."

"Damn right, baby."

Five rolled his eyes at Vincent's words, turning his gaze back to Dolores. Vincent didn't know how to feel about her constant presence. Didn't know whether to be extremely irritated or chill about it. So he did a mixture of both. And Vincent had somehow calmed down just by having Five near him-- which was impressive.

Five chuckled, speaking up again to Dolores. "This is the place it was made. Or, will be made." He muttered. "We just have to wait."

"And how long exactly do we plan on waiting? Because- I don't know about you Fivey, I really don't- but I am so so so fucking unamused. Watching you look longingly at your sex doll that you really want to tongue fuck after a long day is not my definition of entertainment. Although, be my guest if you want to make it tha-" Vincent started, cut off by Five huffing.

"What's been wrong with you lately?" Five suddenly asked, and Vincent couldn't hide the surprise that came from the words. His eyes widened for a brief moment and his lips parted as he searched for an acceptable response, spluttering for a bit before he gained back that composure he tried so hard to keep intact.

"Hell are you talking about? I'm fine." Vincent chuckled, shaking his head.

Five rolled his eyes, leaning closer to Vincent this time, almost over Dolores. "I saw you pulling your hair out when I walked over here. Why were you doing that?" He asked, calmly compared to the way Vincent swallowed roughly.

Vincent grinned, licking his lips and shrugging a little. "What can I say? I like getting my hair pulled. It's a kink of mine. You can test it if you'd like. Grab a hold and pull like you're riding a fuckin' horse. 'Cept I think I'm more of a donkey. Y'know, ass and all." Vincent rambled, cut off by Fives hand- stained with blood and a light coating of dirt- being placed right over his mouth.

"Be quiet, Vince. Tell me what's wrong and stop running from it. All you do is run all the time and I'm tired of it." Five mumbled in an almost hiss, shaking his head. He slowly removed his hand from Vincent's mouth, who's grin had dimmed but stayed put forcefully.

"Me? Run? Hilarious. Running is not really my thing. I run outta breath too fast." Vincent joked with a laugh, leaning his head back against the window beside him. In truth, he was afraid of telling Five anything. Afraid of what he'd think and afraid of how he'd react. So fuck seeing the reaction- when he could just pretend nothing ever happened in the first place.

Five stayed silent for a moment before he shook his head and looked away, chuckling humorlessly to himself. "What abilities do you have?" He asked, not the question Vincent had been bracing himself for.

"You've asked me this before. I told you. I can shapeshift, go into separate dimensions, read minds just a little and pick tiny things up with my good ol' mind. Nothing else that I'm aware of, though." Vincent explained with a chuckle.

"Are you sure you've got nothing else? Have you tried prompting them to come out?" Five asked gently, raising his eyebrow.

"Prompting them? Nah. They come as they please. Like a shitty prostitute with a sad sex drive." Vincent laughed at his own joke with a wide grin.

Five barely chuckled, just turned and looked at Vincent. "Once we solve the eye bullshit, we're figuring out if you have anything else." He spoke, referring to abilities.

"Why? What if I don't have anymore and theres no point?" Vincent chuckled, smiling softly over at Five.

"We have to see. See if theres anything particularly useful to us to stop the apocalypse." Five spoke, voice steady as he nodded along to his own words.

Vincent laughed- a sudden heavy chuckle that surprised Vincent himself- with a smile and a shake of his head. "You just think I'm useless as of now and you wanna see if theres a way I won't be so useless. I get it, Five. You could have just said it like it is." Vincent mumbled, his hand slowly coming up to his hair without even noticing much.

Five immediately shook his head quickly, grabbing Vincent's hand. Five took it in his own, intertwining them for a moment and laying them down on the center console in front of Dolores. "I never said that. I think you're far from useless, Vince. That's why I wanna see if you have any other abilities. Because I know you're powerful. More powerful than you know." He mumbled gently.

Vince. Five had called him Vince twice. Two times that had Vincent's heart beating so fast it was overwhelming. And Fives hand, so soft and gentle in his grip as his thumb rubbed over his knuckles and soared down his palm with such a tenderness Vincent bit his lip.

Until Five pulled his hand away, sighing gently as he reached into his pocket, pulling out the brown rag that held the prosthetic eyeball in it. Vincent hid his disappointment, placing his hand back into his lap gently. It was getting darker out, and the man they'd been waiting for still hadn't come out.

Five looked at the eye for a while before he stuffed it back into his pocket, sighing shakily as he stiffened a bit in his seat. Vincent furrowed his eyebrows at the sight, watching as Five clenched his hand into a tight fist.

Vincent moved closer, poking Fives cheek gently. Five jumped a bit, blinking quickly as he looked at Vincent. "Fuck.." he whispered gently, shaking his head, still shaken up as ever.

Vincent furrowed his eyebrows. "Are you okay?" He asked gently, hand laying flat on Fives cheek gently, palm against the soft skin of his jaw.

Five leaned into the touch gently, shrugging a bit. "I-" He started, cut off by a knock at the car door. Vincent quickly moved his hand away from Fives cheek, both of them looking at who had knocked.

Luther. The big one that looked at Vincent like he was from a foreign planet, with a rudeness that made Vincent angry.

"Ew. It's him. I fucking hate that dude, absolutely no offense. Actually, y'know what, full offense. Fuck that guy." Vincent spoke with a chuckle.

"Be quiet, Vincent." Five chuckled softly, clearly amused by his words but trying his hardest not to show it clearly.

Five reached over Vincent and opened the door, watching as Luther began to speak.

All Vincent could focus on was the way Five leaned his body into Vincent as he did it.

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A/N: this took so long I'm sorry! it's only 2319 words but I lacked inspo for this one ngl. I know I usually update on weekends but I got this one done and didn't want to wait skfisi. hope u like it! <3