It was a bright day, the sun smiling down on Paris warmly. A light breeze puffed between buildings, playing with Noé and Vanitas's hair, and keeping the day from being too hot to still be pleasant. Noé and Vanitas were out shopping together for food. Often they would eat out alone or Vanitas would buy their food alone,  though Noé never had seen him go out or come back with food, it was almost as though it simply appeared. Sometimes this worried him but most of the time it was convenient and easy to brush off.

They both needed a break and some fresh air, using food as a pretext to leave their apartment. Vanitas and Noé were both without their coats, an unusual occurance but a necessary one due to the heat. Noé had even rolled up his sleeves past his elbows. Vanitas, of course, still had his skintight gloves. Noé wondered if he was uncomfortable in them. Not that he was too concerned.

Vanitas had a rare spring in his step, the kind he had only when he was happy and letting his guard down or when he was trying to hide something. It was certainly the former in this case. This made Noé rather happy as well and it helped him focus on their task so he didn't wander off. When it came to actually buying their food though... arguments ensued.

They had wildly different tastes, something they had worked out pretty quickly when forced to live together. Noé would eat most things placed in front of him but when given the rare opportunity to choose his next meal he didn't want to back down. Vanitas nearly always got to make the decisions about their food and his tastes were either bland or bitter. Noé just wanted something with flavour once in a while.

They had been threatened by a few people to either buy something or leave as their arguing was disrupting the other customers. In the end Vanitas was the first to yield. He could keep a fight going for years if he wanted but Vanitas gave up more easily than Noé. He gave up particularly easily whenever he was against Noé. The human just couldn't bring himself to care enough to win.

Noé managed to still pick out something a little less extreme than his original proposals, probably for Vanitas's benefit. Unlike Noé, Vanitas would refuse to eat food if it didn't suit him. He wasn't particularly picky but there were a few things he could not stand. Plus, he was petty and missing a meal to make a point wasn't beneath him. Vanitas made Noé carry their purchases, complaining that as a vampire he should be the one to do the heavy lifting. Vanitas hated being called weak until it got him out of doing work, then he'd act as frail as necessary. It wasn't like vampires were strong naturally, they had to rewrite formulas for that and that would mean letting their red eyes show. Vanitas almost certainly knew this as well. He was just a brat. But it was a nice day and Noé didn't want to ruin the mood.

"Do you want to do anything before heading home?" Noé asked.

Vanitas considered it for a moment. "No, not particularly. But," he added seeing Noé droop slightly, "I don't mind accompanying you anywhere you want."

"Really!?" The shine in Noé's eyes was familiar and Vanitas found himself as amused by it as when they'd first met.

"Lead the way my dear Noé."

So, they wandered wherever Noé wanted, slowly growing farther from their hotel. Noé never seemed to tire, even with bags laden with food clutched in his arms the entire time. As Vanitas's endurance and his patience were beginning to wane he felt a drop hit his nose. Jerking, Vanitas looked up, seeing clouds that had gathered in the warm afternoon.

Sunset was almost upon them now, though the air was still warm. Vanitas opened his mouth to tell Noé they should head home when another drop fell into his open mouth. It was so ridiculous that words failed to come out, only uncontrollable laughter. Vanitas covered his mouth even as he began wheezing into his hand.

"What's the matter Vanitas?" Noé turned to see him almost bent double and shaking with the effort of holding in his laughter.

After a moment Vanitas calmed enough to speak, "it's starting to rain. I think it's time we head home."

Noé looked up at the sky as if this was the first he'd noticed but Vanitas could see droplets of water on his arms and shoulders. Noé should have already felt it. Vanitas started to walk away, forcing Noé to follow him. He felt more drops, smiling a little at the coolness of it. The rain was barely a shower and it was pleasant, taking away any discomfort Vanitas felt from being overdressed for a warm day.

"We should find somewhere to shelter for now." Noé said. "We aren't likely to make it back before the rain gets heavier."

Vanitas turned to look at him and frowned. Noé's heart stuttered a little. Droplets of water glittered in Vanitas's hair, reflecting the dying sunlight, and he had a childish pout on his lips. Noé's brain supplied that he would be all right staying in the rain if it would let him stay like this with Vanitas. Noé nearly recoiled at how sudden and unwarranted the thought was.

Noé cleared his throat, "Well, if you want to stay in the rain and keep walking for now that's fine. But if it gets worse we'll find shelter."

Vanitas beamed, "let's go then, Noé."

They continued walking and Noé felt himself growing cold. He was more lightly dressed than Vanitas so it only made sense. Noé rolled his sleeves back down his arms and looked up the sky. The clouds were darker now. The rain was still light but it had evolved from spitting to a drizzle and it was falling faster every minute. He didn't mention it. Vanitas was having fun. Skipping and dancing and kicking through small puddles of water. It was easy to forget Vanitas was younger than him, easy to forget that neither of the had been adults for long. Yet here Vanitas was acting like a kid. It was surprisingly melancholic.

Vanitas shouldn't have to carry the weight of the Book of Vanitas. He shouldn't have to worry about vampires. He shouldn't have any marks of possession. He shouldn't have been taken in by Moreau. Vanitas should have grown up normally. He should have a family, should have friends. He should be able to mess around in the rain without it seeming novel.

"Hurry up, Noé!" In one fluid motion Vanitas turned to face him and kicked up a splash of water that hit Noé in the chest, barely missing the bags of food Noé carried.

"Vanitas!" Noé complained and kicked some water back but Vanitas leapt out of the way.

"Too slow I'm afraid."

"We'll see about that."

Noé ran forward and, just as Vaniras was turning to run too, sent up a spray of water that hit Vanitas on the back and the legs. Somehow they both ended up running beside each other, yelling and laughing as they tried to get the other person as wet as possible. It was surprisingly hard to kick up puddles and run at the same time.

Eventually, Vanitas decided to go for a new strategy. He glanced at Noé beside him and at the right moment launched himself shoulder first into Noé, causing the vampire to stumble off balance and fall into a surprisingly large puddle. Noé could have saved himself but he prioritised saving their food and kept that safe instead.

"Ouch!"

"I win," Vanitas declared.

"You're as drenched as I am."

Vanitas looked down at himself and saw that what Noé said was true. This brief pause also allowed him to notice that the sun had gone down and the rain was almost certainly going to start pouring down in a minute or less. They were still too far from their apartment to make it back before the weather got really bad.

"I think we should find that shelter you suggested earlier Noé." He held out a hand to help Noé up from where he still sat in the puddle.

"We're already wet, what's the point?" Noé hauled himself up.

"Trust me, Noé. We don't want to be out in this even if we're already wet."

Noé shrugged and agreed to follow Vanitas. They found themselves under a bridge by the water, not unlike the place they emerged from after the incident with Moreau in the catacombs. Vanitas sat down and leaned his back against the wall while Noé remained standing. Not long after the rain grew thick enough that it was difficult to see more the a few metres through it and the sky was occasionally lit up by lightning. At the first clap of thunder Noé jumped and Vanitas laughed at him.

"Afraid of storms?"

Noé considered it for a moment, "no. I know Domi used to be. I wonder if that's still true?"

"The great Dominique de Sade! Afraid of storms! Now that is funny."

Noé heard Vanitas's voice waver slightly and turned to look at him. He very nearly laughed. Vanitas was curled up with his knees to his chest and arms wrapped and his legs. He was shivering a little and clenching his teeth. Noé forgot he was sensitive to the cold. No doubt after he stopped moving and the sun disappeared completely that the cold had really set in for him.

"Doing okay over there, Vanitas?" Noé smirked.

"Shut up."

Noé sat down beside him, putting the bags of food down, and lifted an arm, "come on."

"Eh?"

"You're cold right? If we sit close together we'll both be warmer."

Vanitas blinked at him with wide eyes. Then he sighed and scooted closer, Noé's arm wrapping around his shoulders. That was an unnecessary gesture. They both knew it. Vanitas could still be warmer just by sitting against Noé. Vanitas remained tense, sitting against Noé but not really leaning into it.

"Come on, I don't bite." Noé said, fed up.

Vanitas turned his head to stare. "Pffft. Don't bite!? You're a vampire!"

Noé flushed, a little embarrassed, and then laughed too, "I'm sorry! I forgot!"

"Forgot!" Vanitas wheezed and leaned his head against Noé's shoulder as his body heaved with laughter.

When they calmed down, Noé looked at Vanitas. He had tears in his eyes from laughing so much. His hair was damp making it darker and straighter than usual. He had to push some of his fringe to the side to keep it out of his eyes. His bow was drooping and had absorbed the rain like a sponge. There were droplets of water running down his neck and- Noé had to turn away.

"You know Vanitas," Noé started, looking for a conversation to distract him. "This reminds me of when we..." He thought of a delicate way of phrasing it. "Met Roland."

Vanitas tensed again though he didn't move away, "And?"

"I still think about the things that happened down there sometimes."

Vanitas hummed, "Don't we all?"

"I wanted to ask you... about it."

"No. I've told you before, my past is none of your business."

Noé looked at him, being met only with a cold stare. "If you don't want to answer, it's fine. For now I will only ask one thing. Moreau said that as a test subject you never cried or complained about your treatment. I wondered if that was true?"

"Would it matter either way?" Vanitas sighed.

"I don't know, but when he was about to gouge your eye out you were going to let him, weren't you?"

"Of course."

"So, were you always like that?"

"No, of course I wasn't. Moreau just interprets things to his convenience. I complied with all his experiments? What a joke. I grew used to them, certainly, and by the end I didn't much care but I wasn't always some obedient little plaything for him. And even at the point where I stopped caring I was still a kid. I still cried and complained. You can't just ignore pain. Vivisection isn't something I could handle now let alone back then."

"Vivisection?"

"Don't know what it means?" Vanitas smirked.

"No, I do. Just... on people?"

"Mmmm. On people."

"What about your eye?"

"What about my eye?"

"You'd honestly have let him take it there and then."

Another crash of thunder sounded in the distance. "I suppose so."

"Without crying or complaint?"

"I'm sure I would have screamed at least. If things turned out the same even if I gave him my eye it wouldn't have been worth it I suppose. Next time I will kill him though."

"You have a lot of people to get revenge on."

"Two is a lot?"

"I suspect there are more."

"Maybe. What about you? I suppose you're too purehearted for revenge."

"Naenia."

"Oh?"

Noé smiled, "you're always underestimating me."

"I apologise. It would seem you're just a little more selfish than I thought. It's good, mind you, knowing good people want revenge just like the rest of us."

"You're not a bad person. You're unlikable but you aren't bad."

"Tell that to anyone who's met me. At least I can admit I'm terrible and selfish unlike all the other bastards in the world. You might be the only genuinely good person I know."

"Dominique? Roland? Luca? Jeanne?"

"Jeanne may not be awful, though I'd hesitate to call her a good person. The other three? Don't make me laugh."

"Don't say that about Domi or Luca! I know you dislike Roland but-"

"But I'm just being honest. Believe what you like about them and I'll do the same."

"You're far too cynical."

"Being anything but cynical hasn't got me anywhere."

"Vanitas-" Noé stopped. "The rain's letting up. We should head home."

"Then I have to make dinner!" Vanitas whined.

"I can-"

"No! You stay out of my kitchen."

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I just had this thought of Vani with dewdrops in his hair and I was like... well, time to write that I guess. This was originally going to just be cute and about the two of the messing about in the rain because I think that's fun and romantic. I also always planned for them to shelter under a bridge together but them talking about Moreau... not so much. That idea's been in my head for a while but it was always going to be it's own story. It just felt like a good time to have them talk about it haha. Hope you enjoyed!