Fleur-de-lis

heathenous ways

John's p.o.v.

"What the fuck is he doing here?" I question out loud, pacing the hotel room.

"It can't be a coincidence." Vanitas theorizes, sitting on the bed. "We're not extremely far from Kamika but there's no reason for Roman to go out of his way to come here."

"You think he intentionally followed us here?" I question.

"Maybe. But how would he have known that we'd be here unl-" Van pauses to think. "Oh shit."

"What is it?" I ask.

"JULY. A month named after Julius Caesar who created the julian calender and was-"

"The leader of the Roman empire." I finish. "That asshole played us. He's gonna end up like Julius Caesar if he's not careful."

Vanitas sighs sullenly, catching my attention. I decide to hop onto the bed with him and wrap my arms around him.

"Something on your mind, little brother?" I ask, reminding him that I'm here for him.

"He's probably really mad at me." Van says. "He's definitely really mad at me."

"Van, you're not to blame for that. It's Roman's and my fault. ...Mostly my fault. I made you choose that night and things wouldn't have gotten so complicated if I weren't so stubborn."

Van cuddles up to me. "That's not your fault either. Our families really screwed us up. They raised us to be as insecure as we are."

"True." I say. "But we have to take responsibility for ourselves now that we know better. And we can help each other along the way."

"...John...I...love Roman. I still do. Even though it was never going to work between us." Van confesses.

"I know." I reply. "I can't expect you to just forget those feelings. I should know best of all that it doesn't work that way."

"I wonder what his endgame in all this is." Van questions.

"Probably to make you jealous." I purpose. "Which gives me an idea."

"What's that?"

I suddenly pin Van below me on the bed. "How about we beat him at his own game."

I glide my hand up his stomach and chest. There was a little more muscle tone there now. I guess working at Gomorrah was doing good for his body.

"You're so evil." Van jokes. "But like cartoon network secondary antagonist evil."

I furrow my brow. "Did you just make a non religious pop culture reference?"

Van furrows his brow momentarily. "I guess I did. I might be finally becoming a norm-"

His sentence is cut off by his own hitched breathing as I bite his neck.

"Don't talk." I say.

Van's eyes slowly cloud over with that familiar needy look. I lived for that look. The look of intense desperation for his drug of choice...for agony. However...I just had a fun idea. I keep Van's mouth occupied as I lift him out of bed.

"How about you get out of those clothes, little brother." I say, making a request that was actually a demand."

"Yes, big brother." He replies.

I set Van down and sit back on the edge of the bed. A devious smirk adorns my lips as he slowly strips, leaving only the collar he promised to never take off.

"Now I wanna play a little game." I say.

"...Okay." Van says out of curiosity.

"Truth or dare?" I ask. "And once you choose, no take backs and no backing out."

"...Alright." Van murmurs, unsure.

"Promise?" I ask.

"I promise." Van assures.

"So what's it gonna be?" I question once more.

Van ponders for a moment, trying to figure out my angle in all this. "Dare."

I chuckle a bit darkly. "You probably should've chosen truth."

A nervous look spreads across Van's face. I stand up, walk over to him and caress his face gently.

"Wait right here while I go get a prop that I need for your dare."

With that, I grab a large metal bucket that was left on the table in our hotel room.

"What's that?" Vanitas asks.

"It supposed to hold wine...and something else." I hint. "Now sit tight."

I walk out into the hallway and search around. Eventually I find the ice machine and fill up the bucket all the way. I whistle a little bit on my way back to the room. I unlock the door and go back inside. Van is sitting Indian style on the carpet, waiting.

I stop by the thermostat momentarily to lower the temperature before gesturing for van to follow me into the bathroom. Once were both inside, I finally let Van in on what I wanted him to do.

"I dare you to let me dump this ice on your head."

"What?" He says in confusion.

"You heard me." I state.

"But...it'll be cold as hell."

I grab a handful of his hair and kiss him to ease his worries a bit. "You promised."

Van's jaw tenses but he doesn't object. I gesture for him to climb into the tub. He gets and and takes a breath, trying to prepare himself.

"On the the count of three." I say.

"Alr-"

Before Van can finish his sentence I dump all of the ice on him. He lets out an adorable and almost girlish squeal. I can't help but laugh.

"You're a dick." He says.

"Yeah, but you love dick." I smirk.

"What was the point of all that?" Van asks, shivering from the sudden lack of heat.

"I just like to see you naked with that desperate look on your face." I confess.

Van turns away and blushes in embarrassment, an apprehensive look replacing the desperation.

"Enough with that face." I say. "You secretly enjoy when I bully you a little."

The blush on Van's face spreads.

"See." I gibe.

I kiss Van on the nose. He glances over to me and can't help but smile a bit.

I chortle at his hopeless inability to hide his emotions from me.

"Shut up." He shoves me playfully.

I laugh and retaliate with a kiss that grew heated the more we got into it. Done with the humiliation games, I lift Van out of the tub. He wraps his legs around my waste and holds me close in hopes of regaining his lost body heat. I pin Van up against the wall and manage to slip out of my own clothes without dropping him. I wasn't going to show Van any mercy. I wanted to rock this room and I wanted Roman to hear.