Vince wasn’t sure if he’d finally crossed a line with his pleading or if Cass had realized his dedication to an alarming extent. Both made his face heat, even as he ducked his gaze and scuffed the dirt underfoot, listening. They were settled, he said. Well… sure. That’s what he’d wanted right? What both of them wanted? Careless whispers…
He could tell from Cass’ expression the other was struggling with this too. The pinch between his brows was notable and the open honesty in his expression only made Vince want to crawl into a hole and decay. (Why had he exposed this nerve to the other? Why had he dared to think this could possibly be a good idea.) The running commentary of self-loathing, pity, and humiliation continued to spin on a loop behind all of Vince’s other, more prominent thoughts.
Surprised a touch, maybe, he still followed the big blonde as Cass led him further down the small bank. This really is a beautiful, peaceful little grove, some unhelpful portion of his mind supplied. More importantly, it was special to the blonde and he was still daring to share it with Vince; that had to mean something, right? Vincent sucked in a breath and watched as Cass took off his shoes and waded into the shallows. He was so ridiculously beautiful…
Vincent teetered on the edge of hesitance as he debated the idea of wading in after his… er, Cass. This was a step in the right direction, a step towards normal. Some small, masochistic part of Vincent wasn’t ready to really[i] set this aside yet thought. Yes, for a moment there it had been terrifying to realize how close he’d come to losing everything. It was even more wrenching to realize, however, that: not only did Vince have these inclinations towards Cass, and this devastatingly ruinous devotion, but some small, [i]small part of the blonde had reciprocated only for the briefest of brief moments. Vince wasn’t ready to let the latter go, even though he knew it was a hopeless, shipwrecked sentiment that threatened to capsize them at any moment.
The Slytherin sucked in a deep breath and took off his shoes. He didn’t have much of a choice.
The water and squish was cold between his toes even as Vincent stepped out towards Cass. He kept his gaze settled to the ground and picked up a funny rock that had one dark side, twinged with red, and another lighter side the color of marble. It was split down the middle with a white stripe. He turned the thing over between long fingers, sand and dirt running through them and dropping back below. “It’s a special place for you I’m sure,” he replied quietly. Then, bending to wash the rock properly, Vincent turned it over one more time and tucked it into his pocket.
![[Image: vincesig.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/vincesig.gif)
i desire very little but the things i do consume me