#eos 10 spoilers | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

fluentmoviequoter · 6 months

Text

Sleepwalk

Pairing: Victor Vale x reader

Summary: Eli finds an EO that can travel into people's dreams and decides to pay you, the one person Victor Vale cares about, a visit.

Word Count: 5.3k+ words (I'm on a roll with long fics that no one is reading lol)

Warnings: spoilers for Vicious by V.E. Schwab, canon-typical violence, description of fights and injuries, Eli touches the reader w/o consent (not sexually), angst, fluff, time skips, Victor calls reader 'sweetheart.' There are two points that I left open-ended if anyone is interested in another part. I think that's all!

A/N: Here is my first Victor Vale x reader fic! He is likely OOC, but I would like to keep writing for him and try to capture his character better if anyone has any requests! Please let me know what you think!!

Masterlist Directory | Victor Vale Masterlist | Request Info (OPEN)

Yesterday Morning - Merit

“No, no, no! Stop. Please. Don’t shoot me; I’ll do whatever you want,” the EO begged, a gun pointed at his forehead. “I can do something. Tell me what to do and I’ll do it.”

Eli inhales deeply, dropping the gun to point to his chest. “Fine. What can you do? Twenty seconds or less.”

“I can travel to dreams,” he rushes out. “Like, if you fall asleep and have a dream I can come into your dream and do stuff.”

“How would that help me?” Eli growls, raising the gun to his neck.

“What I do in the dream affects the dreamer.”

“Meaning?”

“Meaning if I say something, hurt someone… kill someone, it really happens. They remember, they have the wound, they don’t wake up.”

Eli weighs his options as the gun stays steady on the shaking EO.

“And I think I could take someone into the dreams with me.”

Eli smiles and drops the gun to his side. “Now that is promising. You’ll do anything, you said? Excellent.”

10 Years Ago - Lockland

Victor Vale doesn’t have friends. He does have you, though. Every Tuesday, you meet in the library and spend the afternoon together, when you can, you get lunch together, and despite his determination not to, he cares about you.

“You’re leaving again?” Eli asks as Victor heads toward the door.

“Yep, that’s the joy of a standing date, Eli,” Victor explains sarcastically, “it’s always standing.”

“Where are you going?”

“To get dinner. Why?”

“I’m hungry.”

Victor stops with his hand on the doorknob, sighing as he invites Eli to come with him. He knows he’ll regret it, but it’s too late.

“Hey, Vic!” you greet, standing from your seat to hug him before he sits down.

Victor hugs you a little tighter than usual but pulls back quickly. “This is my roommate, Eli,” he introduced you.

Victor clearly doesn’t want to share one of you, and you assume he’s likely closer to his roommate than you. Eli extends his hand to shake yours, and when he raises your hand to kiss your knuckles, you have an overwhelming urge to run as far as you can from Eli.

“Nice to meet you,” you say, awkwardly smiling as you pull your hand back.

“So, how do you two know each other?” Eli asks, sitting beside you in Victor’s usual spot.

Victor sighs and sits across from you, ignorant of Eli’s hand resting too comfortably on your thigh. You squirm in your seat, trying to make room between you, but Eli stays too close.

“We just crossed paths one day,” you answer with a shrug.

You glance toward Eli and suppress a shiver at the look in his eyes. It’s like there’s nothing behind them, like his attitude and humanity are part of a mask covering a monster underneath. His hand moves on your thigh, and you can no longer resist the original urge to never see Eli Cardale again.

“I just remembered that I have a test tomorrow and I need to go study. I’m gonna go,” you say, standing from your seat.

“Good luck. See you around,” Eli responds, his practiced smile nearly blinding you.

“Maybe,” you whisper as you walk behind Victor, heading quickly toward the door.

“I’ll walk you out,” Victor says as he stands and walks to your side. Once Eli is out of earshot, he asks, “Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” you say, trying to convince yourself as well as Victor.

“Sorry about him. We still on for Tuesday?”

“Always. Don’t bring Eli, though?”

“Didn’t want to today. See you then.”

Last Night - Esquire Hotel

The hotel room has been quiet since Victor and Mitch left. Staring at the ceiling, you embrace the silence and avoid falling asleep.

“What did you do while Victor was in prison?” Sydney asks quietly from the neighboring bed.

“I just lived a normal life,” you answer. “Finished my degree, got a job. I stayed in touch with him though; we wrote letters after he got out of solitary.”

“When did you join him and Mitch, then?”

“I knew he was going to break out. Happened to be in the neighborhood at the time and fought my way back into his life. It was easier than I thought it would be.”

Sydney took a few quiet breaths before asking, “Do you love him?”

You smile at the ceiling as you confess, “Yeah, I do, Sydney. I know we’ll never be more, but I love him regardless.”

“I think he loves you too,” Sydney whispers before falling asleep.

You hope she’s right, although you’re content to have Victor anyway you can, as long as you have him. When Sydney’s breaths even out and grow quiet, you slip out of the bed and walk to the couch in the living area.

You haven’t told anyone that you’re not sleeping. When the nightmares started, sleep seemed like a privilege rather than a necessity. No one knows about the repetitive dreams where Eli kills you. The nightmare has been the same for weeks, but every night you have it, it gets harder to wake up. Looking out the window, you wonder where Victor is and if he’s okay.

“You okay?” Mitch asks as he walks inside, followed by a silent Victor.

“Yeah. Everything go well?” You ask, turning toward them on the couch.

“As well as it could. Goodnight.” Mitch walks down the hall, and your eyes meet Victor’s.

“What’s going on?” Victor asks as he sits beside you, his arm resting across your shoulders as you lean into his side.

“Nothing,” you lie. “Just couldn’t sleep not knowing if you’re safe.”

“Thanks for staying with Sydney.”

“It’s not a problem. She’s great.”

Victor grumbles like he doesn’t quite agree with you, and smiles as you elbow him.

“Go get some sleep,” he whispers before standing. “Goodnight, sweetheart.”

“Goodnight, Vic,” you respond, your heart racing at the pet name, no matter how many times he has used it.

As Victor disappears down the hallway, it begins to rain, and the fight against sleep becomes impossible to win.

Last Night - Merit

“Distance doesn’t matter?” Eli confirms. “Perfect. Because I don’t know where she is.”

“But you know who she is, right? Her name?”

“Of course I know her name. I have a feeling I know who she’s with, too.”

“Okay. Then let’s try this. What’s her name? And, any chance you have an idea what she’d be dreaming about?”

Eli smirks as he says your name. “And if I had to bet, she’s dreaming of Victor Vale.”

One Week Ago - Outside Merit

You haven’t slept in three days. The nightmares have become more violent, and waking up gets more difficult every time you close your eyes. Eli not only kills you, but now he hurts you first and threatens the people closest to you. Victor is always the first to be mentioned. You know it’s just a nightmare and more than that, you know you should tell someone. But Victor is too focused, Sydney would get far too upset, and Mitch would tell Victor, so you’re keeping it to yourself. Someone will die before you tell Victor: Eli or you.

Last Night - Merit

“It depends,” the EO answers slowly. “If she has a very good memory of what he looks like, yeah. But if not…”

“She knows what he looks like. We’ll be lucky if she’s not dreaming about him now,” Eli assures.

“So, you want to go in first. Then you want me to come in, disguised as her memories of…”

“Victor Vale, yes.”

“Say someone will stop you when you’re ready for me,” the EO says before gripping Eli’s shoulder and causing everything to grow dark.

“You got it,” Eli answers.

Eli blinks and suddenly finds himself in a dark room, a body strapped to an exam table as the person fights against the restraints. He gets close enough to see who it is and smiles, glad he decided not to kill this EO.

“If it isn’t Victor’s little friend,” he taunts as he walks further into the room.

You try to move away from him, but the straps hold your ankles and wrists firmly. Eli steps to the table, looming over you.

“I never understood why you went for Victor. I mean, I was right there.” You flinch as he rips a piece of tape from your mouth and demands, “Let’s hear it, what made Victor better than me?”

“For one he’s not a psychopathic serial killer with a god-complex,” you snap at him.

“Shh.” He brushes your hair out of your face as he shushes you and says, “Those rumors are so hurtful.”

“Rumors?! You tried to kill-”

His grip falls to your neck as you try to move again. “Silly,” he breathes lowly, “you can’t leave me this time.”

His hand leaves your neck as he runs his fingertips across your face, then down your shoulders and arms. He stops at your wrists and traces the straps holding you.

“I always thought you’d be able to come to your senses and see that I’m better. See that you should be with me. Victor is incapable of love; you’ll never get back what you’re giving him.”

“And you are capable of love? You’re crazy, Eli,” you counter.

“I am capable of more than you know,” he answers darkly. He looks at the wall and smiles as he looks back into your eyes to ask, “What do you think your friends would think if they saw us together?”

“I hope they’d kill us both,” you mumble.

“That can be arranged. Care to take us somewhere new?” Eli asks, smiling as the setting changes.

“You didn’t kill him,” you say. “You’re using him.”

“Oh, I planned to kill him,” Eli promises, faux sadness on his face. “But he made a counter-offer I couldn’t refuse.”

“What’s his power?”

“I’ll take this as confirmation Victor figured out my deal with the Merit Police Department.”

He looks to the side, and you turn your head to follow, gasping as you see Sydney asleep in the bed beside you. You don’t feel awake, but if he’s actually in your dream, he may be in hers too. To protect Sydney and Victor, you may have to play along with Eli’s delusions.

“Hey, I’m right here,” Eli says, framing your face with his hands as he directs your eyes back to his. “Your friends deserve to meet the guy worthy of your time, right? Then let’s give them a show,” he says as he traces his thumb over your lips.

He pushes you down against the bed and sits atop your thighs so you can’t get up. His hands hold your shoulders down as he smiles at you.

“I’ve dreamed of being with you since we met,” he admits.

“And killing me?”

He cocks his head and nods as he says, “That too. Anyone who can get close to Victor Vale has got to be a monster. I’m helping you, baby.”

“And who made it your job to kill monsters?”

Eli pulls a knife from his pocket, twirling it before pushing your shoulder down again, the blade flat between your skin and his.

“I’m going to make sure everyone knows that you are mine,” he growls, moving the knife off your shoulder. “Where should we start carving?”

You see Sydney move in your peripheral vision and hope she doesn’t wake up or join this dream. The knife is in the palm of your hand as you look back at Eli.

“Let everything you touch know whose you are,” Eli calls as he carves something into your palm.

You bite your tongue to stop yourself from yelling. Eli’s knife drags up your arm, tiny dots of blood rising to the surface as he goes. As he moves it across your collarbones, he applies more pressure, leaving a long streak of blood.

“Maybe one above your heart?” he asks, balancing the tip of his knife against your shirt, directly over your heart. “Actually, we’ll save that for last.”

He moves the knife over the length of your torso, watching the blade rather than you.

“Eli,” you say through the pain.

“Yes, baby?” he responds, giving you his full attention. He drops the knife onto the bed beside you as he looks at your face.

“Can you take me someplace else? Where there’s no evidence of Victor?” you ask, trying to play into his delusion to get him away from Sydney and Victor.

“Where?” he asks, tilting his head.

“What about Lockland, where we met?”

“Where you met Victor?” he asks, his eyes darkening.

“No, no, I want to go back to where I met you.”

“Victor was there that day.”

“Then let’s find a place to make our own,” you say.

Eli leans forward, kissing you roughly as you cross your fingers that no one walks in. You kiss him back, trying to distract him as you move one leg out from underneath him. As he pulls back, he bites your lip harshly, adding to the amount of blood on your body.

“We’re not going to Lockland. We can find another place to be ours,” he says, swiping his thumb across your bloody lip.

He looks up suddenly, seemingly noticing that you are not alone in the room. “Clever girl,” he says, smirking down at you. “We’re not leaving now.”

Eli raises the knife and plunges it into your side. You yelp as it punctures your skin, then bite your tongue. Tears leak from your eyes, but you remain silent as you watch Sydney roll over.

“Go back to sleep, Syd,” you beg, whispering under your breath.

“You’re much prettier when you’re bloody,” Eli praises as he traces your face with his finger.

“You won’t get away with this, Eli.”

“You mean I won’t get away with killing you either?” Eli asks, playing dumb. “Who will stop me?”

“You know who.”

“Me?” Victor asks as he pushes the door open and walks in.

“Vic,” you sigh, relieved that this nightmare is finally ending.

Victor approaches the bed and looks at you over Eli’s shoulder. “What did you do?” he asks.

“Made her prettier,” Eli answers with a shrug.

Eli holds your shoulders down as he stands. When you remain still, watching Victor, Eli releases his grip on you and steps back. Victor leans over and looks into your eyes.

“Thank you,” you whisper.

“No problem. You are missing a few things, though. Eli was never as thorough as he should have been.”

“Victor? What are you doing?”

He picks up the knife and holds your shoulder, just as Eli had, before saying, “Finishing the art.”

“Victor, please,” you beg, tears streaming down your face.

“You’re pretty when you cry.”

“Please don’t do this.”

Victor doesn’t respond before the knife presses into your thigh, and you scream.

Last Night - Esquire Hotel

“Please wake up!” Sydney yells, shaking you, her current roommate and best friend.

She takes a few steps back, breathing heavily, and turns on the lamp. As the light turns on, Sydney notices blood on the sheets and starts to panic. The only time she’s woken Victor up, she was met with pain, but that doesn’t matter now. She runs to Victor’s room, crying as she enters.

“Victor,” she calls as she steps inside.

He sits up quickly, his pale brows furrowing as he sees Sydney breathing shallowly and crying. He jumps out of the bed and rushes to stand in front of her, holding her shoulders as he bends over to look into her eyes.

“What happened?” he asks.

“She- she-” Sydney stutters, unsure what to say. She’s covered in blood and not waking up? She looks… gone?

Victor immediately knows who Sydney is referring to: you.

“Wake up Mitch,” Victor demands as he walks into the hallway. “And stay with him!”

Victor rushes into the bedroom you are sharing with Sydney, the blood immediately catching his attention. He gently pulls the blanket and the sheets down, noticing the number of wounds littering your body: your side, your leg, across your collarbones, and down one arm. As he checks the wounds, more begin to appear.

“Sweetheart, you have to wake up for me,” he says gently, raising a hand to your neck to check your pulse. Your heart rate is elevated but steady. When he feels you move under his hand, he whispers, “C’mon, wake up. Come back to me.”

Footsteps sound as someone walks down the hall, and Victor turns to see Mitch standing in the doorway, with Sydney peeking out from behind him. No new wounds were appearing, which could be good or bad, but Victor was more concerned with waking you up and stopping the bleeding.

“Get her out of here, Mitch,” Victor says as he looks back to you.

Mitch ushers Sydney back into the hallway, holding her as she cries.

“Sweetheart, don’t do this to me,” Victor whispers, fighting his own tears.

You move, and Victor’s head jerks to look at your face.

Last Night - Merit

“That was… exhilarating!” Eli cheers before collapsing on the couch, not even looking at the EO’s still body.

“Are you going to do something about him?” Serena asks, gesturing to the unconscious man in the chair across from her.

“As soon as he comes back,” Eli answers, pulling his gun from his pocket and laying it on the table.

“How’d it go?”

“Excellent. Should’ve seen her face when ‘Vic’ walked in.”

“Is he going to kill her?”

“Absolutely not. She needs to be there to watch Victor’s reckoning,” Eli answers.

The EO gasps as his eyes open, raising a hand to his racing heart as he says, “She fought me. She kicked me out of her mind because she knew I wasn’t him.” He looks at Eli and asks, “What didn’t you tell me?”

Serena flinches as the gun discharges the bullet, effectively silencing the rambling EO. Eli stares at the bloody wall behind him.

“I don’t know. Maybe our dear Victor Vale did his own experiments on her,” Eli finally answers.

“Or there’s more to her relationship with him and this guy messed up, so she knew it wasn’t real,” Serena offers. Eli rolls his eyes, and Serena demands, “Think about it.”

Last Night - Esquire Hotel

“It’s okay,” Victor soothes, pushing your hair out of your face, “we’re done for now.”

“Why are you doing this?” you ask through your tears.

“Because we have to, baby.”

Victor would never call you baby, and as you look at him, you realize you’re still asleep. You begin fighting to wake up, forcing yourself to open your eyes. The room around you grows darker and then disappears.

You blink, and you’re back in the room at the Esquire Hotel. Victor is kneeling beside the bed, staring at you, and Sydney’s bed is empty. You hear sobbing echoing in the hallway but don’t take your eyes off Victor as you move backward, away from Victor, tensing in pain.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“Please,” you beg, allowing your eyes to close.

“Sweetheart,” Victor whispers.

You open your eyes and find his, noticing the tears on his waterline as he lays his hand on your bed, palm up.

“Vic?” you ask, unsure and uneasy.

“Yeah, I’m right here, sweetheart.”

You lunge forward, off the bed, and wrap your arms around his neck. You don’t care that you’re getting blood all over him, and he doesn’t seem to either as he wraps his arms around you and leans back.

“We need to stop the bleeding,” he says quietly in your ear as he brushes your hair back.

“Just one more minute?” you ask into his shoulder.

He nods against you and looks toward the door before dropping his forehead to your shoulder. It doesn’t seem like much time passes before he sits up and gently pushes you back.

“Can you sit back so I can look at you?” he asks gently, keeping a hand on the uninjured side of your waist as you lean back against the bed.

“Where’s Sydney?” you ask as he lifts your shirt to see the knife wound.

“In the other room with Mitch.”

“Is she upset?”

“Yeah. She came and got me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t apologize. Other than the obvious pain you’re in, are you okay?” Victor asks.

“You’re numbing the pain,” you tell him with a small smile. “I’m as okay as I can be.”

You tell him about the dreams as he cleans and bandages your wounds. When you explain that this one was different and that a version of him was there, he clenches his jaw and stops touching you.

“You’re the reason I woke up, Vic. Thanks for always calling me sweetheart,” you say, running your fingertips along his forearms, showing him you’re not scared of him.

As Victor helps you stand after finishing the last bandage, Sydney rushes into the room and hugs you, mindful of your injuries. While you assure her that you are okay, your hand begins to throb despite Victor’s numbing. You shake the hand and try to ignore the sensation, but you keep thinking about the feeling of Eli’s blade. When Mitch and Sydney go back to sleep, and Victor is busy improving one of his parents’ books, you peel the bandage back and see that there isn’t a mark on your hand.

Midnight - Falcon Price Project

Detective Stell takes Eli into custody while Victor hides in the shadows, watching. Mitch, Sydney, Dol, and Dominic left to find a safe place to wait before meeting everyone else. Somehow, all of the planning, all of the deaths, and all of the crazy plans worked out, and everyone made it out alive.

On your way to meet at the predetermined point, you pretend to be a distressed passerby and tell the police things about Eli that no random citizen should know. No one seems inclined to question how you learned this information. Serena is gone, and they’re willing to listen. As you answer a question, Eli is escorted past you and smiles when he locks eyes with you.

“You will be mine,” he growls.

Your hand suddenly begins bleeding at the sound of his voice, and you shove it into your pocket, escaping the construction lot and finding Mitch and Sydney. While you wait for Victor, you grip the inner lining of your jacket in a poor attempt to stop the bleeding.

“Everyone alright?” Victor asks as he approaches, the keys to a stolen SUV hanging from his fingers.

“Yeah,” you answer, along with Sydney, Mitch, and Dominic.

“Let’s go, then.”

As you step toward the sidewalk, Victor wraps his hand around your exposed wrist and pulls you into his chest. His arm wraps around your back as he looks down at you and asks, “Are you really okay?”

“I am. Are you?”

“I’m fine. Eli will get what’s coming to him.”

He moves his hand down your arm, freezing when he feels warm liquid pooling in your pocket. Looking into your eyes, he pulls your hand from your pocket.

“When did this happen?” he asks, ripping part of your jacket and wrapping it around your palm.

“It just started bleeding a few minutes ago, when Eli said something to me. But he cut it in the nightmare last night,” you answer.

“Vic, we need to go,” Mitch calls from the driver’s seat.

“Syd, get in the backseat,” Victor says as he helps you into the middle row and sits beside you.

The ride is silent as Mitch drives to a safe house Victor remembers from his time at Lockland. He checked the property records, and it was still abandoned, the perfect place to lay low. When Mitch parks in front of the old house, Victor pulls you out of the car before Mitch turns the ignition off. He finds a bedroom with an en suite and places your hand under the cold water as he digs around in the cabinets for a first aid kit.

“It’s an E, isn’t it?” you ask, looking at Victor.

He doesn’t answer, wrapping your hand before pulling you into his chest and hugging you again. You cry in his arms before he leads you to the bed and pulls you to sit with him.

“It’s okay, sweetheart,” he says, rubbing your back. “I won’t let him hurt you again. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” you sniffle, looking down at your lap. “He- in the dream he said everything I touch will know I’m his. Then tonight he said I’d be his.”

Victor raises your chin with his finger, looking into your eyes as he says, “You’re not his. You’re not anyone’s. That’s your choice.”

“Thank you. For everything.”

“Vic,” Mitch says, standing in the doorway. “Sorry to interrupt. We’re short a bed.”

“You guys take what we have; we’ll figure something out,” Victor responds.

Mitch nods, and you send him a small smile as he walks out.

“I’ll go sleep on the couch,” you offer, standing up.

Victor doesn’t let you get up, his hands grabbing your waist and pulling you closer to him as he says, “Stay here.”

“You don’t have to.”

“Sweetheart, stay here.”

After - Somewhere Safe

The following morning, you wake up in Victor’s arms, the scent of waffles filling the room.

“Morning,” Victor says behind you.

“Good morning.”

As you exit the room to help Mitch with breakfast, Sydney waits in the hallway.

“Can I talk to you?” she asks quietly.

You nod and follow her down the hall, sitting on the bed in her temporary room as she closes the door.

“What do you want to talk about, Syd?” you ask as she joins you on the bed.

“My nightmares stopped,” she tells you.

“That’s good.”

“Have you- are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” You smile and take one of her hands as you answer. “I was having nightmares too and something really weird happened with that one; Eli was actually in the dream, somehow. But my nightmares are gone now, too.”

“That night when you were dreaming, I tried to wake you up and you weren’t responding. Then I saw the blood and I was so scared,” she rambles, tears building in her eyes.

She hugs you, crying into your shoulder as you hold her, rubbing comforting circles on her back.

“I’m not going anywhere, Syd, I promise.”

You look up and see Victor standing in the hallway. You nod, telling him she’s okay, and he walks away.

“Can you do something with me today? Something normal,” Sydney asks as she pulls back.

“Name it.”

“Make cookies?”

You smile as you say, “Of course.”

Victor and Mitch leave to tie up loose ends, so you spend the afternoon with Sydney. You bake cookies, make hot chocolate, and watch cheesy movies. She seems like a new person at the end of the day, hugging you goodnight and walking down the hall as you finish the dishes.

After you put the last dish away, you walk back to the living room to sleep on the couch.

You don’t notice Victor standing in the doorway until he asks, “What are you doing?”

You jump, ignoring his smile. You answer, “Sleeping on the couch.”

“No. Let’s go,” Victor says before turning and walking away.

You follow him into the bathroom, sitting on the counter and watching his face as he peels the bandage off your hand. He tells you it looks better before replacing the dressing with a new one. Your eyes stray to your palm while he works, the clear ‘E’ a permanent reminder. You sniff as you suppress a sob, tired of crying and feeling weak.

“Sweetheart?” Victor asks, halting his movements as he looks into your eyes.

“It’s always going to be there, Vic. I can’t get away from him. Since the day I met Eli, he’s been…” you trail off as you remember everything you kept from Vic: Eli’s unwelcome touches, his constant advances, and how scarred you are (inside and out) from the nightmares.

“What did he do?” Victor asks quietly. You shake your head, so Victor raises your hand, half-bandaged, to his lips, gently kissing your knuckles as he says, “You’re not tied to him. You’re better than him, and you’re strong enough to overcome this; all of it.”

“Do you remember that day I met him in the cafeteria?”

“Yeah. You had the good sense to get out of there.”

“He touched me. Sat way too close and put his hand on my leg.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Victor asks, his thumb rubbing circles on the back of your hand.

“I thought he was your friend and didn’t want to ruin that. Every time I saw him after that he asked me out or made an advance of some kind. I didn’t know how to bring it up.”

“I didn’t know. I’m sorry.”

“You couldn’t have known, Vic. It’s fine. I dealt with it the best I could. At least now I know why he did it.”

“Why?” Victor asks, stepping closer as he moves his hand to your waist.

“He thought I was yours. He couldn’t stand the thought of you having something to care about, to care for you. He can’t care about or love anyone, so he didn’t want to either.”

“He thought I cared about you, so he tried to take you for himself to get you away from me? I didn’t know he had that kind of… anything,” Victor repeats before saying something under his breath and squeezing your waist gently.

You look at him with furrowed brows, silently asking what he said.

He sighs before whispering, “He was right.”

“You did care about me?”

“Do care. More than care. You’re the only thing I’ve ever loved.”

You smile at him before leaning forward and kissing him, your hands raising to his jaw as his arms wrap further around your waist, pulling you closer. You pull back to catch your breath, and Victor returns his attention to your hand.

“I can take the physical pain, no problem. But all I can do for the other pain is be here for you.”

You flinch away from him as your hand begins throbbing again. Victor turns the dial in his head, but your face stays pinched in pain. Pulling your hand back, you remove the bandage and look at your hand before looking up at Victor. You slip your wrist and show him the clear skin across your palm.

“I didn’t know you could do that,” you say.

“I can’t. Something else must have happened.”

“The EO?”

“Eli wouldn’t have kept him alive this long.”

You nod as you look back at your hand, curling and uncurling your fingers with no pain. Victor smiles before lifting you from the counter, setting you on your feet, and directing you to the bed. He kisses you once more before you go to sleep.

When you wake up before Victor, you walk out onto the balcony and enjoy the quiet morning, hopefully, the first of many. A warm chest presses against your back, and you lean against him, Victor’s arms circling your waist as he rests his chin on your shoulder.

“Morning, sweetheart,” he greets, kissing your neck.

“Good morning,” you respond, turning in his arms to properly kiss him.

You pull back when the door opens, and someone gasps, your eyes meeting Sydney's as she asks, “When did this happen?!”

“Last night,” Victor grumbles. “Do you mind?”

You lightly slap his arm, and his eyes stay on yours as he apologizes.

“About time!” Sydney cheers as she walks back inside, Dol following.

Mitch walks by the door and smiles as he agrees with Sydney, looking at you to say, “I told you.”

“Told you what?” Victor asks.

“He said you care about me,” you answer.

“I said you were in love with each other!” Mitch yells from inside.

You smile at Victor as you confirm, “I’ve been in love with you since Lockland.”

“I’ve been in love with you since I laid eyes on you,” Victor responds.

He kisses you again, and you feel complete, even if your situation is viciously weird.

#victor vale x reader #victor vale #vicious #vicious ve schwab #if you saw me post this earlier no you didn't. tumblr didn't work so

15 notes · View notes

filipinosamflynn · 7 months

Text

RED RISING BOOK 1 CHARACTER TIER LIST + FULL THOUGHTS! >:D

Below is my review of book 1, I'll go into spoilers. After this, I'm either gonna move onto a different book or try to find golden son. Not sure which one will happen.

But yeah, great book, 4 stars, or 8/10! Definitely just set up for things to come in the trilogy, but also a really good setup & story.

PREFACE: This is from the perspective from somebody who DOESN'T read books for fun too often. Red Rising was the first book in a long while I chose to read for fun since Harry Potter in 1st year high school (I didn't even finish the series, I stopped at the start of Half Blood Prince). So you're dealing with one of the most casual guys who went into the series. Another thing: I came into the series thinking it would be similar to Nimona (2023) or Sylas's story from League, since I brought up these two things when I first asked for book recs, so my expectations were HORRIBLY wrong (kind of, sylas's lore is pretty similar and the only difference is that sylas gets STRAIGHT into action but also his characterization sucks). So my perspective is strange, is what I'm saying, and I am far from the most valid person to be seriously reviewing this book. I'm just sharing this for fun lmao :P

I'm just writing the first few things that come to my mind, so stick with me people! These are messy, unfiltered thoughts.

This book is rough, really whumpy at the start of the book, but it's good whump. It's just setting up and establishing what's to come and to make all the payoffs feel better by showing us the insane suffering Darrow goes through. But also? Damn. That was rough. it felt like grimdark (this is coming from the perspective of a guy who actively avoids all things grimdark - with the exception of whump fanfics on ao3).

And then we get into the institution, and I just went, "oh. This is hunger games harry potter." I was a bit disappointed to be honest, I know the book is called "red rising" and it literally means "the slow rise of a red" so he still needs to prepare himself for what's to come, but also... eh?????? Someone in Reddit called this segment "pierce brown kidnapping fans of the hunger games when it was at the peak of its popularity", which ✨️iconic behavior✨️ but I was a bit confused as we took this academy stuff seriously. But slowly, I grew into it when the characters started interacting. I liked it when Darrow was interacting with others since the first half of the book felt so isolating. I liked every single scene Sevro shows up since he brings so much chaos and fun to a story that had so much downtrodden underlying sadness. The chapter 9 reveal is still hitting me, like "damn FUCK THESE GUYS BRO, WHAT DO YOU MEAN THIS PLANET HAS ALREADY BEEN TERRAFORMED???" Also because sevro's fucking awesome, but that's besides the point. The same goes for Darrow's scenes with Virginia and pre-sword fight Cassius, but they aren't as iconic as Sevro.

Darrow is a super compelling protagonist for the story he's in. Making him this power fantasy fulfillment guy makes things feel all the more liberating when he beats the shit out of a guy, it's sort of like a shonen anime protagonist, I guess (i don't watch anime btw). Bro talks about Eo a bit too much though 💀 it got to the point where it got a bit funny, but some moments do hit... before virginia came into the picture as the better love interest since she's girlboss and eo is seraphine from league of legends.

Most of the characters are well written or awesome! The proctors are real loveably hateable pieces of shit I wanted 200 feet below the dirt, and I loved seeing them get beat up. Except you Fitchner, you are iconic, and you gave us Sevro. I love you. Antonia, Cassius & Jackal are just set up here, and it's mildly disappointing? I am super happy the finale ended up being "FUCK THE PROCTORS" but also that stole time away from finishing off the inter-student conflicts. Yeah those will 100% be explored in the rest of the books with more time to do so, but damn :/ the last time we see Antonia, I think she just stands there at a castle to remind us she exists??? Whatever, watching the proctors get shit on was exactly what I needed to want to see more out of this series.

I was a bit disappointed when Darrow ended up being the only red we explore in this book. I was kind of disappointed when Darrow just speaks with a gold accent the entire time, I hope later in the series he speaks like a red again because I have a red bias and hate fancy ass shit. From a book called "red rising", there aren't too many reds after part 2 which I found odd for a revolution story about a red taking control over the system. Titus? Ohoh! FUCK HIM! why did they write him to be this rapist guy, and he just exists to let darrow know he isn't the only fake gold at the institute. I was mildly hoping we would get to see another red-turned-gold team up with darrow as a 100% trustworthy ally since I felt like we needed it after all the loneliness Darrow goes through, but sadly no :(

OH AND THE ACTION SCENES HELL YEAH!!! Reddit wasn't kidding when they talked about how bloodydamn GOOD the fight scenes are. I got spoiled that "Clang! Clang! Clang! Confess!" means something, and I don't even know who is fighting who, but I want to read the whole series just to get to that point because it sounds badass.

But uhhh this series came to me at a rough point in my life. It was hard to read some parts of it and I took a few breaks. Yeah, I read the whole thing in 2 weeks, but also just to fill myself with some sort of closure when I felt sad. I felt good coming out of it, but during? UHHHHHH-

These disorganized thoughts are getting messy, if you have any questions about specific things, comment them for me to answer. I might. 🥰

Story: 7/10, just set up but good set up

Characters: 9/10, bloodydamn good, almost all of them. I can tell, despite my initial disappointment for some of them since I know this is a book SERIES, so we will be seeing more of them soon.

Personal Enjoyment: ????/10, felt too sad at some points, absolutely adored this book in others.

Quality: 9/10, amazing writing, I want to buy all the books JUST to support Pierce Brown, I'm not even sure if I will be reading them, I just feel like throwing money at him.

Overall Score: 8/10, scared to continue, but damn I want to continue.

#red rising #tier list #sam flynn reads red rising #review #red rising book 1 #sam flynn reads

8 notes · View notes