Here’s To Us

Viper had been very scarce since he had found himself returned to his servaline form. He had hidden away in the cell he shared with Valentino and cried. The stress of months of pressure was starting to add up on Viper. As much as the Frenchman refused to admit it, he wasn't made for pressure. He cracked so easily. The fear of failure, fear of losing those he loved in some horrific accident was becoming too much. After Viper had fallen ill from stress, he had curled up in bed and never bothered to leave. Viper spent the majority of his days sleeping and waiting for Val to come home so he could go back to sleep.

Viper's sleep was growing increasingly more fitful and violent. His usual war nightmares were escalating from annoying to downright scary. For once, Val was more afraid for Viper than he was of losing beauty rest. Viper was starting to affect his work as well and Val couldn't even be mad about it. There was no way he could be mad at Viper when the serval was clearly not in his right mind. Seeing him sick and exhausted and losing weight so rapidly was nearly devastating. So, he had made a decision that Viper wouldn't have the guts to make on his own. Val was going to take Viper someplace where he could be calm and recover in peace.

Viper had been curled up in the crook of Val's body, making a pitiful effort of sleeping when Val had rousted him into semi-consciousness. Staring up at Val with confused pink eyes, Viper smoothed the fur on the panther's cheek with a soft paw. "You look so tired." The Frenchman mumbled, shaking his weary head. "You're too pretty to look tired."

Val snorted, fixing Viper's glasses on his freckled face. "You don't look very fresh either, Lentiggini." He mumbled, dipping his head to press his nose into Viper's soft neck fluff. The albino serval never stopped trembling, it was killing Val. For some reason, he had fallen in love with the little dumb spotted cat and he was beginning to fail to protect him. It reminded him vaguely of how distant Cessna had become. She had gotten fed up with him and the Exiles because he hadn't paid attention to her. Val wondered when that line would be crossed with Viper. The Frenchman was bound to leave, surely, because that was just what happened. Val was sure he would eventually grow tired of coming home to Viper curled up in his bed, but he didn't. If anything, seeing Viper there only made him want to stay in bed longer.

"What do you say we run away together?"

Viper's pink eyes flickered with surprise. "What?" He questioned, lifting Val's face to meet his with a gentle paw on the man's chin.

"You heard me, babe, you're not deaf yet," Val replied, rasping his tongue over Viper's head.

"But... why? We're happy here, right?" Viper whispered, considering for a moment if he even remembered what happiness felt like. Of course, he did. Happiness was seeing Val's smile after a long day, curling up in Val's arms and talking for hours about nothing. There wasn't anyone else in Agrelos like Val. Viper had never cared about someone so deeply before.

"But are you really?" Val prompted, looking over his glasses at Viper. "You haven't moved in weeks. You've barely eaten anything. You can't sleep. People are going to start thinking I killed you and buried your body out back." A soft sigh echoed from Val's nose and he shook his head. "Viper, you're going to die if you carry on like this. You're already so weak. I'm... worried about you."

Viper didn't know what to say to that. He would gladly disregard his feelings for Val to stay and become the best leader the Exiles had ever had--

"I'm not happy seeing you unhappy," Val admitted, shuffling Viper closer to cradle him. "I can't listen to you cry another night, Viper. It kills me to see you so distressed and not be able to fix it. It'll be you and me, we go somewhere quiet. So you can properly retire." He offered.

Viper mulled it over, his cheek pressed to Val's. It sounded perfect. Too good to be true, even. Was there space in the world for him to be happy? What was retirement really? It was this, wasn't it? Feeling hopelessly lost and horrifyingly busy but doing nothing at the same time? Forgetting where he was, forgetting what he was doing, forgetting what happened yesterday. That was what was supposed to happen? Wasn't it? Viper pushed his face into Val's neck, choking on a sob. "I'm sorry I'm hurting you so much."

Val shook his head, pulling away to stare into Viper's fearful, teary eyes. "You've done nothing wrong though." He promised, brushing away the Frenchman's tears as they fell. "You didn't do a thing wrong, Viper." It was jarring to see Viper like this. The Frenchman didn't just cry. "So, what do you say? Will you marry me and run away?" Val offered, blinking down into Viper's shocked gaze.

"What?"

"Just fucking say yes before I change my mind."

"Yes." Viper mumbled, reaching his delicate pink nose to Val's. "Of course I will."

"I, Valentino Mancini-Rossi, take you, Viper Bordeaux, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part." Val smiled a little, sweeping Viper from the bed and set him on the floor. He steadied the Frenchman and blinked. "Say it back or it won't work."

Viper stared up at Val. When Viper married someone, they died. He couldn't lose Val. Val was everything good in his life. Viper wasn't Viper without Val anymore. He cleared his throat. "I... Viper Bordeaux, take you, Valentino Mancini-Rossi, to be my husband, to have and-and to hold from now on. For better or for worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to... to love and to cherish until death do us part, Val, are you sure? I'm going to ruin your business--"

Val pressed a kiss to Viper's lips to silence him. "I do all of that stuff anyway, I might as well fess up and marry you already. So you can't run away." He shot Viper a wink. "Pack up, Frenchie, we're running off into the sunset." The black panther strode across the room, pulling a dusty suitcase from a shelf. In truth, he had never thought he would need this. His red eyes turned back to the bewildered Frenchman. He was just as beautiful as the day he had first laid eyes on Viper in this very room. "Why are you looking at me with that face?" Val sighed, his brow creasing.

"What if I fuck it up?" Viper asked, swaying on his feet. He wobbled his way over to Val and leaned into the taller man's side. "What if you end up hating me?"

"Impossible, enough. Stop being stupid before I leave you here." Val drew his tongue over Viper's head. "Calm down. Cry again and I'll throw you out a window. It's bad luck for a bride to cry on his wedding day." He soothed. Val left Viper's side and left the room, on his way to get his arguably most important belonging. Catching Alexei in the middle of moping, Val herded the oversized sad clown through the hallway and crammed him into the suitcase. Well, that was everything. Val chucked in the remainder of Cessna's belongings, his many, many extra shades, and paused as he came across the blanket Rhapsody had presented him with. Deciding he couldn't leave it, Val shoved it into the suitcase, right next to his twenty-year-old new son and his favorite coffee cup.

Dragging his box of belongings down the stairs, he called after Viper, staring back at the white serval at the top of the staircase. "Let's go, babe, we've got places to be." He huffed, catching sight of Viper's uncertain expression. Sighing, Val trotted back up the stairs and lifted Viper by the scruff. He escorted Viper down the stairs. "Better?" He questioned, joy sparking in his heart when he heard a soft purr in Viper's throat.

Strutting out of the prison in the usual Val fashion, Viper was only a few paces behind him. The Frenchman's delicate face held a smile as he watched Val.

"Alright, fuck faces, the wife and I are off on our permanent honeymoon, have fun sucking." The panther announced, taking off his usual shades to replace them with his vacation shades. They were the exact same pair of glasses, just better or something. Who knows, Val's weird. Val sat his usual pair on Viper's head and led the Frenchman to the border, away from all of the sour memories and stress, in search of a better life.