Splinters In Time

The Complicated Love Life of Viera Quart

Fair warning: Mature content.

Names were becoming a complicated business. She seemed to have so many of them, and yet none quite seemed to stick. In the lab, she was Four; with her family, Lili or Lilith, and with this man, she was Viera Quart and she was claiming to be in love with him.

It wasn't true.

In another life, she supposed it could have been true; he was certainly nice enough. Extremely intelligent, he was a law student- she had met him a couple of years ago on a gap year around Europe. She had claimed to be on gap year too, and had travelled with him and his friends for a while, before returning with them to the United States. Good times. She was sure her family would adore him.

But something had changed between them. He had gone to law school and she hadn't, and they had managed to stay in touch enough between all that to maintain a relationship- something she knew would likely be highly risky, and yet couldn't quite bring herself to stop- and suddenly he was no longer the free spirit that would traverse the world with her, he was a man, weighed down with a grown man's thoughts, of responsibility and stability, and future.

And right now, she was really hoping he wasn't going to ask what she knew he was going to ask.

His name was Mark, and it struck her sometimes just how much he looked like Henry. There were many differences, of course; his hair- long when she had met him, now cut short- was brown, his eyes a very inviting green and he had an almost labrador-like personality. But there were times when, in the right light, he would look a certain way and it would make her feel nostalgic.

Perhaps that was why she had entertained this whole thing for so long.

She had become aware that something was going on the moment she had met him that day; he was feeling a certain cocktail of emotions that she had only felt from other people in very specific circumstances. That, and the way his hand kept going to his pocket tipped her off. One quick search of his jacket later, when he had left it behind to go to the restaurant bathroom, and she found the box with the ring, confirming her fears.

Do not ask me. Do not ask me. Do not ask me.

So she sat across the table from him, smiling, laughing and sipping wine. They talked quite happily and never once did he ask- never once did she let him.

He drove her back to her hotel after, and like always, he kissed her at the door. This part, she always liked; he was a very good kisser. It was a heady notion, just for the moment, to switch off her thoughts and just bathe in feeling.

This one was different- hotter, fiercer, asking something in particular. It caught her off guard. Many girls might have stopped it there, particularly in the wake of tonight's revelations, but in the moment, she couldn't think why anyone would.

... Why shouldn't she? She was free. She could do as she pleased. She didn't owe anyone anything; anyone she might have considered she did had long since left her abandoned. And she trusted him- which at this point, might just be enough.

It was overwhelming once inside the room; a constant feedback loop of touch and taste, want and need, adrenaline and growing heat. They kissed on the sofa for a while, until, his shirt hanging open and her skirt rucked up to her thighs, she slipped from his lap to pull him into the bedroom.

"Are you sure?"

"Come on."

It was intoxicating, addictive, every feeling she was drinking in from him; gluttonously, she wanted to swallow it down, to take it all.

As she allowed him to lay her down on the bed, a voice that was not her own spoke in the back of her mind. "What do you think you are doing?"

Her eyes snapped open- and for half a moment, she was sure there were a pair of crystal blue ones staring back.

A blink, and they were gone.

No, no, no! This was not how it was meant to go! She was her own person! She was here and he was not, and he was gone, and he had left her, and she had won.

"Are you alright?"

Relaxing her face into an easy smile, she pushed him over onto his back and climbed on top of him. Pressing soft kisses to his lips, as they moved together, hands touching every inch of skin, she tried to pretend she wasn't imagining that his hair was blond.

When they were done, they lay together; her tucked sleepily into his side.

"Marry me." He mumbled, eyes half-closed.

She made a choked laughing sound, pulling the blankets up around them both. "Ask me again in the morning."

In the morning, she was gone.

A/N: So despite having this chapter planned for ages, and despite how much I tried to tell myself he looks like Henry, I discovered there was no way to write this chapter without feeling icky.
But then, I think icky is kind of the point? I'm just hoping it's well-written-icky and not the garbled mess I keep reading it as.

Anyway, I think we can all see what's ACTUALLY going on here- the seeds of... an obsession of sorts? I don't know what else to call it- blossoming in this chapter in regards to Henry. I mean, we know how that turns out, but still... curious to see how that develops. XD

Another discovery of this chapter- when someone feeds on others emotions like Four/Lili/Bonnie does, consent actually becomes a really tricky subject. It's really hard to discern at what point it's her choice and at what point she's being highly influenced by others. Not to say anything non-consensual is happening here, but... yeah, as the author, I've realised it's something (actually quite interesting from a character perspective) that I need to be aware of.

Anyway, hopefully it was alright (I am so sorry Henry/Bonnie shippers, I know I've probably upset some of you!) Please leave a like and a comment!