Author's Note: Sharing this utterly hilarious Frozen AU fanart from @nora_artzz on IG this week. In addition the the amazing energy Vandel has in an Elsa dress, snowman Ridley looks freaking amazing haha.
Ridley
"Hey," I said softly.
"You shouldn't be here," Vandel replied, his voice strained and hoarse. I assumed this was due to the fact that he probably hadn't talked in a long time. The thought struck me like a dagger in my gut. To picture him all alone like this...he must have been so frightened. A deep, cold anger came over me, a desperate need to make anyone and everyone who had hurt him pay dearly for it. I smothered the thought. There would be time for that. I just had to be patient. "Still," Vandel continued. "I suppose I'd be lying if I told you I'm not happy you're here. It's been...well..." he laughed awkwardly. "Very quiet around here." He perked up now. "Oh! But if you're here that must mean it worked, right?"
I blinked, confused. "What worked?"
"The spell!" Vandel flashed me a pointed grin, a bit of his usual energy creeping back into his voice (which, despite myself, I found as a relief). "I've had a lot of time to practice while I've been locked up, you know! And I think I finally figured out a way to rebuild a small mental block against my mother so she can't monitor me 24/7! As long as I keep my emotions in check there's no way she can get any access to Vandel's ol' nogarooni!" He tapped his head as he said that.
"Did you just talk about yourself in third person and then actually use the word...nogarooni?"
"Beside the point," Vandel snickered. "I still gotta be careful though which means you better not get too hot and heavy with me, lover boy. If you do I might slip up."
My face turned pink. "Vandel I...I really don't think this is quite the time for these kinds of jokes."
Vandel shuffled closer, his chains dragging heavily on the floor behind him. "Sorry, it's like an automated defense mechanism. If I start getting too stressed and serious I gotta make some crude jokes to even it all out. Law of equivalent exchange and all that jazz."
"I don't think that's what that is-"
Vandel gave me a slap on the back which would probably have been far hardier if he hadn't been locked up for so long. "Ridley, Ridley, poor sweet Ridley. If you don't stay funny when shit gets serious then you end up growing a stick up your ass and turn into someone...well...like you..."
Despite his smiles and jokes I could tell how badly his imprisonment had hurt him and it was taking every inch of my willpower to stop myself from trying to make Stefan and Victoria pay right then and there. Annette had been right...I had to use this opportunity to guarantee I could free Vandel from this hell. I couldn't take any chances that Victoria would somehow find out Annette was alive and kill her, trapping Vandel with Stefan forever.
I took a deep breath. I could do this. It was for him—I had to do this for his own good. "Vandel...I...I actually came here to tell you something."
Vandel perked up. "Is it about the state of my hair, because I KNOW, I KNOW it's been getting kind of unkempt. But like...I can't really tell if I'm pulling it off or not. My heart says no but my mirror says...possibly yes? I mean, once I'm free and it's tidied up with no split ends it'll probably look way better. Is that too presumptuous of me though? I've been alone for so long I'm probably over thinking but then again, I haven't taken a massive hairstyle leap in at least 50 years-"
"Vandel it's not about your hair."
Vandel snickered. "I'm just messing with you. It's about the princess, isn't it?"
My breath caught. "W-What? How did you know?"
"My mother tried to taunt me in a 'my dick is bigger' power move and told me she planned to kill the princess. Unknown to my mother though, when you lock good ol' Vandel up it just gives him more time to scheme. I figured out how to create a spell to eavesdrop outside my door and managed to overhear some guards talking about the plan for the attack. Fucking idiots, am I right? Honestly, the castle guard is seriously falling apart without me there to keep them on their toes with pamphlets."
It took everything in me not to crack a small smile at that.
"Anyways," Vandel continued, "as my increasingly limited luck would have it, I figured out how to make the mental block and I then proceeded to use as much power as I could to make a counter spell. Demon offensive magic is usually triggered by the presence of the intended victim once they're in the vicinity of the spell so I made sure my warning would hit before you made it there. Since, well, knowing my people I'm sure the spell was timed to wait a beat to guarantee Annette would be in the cottage."
My eyes widened. "Those sticks...they were you?"
Vandel grinned. "The one and only. Not my finest work but I was desperate for literally anything, and I was still using a good chunk of my power to keep the mental block."
So...Vandel had saved my life...hell both our lives yet again. Honestly, I was amazed by him. He had accomplished so much; the mental block, the counter spell, all the while staying a step ahead of his mother the entire time. Looking at him now I couldn't seem to keep the sheer admiration from my gaze, nor the strange warmth and fluttery feeling inside my chest. I wanted nothing more than to tell him how amazing he was— how he was smart, and intelligent, and brave, and deserved the entire world.
But I couldn't...not yet.
I couldn't let all his efforts go to waste. I had to break the mental block.
I shut my eyes a moment. Please, I prayed, though I wasn't exactly sure who I was praying to. Please let him forgive me for this.
"She's dead Vandel."
It felt like the air had turned cold. Vandel went dead silent, pitch black eyes wide, his face ashen.
"W-What?" There was a tremble to his voice and it took everything in me to keep going.
I lowered my head so I wouldn't have to meet his gaze.
"I...I didn't have the heart to tell you because you seemed so confident your plan had worked but...the two of us were walking when your warning appeared and the princess...she ignored it and went up ahead without me." I took a deep breath. "She was killed in the explosion. That's why I came here— to tell you."
"That can't be...she can't be..."
"But she is. I'm sorry." I shut my eyes for a moment. "With Stefan now the legitimate heir and with your mother's power and influence behind him there's nothing we can do. It's over."
Vandel had begun to tremble. He lowered his head, the shadows obscuring his expression.
"Fuck," he whispered hoarsely. "Fuck, fuck, fuck. How fucking stupid was I? I was so fucking sure I'd figured everything out and saved her but all the while...FUCK." He grabbed a tea tray from the bedside table and hurled it at the wall. It slammed against it, shattering hard, thousands of small porcelain shards cascading down to the floor. Vandel buried his face in his hands now, muttering a string of desperate curses under his breath.
I felt horrible. I would give myself lashes for this...more than I ever had before.
After a moment Vandel slowly lifted his head, meeting my gaze with his pitch black one.
"Ridley," he said softly, his voice cutting through the room as sharply as the glass on the floor.
"Yes?"
"This means I..." he struggled to even say the words. "I-I'm really going to have to marry him."
I nodded stiffly, fighting my every impulse to collapse before him and simply tell him the truth.
Vandel swallowed hard. "I already told you, I've had a lot of alone time and...it's given me a lot of time to think about well...all sorts of things and...uh...people." He was shaking, I could hear the tremble in his voice, but he kept going. "And...if I am to be inevitably married then I suppose... I might as well..." His gaze flickered up to meet mine and I could tell he was struggling to properly word what he wanted to say. "Please," he said softly. "Once I'm finished speaking don't say anything. I just need to get this off my chest. I...I don't want to hear your response. I don't think I'll be able to handle it."
He closed his eyes and a tense silence fell between us causing me to become intensely aware of the sounds of our breathing. I stood rigid, waiting for whatever he was about to say, my heart pounding in anticipation for Gods knew what.
"I don't know what you do to me," Vandel finally said, his voice a little more than a whisper. "I've never felt this way about anyone. Over 200 years I've lived and never has someone...fuck...I'm not good at saying this kind of shit...never have I...felt this way before. When I'm not with you it's like I can't fucking breathe and sometimes I wish you could just be mine and mine alone because I want you more than I've ever wanted anything."
I stared at him, wide eyed.
Vandel's eyes finally opened. "So that's why I don't want you to say anything. Because I know there's no way you could ever return these feelings. And I don't blame you. I don't deserve to have them. So please..."
"Vandel-" I breathed.
"Didn't I tell you not to respond?"
And then he was on me. His lips found mine and the world instantly melted away.
We fell back onto his bed, our mouths desperate for each other. I couldn't seem to think, or breathe, or process what I was doing. I was completely consumed by him. My hands found their way into his dark hair, knotting in it as Vandel's mouth began to move to my throat with light kisses and bites. Everywhere his lips touched seemed to set my body on fire. His hands slipped beneath my shirt, sliding up my back, his mouth moving to mine again for another deep, breath-stealing kiss which I hungrily accepted despite myself. From on top of me I felt him roll his hips against mine, sending an electric jolt up my spine, my entire body flushing as I fruitlessly arched my back against him, desperate for more contact. I wanted everything; his mouth on mine, his eyes on mine, I wanted each breath, each fleeting kiss, each beat of his heart.
But then I came back to reality.
How could I?
I jerked back from him, still aching for him more than ever before. "W-We can't," I stammered, my voice trembling.
Deep down every inch of me was begging Vandel to protest, but instead he simply bowed his head.
"You're right," Vandel said, his voice tight. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."
"It's just...it's treason and..."
"No, no, I completely understand." Vandel slapped a hand to his forehead. "It was fucking stupid of me. I'm sorry, I'm so, so sorry Ridley. I...I don't know what came over me." He laughed dryly. "Desperation I suppose."
I clamored for my ring, trying to keep my hands from shaking as I held it. "I...I should go now..."
Vandel bowed his head. "Yeah, I suppose you should."
"Goodbye Vandel..."
"Goodbye Ridley."
And with that I slid the ring back onto my finger, forcing myself not to look at him. If I looked back...if I didn't leave now...I knew I would never be able to leave his side again.
Just wait a little longer, I thought to myself. Just wait a little longer and I'll save you.
But how the hell was I supposed to save myself from him?