We're facing the ceiling

[thecomplications]

Who: Valentine Wolfe and Stefano
Universe: who even knows
What: villains being villains together
Warning: violence, reference to murder, possible gore

Valentine considered himself a connoisseur of the finer things in life, and there were plenty of finer things to be appreciated. He couldn’t be much bothered by what other people did to themselves or others, unless it was interesting. Although he’d heard of certain rumors lately that seemed to be worth looking into.

He knocked at the door and when it answered, he held the newspaper ad calling for models in front of him.

“I’d like to submit an application,” Valentine said. He had pale skin, black hair, and bright red lips, and went more for a specific look. He didn’t look much like he’d make for a typical model.

Comments

[freezeframes]

"As we all do." So he adds with a hint of a nervous smile. The blood on the knife drips on the floor -- too soft to be heard over the sound of the ticking of the clock down the hallway. But Stefano feels like he can hear each drop, as it reflects the state of his suddenly anxious heartbeat.

"Ah, but would become of my work if I can never step out into the light of day?" A beat. "You could tell... couldn't you? The way I wordered my advertisement what I was seeking. Yet you came here. Why?" Some sort of supernatural avenging angel? He wonders idly, and to his credit, he doesn't point the bloody knife at Valentine in accusation.

No, he merely stays frozen in place as he asks his questions.

[thecomplications]

If Valentine is meant to be an angel, then he's one who's plunged himself downwards, rather than simply falling. He doesn't make a move for Stefano or the weapon.

"I was curious and I wanted to see it for myself. To see if you had it in you to be great."

[freezeframes]

"To see--"

He breathes out half a laugh. "Are you saying that you don't recognize my genius? My legacy has been painted in flesh, blood, and silver nitrate." His hand raises to gesture toward the frames lining the hallway.

"I am more than capable of becoming great. I'm halfway there!" His anxiety and fear fade away as his ego bloats.

[thecomplications]

Valentine waved a hand, dismissive.

"You're relying on the shock of it too much. I agree that you still have to go again as far as what you've done already."

[freezeframes]

"You're sounding like those critics."

He stomped his foot and ignored the absurdity of his annoyance. Here he yelled at a being that cannot be killed easily because his pride as an artist was injured.

"They're beautiful. They're true art. There is so much beauty in destruction and that is what I am attempting to convey. How is that you can only see the shock of it?"

[thecomplications]

Valentine, on the other hand, was content to discuss this like a distanced, academic topic, as if Stefano hadn't tried to kill him for the sake of the art they were discussing, as if many others hadn't been killed.

"Because the shock is most of what you're doing. Take that away, and what do you have, truly?"

[freezeframes]

"It's not about the shock!"

With one hand, he strangles the air while he continues to tighten his grip on the dagger with the other. "There is beauty in death, and there is beauty in the destruction of the body. They all shy away from it like--"

The dagger is thrown but at the ground, like a line in the sand between them. "They can never understand the meaning behind it all. Every last one of them afraid and disgusted rather than looking at the broken bones and shattered skull... looking at them and seeing just how gorgeous the body looks at that moment when death embraces it."

[thecomplications]

"And is that the most beautiful thing, in your mind? The freshly dead?"

Valentine considered that, dismissed it. "There's potential in the living that can't be matched once they're dead."