The Answer (Niobe and Viktor)

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe blinked softly as she heard Viktor ask her if she wanted to be his girlfriend she barely even registered the kiss that he gave her but she found herself returning it in asort of daze, as he pulled away all niobe could do was blink and giggle happily for a moment.

Unsure of what to say she went with what her heart was telling her to and she nodded her head happily.

"Yes, yes please I would love to be your girlfriend Viktor, I really would love to, thank you so much for asking me!"

Pecking him on the cheek softly Niobe blushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her trilby hat and ducked her head to try and make the blush less noticable but failing.

"You've made me very happy."

[Viktor Nickel]

It had taken a lot of courage for Viktor to ask Niobe if she would be his girlfriend. He was sure that he felt strongly for her and that he loved her. But it was harder than he thought to actually ask her the question. However, the way that they shared the kiss told him that his nervousness was unfounded,

"That's great...!" he said breathlessly, immensely happy now that the dead weight of doubt had been removed from his chest, "Oh that's so great Niobe! Thank you for saying yes..."

He smiled happily as she pecked him on the cheek and watched as she blushed. Viktor pressed his hand lightly against her cheek, stroking it gently. When she ducked her head, he tilted her head up by a gentle push on her chin,

"And you've made me so happy to..." he kissed her gently on the lips, "You make me feel so at peace Niobe... I love you."

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe was over the moon that Viktor was so happy at the thought of being her boyfriend, of course she had thought about it but never actually put much stock into it, she didn't want to think about it in case she was completely wrong.

"There's no need to thank me Viktor, I'm just glad that you thought of me like that, I was scared to ask you...in case you didn't."

Feeling his hand on her cheek Niobe looked up into Viktors ice blue eyes and smiled softly, it felt so nice to have someone to be with like this, just to hold her and tell her everything was going to be okay.

"You love me Viktor?" she asked incredulously, it was too perfect to have him say something like that, far too much.

"Oh my thank you! This really is an honour, to have someone to love me, I have missed it so much..."

[Viktor Nickel]

Viktor had been thinking on his feelings for Niobe for a long time, since he'd first met her to be honest. But it had been only in the last week or so that he realised that the reason why he cared so deeply about how she was feeling, whether or not she was ill or well, happy or sad, was because he was in love with her,

"I was nervous too Niobe..." he replied in a whisper, stroking her cheek gently with his hand, "I can't believe I was unsure... this feeling is so strong that I know it can't be anything other than love. It's too strong and too wild."

Wrapping his other arm around her, Viktor pulled her in close. He held her close to him in a hug, not wanting to let go. She fit just right in his arms, as if his arms were made to wrap around her,

"I do... I love you very much." he kissed her lightly on the lips, "Thank you Niobe... thank you for loving me back. It means the world to me that you love me..."

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe couldn't help but lean herself into Viktor's hand as he stroked her cheek, these were things that she had been waiting for somebody to say to her since she was left alone here in this horrible country, it gave her something that she could live for.

"Wild? Is love wild? Not the love that I feel, although, it might be different for each person, I'm not sure."

Giving in all too easily to what Viktor wanted Niobe rested her head on his chest and tilted her head upwards to look at his cold eyes once more, hopefully in time she would be able to melt these eyes just a little.

"How could I do any different? It seems simple to me that if you love someone then you can't help it, I'm just glad that I finally met you."

Blushing she pecked his lips in return as he did to her.

[Viktor Nickel]

The way that Niobe leant into his touch made him feel warm inside, accepted. It was a very pleasant feeling but it was also a feeling he'd not really experienced before. He smiled warmly down at her,

"I think it's different for each person." he decided before smiling a bit more, "I think everyone feels it different my dear... the point is that we feel it."

Viktor smiled, happy, as Niobe rested her head against his chest. Having her so close to him was something that always made him smile and feel contented. He looked down into her warm eyes and wondered if his eyes were as warm as hers,

"I love you so much Niobe..." he whispered quietly, blushing ever so slightly, "I'm glad that we met too... it was the best day of my life. Until today..."

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe was comforted by the presence of Viktor, she had been as soon as she had met him and there was very little now that would upset her, considering the fact that what she had been thinking of for weeks had actually happened.

"I just can't believe you like me, like that, I thought for sure you didn't, I always thought I was a bit too childish for you but I sure am glad that I was wrong!"

Grinning happily Niobe felt as if she was on cloud nine and took a large chunk of her cheesecake, nomming it happily, and she sighed, completely contented with where she was now.

Noting the fact that Viktor was blushing Niobe ran the pad of her thumb across his cheek with a small giggle:

"I'm glad we met too Viktor, you were so nice to me about Ares, I knew that we were going to be seeing an awful lot of each other. I'm glad that I was right!"

[Viktor Nickel]

Viktor wasn't used to feeling so utterly comfortable around a person who wasn't Konig, a benefit of being a twin when you grew up away from other children, but for some reason he didn't find the fact that he was already that close with Niobe as something odd, he found it to be something most amazing,

"How could I not like you like that? You're amazing!" he smiled happily and hugged her to him tightly, "I love you so very very much!"

As he saw her, munching, happily at her piece of cheesecake, Viktor thought he was looking at her properly for the first time. He wasn't looking at her like she was just a woman he knew, a friend or anything in between, he looked at her and he saw the woman he loved. It made him feel very warm inside. He kissed her thumb as it brushed his cheek,

"I could tell that we were going to be seeing more of each other as well." he agreed with a happy smile, "I'm glad that we were both right! Because now I know what love is... thank you for showing me and giving me the love."

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe was hugged to Viktor and almost fell into him, she lifted her foot up off the floor and squeaked slightly as she was just surprised by the fact that it was so sudden, she loved the feeling of closeness that he was providing to her.

"Awwww Viktor, I'm not amazing, but thank you for saying so anyway..." Niobe blushed, unable to take the compliment, because she wasn't used to it.

When he thanked her for giving him love and showing him what love is, Niobe found it hard to think about him not being loved, it really upset her to think of Viktor in any kind of pain.

"I don't like to think about the fact you didn't know what love was Viktor, it just hurts, everyone should be loved, and I'm sure it's not just my family and their big Greek hearts that think that."

Niobe gently pecked the edge of Viktors lips and blushed slightly, putting some cheesecake on her fork she smiled: "Say ah."

[Viktor Nickel]

The fact that Niobe almost fell on top of him because of the sudden hug made Viktor grin happily. He was some comfortable with her that it was just like a little joke, whereas other people would have been angry about it. And her squeak was so incredibly cute! He gave her a light squeeze,

"Oh but you are amazing Niobe... so much so that even I could see it and I'm not the most perceptive guy in the world, I'll freely admit." he chuckled a little bit before kissing each of her blushing cheeks, "You're perfect to me Niobe, absolutely perfect."

Viktor had not really been cared for, or shown any emotional love, from anyone other than his brother Konig and it was probably the reason why he'd been so cold before he'd met up with Niobe. But now that was all behind him, Niobe gave him such love it was incredible,

"Well I never really got a lot of love growing up... just from my brother kind of thing." he said sheepishly, somewhat shy when it came to his family, "I'm glad that you have such a great big heart Niobe, it means you've got lots of love to give."

He kissed her back and smiled happily but when she brought some cheesecake up on her fork he grinned before opening his mouth,

"Aaaaaah..."

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Seeing his lovely grin, Niobe felt lovely and warm inside and she couldn't think of anything that would ruin their day today. She was very tired but the pepper up potion was working and she would pick up again soon.

Niobe smiled even more and she allowed herself to be squeezed by Viktor, the loving feeling of warmth made her feel so relaxed.

"Oh but Viktor, there are so many other people that are better than me, you should call them amazing and not me."

That made Niobe kind of angry to hear that someone that she loved so much was not being appreciated by his parents and she Almost wanted to shove a moussaka in their faces.

"Well then you shall recieve all the love that my family would ever give you through myself, and believe me that's a lot, so you'll never feel like that again, ever."

Niobe placed the fork in his mouth and smiled happily: "You like it?"

[Viktor Nickel]

He could see that his love was a bit tired but he didn't mind. He just wanted to be close to her and if she fell asleep he would make sure to hold her as she slept so as to keep her nice and warm. Viktor was feeling peaceful for the first time in a long time as he snuggled with Niobe and he loved it,

"No there is no one else that is anywhere as amazing as you my love." he stroked her cheek lovingly, "You are my one love and no one will ever measure even close to you."

It was strange to see Niobe angry but she most certainly was angry with his family over this. He gave her a reassuring squeeze in the hug,

"Don't worry Niobe, it's okay." he grinned though when she talked about giving him as much love as she could give him, "That sounds lovely Niobe! I really do find it amazing that you love me as much as I love you."

Viktor nommed at the cheesecake that had been presented and swallowed before grinning,

"Mmm yes that's lovely!" he replied happily, "More?"

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe couldn't help but think about how much Viktor had changed, he seemed completely different to the cool, calm man that she had first met, and in a way she missed that man, because she was the one that she fell for, although, she knew that he'd be back again sooner or later.

"You're so much different than before Viktor, it's a little odd for me to see you changed so much, but then again...it might be nice...I don't know."

Deciding that letting her frustrations out might be a good idea, Niobe looked into Viktors eyes and strokes his cheek with her thumb gently.

"Really it boggles the mind how a parent wouldn't lay down their life for their child, I would do so gladly for Ares..." eyes widening slightly as she thought about the loss of her brother, Niobe rubbed her wrists that had ached with memory.

"You want more? Sure!" she giggled and snapped out of her trance, picking up some more cheese cake and feeding it to Viktor.

[Viktor Nickel]

Viktor knew, somewhere deep inside, that the cold person he had once been wasn't really gone. No he was just bellow the surface and for anyone else but Niobe he was just the same cold and heartless man he'd always been. But for Niobe he was diferent,

"I haven't changed too much." he replied with only a small smile, "I'm still the same person as I was. I'm still cold on the inside most of the time. The only difference is that you make me happy to be alive instead of angry... like I was before."

Viktor frowned a little bit, upset that his upbringing was upsetting Niobe to such a degree,

"Most parents would gladly give their lives for their children and I think, deep down, mine would have too." he looked intently at Niobe, "Ares meant a lot to you didn't he?"

He smiled a little bit and nommed some more of the cheesecake,

"Mmm that's good cheesecake..." he paused and decided to risk asking, "Why did you rub your wrists when talking about Ares?"

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

The way that Viktor put the way he felt about her made Niobe feel guilty to have thought about making Viktor change back to who he was before, she was just glad that he wasn't completely different, because she loved both sides of him equally.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to make you sad Viktor I only meant that I love both sides of you and it would be sad to see your old self gone completely...but I don't like to think of you as cold or angry..."

Niobe played with Viktors shirt, she was nervous and didn't know if she was saying the right things or not, it was confusing to her.

When Viktor talked about Ares, Niobe smiled sadly and nodded her head, squeezing her wrists again: "Ares meant everything to me, he was the last person I had left in the world...so...when he was gone...I did some silly things."

Gently, Niobe took her long gloves off that she always wore, and placed them on her knees, holding out her wrists to Viktor, they were slender and pale, cross crossed with raised paler scars.

"Please don't be mad at me." she said, eyes welling up with tears "I was just so lonely and so tired with nothing left and I..."

[Viktor Nickel]

Viktor smiled a little bit and cupped Niobe's cheek in his hand, stroking her cheek ever so lightly with his thumb. She had such an effect on him and neither of them truly knew the full extent. He kissed her lightly on the lips again,

"Don't worry my love." he chuckled a little bit, "The other side of me isn't going anywhere. And neither is this side. Two sides to the same coin but you can't have half a coin."

When Niobe first started to play with his shirt he raised an eyebrow at her but it soon became clear as to why she was doing it; it comforted her. He merely held her close to him, stroking her hair,

"I know Niobe..." he whispered quietly, "He was your everything for a long time..."

Confused, at first, by why she would be showing him her wrists, realisation dawned on Viktor rather quickly and he lightly traced one of the lines with a fingertip in silence,

"How could I be mad at you?" he smiled reassuringly at her and wiped some of her tears away, "I could never be mad at you. And to be mad at you about this? Well... it would be rather hypocrytical of me."

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe smiled happily when Viktor traced her cheek with his thumb lightly, giggling a little when it tickled and now could with ease and only a little blushing, kiss him back when he kissed her.

Leaning against his chest when he pulled her to him, Niobe drew strength from Viktor, she had never told anyone about what she had done or what had almost happened that day, not that anyone would really care about her that much...

"He was my everything, I raised him like Momma should have done but never got a chance to, I missed him when he left to join you, and I still miss him now, but he brought us together."

Smiling happily she added: "It's almost like he arranged this so we could both be happy."

Knowing that Viktor wouldn't be mad at her made Niobe much happier and she kissed him softly, withdrawing her wrists sharply from him when he touched the scars on one of them, blinking up apologetically.

"Sorry Viktor I don't like them being touched, w-what do you mean hypocritical?"

[Viktor Nickel]

Happy that Niobe was now not blushing quite so much, Viktor leant in with a happy smile and peppered her lips with quick and light kisses before pulling away with a smile. The happy little smile fell into a merely reassuring one when they held each other. She needed someone to be her emotional rock and he was happy to be that rock for her,

"I can't say I know what you're going through because I can't Niobe..." he stroked her hair soothingly, "You loved him both sisterly and motherly so the loss was twice as hard."

At the idea that Ares arrange it for them to be together, Viktor actually had to think about it seriously for a few seconds. Ares had been a very intelligent person after all. In the end he merely smiled like Niobe was doing,

"Yes..." he nodded a little bit, "Perhaps it is his way of a blessing?"

Viktor kissed Niobe softly, to let her know that he was there for her, but when she sharply pulled her hands away he raised an eyebrow, a little bit hurt by the action until she explained it,

"Ah... sorry about that." he told her quietly, "Hypocrytical in that there have been times in which I have wished to do the same. I doubt there is anyone who hasn't."

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe smiled bashfully as she was kissed so much and she wondered what it might be like to not be embarrassed at all one day when it came to things like this, it might take a while...

Talking about Ares always got her a little bit upset and she hoped that the pain she felt whenever he was mentioned would go away in time, although she doubted that.

"It is hard...but, I know that he wouldn't want me to be upset, he would be so very dissappointed in me for what I've done to myself." she whispered.

Seeing the smile that Viktor had on his lips, Niobe pecked them lightly and smiled right back, it was nice to think that he approved of them being together: "I think that it might just be like that after all, he was smart, he knew that we needed each other."

Niobe nodded a little and moved to put her gloves back on: "I suppose so..."

[Viktor Nickel]

Viktor smiled happily when he finished peppering her with kisses, for now, and saw the shy, slightly embarassed, but overtly bashful smile that Niobe was giving him. It was a beautiful smile to be sure. His own smile turned sadder when he saw her mood dip slightly when they started talking about Ares,

"He wouldn't want you to be upset but the fact that he wouldn't want that makes you feel more upset." he nodded slightly, "But from what I know of him, he'd want you to be happy with whatever you did."

He smiled slightly more when Niobe took the initiative and kissed him lightly on the lips. Viktor nodded with a smile,

"Yes Ares was a smart soldier when he served with me." he agreed, "Always several steps ahead. He probably did plan to have you happy with someone... probably not with me but still."

Viktor touched her gloves so that she wouldn't put her gloves back on immediately,

"I love every part of you Niobe..." he told her quietly, "You don't need to hide anything from me... I'll hide no part of myself from you."

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe smiled lightly, she knew different, she knew that Ares would be unhappy with her because he hated it when he was cruel on herself because of other people and what they had done to her life.

There were times while he was still alive that she had felt like giving up too, but he had always been there to stop her.

"I miss my family sometimes, but there are other times that I know they wouldn't want to make me sad, so can we talk about something else Viktor? Please?"

With a slight gasp when Viktor put his hands on her gloves, Niobe smiled lightly and placed them on the table, wondering just what Viktor meant when he said that he would hide nothing from her, did he have something to hide?

"Maybe I won't wear these when you're here then, if you don't mind them, although I'm glad the gloves get very ichy."

[Viktor Nickel]

Viktor reflected that he didn't know much about Ares. He knew some things about the man because they had served together before his death but it wasn't the same way that Niobe knew him. When she asked, almost begged, him to talk about something else he smiled sadly and nodded,

"Of course my dear, I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable." he assured her before smiling a bit more, "The Phantom of the Opera... who is your favourite character?"

He looked into her eyes when she gasped, not wanting her to be so surprised in a bad way. As she placed the gloves on the tablle he smiled and held her hands lightly in his own, enjoying the touch of her skin,

"I'd prefer it if you didn't wear them around me... I like to feel your hand against mine..." he smiled a little bit before before deciding to address something that had made her curious, "You're curious about the way I said I would hide nothing from you... aren't you? Do you want me to show you my scars?"

[Lady Isola De Belgiuque]

Niobe was very grateful when the topic was changed and she smiled happily when she thought of all the things that she liked about the play that she was performing in, it seemed as if it was taking an age to finish but she couldn't help but love it.

"I think that I'm a Phantom fan myself, I think he's just such a wonderful character with such depth of emotion and so lonely, I think I can relate to that part of him." she smiled gently "Who is your favourite?"

Feeling the smooth touch of skin against hers made Niobe tremble, she wasn't used to feeling like this and she almost felt her hand tingle with the sensation, not being touched for so long.

"If you want to show me Viktor," she blushed a little unsure "Then I will be honoured that you trust me enough to see them."

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