While I think Vincent had his eye on Diedrich for a while, I don't think he plotted out the drudge thing before the fight on the lawn. Which probably means there was some guy in Sapphire Owl house whom Vincent would have chosen had he not seen the opportunity a bet gave him.
And my headcanon is that this student is insanely angry and jealous of Diedrich.
Student: It should have been me! I'm the one in his house!
Diedrich: You should count yourself lucky. He is a parasite. He gets into your brain. He eats you up to make space for himself.
People have been joking that it’s ironic for Yana to draw Vincent working at the Bitter Rabbit cafe since he’s obviously deceased…but he and Diedrich are flanked on either side by walking personifications of death. 💀
It has been 52 days since the Kuroshitsuji hiatus was announced.
Today, Diedrich finally takes out the old telegrams from the private drawer that he always keeps locked, reading each one through and stroking his dog with a free hand.
Velvel knows better than to lick the tears from his Herr's face, but he does anyway.
THEY MADE IT BETTER!!!!!! Vincent called Diedrich "Dee-Dee" instead of just "Dee" in the anime I'm going to cry this is so beautiful!!! I'm obsessed!!!
"I'll love you with every beat of my heart." Vincent smiled but not the smug kind for once, not one the teased his groom. The kind that loved him.
"You swear?"
"I swear."
They kissed, and everyone applauded.
Dee glanced at the sterling silver rose. "You said you'd love me forever, you bastard." He sobbed softly, sniffling with his teeth clenched, and crushed the flower in an iron grip. "You swore, and you lied!" His heart fell apart like the petals that were once attached to the stem of the rose.
While Diedrich has his arms crossed, Vincent has one hand in his pocket. The other is out of sight, but we can deduce it's placement by the white rectangle beneath Diedrich's right elbow.
It's clearly a cuff of a sleeve.
Now, given the angle of Diedrich's left arm, ths hand on his right upper arm has to be Diedrich's. Also, Vincent would almost need to have extra joints to bend his hand up at that angle.
So if we deduce that Vincent's left hand isn't far from his cuff and is out of sight, then Vincent's hand is positioned behind Diedrich on his lower back, either just above the waist (or maybe lower).
Thanks so much for the request! >w< Once again, the writing gremlins compelled me to flagrantly violate the original five-sentence limit, but I hope this passes muster regardless.
Content warning for canon-typical violence.
“Why’d you rush in ahead of me like that?!” Diedrich barked while arranging the torn remnants of his best dinner jacket into a bandage for the knife wound in Vincent’s shoulder.
The earl laughed, more ruinous and irresistible than a siren’s dulcet summons, and his brown eyes sparkled with the arrogant joy of a man who is death’s favorite dance partner, already longing for his next giddy minuet with her.
“Because I had my loyal fag with me, of course! I can always count on you to clean up my messes,” he flippantly replied.
Diedrich wasn’t sure whether he wanted to punch or kiss that beautiful mouth.
He eventually opted to do neither, settling for a disgruntled growl as he tied the bandage in place.
“I wouldn’t have messes to clean up if you didn’t make them to begin with.”
“True,” Vincent hummed unrepentantly.
To allay the dreadful memory of the blade plunging into Phantomhive’s chest, Diedrich resumed his tirade with a vengeance.
“And how the hell are we supposed to explain all this to your queen? The witnesses, for one thing—"
“I’ll pay them off.”
“The loss of property?”
“Ha! Not much of a loss considering Duke Ketterdam’s awful taste in furnishings.”
“THAT GODDAMNED GUNPOWDER EXPLOSION?!!!”
“Getting this angry isn’t good for your constitution, Dee; there’s a vein standing out on your forehead.”
“RUNNING AFTER YOU ISN’T GOOD FOR MY CONSTITUTION—" roared Diedrich.
He paused, however, as footsteps crept behind them.
Drawing his gun, Diedrich scowled, whirled around, and put a bullet between the eyes of the lone surviving henchman who’d had the gall to think he could sneak up on him unannounced.
Vincent chuckled, “Like I said: I can always count on you…even when you’re giving me a worse scolding than Frances. You’re quite the multitasker!”
“Hmpf! It’s not like I have much choice,” Diedrich grumbled, pulling the Watchdog to his feet and tightly clasping his waist. “You’ll drive me to an early grave, mark my words.”
Leaning against him for support, Vincent smiled, “I love you too, Dee.”