Title: Moth to the Flame
Pairing: Sweeney/Victor
Fandom: Sweeney Todd/ Corpse Bride
Rating: PG
Summary: Sweeney becomes jealous upon seeing Victor with his new bride, Victoria.



Todd watched the man and his wife from the safety of the market corner alley. Victor was looking the way he usually did; pale and terribly thin, large eyes darting nervously around him as he tried to make his way through the bustling market place without being trampled. The woman upon his arm, whom until now Todd had only heard of and never seen, was much easier in her skin. She was no great beauty, his Victoria, but she had a sweet and kind appearance, with gentle, knowing eyes.
Todd shifted his glaze from her bitterly and returned his secret look to Victor Van Dort. The young man from the country was not often a visitor in the city, but when he came Todd felt a bit more at ease, a bit more sane. Victor reminded him of everything that he had been as Benjamin Barker, and while that had initially disgusted him, now it was almost endearing. Proof almost that there could have been another way. That some people could go on with sweetness and love in their lives and not hate the world. Even if that had been denied him.
But seeing him now with that woman...it began to turn. Why should Victor Van Dort quietly live out the life he had always been promised? Why should he get the happy ending? Why had he his Victoria and himself no Lucy? Sweeney felt a sharp, burning pain welling up in his heart and spreading all over him like a sickness. It was unfair. Todd had known since their first meeting that Victor was married, and he had tried to shove the man away. But damn him if he didn’t pull himself back. Their tryst had been brief but meaningful. Todd liked the other man immensely, and when Victor came to visit him in his lonely barber shop on Fleet Street, his rage and his sadness both seem to lessen. Certainly Mrs. Lovett’s stock in pies did. Victor would probably never know how many unsuspecting lives he had saved from Todd’s razor.
He meant to slink away then, to disappear somewhere and brood quietly, perhaps to drown himself in a tankard of gin and be alone with his devils. But Victor saw him.
“Mr. Todd! Mr. Todd!”
The younger man was upon him before Todd could get away. He looked into his pale face, beaming with warmth and brightness. The girl lingered at the corner, watching curiously.  “There you are, didn’t you hear me calling?” Victor asked him gently.
Sweeney did not reply. Victor was standing too close to him and he felt conflicted between his swelling jealousy and his desperate need for some kind of affection. The man from the country laid his long fingered hand upon his arm. “Mr. Todd are you not well? You seem ill.”
“I’m fine, thank you.” he grunted.
“I was so hoping to see you here, I suppose I am in luck! Come and meet my wife.” he urged gently.
“I’m in a hurry.” Todd lied.
Victor blinked his large dark eyes at him and Sweeney had to resist every urge to grab him and kiss him there in plain sight of all of St. Dunstan’s. “Can you not spare a moment for a friend?”
Sweeney cursed himself but found he could not. He allowed Victor to pull him towards the other woman, who’s eyes met his. “Victoria, darling, this is Mr. Sweeney Todd, of whom I’ve told you so much about.” he introduced, beaming with pride.
The barber took the young woman’s hand in his and kissed it politely. “Good day to you.”
“It’s a pleasure to see you in person, Mr. Todd,” the young woman replied, and her voice was almost as soft and tremulous as her husband’s. “You’re such an opposing figure, I must say.” she added with a bit of a flush in her cheeks.
“You’ve no reason to fear me, ma’am. I’m but a simple barber.” he answered, his voice barely audible.

***

It was Victor’s grand idea that Todd should invite them back to the shop for some of Mrs. Lovett’s–now renowned–pies and a bit of a rest before they returned to the country.  Mrs. Lovett of course, was always glad for company and was busily doting upon Victoria and asking her all sorts of questions about the little village they came from and so on. Todd took this time and this distraction to entice Victor upstairs once more.
“Isn’t she everything I said she was, Mr. Todd?”
The barber grunted and shut the door. Victor paused to look at him and noticed that Sweeney was acting more strangely than usual. “Mr. Todd, what is the matter?”
“Why did you bring her here?” the barber demanded, looking bitterly at the younger man. “Why would you do that?”
“I...” Victor stammered, not having realized he’d done any harm. “I wanted to see you again. I wanted her to know the humble barber I speak so highly of.” The other man turned from his compliments, glaring bitterly out the window. “Was that wicked of me?”
“You mock me, sir.” the barber growled. “I have cared for you and you mock me.”
Victor put his hands upon Todd’s arms. “No, no! Oh Sweeney don’t look at me that way. I never meant to cause you harm, forgive me. I’m a fool and I know it, it’s only that....I wanted her to see. I wanted her to know.”
“To know what? That you’re having an affair with a man? A lowly barber in the dank streets of London?” he barked, shaking Victor’s grip from him. “You are a fool Van Dort, of the very greatest kind.”
“She knows.”
Todd blinked, stunned by the sentence. “What?”
“I care very deeply for Victoria. But I do not love her. Our marriage was an arrangement made by our parents. We were never in love.”
The barber could only blink his dark eyes at the other man, thrown by this new development. The next moment Victor stepped close to him, gently draped his arms across Sweeney’s shoulders and kissed him gently.
“It is you who has stolen my heart, Mr. Todd.”
Sweeney wrapped his arms tightly, almost bruising around the younger man as if guarding him jealously from an unseen presence. Victor didn’t mind, however. Todd may possess him anyway he wished. He had found surprising affection and depth to the dark man and was drawn to him like a moth to a flare, helpless to know better.