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Winter, as a season, was something that had largely been lost to time for the people of No Man's Land. There was an understanding of what it was supposed to be by those who were able to scrape together stories from a world now long gone, but that did little in really beginning to understand what it meant. The concept of cold was so foreign in and of itself that to begin imagining the vital resource of rain would turn into anything other than water droplets was inane sounding.
However, for the residents of the last SEED ship it didn’t sound as ludicrous. Rather a standard had been set that when they would periodically awaken they’d simulate that season on a specific section of the ship. Maybe it wasn’t the most practical thing in relation to plant life, which is why it wasn’t the whole ship, but it was a sort of way to keep them grounded in their history.
Especially once a sort of ritual had been set up in relation to it. Understanding and acknowledging the past had become important on the ship, if they did not acknowledge their past then they would repeat the mistakes of their forefathers, so participation in activities they may have done had become a ship wide fascination.
So, when winter came so did the celebration of Christmas.
Stripped of a large part of it’s context, but still stringing it to it.
A good encapsulation of what life on the ship could be like.
At the same time though, this happened enough times for Vash to have had to chance to be there during a few of the celebrations.
He’d been one of the first people to bring up the idea as it had been a holiday he, K̶n̶i̶v̶e̶s̶ Nai, and Rem had celebrated a few times. It always felt like an additional birthday of sorts, but for all of them instead of just individuals.
It was fun, something that it felt like the ship needed to be reminded of from time to time.
So it trickled down through the ranks until it become a standard thing to happen, but for those down on No Man's Land.
There were whispers about it from those of a more religious leaning. However, texts that referenced it were damaged or incomplete in some way. Leaving any ideas about it based more in myth than any reality about the celebration.
Wolfwood knew a little about these whispers, compared to Meryl and Millie who were largely unaware, but he simply didn’t know enough to be able to easily talk about it.
So when Vash asked if they wanted to go celebrate something with him, Wolfwood almost felt like jokingly asking if it was Christmas. Never in a million years would he have imagined it actually would be.
Though as they let the ship carry them up Wolfwood felt himself become stone cold silent in shock over how Vash just brushed the word aside.
“So this is some kind of old world celebration?” Meryl eventually asks, her eyes going from Vash to Milly as she tries to make sure she doesn’t lose her new partner. With it being her first time on the ship and all she fully expected her to get carried away by it.
“Yeah, or it’s trying to emulate one. There’s a few things that are missing from the documents we have about it. It’s still a lot of fun though.” He attempts to explain, he doesn’t expect much of it to get through with Meryl so distracted though.
Watching as Milly over flows with wonder at the structure around her, Vash can’t help but lean over towards Meryl and whisper “If you want to show her around it wouldn’t be a bad idea. You know where some of the structures are, don't you?”
Meryl looks up at Vash, a little startled by the suggestion, but once looking by at Milly she nods her head in agreement. “That would probably be for the best. Will you and Wolfwood be fine by yourselves?”
Briefly glancing at the still befuddled Wolfwood, Vash sees nothing to the contrary of Meryl’s question. “We will, I’ll just give him a proper tour of some of the grounds. I think he’ll enjoy that, don’t you?”
“If you can snap him out of that stupor, sure. He’ll probably enjoy it.” Meryl remarks with a grin at the edges of her lips, “Just make sure he’s awake when you do it.”
With that Meryl quickly wrapped an arm around Milly’s and whisked her down the halls. Listening to her excited chatter at every detail of the place, and all the questions that came with that train of thought. A true trooper in this way, though she almost seemed smitten with her wonder at the world. A nice reminder that there were still people with bright eyes out there.
Having left the two men to their own devices, it didn’t take long for Vash to similar grab a hold of Wolfwood’s arm and begin dragging him to the other side of the ship. Where they needed to be to see the snow wasn’t a very far walk, but Vash decided to draw it out a little bit. Wolfwood wasn’t exactly reacting how he’d hope to this information. Better to be safe than sorry, if he was over whelmed by the mention of a holiday Vash didn’t want to imagine what his reaction to snow would be like.
Walking through the metaling halls of the ship, passing the occasional occupant with a smile and a wave, Wolfwood’s shock slowly melted away into something more akin to a frustration.
“You’ve been sitting on this stuff all this time, and you haven’t even bothered to mention it?”
“What? Information about the past?” Vash can’t help but laugh at a question like that. It sounded so unlike Wolfwood to be upset on behalf of anyone but those that live in the orphanage he came from. “I mean I could have mentioned to some people, you’d just never know. Besides, who would believe me about a lot of these things? Things like snow is so foreign to the people of No Man’s Land that I don’t want to imagine what explaining Christmas to them would be like.”
“They have a baseline for it though.”
“Do they? They know about the religious ideas behind it, but that’s not why we celebrate it here. At least not really. It’s not the point for the people on this ship. It’s more about the act of coming together.” Drawing closer to their destination Vash lets go of Wolfwood’s arm and takes the lead. Leaning against the door to the chamber he adds, “Religion may be intertwined with it, but it’s got another meaning to the people of this ship now.”
Turning towards the door now, it opens with a snappy woosh and a rush of cold wind hits them. Wolfwood recoils at the sudden temperature drop, far more extreme than what he’d ever experienced in the desert, but lets his jaw drop once he sees how white it is. He’d seen white sand at a few points in his travels too, and this most certainly was not sand.
Vash grabs a hold of his hand now and eagerly pulls him forward. Smiling from ear to ear he watches as Wolfwood again falls into awe of what was happening. There was just this edge of genuine joy in those eyes, it was so sweet to see.
“Come on! Don’t you want to touch it?”
Letting Vash lead the way, Wolfwood feels the particles of snow hit his face. Getting another rush of cold from it he barely has time to notice the crushing of those very same flacks under his feet. So many new sights, sounds, and sensations. It was incredible the things this ship was able to cook up.
After they walk far enough in Wolfwood realizes that he’s being led towards a rather large tree. The snow is still falling, but Vash’s eyes sudden go from watching Wolfwood’s delight to being tracked on this tree.
“You got a plan in your head Needle-Noggin?” He pointedly asks. He wasn’t against any plans at this point, really he wanted to enjoy the snow some more, but he still wanted to know if they were going to happen.
He doesn’t get a reply though, which is still able to surprise him despite what was happening around him.
Reaching the tree after a far longer walk than he expected, completely caught off guard by how similar snow and sand seemed to work in slowing you down when you walked, Vash leads him down to the ground. The tree had no leaves in it, which in and of itself was a rare thing to see, with it’s branches long and reaching, but now seeming incomplete in it’s barrenness.
He decides that, at this point, following Vash was still the best option. So he sits down next to the smiling blonde many. Enjoying the crunching and cracking that followed, but then properly taking in his surroundings.
That sea of white he’d barely been able to grasp before now seemed to make sense to him. It was still rolling with snow, but the little details of it were being highlighted to him. Rocks, water, and even sand were all equally being covered. But it was in the differing ways that that was happening that he was now transfixed by.
It felt so strange for him to be this transfixed by such a small thing, but it felt like some part of him had just opened up when confronted with this change.
If nothing else it helped that he was far far from the sands below, allowing him a little bit to set the brooding aside and feel something again.
A soft squeeze in his hand sudden catches his attention, and he looks down to see his and Vash’s hands intertwined.
“I’m gonna assume you like it then.” Vash beams, that smile not having left him since they stepped inside. The usual sadness that tinted his eyes having washed away now. Leaving only genuine joy and excitement at how happy Wolfwood was being made by this.
It was sweet.
“Yeah, I guess you could say that.” Wolfwood wistfully responds. It wasn’t like him to say things so quietly, but he had to try to keep up his usual facade somehow.
This only makes Vash’s smile grow wider. “I’m glad to hear it. I wanted to give you all something that you wouldn’t be able to forget, but I was especially hoping you’d enjoy it.”
That gets Wolfwood to raise an eyebrow. “You really wanted me to enjoy it? Why’s that?”
A face which was just as peace suddenly switches to one stuck in turmoil as Vash looks very nervous. He squeezes Wolfwood’s hand tighter as he tries to put words together that he wasn’t ready to stitch into one.
“Well I just– I’ve been thinking about there– there’s just bene a lot for me to–”
Stuttering and sputtering through his speech Wolfwood catches recurring words, but still doesn’t get what the big might be.
There didn’t seem to be any reason for Vash to be this choked up all of a sudden. He never seemed to be a loss for words before, so what changed now?
Continuing to sit there while Vash struggles to string any words together, he eventually admits defeat and asks. “Can I just show you?”
Wolfwood skeptically nods his head, wanting to see where this would go. This prompts Vash to insist, “I need you to say it.”
Growing even more skeptical at that, Woflwood decides that committing to this now would be better then wondering about it later. “Okay, Needle-Noggin, I want you to show this thing to me.”
And then he feels lips on top of his.
It’s quick. Barely passing as a kiss with how quick of a peck it was.
However, for all intensive purposes it did constitute a first kiss.
“I wanted to tell you that I really care about you, Wolfwood.” Vash blurts out, face bright red as he does, “I want to travel with you for as long as I can, and I want to have the chance to get to know you better.”
Wolfwood’s jaw hits the floor for a second time.
“You don’t have to accept. I understand if you don’t, but please just consider what I’m–”
Not letting Vash finish his nervous ramblings, Wolfwood responds in turn.
The kiss lasts longer this time. Lips running against each other time and time again as neither man wants to let go of the other one.
Because on this simulated cold day there was an understanding of each other that they’d both being on toying with for years now. Waiting for someone to say it first so that they wouldn’t have to bare the burnt of the fear, but dragging their feet on it nonetheless.
Mutual understanding can only take you so far, after all. And sometimes you just have to rip the band-aid off.
So on top of a fluffy pile of snow, being dusted in a new batch already, the two drink in the gift of one another.
Appreciating the holiday more than any can possibly imagine, and moving forward with this new understanding of each other.
And not intending to let go anytime soon.