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The bathroom door opens and you turn your gaze away from the window as you sit on the wide bed, your legs pulled against your chest. You see Vash exiting the small room, his hair still damp, but he wears a clean change of clothes. You see a pile of dirty laundry on the floor behind him. He looks a bit more cheered up from the refreshing shower.
"Okay, your turn. I'll deal with my laundry later. Hope you don't mind it being on the floor." he smiles awkwardly.
"Only under one condition... You have to do me a favor." you feel weird for what you're about to ask him.
"Anything," he assures with a neutral expression.
"Uhm. I... I need a change of clothes and I... I don't... well... you know... I don't want to go speak to people... on my own." you add the last part solely because you don't want to sound like a complete wimp.
"Oh, no problem!" he's like a cheerful puppy, "Well, one problem. I saw the place where they trade for clothes and the woman already closed shop. I was thinking that you might need some new stuff so I kept my eyes open."
"Oh well, guess I'll just be nude then while my clothes dry," you say quietly knowing what reaction this would get out of him. And you are completely right: he immediately goes red in the face.
"While I have nothing against it at all, I think I have a spare shirt in my bag I kept clean for emergencies." he mumbles out, too much of a goody two shoes to leave you in a situation where your options were to wear dirty and torn clothes or to be naked. He digs through his bag, throwing more dirty clothes into the bathroom and finally pulls out another black turtleneck. He gives it a sniff and then throws it at you. "No pants tho, not that they would fit you well anyway."
"Thank you." You catch the shirt and smile at him. You know his shirt is big and long enough for you to wear as a short dress. You keep it against your chest like a treasure when you get up and pick up the other stuff the hotel provides for your wash. As you pass Vash he gives you a gentle smile and you see it in his eyes too.
You lock the bathroom door and throw off your dirty clothes. The wounds in your stomach and chest are all healed up. You get into the shower and turn on the water. You let out a sigh and get to cleaning off the dirt and dried blood on your skin. It feels nice to be clean, your hair detangled and free of debris. You stand there for a little while, letting the water wash away the past. You wake from your daze and realize you're just wasting water so you get out and dry yourself off completely before pulling Vash's turtleneck on.
Everything is too big on you and it makes you chuckle. Vash doesn't look like a large person under his coat, but he has wide shoulders and a muscular physique, not to mention he is tall with long limbs. You roll up the sleeves to your elbows and pull down the shirt a bit more, it's halfway to your knees. You feel the thick fabric against your skin and smell the collar. It is clean, but has still a faint scent that you are used to smelling on Vash.
You unlock the door and step out. The room is lit by the sunshine coming in from the window, the brightest spot being the table underneath it. Vash is sitting there and has taken apart his gun to give it a clean, his supplies scattered around. He turns to look at you when you step into the bedroom and lets out a whistle.
"I'd offered you my clothes a lot sooner had I realized how well they suit you." Vash's voice is joyous and almost too innocent. He stands up to come closer. You don't move and only look at him with curiosity. As he stands toe to toe with you he looks at you for a moment longer before taking off his sunglasses and turning them around to place them on your nose. "Great, you're only missing my coat and then you can go off and be Vash the Stampede."
"Funny man," you reply, voice neutral, "I'm missing a few key characteristics... like the desire to get shot."
"Your words sting, woman!" he says with a hurt expression and a condescending tone, but a smile lingers on the corner of his mouth.
"Even so, I'm sure "Vash the Stampede spotted running around with no pants on!" would be a catchy headline." you look at him through the orange glasses, he and the whole room seems sunnier, happier, filled with warmth.
"No, don't think so, it didn't turn many heads last time, but with you things might be different." he laughs, a genuine smile on his face and it makes your heart lighter. It makes you glad seeing him like this, every moment he seems happy makes you proud and you want to squeeze him tight as a sign of it. He hasn't told you much about his past and he doesn't need to, you know he has suffered a lot and still does, the pain of it painted on his face when he thinks you can't see.
"You are a ladies man, aren't you? A womanizer, a skirt chaser if you will." you say, looking up at him like you accuse him of something.
"What makes you say that? Are my charms working on you?" He seems almost too proud of it and you slowly shake your head with a sigh, a smile lingering on your lips, "What? Are you too embarrassed to admit I have game?"
"You are a tease. Probably the most un-serious person I've ever come across." you look him in the eyes, "And somehow, also the most serious, unshakable soul. You are an intriguing contradiction."
"Is it so hard to admit a simple truth?" he has a very playful expression on his face as he leans closer, you don't think you have seen him like this before.
"I'd rather get shot at than admit something like that." you joke, not shying away from him.
"Ouch."
Your arms yearn to reach out to him, to pull him closer, but instead you step around him, one of your arms nudging his as you pass and go to sit at the table to look at the weapon on it. You haven't seen it this close up before. You pick a piece of it up, you aren't even sure where it would go, never before have you held a gun in any form, they always made you feel uneasy, how they are able to take a life from afar.
"You call me unshakable? You're more stubborn than a tomas." Vash whispers right behind you, his breath moving your hair and sending a shiver up your back. He lets out a laugh as you turn around, one hand over the spot his air had tickled.
"You're so annoying." you blurt out, still looking at him through the orange glasses. His face is so close to yours even though you are leaning back a bit.
"Yet you still stick around." he laughs, a glimmer in him making your heart burst. "I'm not complaining, Sweet Pea."
"Insufferable. Do confined spaces always make you like this? I don't remember you acting up under the open desert sky. You were very civil." you say calmly, still teasing him.
"It's not the confined space that does me like this. No, no, it's probably you wearing my turtleneck that's slowly creeping up."
That comment makes you turn red, quickly you put the piece of the gun back onto the table and then both your hands pull the shirt down more and keep it down on your lap. You were still completely covered and you realize he only said it to rile you up. Guess he is just as good at teasing you as you are with him. He laughs and takes half a step back.
"Only joking, Sweet Pea, don't worry. Well, maybe part of what I said was true." he shrugs and reaches out over you to pick up pieces of his gun and starts to put it back together. You are blocked in and he doesn't look like he will let you get away.
*****
What are these words coming out of his mouth? Vash is shocked, too stunned of his own brain. For the week he has been travelling with you after the incident in town he has wanted to pull you closer, give you a tight hug, hold you and take care of you the same way you seem to be taking care of him. All this time his aches and pains, both emotional and physical have found relief from you in one way or another. You have given him trust and comfort he hasn't felt in a long time. Vash thinks you might have been sent by a god perhaps. He is so grateful for you, but seeing like you keep some distance between the two of you, not shying away, but not coming closer either, makes him worried. He longs to be closer.
His head had been a mess of thoughts and ideas, but once he had seen you exit the bathroom everything was wiped clean. A million butterflies had taken over his stomach, filling his insides, his lungs, climbing up his throat. All he wanted was you by his side, no matter what.
The words coming over his lips were barely his, he blames the fluttering in his stomach, his head so wiped he might have even forgotten his name at that very moment. Everything he said to seduce you came from somewhere deep inside him, he felt so flustered he was surprised he could speak at all. He was worried he might have done it now, he had gone too far, been too weird, but you didn't shy away from him, not even a millimeter. Your face had been so close to his he had felt you exhale. He has gotten used to the rampaging insects to the point where he knows he won't be able to say anything close to as smooth again, not without stuttering at the very least. So he turns his attention back to his gun, leaving you just as flustered as he felt inside. He didn't want you to leave yet so he stood in your way so you had to keep sitting there, right next to him and he could steal a glance of you at any moment.
You look heavenly to him sitting in that ray of sunlight, his glasses still on your nose, painting your face with an orange light where the sun shines through the lenses. The oversized shirt makes you look so warm and cozy. You watched him assemble his gun, your eyes never leaving his hands, the way all of Vash's movements seem to have a purpose, the way his metal hand moves just like a flesh one. It is fascinating to you, the meticulous movements are like a performance, the way he flicks the gun, makes sure everything moves smoothly. After a bit your eyes stray out the window, you see the people moving in the streets, them going on their business, everything seems so peaceful like there's no violence in this world at all. You feel so normal, like you could fit in with them. The thought of you mingling among them, living a calm and local life brings a sad smile onto your face that you don't even notice until Vash's human fingers trace over your cheek.
"Don't look so sad," his hand goes to rest on the back of the chair. "Can I cheer you up somehow?"
You look up into his pretty blue eyes, they look like endless wells to you, they remind you of water, but not the kind you are used to on this planet. They recall a memory from a different life, one that you no longer remember.
"I'm fine, nothing to worry about. It was just my mind wandering off." you assure him, still looking into his eyes. You see his hand move off the chair again from the corner of your eye. It's as if he can't stop himself, he places his palm onto your cheek his thumb stroking your skin. He feels how soft and smooth it is, a painful reminder of the scars covering his body.
You look at him, his complexion seems golden through his sunglasses. His hand moves under your chin, the thumb trailing over it, your lips parting a little. His eyes are on your lips as he slowly leans closer. He yearns for you with his whole soul. His eyes find yours again, you look unshakable, like a constant that would never change. But he knows that if he's not careful he might lose you and it would be his fault. He hasn't even told you the truth yet, hasn't revealed his true nature. He can't be this selfish. So he stops and moves both hands up to take the glasses from you and put them back onto his own nose, tilting his head masterfully to the point where the light from the window would mirror back from the glasses and hide his eyes from you.
You look at him for a moment longer, frozen on that chair before turning away. How you had wanted to lose the gap, to pull him closer. But it's all too much, too fast. He says he trusts you, but you barely know anything about him, he guards his secrets closely. But you can't blame him for keeping his secrets, there's plenty you haven't told him either. Yet he fills your stomach with butterflies.