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"Can we take a break?"
Wolfwood turns away from the horizon to look at him in the sidecar.
"Are you okay?" Wolfwood yells over the noise of his motorcycle's engine.
Vash avoids the other's gaze. "Just tired." If he looks directly at Wolfwood, he will start pestering him.
Truthfully, Vash feels like he's going to pass out, or hurl, or both. He's sweating underneath his coat, and the sweltering heat isn't doing him any favours. On most days, he's unbothered by the heat of the desert, courtesy of his body running cold, but what's different now is he's suffering the consequences of helping one of his sisters. He doesn't regret it, but he wished he said something earlier or stopped to rest.
The town they left had one of its Plants running on overdrive when a failsafe mechanism malfunctioned. Vash, of course, heard her calling for help and sneaked into the building to calm her down before she could get seriously hurt or the generators exploded. He succeeded, but not without using a lot of his energy. The people running the place didn't like that an uninvited guest was up close to their Plant, and they chased him out of town. Wolfwood had to drag him away when he threatened to fall over from exhaustion. Vash thought he'd be okay once he was sitting in the sidecar and far away from the town, but the heat proved to be unbearable, sapping away more of his energy and making him unwell. After hours under the brutal desert heat and sun, he's hitting his limit.
"We'll stop at the next town," Wolfwood says.
Wolfwood's words give Vash a second wind to hold out a little longer until he sees a town come into view at the horizon. After parking nearby a hotel, Vash drags himself to follow Wolfwood, holding himself up while the other does all the talking and gets them a room. Stepping into their room, Vash drops his bag on the floor and aims for the sole bed in the room to drop his dead weight on it, face first.
"Shower before you dirty the bed," Wolfwood chides behind him.
"In a minute," Vash mumbles, closing his eyes. He might need many minutes. He's so tired. And hot. He'll move once he's cooled down.
He must have dozed off because the next thing he knows, there's something touching his forehead. Opening his eyes, Vash finds Wolfwood crouching next to him, sporting less sand sticking to his hair and face than before in his white shirt.
Wolfwood narrows his eyes at him. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asks.
Vash moves away to sit up, struggling to lift his body weight when he feels a headache pushing against his skill. "I'm fine." He hopes Wolfwood doesn't pester. His skin still feels hot, and the nausea that hasn't gone away. He tugs on the collar of his coat and swallows away the bitterness in the back of his throat.
Wolfwood does pester, stepping in front of him. "Well that's a lie."
Wolfwood touches Vash's forehead again, causing Vash to flinch away from his hand. The warm touch is unbearable against his burning skin.
"You're warm," Wolfwood comments.
Vash forces his hands to move and unfasten the buttons on his coat. "Maybe because we're in a desert." He feels Wolfwood's eye scrutinizing his sluggish movements.
"I've seen you perfectly fine on the hottest days." Wolfwood crosses his arms. "What's up?"
Vash rubs his eyes, giving up partway through unfastening his coat. Wolfwood annoying him is making his headache worse. The other takes pity on him and unbuttons his coat and helps remove the coat off of him. Vash feels slightly better without the extra layer, but he's still so tired and hot to move. He sits on the edge of the bed, blinking at the ground.
"Did you drink anything?" Wolfwood asks after a moment of silence
Now that he thinks about it, no he hasn't. He hasn't drank any of their limited water supply for hours. Wolfwood tsks when there's no answer, making Vash lift his eyes up.
"You're getting heatstroke," Wolfwood says with a frown. "No wonder you're acting like a zombie."
Vash squints at him. "I'll just sleep it off."
"Do you want to make it worse?" Wolfwood huffs, stepping away to find something in his bag. "I'm gonna run a bath for you."
The thought of sleeping being postponed makes Vash groan and rub his head.
Wolfwood is by his side again. "Stay awake." He pushes a water canteen into Vash's hands. "Sip this."
Vash looks down at the canteen when Wolfwood leaves. He slowly takes a sip as he hears water running from the bathroom. After a few sips, Wolfwood reappears and takes the canteen.
"Let's get you up."
Wolfwood holds on to Vash's arm while he tries to stand. Vash struggles. His head pounds, and he has no strength to move. Nausea crawls up his throat.
"I got you. You'll feel better once you've cooled down," Wolfwood says next to him.
Vash leans heavily against Wolfwood as they move towards the bathroom. Wolfwood guides him to sit on the edge of the tub. After helping take off the last layers of his clothes and removing his prosthetic, Wolfwood supports his weight when he steps into the tub and lays down in the water. Vash sighs when the cool water hits his feverish skin. He leans his head back against the wall and closes his eyes. The sound of the sink running fills the silence before a cold cloth is pressed to his forehead.
"Gimme your hand."
Vash grumbles before he lifts his arm and rests it on the edge of the tub. Wolfwood gives back the canteen.
"Keep drinking and don't fall asleep."
Vash complains again but listens. The nausea is slowly going away, and his headache isn't pulsing between his eyes. He counts sixty seconds to keep himself awake and to remind himself to sip water. His attention shifts to the noises Wolfwood makes as the other moves around in the room, listening to the other's footsteps and humming.
After the water becomes warmer than his skin, Wolfwood steps into the bathroom. "Feeling any better?"
His headache has turned into a dull thumping, and his body doesn't feel like it's blistering from within. "Yeah," Vash rasps.
"That's good." Wolfwood takes the cloth off Vash's head, making him whine. He also takes the canteen. "You can come out now and get the sleep you want."
The thought of sleeping gets Vash to move. Wolfwood is there to support him when he stumbles out of the tub from dizziness and wraps him in a towel. Vash is feeling better enough to dress himself into a tee and pants after the bath cooled him down. Wolfwood hovers next to him when he leaves the bathroom and falls face first on the bed, finally getting the rest he desperately needs.
Wolfwood sits on the bed next to him with the newspaper in hand. "Go to sleep. I'll keep watch in case you get hot again."
"Thanks," Vash mumbles into the pillow. "I owe you one."
"You can owe me by saying you're not feeling well."
"Sorry."
Vash closes his eyes. He quickly drifts off to sleep when a hand cards through his hair.