#Rarely ever is with Vash

[revenantghost]

So I always just kinda went with this scene, knowing that there was time spent traveling that we haven't seen (Orange give us filler OVAs I am begging), and thinking it was friendly banter. But I saw someone point at Vash's reply as being a little odd, and. Yeah.

He seems sad. We know it's partly about Rollo, but we've also seen his self-induced hunger strike. We've seen him refusing to let himself cry because he doesn't think he deserves it. Hell, I'm pretty sure half the time he's only pretending to sleep in the back of the car.

Vash laughs it off, but I don't think he really disagrees with Wolfwood, either.

[ohitslen]

Sharing a meal

I wrote something for this below the cut if you’re interested :)

They never eat anything too tasty, surviving with packeted rations and canned food in their journey. Sometimes they would stop at a little restaurant and eat a nice meal; it really tasted like something gourmet after days of going with grain bars and dry jerky.

There were fleeting moments in between conversations in which one of them would remember some dish, from back in the day when things were easier and they didn’t worry about too many things. They never went deeper into the topic, just mentioning how they missed a good meal.

Staying at an inn or any motel was an expensive thing to pay for. However sometimes they had some extra money from an odd job Vash did or from Wolfwood’s undertaker services, and they would always rent a room as a treat for themselves.

It was a surprise when they entered the room and saw a small kitchen. The space was a little too cramped but it had everything they needed, it was like a deluxe room when they though about all the places they had been at. None of them had a kitchen at all, maybe they had a tiny stove or a mini fridge, perhaps a table sometimes but never the whole set together.

They both looked at each other to confirm they really were seeing the thing, smiling excitedly.

They could make a meal for themselves.

Vash knew how to cook, he had done some work on kitchens throughout his life. A few times he helped Rem when he was a child, he knows how to defend himself. Yet he didn’t know any recipes by heart, not any that would be inside their budget at least. He could get creative and probably whip up a thing or two if he was given enough time.

“I know what to do” Wolfwood said with a smile that irradiated a melancholic warmth interrupting his thoughts . A smile Vash had only seen when he talked about the things he loved.

Vash didn’t suggest anything in the end and just followed what the other man told him to do.

He went to buy all the things Wolfwood asked him for. Vegetables and some thoma meat. There seemed to be some spices in the room so he only bought garlic and onion as per Wolfwood’s request.

When Vash got back, he found Nick at the table arranging the ingredients the kitchen already had. He was already showered, hair messy and with droplets of water hanging on the tips. Getting closer, he could smell the soap, the cheap shampoo and the lingering scent of nicotine that never seemed to go away. He was changed into a black, long sleeved shirt and a pair of loose dark blue pants.

His overall appearance made Vash think how the edges of the man were less sharp, he seemed more relaxed and at ease, even if it wasn’t entirely the case. He just looked, soft.

“Hey welcome back, did you bring what I asked you for or will I have to use your meat for this?” Wolfwood greeted him without looking up from his task, the ingredients being the most interesting thing in the world it seemed.

Something warm pooled at the pit of Vash’s stomach, he didn’t know why that was and didn’t bother to think about it either, just enjoying the feeling.

Smiling, he placed the bags on the table in front of Wolfwood, taking out its contents. “I’m sure I brought everything yeah, I hope my life can be spared”.

The priest snorted at him and grabbed a potato that was rolling off the table. “Aight then, make yourself useful and start washing these and then chop ‘em to reasonable bitable sizes”. Losing no time, he took the meat and was cutting it while giving out the instructions.

While Vash was washing and chopping, the other was already preparing the meat putting it in a pot with boiling water. Once Vash was finished with all he was asked to do, Wolfwood ushered him to take a shower while the food was done, wanting to have more space in the narrow place. Vash did as told in that as well.

The shower felt great, all of the gross stickiness from the sweat and other things were finally washed off from his body. He felt light and a thousand times more content.

As he opened the door the smell hit him in the face, a delicious scent that surely tasted even better. Wolfwood was stirring the pot, poking some of the potatoes to make sure they were on the right term, and they seemed to be as he turned off the stove.

Vash got closer, mouth already watering just from the thought of how it’d taste “That smells so good! What did you make?” He asked with a big grin plastered all over his face.

Wolfwood pointed at the table with his hand, signaling him to sit down a little dismissively while he looked for the bowls on his own. It seemed like he was the kind that with less people on the kitchen when he was there, the better. “Just a broth, nothing too wow it’s something easy, and on budget”. Vash hummed with wonder and served two cups of water to busy himself with something.

Wolfwood poured the two servings of the broth, it was still hot and the bowl must surely be scalding. Yet Wolfwood’s calloused hands never flinched, placing their food on the table without much trouble along with a pair of long spoons.

“Be careful or you will murder your tongue” he warned and Vash chuckled.

“Thanks for the heads up chef, ‘preciate it” the other just scoffed at the title and sat down across him .

They both mixed the broth while blowing at it in hopes for it to cool down a little. However seeing how they were both starving and didn’t care too much about getting burnt or not, they just started to dig in.

Wolfwood was eating eagerly, having spoonful after spoonful of his food. He was beyond delighted. It had been a long time since he had the chance to prepare the broth he used to have back at the Orphanage.

“It’s…delicious” he heard Vash say in a low and calm tone. When he looked up to see the man, he was shocked to find him with reddish eyes that were glistening with tears. It didn’t seem like when was doing a show or anything of the sorts, he just seemed…at peace.

It wasn’t anything extravagant, quite possibly one of the most simple dishes Vash has ever eaten. It was made with the things that they could afford with the little money they could spare, the ingredients were definitely not of the best quality, the vegetables could have used a little more time on the pot. And it was delicious.

Vash felt incredibly warm inside, similar to how he felt when Wolfwood greeted him when he got back, just a thousand times stronger. The first sip he had of it tasted like the best thing ever cooked in his whole life, something he would have every day of the year for the rest of eternity. He didn’t know why that was at first, but after having a second spoon of it he could tell what it was.

It tasted like home.

The flavor of it, it was homely, the savor of melancholy. It tasted like their conversations about missing the past. The tang of the times they would have a peaceful night in the desert grilling worm meat around a campfire. It reminded him when he got sick and an old lady had given him a bowl of soup. It tasted like the first time Rem had given them a try of what meat and vegetables tasted like. It tasted like all the things he missed, and the things Nicholas most likely missed too.

The familiarity of it made him feel fuzzy and full on the inside, and he couldn’t stop eating. He was slow while doing it, wanting to savor every bit of what he could have while it lasted. It was rich, it was simple and it was perfect.

“…You want some more?” At some point, Nicholas had already finished his own bowl and brought the pot over to serve himself again. He looked at Vash with something soft in his eyes the other could not name, his voice was gentle and gravely, sweet and easy on his ears just adding more to the warmth inside of him.

“Yes…yes please” Vash answered, voice cracking a little. Nicholas served him, the sound of the liquid being poured soothing his soul.

Vash ate again, and Wolfwood was looking at him. The priest was taking small sips of water from his cup, always holding it against his mouth even if he wasn’t drinking anything. Vash didn’t really notice when he had started tearing up, thick streams of salty water running through his cheeks, a pool of them welling up at his chin and falling down the wooden table making a puddle of happy tears.

Vash enjoyed the heartfelt broth. He was happy, that bit of simplicity was enough to make him forget of everything else and just focus on that moment.

It was so mundane. Vash smiled with overflowing tears in his eyes while Wolfwood just watched with a fond smile of his own behind his empty cup of water.

At that moment, they were not in a random room at a random place. They were in a place where they had brought their home to, sharing a meal with each other.

[sarcasticmothdraws]

"They only loved your tricks, your charms, and the tightness of your leash."

Damn man everyone just thinks your dog boy here, huh.

[bobosbillionsknives]

this kids got issues

[somereaderinblue]

Deadmeat Rem AU

We've seen Twin Swap AUs & recently, I've thrown my own hat (re: Purple Hyacinth AU) into the loop. However, upon rereading @lost-technology's Survivor's Guilt fic & going through our dms, I propose a more unorthodox role swap prompt:

AU where Vash & Rem swap places.

Vash is a Plant engineer who became a SEEDS navigator after losing Alex (he can be Vash's bf or relative in this AU). He's there when Tesla is born & has to live on after her (murder) death (which was his fault, he should've been better, should've done more, fought harder, they were gifted an angel & they slaughtered her). He's the goofy dad who's there through the twin's formative years, desperately trying to be better because he knows his best isn't & never will be enough.

And okay, I'm spitballing a bit here, but imagine: how would this impact Rem? The poignancy of her character comes from her role as much as her personality. In canon, she seemed to be an only child, so how would having Nai as an older brother affect her? How would she handle the Humanoid Typhoon's role? We, as the audience have only known canon!Rem through the 1 year Vash spent with her & snippets of her past, so how would her 150 year life span go?

Or if you want to shake things up further, maybe Nai & Tesla swap roles too. Maybe Nai is the one born first. A boy Plant who could produce metallic material, a weapon at worst & a tool at best. They name him Knives so no one forgets that & Vash nicknames him Nai to say 'no, I do NOT agree with that!'.

Thus, Tesla (maybe with electricity powers??) is the one who decides to end humanity because god forbid women commit crimes /j. Is this is also lowkey inspired by @shelternmberone's Roleswap AU? Yes. GIVE US MORE VILLAIN TESLA AUS!

If you want to go another mile: maybe Luida & Brad take Meryl & Milly/Roberto's places as Ship 3's residents & investigative reporters/insurance agents respectively.

Anyways, what I'm trying to say is, the sky's the limit rlly, which is the whole point of AUs like this.

[buccellato]

should be sleeping but instead I'm thinking about how much Vash has been treated with love and care and kindness, even if he doesn't think he deserves or outright tries to deny it

it doesn't get shown as much later in the manga (but also everyone is busy and freaking out by that point so...), but early on we get to see glimpses of him having fun and getting fed treats (and sheltered and comforted) from casual, everyday sources. He carries the weight of every mistake, screw up, injury and death around his neck like a millstone, but very rarely does he ever knowingly allow anyone else to lighten his burdens—and when he does it's often under the guise of a mask.

But despite that all he is so incredibly cared for—kids willingly play with him to the point that they expect him to show up, strangers shelter him and cry when he leaves them, people willingly choose to risk life and limb and stand by him against his brother. Even his scars are testament of small acts of kindness imo—yeah they're proof of people hurting him (or just terrible, rotten luck), but he has a couple of really deep scars that might've taken him out if he didn't receive some form medical treatment; his body has incredibly enhanced healing but also he very clearly has limits to how well it works. Plus some of them have been very obviously patched up by a regular nml doctor working with what they have (I do not believe ship 3 would graft a metal grate over his chest because that just seems like a pain to work around with any sort of metallic equipment tbh), which means someone may have seen him get hurt and then willingly chose to help him afterwards, regardless of the circumstances.

So despite the cruelty he is forced to witness and experience all the time, he also gets to absorb so much love and little acts of kindness regardless of if he wants to acknowledge it or not.

Basically I guess what I'm trying to say is this: Haha Get Loved Idiot

[orcelito]

Every day 98 wolfwood's line "It's a long story, although it's kind of a short one" plays in my head

[anyasathenaeum]

I Need Some Sleep

A/N: Well, I wasn't kidding when I said I was gonna write the little scenario I described in this post and that nobody could stop me. I've always imagined dancing with Vash to this song from the Shrek 2 soundtrack because it reminds me so much of him. I listened to it while writing, so I encourage listening to it while you read. Enjoy. Warnings: Honestly, none, really. This one's wholesome, I swear

Sleepless nights weren't a new thing for Vash.

Over the many years he'd lived and spent wandering across the deserts of No Man's Land, he'd often found that sleep was just as elusive as the supposed Mayfly of love he had once joked about. Endless thoughts, what-ifs, and memories always seemed to haunt him once the glow of the moons was the only light left, and his mind never seemed to have an off switch. No matter what he did, no matter how many walks he took, no matter how much he tried to meditate or focus on trying to quiet his mind, sleep never seemed to come when he wanted it to.

As he stared at the ceiling of his little private cabin and listened to the steady rumble of the sandsteamer as it chugged along its route through the sand seas, Vash found himself feeling especially restless. He wondered to himself what it was that kept him awake this time - was it the usual, overwhelming sense of self-loathing he felt? Or the guilt that threatened to drown time every time he remembered that he'd failed to save somebody? Or was it just the worry he felt at the fact that you, his longtime travelling companion and one of his best and only friends, didn't end up in a cabin near his?

After what felt like at least a couple hours, Vash let out a deep sigh and gave up trying to identify the cause of his wakefulness, accepting that it was likely a result of a combination of all the things usually troubling him plus worry for you. Simultaneously, he decided to stop trying to force himself to sleep, knowing it would do him no good to continue trying at this point.

'Well... the least I can do is go make sure (Y/N)'s safe.' Vash thought to himself, standing and stretching while trying not to smash his head on the low ceiling of his cabin before quietly heading out to go check on you.

The sandsteamer almost felt abandoned. There wasn't a single soul in sight, not even a single straggler or drunk who'd lost their way back to their cabin. As Vash walked through the halls, he found himself thinking of you, wondering if you'd managed to fall asleep with the rumbling of the sandsteamer and the rare situation of having a room to yourself.

More often than not, you and Vash shared rooms and beds in inns, motels, or whatever accommodations you could find from time to time in order to save double-dollars, and the two of you were more accustomed to falling asleep with the other nearby, the sounds of the other's breathing and the way you both moved in sleep familiar to each other. So, to suddenly be greeted by complete and utter silence and a lack of your warmth was more than unsettling to Vash, more so than he cared to admit.

Not having you tucked up by his side as you slept felt... wrong.

He missed the feeling of your warmth against his body, the softness of you pressed up against him as you slept undisturbed, at peace by his side, peace that he brought you. He missed the sight of your face, somehow more youthful as you slumbered on. He missed the sound of your deep, steady breaths. He missed the scent of you and the way it would linger on his clothes the following morning.

He missed you.

However, Vash was quick to brush those thoughts away, shaking his head to himself as he approached your cabin. He couldn't be thinking about you like that. He couldn't be feeling about you like that. After all, it wouldn't be fair to you. You deserved better than the pitiful, stressful, touch-and go, unsettled life that Vash could offer you, even if he would love you better than anybody else ever could if you gave him the chance. In his eyes, in his mind, it wasn't enough for you. He wasn't enough for you. You deserved better.

However, all his self-deprecating thoughts disappeared the moment he realized that you weren't in your cabin.

'Where did you go?'

Trying hard to quell his rising panic, Vash decided to head up to the open-air decks first and look for you there, as he knew sometimes you, too, had difficulty sleeping. In those times, he tended to find you stargazing, your eyes glued to the heavens, mesmerized by the way the stars seemed to sparkle and dance in the night sky.

So, without wasting a second longer, Vash began to make his way up to the deck.

He walked much faster than he normally did, trying desperately to stop himself from breaking into a sprint all the way up to the deck and preventing his panic from overtaking him completely.

Yet, despite all his efforts, he found himself thinking on repeat, 'Please be safe. Please be safe. Oh, Gods, please let (Y/N) be safe.'

As Vash got up to the deck, he looked around for you, moving around as quickly as he could, desperation and fear beginning to take root in his heart when each place he searched came up empty.

Then, thankfully, he found you.

You sat on a bench on the deck, your head tilted up and your eyes on the heavens, watching the stars as the desert wind ruffled your clothes and hair. When you heard Vash's footsteps, you quickly glanced over to see who was approaching, your body tensing as if anticipating a fight. However, when you realized who it was, you quickly relaxed, an easy and genuine smile appearing on your lips.

"Oh, hey, Vash." You greeted your best friend with a small wave of your hand.

Trying hard not to let his relief be so obvious, Vash came over and sat on the bench next to you, smiling back at you warmly, "Hey, (Y/N). Couldn't sleep?"

"Nah," you answered, sighing softly as you leaned back against the bench, looking out at the endless dunes that passed as the sandsteamer chugged along. "It was simultaneously too loud and too quiet in my room. I couldn't get comfortable."

"I can understand that." Vash chuckled softly, following your gaze out onto the horizon. He let himself relax next to you, all his previous panic and worry fading away as he caught your scent, carried by the breeze.

A comfortable, familiar silence fell over the two of you as you sat there next to each other, taking in the sights of the sea of sand, the night sky and the moons that glowed bright enough to cast shadows. After a few minutes of silence, you allowed yourself to move a bit closer to Vash, letting your head rest on his shoulder as you let out a small sigh.

"It feels weird, sleeping without you being nearby." The words spilled from your lips before you could stop yourself. "I don't like it."

The flutter that Vash's heart gave betrayed the depth of his feelings for you, but he ignored it, focusing instead on answering quietly, "I don't like it, either. I'm not used to sleeping alone, anymore, I guess."

You found yourself looking up at the blonde gunman sitting next to you, a curious look on your face and a hint of worry seeping into your words. "Is that a bad thing?"

Vash couldn't stop himself from looking down at you, his eyes meeting yours as he pondered the answer. Then, after a couple moments, his lips turned upward into a small, amused smile. "No. It's not a bad thing."

You could feel your body relaxing slightly as you let out a breath you hadn't even realized you had been holding. Vash wanted to laugh at just how endearing your obvious relief was, but he restrained himself, instead turning his head so he could tear his gaze away from you, his heart pounding frantically in his chest.

After a couple more moments of comfortable silence between the two of you, you whispered softly, "You need some sleep, Vash."

Your care and concern for him was so obvious, your every word and the tone of your voice so telling that it made Vash want to scream. Instead, he simply offered you a quiet, weak laugh, "Yeah, I know. I just can't seem to get my mind to quiet down is all."

That made you pull away from him, your gaze remaining fixed on his face as you studied him carefully. You knew that Vash struggled with a lot more than what he shared with you, and that he carried a lot more scars than just the physical ones that marred his body. There were scars on his soul, more than you could ever think to know. You could only imagine how heavy a weight he carried on his shoulders and in his heart, and how badly you wished that he'd share some of the load with you. You knew better, though, than forcing him to do so, and you knew that when and if he decided to share any of the burden with you that you would carry it gladly.

Wordlessly, you stood up from the bench, turning so you were facing Vash and extending your hand out to him. Vash looked up at you quizzically, clearly not understanding what was going on. The determination and glint of something he couldn't place in your eyes, however, led him to offer you his prosthetic hand, gently resting it in yours.

Without hesitation, you tugged on his hand gently, clearly wanting him to stand with you. Vash followed your silent requests without complaint or question, but his curious expression remained, his blue eyes trained on your every move. As the two of you stood, you guided one of Vash's hands to your waist, trying hard not to let the heat rise to your face as you did so, before taking his other hand in yours and resting your free hand on his shoulder. Then, slowly, you began to sway the two of you back and forth, as if to some tune.

After a couple seconds, Vash settled into his stance, allowing himself to sway with you on the spot, a small chuckle escaping him. "(Y/N)? What are we doing?"

"Isn't it obvious, Stampede?" You replied, looking up at him with a playful little smile. "We're dancing."

"I figured that much out for myself, oddly enough." Vash answered with a proper laugh, his smile becoming more genuine as he kept his warm gaze on you. "I meant more along the lines of "why are we dancing?"."

You shrugged. "It seemed like a nice night for a dance."

Vash couldn't help but laugh softly at your reasoning, and he let himself relax and enjoy the gentle swaying of the two of you. Tightening his grip on your waist, he gently began to turn the two of you as you swayed, both of you completely unbothered by the lack of music. The thrumming of the sandsteamer's engine, the whistling of the wind, the shifting whisper of the sands, were your music.

You found yourself getting closer and closer to Vash the longer the two of you danced together, unsure if it was you stepping closer to him or him pulling you in or some combination of the two, but you couldn't bring yourself to care. As your head came to rest on his chest and you felt Vash rest his chin on the top of your head, you let your eyes close, focusing on the feeling of Vash against you.

He was your safe space. Your home, in every way that it mattered. Your heart was his, even if he didn't know it, and always would be. And right now, on the deck of the sandsteamer, there was only the two of you in the world, as far as you were concerned. You knew that Vash needed some way to get his mind off his worries so that he could rest, and maybe, just maybe, this would do the trick.

Meanwhile, Vash finally felt his mind fall quiet, his focus solely on you and holding you close to him as the two of you gently rocked from side to side in time to some silent tune. Somehow, just the feeling of you in his arms and dancing with you in the middle of the night on the deck of a sandsteamer was enough to pull him away from the suffering that plagued his mind. You were a soothing balm to the torn, raw and bleeding mess that was his soul.

"You finally dozin' off on me, (Y/N)?" Vash's voice teased you playfully after a couple minutes of silence, a gentle undertone to his words.

You reopened your eyes, pulling your head away from his chest so you could look up into his eyes. "Not yet. I'm just enjoying this. Besides, I don't think I'll be able to sleep when I'm alone again."

A slight frown appeared on Vash's face at your statement, and he whispered back before he could stop himself, "You don't have to be alone."

Your eyes widened as you looked at him, and you could've sworn you saw his cheeks and the tips of his ears darken slightly as he said that. Uncertainty filled you, but so did the overwhelming need to accept Vash's thinly-veiled offer.

All you could bring yourself to ask was, "Are you sure?"

Vash nodded slowly, his eyes not leaving yours for a moment despite the deepening of his blush. "I'm sure. I'd prefer to have you nearby, anyways. It always makes me nervous when you're not close enough for me to protect you."

That made your heart flutter wildly in your chest, and you could feel the heat rising to your own face now as you answered, "You don't always have to protect me, you know?"

Something in Vash's face shifted, a resoluteness taking its place in his eyes as he looked at you, his voice firm and leaving no place for argument or negotiation. "Yes, I do, (Y/N)."

You felt the heat in your face intensify at his resolve and determination to protect you, and while you desperately wanted to ask him where this was coming from, you didn't have the courage to start down that road.

Not yet.

Instead, you asked quietly, "Should we head back, then?"

You could've sworn you felt Vash's grip on your waist tighten a bit, pressing you against him just a little more than before. His expression became warm and tender as he continued to spin the two of you, something you couldn't quite identify shining in his eyes and a genuine smile appearing on his lips.

"Not yet. We've only just gotten started."

[clanwarrior-tumbly]

hello hello (●’◡’●)ﾉ if i may, could i request a scenario with vash and reader in an established relationship? vash has saved a town and it's one of the few times where he's celebrated, everyone making merry at a bar. him and reader are getting to be sufficiently drunk and the reader has the sudden urge to spoil vash, resulting in them plopping themself onto his lap, cooing, petting his hair, tickling his chin and telling eeeeveryone what a big, strong man vash is. basically they're being gross and flirty and drunk together and it's silly 😔

i hope you're having a wonderful day!! 🩷🎀

"Everyone, I wanna propose a toast: To Vash the Stampede! For saving this town! And for saving my heart from loneliness! Here's to love and peace!"

"TO LOVE AND PEACE!"

"CHEERS TO VASH!"

"Thanks, Vash!!!"

"WOOOHOO!!"

"God bless the merry couple!"

As cheers rang around all throughout the bar, you stepped off the table and slumped back in your seat, a grin spreading from ear-to-ear. You took a lot of pride in having enough confidence to make that toast...and that you've achieved your goal of making your boyfriend blush redder than his coat.

Indeed, there were rare times where you and Vash could let your guards down when he's a wanted man. But after the heroic deeds he performed earlier in town, the people called for a celebration at the bar, not caring about the 60 billion dollar bounty on his head for once.

There were no lives lost, no major injuries, and the destruction was limited to a few shattered windows--thanks to the bandits and their shitty aiming skills.

After they got hauled off to jail, everyone at that point knew who Vash was, and invited you two and the rest of the group for some rounds.

While you were initially wary that it was some setup that would end in Vash running for his life and guns blazing, it thankfully became very much the opposite:

You and your friends having a grand old time, eating food and sharing drinks. By the time you made the toast, your boyfriend already had a buzz, indicated by the tie wrapped around his head and him retelling the story of today's events to you---even though you were there the entire time, witnessing them firsthand.

"That was the nicest thing anyone's ever done for me," Vash feigned a tiny sniffle, his arm pulling you closer to his side. "A toast..for me....V-Vash the Stampede..." His lips began trembling a bit, and you glanced at him, worried.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing..everything's great! How did I get so lucky??" Tears were quick to fall from his eyes, which he tried rubbing away before chugging more of his drink, looking to you with a sniffle. "You're so good to me, [y/n]..almost too good..you care so much and...you're the reason I believe in love and peace!"

"Awh, you're such a sap." You chuckled, forgetting that his emotions were dialed up to 11 at this point (then again, they were almost all the time). Reaching a hand up, you tousled with his spiky hair a bit. "You deserve this. We both needed this break."

"I know...can we toast just to us, mayfly?"

Without waiting for your response, he clinked his glass to yours. And you simply smiled back and took a big swig of your drink, feeling the alcohol burning your throat.

But you didn't care.

It was only a matter of time before it kicked into your system.

............

"Vaaaaaash!!"

"Yeeees?"

"Did I ever tell you..wha...what a good, strong, and handsome man you are?" You tilted your head, looking up into the puppy-dog eyes of your boyfriend, who was now just as wasted as you were at this moment.

It was fine, though. The twin suns will rise again tomorrow and it'll be just another day in Gunsmoke, on the run in the hot desert.

You could afford to let loose for one night.

"Yah really think so?"

"Oh, I know so...and I'm gonna tell everyone here allllllll about it. But first.." You moved out of your seat, and at first Vash assumed that you were trying to climb onto the table again to do another toast-

Until you instead climbed into his lap.

He froze up, a small squeak of surprise leaving his lips. Even now, he wasn't used to this kind of closeness..although he welcomed it nonetheless as you wrapped your arms around the tall man, noticing how red his face was turning.

"You're so cute when you make those noises. I wonder what other sounds I could extract outta you, hmm~?" As your index finger lightly tickled the area under his chin, he couldn't help but giggle, hugging you tightly to ensure you stayed on his lap.

He wouldn't mind being like this forever.

"C'monnnn, you're such a tease."

"And you're such a sweetheart. Always protecting me, preaching about love and peace...and not takin' shit from anybody. God, you're so hot for that. We need more men like you in the world."

"But you already got a man like me, mayfly..." He pouted.

"I know. Aren't I blessed? You damn angel." Laughing softly, your hand rose up to his cheek, and he seemed to know exactly what you wanted, as he crashed his lips into yours mere milliseconds later.

It was a sloppy kiss: long, messy and uncoordinated, hands becoming entangled in each other's hair....but that was quite alright.

He needed this. You needed this.

You couldn't help grinning as you overheard hollers and whistles from the other spectators, while your friends at the nearby table looked amused, grossed-out, and even a bit..embarrassed for you two. Yet they knew better than to interrupt.

Wolfwood, however, could only imagine the aftermath once the alcohol finally ran its course...

........

"M-My stomach still hurts--BLEAUUGH-!!"

"It's okay. Let it all out..I'm right here." Rubbing Vash's back up and down, you sheepishly looked to Wolfwood as your boyfriend was currently emptying the contents of his stomach into the bucket you've given him. "How has he not built up a tolerance to booze yet?"

"Beats me..but the misses didn't want him throwing up in the car. So let 'im stay there as long as he needs to." The priest brought a cigarette to his lips, a bit amused by the sight. "We'll be waitin' when you're both ready." He turned on his heel and headed back to where Meryl was filling the van's tank.

You sighed, only to hear Vash sigh even deeper as he finished puking his guts out. He looked up at you, wiping the saliva from his chin with a tired smile. "S-Sorry about this. Guess I had more than I could handle...again."

"That's okay." You took the bucket, pushing it somewhere out of both your sights. "I know you'd do the same for me."

"True, but with bedrest and medication...i-if we could find and afford it, obviously." His gaze flickered to the still-lively bar, frowning a bit. "Part of me's gonna miss this town..I doubt the next one will be just as inviting. But I gotta have some hope, right? There's a lot more good people out there, I know it."

"It's a big planet, so we'll see." You shrugged, grasping his hand and making his attention snap back to you. "I'll be sure to tell them how strong and handsome my darling Vash is, too~" With a wink, you had the man swooning again, as he shifted closer to you.

"You sure you're not drunk?" His eyes squinted with suspicion.

"Drunk or not, everything I say about you is true. And one day, I want you to believe those things about yourself."

"[Y/n]..."

"If anyone dares talk about your bounty, I'll tell them to shove it."

"I-I'd rather have you not-"

"Nobody--and I mean nobody--can put a price on your head. Not even 60 billion double dollars. Because you're worth everything to me."

"...a-are you flirting or trying to make me cry again?" Tears appeared in the corners of his eyes. "Because it's working.."

You huffed lightly, smiling as you patted his cheek. "As long as those are happy tears, angel. You ready to go? You won't get carsick?"

"I won't!" Vash jumped to his feet the same time you stood up, still holding your hand as you led him to the van, following you like the loyal dog he was.

You're grateful the toast at the bar put him in good spirits...and that he was still blushing over your drunken kisses and words of affirmation.

Even though his own gut had to suffer the consequences for a little while, it was all worth it.

[lonesome-greenery]

You know what fuck it.

I don't know enough voice actors to have voice claims for the Aurora Comic, but I do have a pretty well-developed imagined sound to each character's voice so let's go through them.

Part 1: The Floof Squad + Vash

Kendal: I've always imagined him as very soft spoken given the fact that the first person he ever spoke with was Alinua, and he had to be very calm and quiet to be able to interact with her properly. Also, he's always got the people of Vash's voices going in the back of his mind so he keeps his voice quiet to mitigate a bit of sensory overload. His tone is always level, but he's got a bit of a higher voice that cracks at times since he's getting used to being a person and using his voice.

Vash: Confident, loud, brassy. It's deeper than Kendal's, but they both speak with the same assuredness that makes people say Kendal almost sounds just like him. He thinks fast and often times it takes a minute for his words to catch up with those thoughts, so sometimes he slurs his words together to keep up with what's going on in his mind.

Alinua: I don't really know how to explain it, but her voice is sharp to me. Her 'r's are harsh, and she makes a point of pronouncing her 't's and 'd's distinctly. She sometimes pronounces things oddly because she's had to learn on her own. Alinua's voice takes up space and she's tried so hard to make sure that she's real and not just a branch of life without a will of her own. Her voice is the kind that you can't afford to forget because she has been so afraid of forgetting herself for so long.

Falst: His voice could only ever be described as bright. He has such presence when he's speaking that you wonder if he's mimicking someone he knew once to seem bigger than he actually is. His voice isn't slinky like some cat-themed characters are apt to be. It's boyish, gruff, and has a resonance to it. He is what he is, and he isn't trying to mask anything with his voice. Probably hits best as somewhere between Joshua Ilon and Jack de Sena's voices.

Erin: He says just about everything in one to three breaths because he's afraid of being interrupted, but he'll tell you that he's just passionate about the subject. He's loud, and he speaks with such arrogance that you're sure he's looking down on you, but his air runs out at the end of a sentence and he trials off before taking a breath and finishing the rest of it. Every emotion is exaggerated, not in mocking, but trying to get people to see, hear, and understand him. It's an act. This is the voice he uses around the floof squad and almost everyone else, but sometimes his voice will become quieter, slower, softer, and it will deepen a touch because he's getting proper airflow now.

Dainix: He's got some gravel to his voice and it's definitely deeper than most of our guys here. I tend to think that his throat is often raw from the fire energy that he holds and that makes talking hard sometimes and depending on how recently he's ignited, his voice may be raspy to a certain extent. Sometimes he's whispering because it hurts to talk, other times, he's speaking at a normal level, but very rarely does he raise his voice to a shout because he associates volume with his emotional state and why shouldn't he when he knows the fire to be loudest at its most dangerous.

Tess: She's loud and sure of herself and she is doing it on purpose. Her voice has that nice bit of vocal fry on the end that mimics the hiss of energy that comes with the lightning she keeps in her heart. She doesn't stutter like Erin does sometimes, though he remembers a time when she did, and she never wants to go back to a time when she has to. Sometimes she'll forget to tone down her speech and it'll come crashing in like a rumble of thunder. Her voice is deeper than Alinua's and she makes an effort to sound tougher as well. Her tone is usually pretty playful but sometimes it gets quiet and you know that as soon as it gets there, things will get loud very soon.

[aimfor-theheart]

cielo,, how does nico react to you shifting around in his lap when you're in public w friends,, if you'd have any ideas,,,

of course i have ideas anon. of course. pls enjoy 💗

pairing: nicholas d. wolfwood x gender neutral reader

cw: sweetheart pet name used, flirting…suggestive…

ﾟ•┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈ ୨♡୧ ┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈• ｡ﾟ

the night is young and warm and hazy—the moon is a shy curve in the sky, glowing beneath thin clouds that amble by. the stars are dancing and bright, like girls in the night, heavendrunk and giddy.

on the patio of an old dive bar in the middle of nowhere, you sit in nicholas’ lap.

vash and meryl and milly are around the table. their drinks are almost empty—you’re just shy of finishing your own. the card game has just begun. some old one vash likes to play and milly claims she used to play with all her siblings. nicholas knows it because—well, when doesn’t he know a card game?

you and meryl are new to it but meryl has that determined little furrow to her brow. she’s set her jaw. she wants to win.

but you’re in nico’s lap, sitting pretty with your bare legs thrown over his. one arm looped around his neck so you can lean back into him and look at his hand of cards. he claims he’s tryin’ to teach you.

you haven’t been paying enough attention.

it’s a rare night that you really indulge in displays of affection this large, especially around the group, but you’re all a little tipsy and soft-hearted and there had only been four chairs around the table. they’d all taken their seat and nico, without missing a beat, had pulled you right in to his lap. fit you snug against him.

meryl hadn’t even said a peep about it, who usually complains if you get a little overly affectionate in front of her. instead, she’d just kept chatting away to you like nothing had ever happened. like you weren’t perched in nick’s lap with one of his arms looped around your waist.

vash eyes you a little funny from time to time—staring a little too long at you or nico. you catch him once glancing down to nico’s hands on the curve of your waist or softness of your thighs.

you don’t really mind.

“alright, sweetheart, let’s see what we got.” nico says to you, leaning back in his chair so no one can see his cards except you, nestled close to him.

you lay your head against his sternum to look, tucking beneath his chin. his arms are looped around you to fan the cards out for the two of you to see.

seems like a good hand to you—two queens, a jack, and a ten. you don’t say a peep, though, and you feel nico sigh beneath you. he nudges his nose to your temple absentmindedly.

he smells like the faded cologne he wears—grisalva and amber and leather. and a little like the sun, after a long day beneath it. bourbon on his breath. tobacco.

you nuzzle into him—you forget yourself for a moment. you have half a mind to dot little kisses against his jaw, maybe a little nip of your teeth—

“what card should we put down?” he murmurs, voice rumbling and low. you can feel it vibrate in his chest.

you squirm a little and sluggishly return your focus to the cards.

you eye them. then eye the card meryl put down.

you tap one of the queens.

“good call,” he says and leans forward, jostling you a little to put it down on the table.

“damn,” vash says and he’s got a flush on his face. you think it’s from the drink—he’s got the same drink as nico. something strong and stiff—milly does, too. she likes to keep up with the boys. “i’ve got a shit hand.” he laughs, nudging down a four.

you and meryl have something a little sweeter—peach and honey and liquor.

you don’t really know how the game is going.

when the round is over and nico throws down his cards, the table groans.

“i really thought i had him!” meryl cries.

“you’ll get him next time, meryl!” milly encourages, sliding the cards into her hands, collecting them all.

“hard to beat him this round.” vash agrees, looking at you.

with nico’s hands free, he squeezes your thigh, your waist. “got my lucky charm right here.”

vash’s eyes flicker. you squirm. vash quickly takes a sip of his drink, averting his attention.

“meryl, if you want, i can start cheatin’ for you.”

nico bounces his knees a little, jostling you, “you’d betray me like that?”

he hitches his chin over your shoulder to rub his stubbly cheek against your own. you can’t help but laugh a little, the soft, high way you do when it’s just you and nico. giggly and sweet.

“you always win card games.” you reply, “i’m rooting for meryl this time.”

he nudges his nose against your jaw and—

you wanna kiss him. you wanna turn in his arms and straddle his waist and you wanna—

your hips shift a little. his hand squeezes your thigh. maybe in warning.

“while i appreciate the support, i need to win fair and square.” meryl announces and the flush in her face, all rosy, is certainly from the drink. she hardly pays you or nico any mind.

“atta girl, meryl!” milly says, beginning to deal the cards again.

nico’s got his arms around you again to hold up the cards. you’re not really thinking of much except that he’s so big and solid beneath you and you wish his hands would do something else than hold some cards.

he has some rings on his fingers and you eye them.

you squirm again, imagining those fingers between your legs or in your mouth or—

this time, he rumbles in your ear, low and soft and just for you, “sit still.”

which only makes you want to move more.

he hums as he looks at his cards.

you have half a mind to purr, to wrap your arms around him and just melt into his embrace, let him have you whatever way he wants. and though nico can be a brute, he tries not to react to the way you shift again.

the game unfolds.

you try to stay patient but it’s proving difficult.

your hips shift fractionally, an aborted little rock, and you feel—

you feel that he’s hard and.

heat rushes through you, cracks through you like a lightning strike to an old, dry tree. and—

and you want more.

“how much longer until the game is over?” you try for casualness. nico huffs.

“probably a half hour or so,” milly says and then she looks dead at you and asks very cheerfully, “why? in a rush?”

vash coughs into his drink.

you feel heat rush to your face. “no!” you reply quickly, “i’m just gettin’ tired.”

“poor baby,” meryl mocks, “i better hurry up and win then.”

nico remains strangely silent. but when you shift again, he grabs your waist tight. he stills you. he doesn’t let you move like that again.

he finishes his drink—he tosses down his cards.

meryl shouts, cheering. she’s won finally and with it, the whole game.

“good play, stryfe.” nico grunts, “you caught on fast.”

“that’s what i do!” she boasts, clinking her glass with milly’s, then vash’s. then yours.

“and now you’re free to go—“ meryl looks at the pair of you and she flusters a little finally, “uh—sleep.”

vash laughs and milly chimes in, “beauty rest is important, after all.”

“yeah, yeah,” nico waves them off, “i need a smoke. and to sleep.” he says, more to you, as he urges you up with a little tap to your thigh. you hop up.

you bid your friends goodnight, downing the rest of your drink, before skipping a little to catch up to nico. the moment you’re beside him, his big hand comes down on the nape of your neck, and he pulls you in close.

you cozy up to him.

“you think you’re cute?” nico asks, leaning down a little, “squirming in my lap the whole damn night?”

“couldn’t help it,” you try to shrug, smiling up at him with a little too much innocence, “was feeling antsy.”

“you’re a brat.” he says, “you need better manners, sweetheart. i was enjoying myself.”

“oh i know,” you say, “i felt that—“

he swats your bottom and you yelp his name, scandalized and quickly glancing behind you to see if anyone saw. no one in sight. he guides you back to your room.

“maybe i’ll teach you some, huh?” he asks but he’s not really asking. you feel warmth hit your face. you peak up at him.

he squeezes the nape of your neck as his dark eyes find yours.

a fissure of heat, like lightning bursting across the sky.

“maybe a lesson in patience.” he says and though his tone is light, you hear the barb in it somewhere, catch the flash of his teeth when he smiles at you.

your stomach flips.

you have a feeling you’re in for a long night.

[blondeboyfriend]

𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐒𝐄𝐓 𝐂𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐒 (𝟏𝟖+)

𝐌𝐈𝐍𝐎𝐑𝐒 𝐃𝐍𝐈

[ PAIRING ] Vash the Stampede x f!reader x Millions Knives [ AUTHOR'S NOTE ] This is like an unholy mix of the manga and Stampede because I could not stick to one continuity. I took a big old shit on the timeline and decided to have Vash and Knives wander around No Man's Land together well into adulthood. Oh, and Vash still has his arm. [ SYNOPSIS ] After years of isolation two weary vagabonds turn your life upside down. [ WORD COUNT ] 8k [ CONTENT ] DARK CONTENT, canon AU, threesome (mmf), plantcest/incest, handjob, biting, nipple play, jealousy, dubcon, facesitting, oral sex (m + f receiving), degradation, humiliation, snowballing, everyone is emotionally damaged, everyone is HELLA dramatic, angst, voyeurism, exhibitionism, teasing, creampie, bittersweet ending.

It was the tail end of a blisteringly hot day. You sat in a rickety wooden dining chair, its straight back forcing you to remain upright. It was impossible to relax, the chair causing moderate discomfort. Granted it beat sitting in the sweltering hell that was your home. Your porch always came in handy on hellacious days like this, ones where it felt time was moving slower than usual.

It was rare you ever saw another soul around these parts. You lived on the outskirts of a well off town with three plants. Your home was a comfortable distance from the feral hostility everyone seemed to exude there. You could go days without seeing someone. Occasionally a drunk would get lost and end up banging at your door, an issue you remedied with a rifle, but other than you led a rather lonesome existence.

That’s why it was such a shock to see two figures on the horizon. Initially you thought your eyes were playing a trick on you, that maybe your brain was so desperate for company that it conjured up these humanoid mirages. As they got closer you noticed they weren’t a trick of the eye.

You sprung out of your chair to get your rifle and a few rounds. The heat inside was oppressive; you felt like you were going to collapse under the weight of it. You grabbed what you needed and practically threw yourself out the door.

The figures were in plain view now. It was two men, their features mostly obscured by tattered cloaks. You loaded your rifle and pointed it at them, not wanting to take any chances. The likelihood of them being harbingers of devastation was too high. 

Once they were within earshot you called out, “Stay back! I don’t want any trouble!”

They stopped dead in their tracks. One of the men swayed and struggled to find his balance. The other quickly reached out, grabbing him by the waist. He continued making his way over to you, dragging the other man along with him.

You cleared your throat. “I’ll shoot if I have to!”

This didn’t seem to deter the conscious one. Your hands were clammy and starting to tremble. Usually threats were enough to ward strangers off. You’d never actually had to shoot anyone before.

“I��I mean it!” you shouted, trying to convince yourself.

You finally got a view of his face. He was pale, eyes a striking blue-green with long blonde lashes. They seemed to bore holes into your very being. It was an intensity that was frightening yet intriguing. In any other situation you would run inside and hope he wouldn’t breach the door, but you were stuck. Transfixed by his unflinching determination.

“I’m serious!”

You backed up, nearly tripping over yourself. Your rifle was loose in your grip. You felt small, vulnerable. You could picture your demise, your blood spilling and turning the sand around you a hideous red.

“Stop!” you shrieked.

The man winced.

“Stop screaming,” he replied gruffly.

“Stop coming closer then!”

The unconscious man was roused by your lively discussion.

“We don’t mean you any harm,” he said, slowly lifting his head.

His cloak no longer obscured his face. He looked exactly like the other one, but warmer. His skin was sun-kissed. His fluffy hair was golden blonde and cut close at the sides. His eyebrows were dark and his eyes a soft blue. He lacked the otherworldly nature of the other man. His presence was disarming, more human.

“We need he—”

“Don’t waste your energy,” the other replied.

“Then ask if we can stay already,” he laughed.

“Vash!”

“What? I’m tired. I’m hungry. My feet hurt. All I wanna do is sit down,” he whined.

You held your rifle by your side. The whiny one wasn’t looking too good. For all his warmness, he looked like he was being trailed by death.

“My brother… He needs help,” one said through gritted teeth.

“There’s a town not too far off from here. They got a doctor. I bet she could help your brother.”

“He might not make it,” he replied, tone growing more frustrated.

“That sounds like a personal problem.”

He stepped forward, dragging Vash along with him. Your feet were locked in place. The urge to run was strong, but where the fuck would even go? Running out into the dunes would be a death sentence. And quite frankly that sounded unappealing.

When he came to the front of  your porch he laid down his brother in the shade. He had lost consciousness again. He looked so frail on the ground, a pitiful existence. You made eye contact with the desperate man standing in front of you. He didn’t seem as intimidating up close, the worry in his eyes settling your nerves.

“Look at him.”

Vash’s breathing was labored, each inhale getting caught in his lungs. He did look terrible, but you weren’t sure what you could do other than give them a little water and send them on their way.

“Please,” he said, removing his cloak from his head. His hair was a pale ashy blonde, it almost seemed iridescent under the suns’ dying rays.

Vash snickered. “Di—did you just say please,” he said weakly.

“I’m doing this for you!”

The three of you went silent. The sky slowly turned from orange and pink to a muted purple.

“You guys can come in. It’s pretty stuffy inside though,” you said, gesturing towards your home. “I gotta open the windows… There should be a breeze coming through about now.”

“Thank you,” Vash said. He tried to stand, but couldn’t get up, his body too heavy for him to bear.

You hated to see anyone struggle and went to assist him. As you held out your hand, the other one slapped away your hand.

“Don’t touch him.”

“Nai, it’s alright,” Vash replied, taking your hand.

For someone looking so fragile, he was pretty heavy. You led him inside with Nai close behind.

“Sit here,” you said, guiding him to your plush sofa. It was the most luxurious thing you owned, a comfort you fought for at an illegal auction.

You went to open the windows, letting the cool breeze blow through the house. You lit your lanterns, filling your living room with a soft, yellow light.

“You can sit down too, y’know.”

Nai stood uncomfortably by the door.

“I’d rather not.”

“Suit yourself,” you said. You stood in front of him, wondering if he’d take a hint and move. “I need to get something from outside.”

He cocked an eyebrow.

“Beyond the door. The thing you’re blocking.”

He blushed and moved out of the way.

“Thank you,” you said, brushing past him.

There was nothing from outside you needed but they didn’t know that. Both suns had set below the horizon. The heat had tempered itself, now only a pleasant warmth paired with the cool breeze you longed for all day.

When you returned you found that Nai had finally made himself comfortable on the couch with Vash’s head in his lap. He was stroking his hair, a look of pure worry on his face. It contorted into disdain the second he registered your presence.

You passed by them briskly, pretending you had grabbed something. While in the kitchen you filled two glasses with water.

“Here,” you said, handing Vash a glass.

He eagerly took it and drank it all in one gulp. He let out a sigh of relief, one that softened your heart. You attempted to hand one to Nai but he recoiled.

“You sure?”

“I don’t need it.”

Vash grabbed the second glass from your hand without any hesitation and slammed the contents. His relieved smile had awakened something in you, a need to baby him, to take care of him.

“Do you have any food?” he asked, eyes sparkling.

You nodded and fetched some bread and dried worm meat. It was the only food you were willing to part with. Vash didn’t seem to mind, his face a pinnacle of gratefulness. It was refreshing. Such softness was hard to come by in No Man’s Land.

“Thank you,” he said with a mouthful of food.

You took a seat on the floor, keeping a safe distance from them. Vash seemed sweet, but Nai’s hostility remained. It kept you on edge.

“There’s a hotel in town. You could probably get a ro—”

“No. I’d like to avoid other humans as much as possible.”

Humans. The way Nai said it made it seem like he was spitting out poison.

��You two on the run or something?”

“No,” Vash yawned. “Just lazy.”

“You’re not lazy. You’re weak,” Nai muttered.

Vash sighed and rested his head on Nai’s shoulder. “Would you mind if we stayed?”

Nai flared his nostrils and stared out one of the windows. It was probably against your better judgment to house them, but you felt compelled. It wasn’t as if you didn’t have space. You had a spare room, one with a small but comfortable bed. And it wasn’t as if you ever used it.

“No. There’s a room upstairs you can stay in. Only one bed though. Hope that’s not a problem.”

Nai got up, hoisting Vash to his feet.

“Uh, it’s the one on the left. It gets a lot of sun in the morning so you might wake up sweaty. The blankets aren’t that heavy though.”

Nai led Vash up the stairs. Vash turned his head, making eye contact with you. His eyes were kind and beautiful, like the midday sky. He gave you a smile.

“Thank you,” he said as he disappeared.

You sighed, wondering what you got yourself into. Maybe they would leave in the morning before you woke up, their presence a mere fever dream. There’d be no complaints from you. They were rather odd, their actions unpredictable. You did feel a twinge of affection for the pitiful one, but you told yourself it would fade as fast as it came.

You woke up just before daybreak, stretching your arms above your head. Despite the circumstances you managed to sleep well. You assumed it was a good omen. It was rare you slept through the night without tossing and turning.

You made your way down the hall and heard muted voices coming from the spare room. Vash and Nai had stayed. Though maybe they were planning to leave once the suns breached the horizon.

The door was open enough for you to take a peek and maybe hear more of their conversation. You crept closer and shielded yourself behind it. You looked inside.

They were facing one another, wrapped up in each other’s arms. Their clothes were in little piles on the floor. Listening in on their conversation was the last thing on your mind. You couldn’t stop watching them. You assumed they were brothers because they looked nearly identical, but maybe that was a coincidence. Maybe they were lovers. You couldn’t think of any families that would lie in bed together completely nude. Let alone as tangled up as Vash and Nai were.

Just as you were about to sneak downstairs, your body betrayed you and you let out a bellowing sneeze.

“Shit,” you said, hauling ass downstairs.

You hoped neither had caught you spying. You usually weren’t that kind of person and you wished you could show them that. But pleading your case wouldn’t do you any good, and if you had any semblance of luck on your side, they would’ve thought you were just passing by innocently.

You paced around the kitchen. Your brain felt like it was on fire. They must have known you were there. They seemed perceptive enough. If they were wandering around the dunes, they must have sharpened instincts, better senses. How else would they have survived out there?

A distraction. That was what you needed. You open your cupboards and pulled out some of your more prized foods. A jar of fruit preserves, cinnamon bread, coffee, smoked meat from an animal you couldn’t remember, and a few peaches. It hurt to part with those. You had to talk to three different merchants before they’d even admit to having them. The townspeople were stingy when it came to anything that was fresh.

You set the table for three people even though you suspected Nai wouldn’t eat. You boiled some water, brewing some coffee once it reached the right temperature.

In the midst of your cooking you didn’t hear Vash and Nai come down the stairs. You were too caught up in licking peach juice off your knife.

“G’morning,” Vash said, yawning.

You looked over at them, your tongue still touching the blade. Nai looked at you wide-eyed, a blush blossoming on the apples of his cheeks. It was strange and endearing.

“Uh… hey,” you said, putting the knife down. “Food’s on the table.”

The two men took a seat. You set a plate down of sliced peaches and poured coffee into the mugs. When you went to serve Nai, he quickly covered the mug with his hand, letting a trickle of hot coffee coat his skin. His eye twitched briefly.

“Oops. My bad,” you said, using your sleeve to clean up the mess. It was an automatic response, one you immediately regretted.

Vash laughed with a mouthful of peaches. “Don’t apologize to him.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” Nai hissed.

You didn’t like the tension that was building. When you went to change the subject Vash gave you a swift, hard kick to the leg.

“Ow! What is wrong with you?!”

Vash leaned across the table and grabbed your hand. “I’m sorry! I meant to kick him!”

You tried to ignore the throbbing pain in your leg by spreading preserves on a piece of bread, tears flooding your eyes. You shoved it in your mouth, hoping it would stop you from crying.

“I can’t believe you’d kick a poor, defenseless human,” Nai said with an impish smile.

“It wasn’t on purpose,” Vash said, glancing at Nai.

You swallowed and pulled your hand from his grasp.

“It’s fine,” you choked out. “I’m sturdy.”

“You could have fooled me.”

“Nai!” Vash chastised while he ate a spoonful of preserves. You wondered if he realized that was for the bread, or if he simply didn’t care.

The air in the room was thick, oppressively so.

“So how are you feeling?” you asked in an attempt to remedy that weight.

Vash plucked a peach slice off the plate. “Better, but I’m still pretty tired.” He shoved the peach slice into his mouth, muffling his voice. “If you need us to leave though, I get it.”

When you woke up this morning you hoped they would have disappeared into the night, but now you couldn’t bear sending them back out into the desert. It would be one thing if Vash was in good shape, but he still looked worn out.

“I don’t mind as long as you don’t kick me again.”

“Hm,” he said, stroking his chin as if deep in thought. “I don’t know if I can promise that.”

You pointed at the door. “Get out. Go die in the desert.”

“Make me.” He took a sip of coffee.

Nai stood up abruptly.

“I’ll be outside.”

“There’s not much to do out there… Actually there isn’t jackshit to do out there,” you said.

“I’ll figure something out,” he said gruffly.

He slammed the door as he made his dramatic exit.

“Don’t take it personally,” Vash said, eyeing the smoked meat you had put out.

“He’s your brother, right?” you asked.

He nodded.

“Ah, so you’re used to it then.”

“Yeah…” He looked outside the window. “He wasn’t always like that though.”

You didn’t know what to say so you opted to stay silent. You and Vash ate the rest of the food, not uttering a single word.

The brothers ended up staying for another day, and another after that�� and another after that. Nai would disappear into the desert during the day while Vash was essentially up your ass. He followed you around the house like a puppy. He would always offer to help when you’d be cleaning or doing maintenance. Initially you rebuked him, telling him he needed to rest. But after a while you opted to take him up on it. You couldn’t deny that it was nice to have an extra pair of hands, and someone to talk to. It wasn’t until you had company that you realized how much you hated being completely alone all the time.

“How often do you go into town?” Vash asked, sweeping your bedroom floor.

You tucked your sheets under your mattress. “I try to avoid it as much as possible… I only ever go there when I need food.”

“Like those peaches?” he asked, voice full of longing.

You laughed. “Yeah, like those peaches.”

As you were smoothing out your blanket, he came up behind you. His body was pressed up against your back.

“Do you have any more?”

His tone seemed flirtatious but you didn’t want to assume anything. Plus maybe he realized that peaches weren’t cheap and thought he needed to butter you up to score another.

“Hmm?” he asked, his face practically buried in your neck.

You sighed. “You’re lucky I like you. C’mon.”

You brushed him off and led him downstairs. The second you handed him a peach took a bite out of it. You had never noticed how sharp some of his teeth were. You watched him intently, unable to stop yourself. 

“I wonder what your brother is up to.” You didn’t actually care, but you needed to distract yourself.

Peach juice made it way down his hand all the way to his forearm. Without any hesitation, he lapped it up, staring deep into your eyes.

“He’s probably just wandering around,” he said before taking another bite.

“Really? I feel like that’d get old after a couple days,” you replied, trying to ignore the throbbing sensation between your legs.

He shrugged and licked the part of the peach he had just bit. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think he was doing it on purpose. You tried to act as unaffected as possible.

Thankfully Nai walked through the door, covered in sand and tracking it in the house. You groaned and contemplated why you even bothered cleaning.

“What happened to you?” Vash asked.

“Did you almost get swallowed by the sand pit?”

“... I might have.”

“Been there,” you said. “Want to eat a peach about it?”

“No.”

He looked less intimidating coated in rust-colored sand, more boyish. It was kind of cute.

“I’ll be upstairs,” he muttered.

He turned away, posture rounded, and made his way up the stairs. Vash frowned and followed him, leaving his half-eaten peach on the table. You snatched it and bit into it, savoring the juices. You thought about how it would feel to lick it off his chest. You felt feral as you devoured it.

Holding the peach pit in your hand was humiliating. You hated yourself for eating it. You wanted to stay in control and not lose yourself to your carnal urges. But Vash was making that increasingly difficult. You decided to sleep it off on the couch. A nap would do you some good.

When you woke up it was nighttime. Darkness had settled in your house. You carefully got up and lit a lantern. You had no concept of what time it was. All you knew was that you were still tired and you still couldn’t stop thinking about Vash eating that fucking peach. It haunted you. He must have known what he was doing. He could not be that naive, that innocent.

Your plan was to go straight to your bedroom, but the awful morning breath that had settled in your mouth was too much. Brushing your teeth was of the utmost importance. You hip checked the bathroom door only to find it occupied.

“Oh fuck!” you said, quickly shutting the door.

“Did you need something?” Vash asked.

You pressed your forehead against the door.

“I wanted to brush my teeth.”

“Well don’t be a stranger,” he laughed.

You let out a muted groan and opened the door. You kept your eyes on your sink, careful not to look over at Vash and Nai. You put your lantern down and brushed your teeth.

“Did you have a good nap?” Vash asked.

You spat into the sink. “I don’t know. I hate napping that long. Not seeing the suns set is—” You made the mistake of looking over at them and lost your train of thought. “... disorienting.”

They were in your tub. Vash sat on one side hugging his knees to his chest, taking up as little space as possible. Nai was on the other fully reclined with his brother in between his toned legs.

“That’s understandable. Hopefully you can sleep tonight,” he replied.

“I’ll be fucking miserable if I don’t.”

“Worst comes to worst you can always come hang out with us.”

Nai looked like someone stabbed him in the heart. He went to say something but shut his mouth, opting to toss his head back with his eyes closed. For once he decided to ignore the two of you instead of saying something hostile.

You felt like you were going crazy. You briefly looked at Nai’s cock. It was of average length, but definitely on the thicker side. It was framed by a patch of pale blonde pubic hair.

“Uh… Nai,” you said, trying to think of a reason to speak to him. “You okay after falling in the, uh, sand pit?”

“I’m fine.”

“That’s good…”

“Yeah,” he said. He opened his eyes and got out of the tub. Droplets of water traveled down his body, leaving a puddle on the floor. “Hand me a towel.”

“Say please at least,” Vash quipped, sinking deeper into the tub.

“It’s fine,” you laughed.

You grabbed a towel and tried to pass it off to Nai. The only problem was your hand refused to loosen its grip. Perhaps it was an unconscious effort to have an excuse to be so close to him. His impatience got the best of him and he pulled it away from you. He wrapped it around his waist and stomped away.

“Sorry about him,” Vash sighed.

“It’s fine,” you repeated.

“Why are you so far away? I don’t bite.” He sat back up. “Unless you want me to.”

“What?!”

“I’m kidding.”

You were incapable of speech.

“... Unless.”

Nothing but silence on your part.

He sighed. “You gotta gimme something to work with.”

You decided to give in, to embrace hedonism just once. “Okay. Sure.”

“Wait, really?”

“Yeah,” you said, pulling your pants off. “Fuck it.”

You took your shirt off and unhooked your bra letting it fall to your feet.

“Um. I didn't think you’d actually—” You took off your underwear. “—oh wow—I mean, shit. I’m ruining the moment,” he whined, holding his hand to his forehead like he had a headache.

You stepped into the tub and crawled on top of Vash, pressing your chest up against his. You were eternally thankful that the water was still warm. He ran his hands down your back, stopping at the small of it. Everything about the situation felt surreal. He was a stranger that you couldn’t get a full read on. Vash was friendly but still rather opaque, especially in regards to his brother. Anytime you asked about him Vash gave you bullshit answers that created more questions.

“Why doesn’t he ever eat?”

Vash nervously scratched the base of his skull. “He does! He, uh, eats bugs while he's out there.”

You knew damn well Nai wasn’t out in the desert, skulking around and eating bugs like a little creature.

But that didn’t matter. What mattered was how Vash’s lips felt brushing up against yours, how it felt when he held your bottom lip between his teeth. The world around you meant nothing. You were consumed by your lust, driven by your oppressive loneliness.

His kiss was hungry and needy. He kissed you like you could disappear at any moment. He held onto you tight, his fingers digging into your back. You cradled his face in your hands. His skin was so soft which was unusual. Most men that wandered the desert had leathery faces.

He broke the kiss, leaving a trail of them from your jaw bone down to your neck. You tangled your fingers in his damp blonde hair. He smelled like your soap with a strange musky, floral undercurrent.

You were feeling bold so you started stroking his semi-hard cock. He bit down on your neck, driving his teeth into your skin. You winced, but the pain was intoxicating. You gave his cock a squeeze before rubbing your thumb around his sensitive tip.

“You like that?” you purred.

“Uh-huh,” he said, planting a kiss on your chest.

He held one of your nipples between his teeth and began sucking on it. You kept stroking his cock which was now fully erect in your hand. The sensation of his tongue against your nipple felt incredible.  All the moans you had been holding back sprung forth. You tried to lock your jaw shut as he went back to toying with your nipples, pinching one between his fingers and the other between his lips.

You squeezed the length of his cock again. This and your moaning seemed to inspire something in him. The most heavenly moans erupted out of him. Your touch was becoming too distracting for him to do anything except buck his hips against your fist.

“What are you doing to him?”

Nai had returned and he looked absolutely disgusted.

“I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know,” you chanted like a prayer.

“It’s fine,” Vash said nervously. “I wanted it.”

You jumped out of the tub and grabbed a towel as fast as you could. You pushed past Nai and sprinted to your bedroom, slamming the door behind you.

You paced around your room, trying to process what had happened and what the potential consequences would be. But it’s a fruitless task. You were too frazzled and still in the throes of arousal. You took a deep breath and dried your body off. As you crawled into bed you thought about how it felt when Vash buried his teeth in your neck. You ran your fingers down your folds, coating them with your fluids. You rubbed your clit, desperate to come. You covered your mouth to quiet your moans as your body writhed in pleasure. Once your body had calmed itself you drifted off to sleep.

The next morning you were startled awake by a series of knocks on your door. You stumbled out of bed and threw on a nightgown. You opened the door only to be greeted by Nai’s overwhelming presence.

“We need to talk.”

“We—we actually don't, which is the great thing.”

He stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. He was gradually invading your space, leaving almost no room between the two of you.

“Was that the first time you defiled my brother?”

“What?”

He grabbed you by the chin. “I said, was that the first time you de—”

“Yes!”

He gritted his teeth. “The last thing he needs is one you clinging to him.”

You were like an animal with its foot caught in a trap, too scared to do anything. He seemed so incensed. You didn’t know what he was capable of, how far his anger would go. He could kill you with his bare hands with ease, a fact that was equally terrifying and riveting.

“I’m sorry.”

He got closer to your face. “You’re sorry?”

“I shouldn’t…” You were at a loss for words. You weren’t sorry at all.

“Is that all you have to say for yourself?”

“What do you want me to say?!”

“That you will leave him alone.”

“You’re in my fucking house. How am I supposed to even—”

“Oh? I didn’t realize that gave you free reign to humiliate him. I heard the way you were making him sound last night.”

“If you’re that bothered, you can leave.”

“I’ve been trying to, but he won’t come with me. Because of you.”

“I—”

“Did you think I wanted to be here this entire time? Every second has been torture.”

“Then just go. Leave him behind if he wants to stay that bad.”

“I won’t let you take him away from me!”

Your hair was standing on end. A single drop of arousal made its way down your thigh. Nai seemed to take pride in frightening you. He stroked your jaw with his fingers before forcing them into mouth. You didn’t even bother fighting back. He pushed them in deeper, savoring the sound of you gagging. Tears welled up in your eyes and trickled down your cheeks.

He pulled them out and smirked. You looked so pathetic, so pliable. His eyes darkened and he leaned in to kiss you. For all his threatening demeanor, his kiss was timid and uncertain. You decided to take initiative and slipped your tongue into his mouth.

This seemed to anger him, or turn him on, you weren’t sure. He shoved you onto the bed, the force of his hands leaving an ache in their wake. He still needed your guidance though. You rolled your tongue up against his. His sloppiness was undeniable, but he was eager which was enough for you.

You reached down and grabbed his cock, cradling it in your palm. He broke the kiss and groaned. You gave it long, languid strokes. He rutted against your hand just like Vash had. The room was overflowing with his moans. You kissed his neck, pressing your lips against his soft skin.

“You sound so cute,” you cooed in between kisses.

He froze, muscles suspended in tension. You rubbed his back, hoping to quell whatever was torturing him.

“Are you alright?”

“Don’t touch me,” he said, pushing himself off of you. His cheeks were flushed and his cock was fighting against his pants. “Ju—just leave me alone.”

There was no hint of forcefulness in his voice, just dismay. And you were flooded with guilt.

That night, Vash sneaked into your room with a blanket wrapped around him. He dropped it, revealing he wasn’t wearing anything underneath. It hardly phased you. He got into your bed and snuggled up next to you. You tried your best to ignore his presence, but his arms were wrapped around you.

You were still caught up in what had happened earlier in the day between you and Nai. Having Vash so close put you on edge. He’d never given you any reason to fear him, but you wondered if a similar darkness resided in him. Maybe he was just better at hiding it. You couldn’t stop your thoughts, each one painting Vash in a more insidious light.

“Is everything okay? I feel like you were avoiding us.”

“I usually try to avoid your brother.”

“But why meeeee?” he asked.

You turned to face him. His eyes were wide and innocent, like a blue-eyed baby deer. His face turned you into putty. It wasn’t right to effectively punish him for his brother’s actions.

“I don’t have a good answer.”

He pouted. “You can be honest with me.”

“I barely know you,” you said, staring at his lips.

“That didn’t stop you from getting in the tub with me.”

That was a completely different situation under extremely different circumstances. Fucking someone was nowhere near as intimate or taxing as opening yourself up to them. That was like pulling teeth. You never talked to anyone about your feelings, granted you never had an opportunity to. Even in the presence of others, you compulsively closed yourself off. It was second nature.

You chewed on the inside of your cheek. It wasn’t that you didn’t want to feel close to him. You just didn’t know where to begin. You struggled to believe it would spill forth from you naturally once you started. You couldn’t even articulate the hopeless isolation you immersed yourself in.

He looked a little sad, an expression that tortured you to no end. You needed to show him that you wanted to be close to him. Being honest about your feelings was out of the question so you’d have to do it the only way you seemingly knew how.

You held his face in your hands and kissed him. Your passion was steeped in anguish. You hoped he felt your affinity for him, your desire to tell him everything eventually. Your desperation made you sloppy, drool dribbling from your mouth.

Vash pulled away. “Wait.”

He guided you onto your back and tossed your sheet to the side before getting on top of you. He helped you pull your nightgown up and over your head. He rubbed your cunt through your underwear, his fingers pressing against your clit.

“I wanna know what you taste like.”

Your body was practically vibrating. You gently pushed down on his shoulders, an act he was more than happy to comply with.

He positioned himself between your legs and peeled off your underwear. He kissed the inside of your thighs before biting them, sending his pointy teeth into your tender flesh. He used his tongue to spread apart your folds. He rolled it against your clit and waves of pleasure washed over you. Your breathing became increasingly more audible, each exhale sounding more and more like a moan.

“Tell me I’m good,” he growled.

“You’re such a good boy,” you whimpered.

He let out a pleased hum and arched his back, sending his ass into the air. He was relentless, focusing all of his attention on your aching clit. Both of you were incapable of being quiet.

The sound of the door being flung open swiftly annihilated the lusty haze you had been lost in. It was Nai. His eyes were half-lidded, sleep still clinging to them. He was half-dressed, his pants sloppily pulled on. They weren’t even buttoned.

“Why do you keep doing this to me?”

You tried to push Vash away, but kept eating your cunt, disregarding Nai’s presence. Your cheeks felt like they were on fire. You folded your arms across your chest, a hopeless attempt at  shielding yourself from Nai’s gaze.

Vash stared up at you. “Call me a good boy again,” he demanded.

“Yo—you’re such a good boy,” you whimpered once more.

“I can’t believe you keep degrading yourself like this.”

Vash relaxed his back and began to drive his cock into the mattress. His neediness had you reeling. You covered your mouth, trying to hold back your moans. It was bad enough that Nai could see you like this; you didn’t need him hearing you as well.

Your stomach dropped as he approached the bed.

“I’ll help you shut up,” Nai growled.

He got on the bed and gave you a forceful kiss as you came. Once you had settled he pulled away and sat on the edge of your bed with his back towards you.

You tapped on Vash’s head. “Want me to suck your cock?”

“Yes,” he exhaled. “Please.”

Vash sat up only for Nai to grab him by the shoulders.

“I should do it.”

“What? Why?”

“I know your body better than anyone else. Better than she ever could,” he pleaded. Nai sounded so softhearted. You wondered if this was the tone of voice he used when you weren’t around. “Let me show you how much I love you.”

Vash sighed and ultimately agreed. He pushed Nai’s head down, guiding his brother’s mouth onto his erect cock. You watched in shock. You weren’t surprised in the least, but you never thought you’d see it. Your clit felt like it had a heartbeat.

You slipped two of your fingers into your slick cunt. The longer you watched them, the less you cared about the moral implications. You stopped letting your brain do the thinking. You gleefully watched as Vash laced his fingers through Nai’s hair, giving him better leverage as he forced his cock in deeper.

Every so often Nai would gag, but it didn’t deter him. If anything he seemed to enjoy it. He was furiously fucking his fist. You wished it was yours. You practically drooled at the thought. You kept fingering yourself, not taking your eyes off of him.

Vash bucked his hips against his brother’s face. He held his brother’s head close to his body. Nai struggled to keep it together, the sound of his gagging overtaking the room. You let out a dreamy sigh, grabbing Vash’s attention

“What?” you asked breathily.

“I need to fuck you,” he whined.

Vash pulled Nai off of his cock by his hair. His brother erupted into a series of violent coughs as he tried to compose himself. He had a bewildered look in his now dull eyes. You felt a little bad for him, but your pity melted away as Vash hoisted you onto his cock. He laid back, resting his head on your pillow.

You rolled your hips against his, sending his cock deeper inside. You couldn’t deny how good it felt.

“Na—Nai,” you stuttered. “Come here.”

Nai seemed to ignore you at first, but soon enough he was by your side, sitting on his knees.

“What do you want?”

“I want you to suck on my tits.”

He scoffed but still leaned in and started to suck. He swirled his tongue around your nipple. You rubbed the tip of his cock and started to stroke it.

“You’re lucky I’m letting something as inferior as you touch me,” Nai murmured before flicking his tongue against your nipple.

You tried to ignore him, but he continued.

“I still don’t see what he sees in you,” he hissed.

You squeezed his cock. “I bet you wish that was your brother’s hand, huh? Or maybe his mouth?”

Nai was briefly stunned, but recovered in record time. “It would be more satisfying than whatever it is you’re doing to me right now.”

“Your cock seems to like it,” you taunted. Precum had been leaking from his cocktip the entire time you were jerking him off.

“Can you pl—please stop? I’m trying to focus,” Vash whimpered.

“Tell her to behave herself then!”

Vash groaned. “Nai, just come here. You can use my mouth.”

Nai’s eyes lit up and he pulled his pants off. He crawled over to his brother and straddled his face. He started rutting against it. You missed your view of Vash’s angelic face. Nai’s muscled back while beautiful wasn’t nearly as interesting. You felt excluded.

Vash’s thrusts gradually grew uninspired. His focus seemed to be on his brother. You leaned forward and draped your arms over Nai’s shoulders.

“St—stop,” he sighed. “You’re ruining it.”

You ran your hands down his arms and snaked them around his waist. You stroked his abs before moving up to his chest. You pinched his nipple, relishing in the small yelp he let out.

“Am I humiliating you?”

Nai ignored you. You kept rubbing his nipples, taking in his pained whimpers.

“Aw, are you gonna come?”

“Yes,” he said in between his panting.

Nai’s body tensed up as he came in Vash’s mouth. He caught his breath and laid down beside his brother.

You slid Vash’s cock back inside you. He beckoned you near and you leaned forward. His body felt so warm underneath you. His chest was dappled with sweat. He held the back of your head and kissed you, passing Nai’s cum into your mouth. You swallowed it, savoring the sweet taste. Nai exhaled sharply, clearly offended. Neither of you paid him any mind.

Vash held onto your hips as you rode him. As he dug his fingers into your flesh your body was consumed by ecstasy. You felt like you were ascending to a higher plane of existence. You saw white and you could have sworn you were getting blessed by gods.

He continued to thrust until his cock released a deluge of cum inside your cunt. You loved how he sounded whining beneath you. You needed to hear him moan again and again. He couldn’t leave. You wouldn’t let him. You’d even put up with Nai’s hostility.

“That was amazing,” Vash said. There was nothing going behind his eyes; he was utterly fucked out.

You draped yourself on top of him, burying your face in his neck. “It really was.”

You felt around, trying to find Nai’s body next to you on the mattress. Before you even had the chance to touch him, he grabbed your wrist.

“Don’t.”

“Sorry,” you said somberly. “Uh… I had fun… with you.” You hated how hard it was to talk to Nai. Unless you were taunting him sexually you were at a loss for words.

“That’s nice,” he said softly. It lacked the venom he usually infused his words with.

For a while the only sound was the three of you breathing. The reality of what happened sinking into your pores. You didn’t know what to say and it seemed like the brothers were on the same page.

Nai was the one to break the silence. “We really have drifted apart… Haven’t we?”

“Don’t say stuff like that,” Vash mumbled.

“It’s true though.”

“Nai—”

“I was… hoping I would feel closer to you. But I don’t.” He got up and headed towards your door. “I don’t understand you at all.”

Vash gently rolled you off of him and he got up.

“Let’s go to bed.” He grabbed Nai’s pants off the floor. “You’ll feel better by tomorrow.” He rubbed the space between Nai’s shoulder blades and kissed the side of his head. “I’m sure of it.”

You could tell Vash was smiling when he said the last part. The brothers left, leaving you alone in your bed. You gathered your sheet and blanket and wrapped yourself up in them. You held yourself tight and hoped sleep would envelope you.

Instead you tossed and turned. You had been lying in bed for a few hours with your eyes shut and nothing more. Your thoughts wouldn’t stop racing; your actions were on loop in your head. Every moan, every touch, every overwhelming emotion weighed you down.

Vash calling out your name was enough to pull you out of this sleepless daze. You threw on a nightgown and rushed into the hall. Your eyes darted around, trying to figure out where he was. He called your name again. He was downstairs. You tore down the staircase and saw a very distressed Vash pulling his boots on.

“He’s gone. I gotta go after him.”

“He’s gone?”

“We fell asleep right by each other. I don’t know how I didn’t feel him getting up.”

He ran outside, yelling Nai’s name. You stumbled after him barefoot. The sand was unforgiving. Little, sharp rocks wedged themselves between your toes. You struggled to keep up. He was practically sprinting. There was no way you’d reach him.

“Fuck. He’s so fast. What the fuck,” you said in between wheezing. “Vash! Wait—”

Before you could even register it, your ankle gave out and sent you crashing into the sand.

“Shit,” you seethed, body writhing into a fetal position.

The pain was immense. You wanted to fight through it, to keep chasing after Vash. But you’d never catch up. He was as good as gone. Tears welled up in your eyes. You kicked yourself for getting so attached to them so fast. You hated that despite it all you still cared about Nai and wanted to win him over. You had let yourself get carried away by delusions. It wasn’t as if the three of you could live out your days in blissful harmony, no matter how badly you wanted it.

You stared up at the night sky. The moons loomed over you painting the desert in their ethereal light. You felt hopeless and dreaded having to drag yourself back home.

Luckily you heard Vash running back towards you.

“Are you alright?” he said, tripping as his foot got stuck in the sand.

“No… Are you alright?”

He popped up like he never fell in the first place. “Yeah.”

He walked over to you and squatted by your dejected form.

“Why are you crying?” he asked.

You looked up at him. His red rimmed eyes made them look intensely blue.

“I hurt my ankle.”

He held out his hand and hoisted you up.

“Let’s go home,” you said, grabbing onto his shoulder to steady yourself.

“I can’t. I have to find him. I… I promised I’d take care of him.”

“Maybe he went into town,” you suggested.

Vash’s face fell.

“All those people…” he muttered to himself. “I have to go after him, but I can take you back at least.”

He had you hop on his back for a piggyback ride. All you could do was whimper as your tears kept falling. You didn’t even bother speaking. Vash’s mind was elsewhere, unavailable to you. Once you reached home, he put you down and hugged you tightly.

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s fine,” you lied. “I’ll be alright.”

You turned away and walked into your house. You refused to watch him leave. It would’ve made everything feel a hundred times worse.

You awoke the next morning feeling hungover. You stretched your arms over your head and got up out of bed. You tried not to think about Vash and Nai, but everything reminded you of them. They had only been around for a short while, but they left their mark everywhere. When you opened your cupboard for coffee, you nearly started sobbing when you saw your last peach.

“Ugh. What’s wrong with me?” you wailed.

You boiled water for coffee and spread some preserves on a piece of cinnamon bread. It tasted ambrosial. At least one thing in your life remained sweet and unproblematic. Once your coffee was done, you poured yourself a cup and made your way to your front door. Sitting on your porch before the suns scorched the earth would do you some good.

As you went to open your door, you hit something on the other side of it.

“Oof.”

You would recognize that pained voice anywhere.

“Vash?”

He moved away from the front of your door and stood up. He looked exhausted.

“I didn’t… I didn’t think you’d come back.”

“Aw. I was hoping you’d think more highly of me.”

You laughed. “I take it you didn’t find him.”

He cast his gaze to the side, staring at the ground.

“Yeah. I even went to town. A group of drunks said they saw a ‘weird guy that looked just like me’ but that was all they said. I’m just glad no one was hurt.”

You wondered why he would be concerned about people getting hurt in regards to his brother, but you didn’t want to pry.

“How’s your ankle?”

“It’s sore, but I can walk on it. Serves me right for running around barefoot.”

He smiled and it warmed your soul. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah! I just made coffee. You should have some. You look like shit.”

He ran his fingers through his windblown hair. “I can’t look that bad.”

“You do. And you’re stinky.”

“What are you gonna do? Give me a bath?”

“I might.”

You led him inside and had him sit at your kitchen table. You poured him a cup of coffee and beamed while he took a sip and burned his tongue.

“You’re so mean to me,” he whined.

“What can I do to make it up to you?”

“Do you have any more of those peaches?”

“I have one left.”

He gazed at you, eyes sparkling. He was like a cheerful vampire glamoring you. You grabbed him a peach and handed it to him. He held it and looked down lovingly at it, like it was a newborn baby.

“How long will you be staying?” you asked, expecting him to give you a short time frame. One that would be wholly unsatisfying.

He looked up from his peach. “Indefinitely assuming you can keep giving me these.”

“I think I can manage that.”

[lovelyunholyc]

vash isn't used to the way you adore him, so abundantly, so openly.

he still blushes just as brightly when you so much as brush shoulders now, as he did when he first realized he had feelings for you.

and you doubt he'll ever get used to it, pray that he never does, because flustering him is your favorite pastime, though it was just an aftereffect of what you loved to do the most: show him how much you appreciate him, dote on him to the point of spoiling him with your affections. wolfwood can attest to that, with his constant disapproving grumble every time vash playfully refuses to do a trivial task until you give him a kiss (to which you sometimes turn and peck at wolfwood's cheek too, just to pester him even more, and achieve that even rarer blush).

but you know it's taken a good deal of work for vash to even have the capacity to be comfortable receiving such affection, let alone initiate it. it had taken him time to believe he was deserving of it, deserving of love, care, tenderness, the purest form of your adoration.

it hurt you to know, hurt you to see how taken aback he was when you revealed how much you truly cared for him, in every way you could imagine, how he held himself back though you could see in those big blue eyes how much he wanted, yearned for you just the same - those pretty eyes were too expressive for his own good sometimes.

and still you waited patiently for him to be ready, as long as it took to ease him into all the ways you wanted to love him, all the ways you wanted to give your heart to him, to take care of his like your life depended on it.

so, you think he deserves you spoiling him with kisses as much as he likes, and much more than he could ever imagine. you'll give it all to him, knowing he'll always do the same, without ever expecting anything in return.

"i've created a monster, truly," you murmur against his lips, softer and sweeter than you'd ever known, after his fourth? fifth? time asking for a kiss and your fourth, fifth time complying, all too happy to peck at his rapidly flushing skin, soft and warm under your touch. he's laying half in your lap and half on the ground (more on you, really), with the pretense of helping you clean and repack your bag - which he did, to his credit - for all of thirty seconds before draping himself over you and nuzzling into your warmth.

vash pouts a little, and you count yourself lucky that it isn't at its full intensity this time, because when that happens he could really get you into trouble. "you still love me, though, right?" those big blue eyes shine as his thick brows furrow, the prettiest and most expressive you've ever seen, a shade of blue as rare and unique as they are warm and lovely.

you roll your eyes without any real annoyance, leaning in to dutifully kiss his frown away. "more than you'll ever know, you big baby."

just as quickly as that pout had appeared it vanishes, and he's grinning again, wide and mischievous. he giggles, a playful, perfect little sound that never fails to warm your heart to no end. "then it's okay, isn't it?"

you brush your fingers through his hair, still unbelievably soft somehow no matter how long and tumultuous your day has been. it comforts you just as much as it does him to soothe your fingers across his scalp and rake gently through the strands.

you roll your eyes, but hum in agreement, unable to deny it. you lean in once more, and this time he doesn't have to ask, smiling into your next kiss with that intense kind of fondness that slides sweet and thick like syrup down your throat, sticks right into your heart and never eases.

you smile between kisses, too, unable to resist.

you do spoil him, but you can't think of anyone more deserving of the kind of love you have for him, overwhelming, pure, unrelenting. you lick it into his mouth until you're sure he understands, delighting at his soft sounds of pleasure that escape the seal of your lips.

[cheralith]

a dedicated tenderness — 「 knives (nai) x reader 」

content warnings ; none

contains ; college!au, modern!au, secret relationship, just plain fluff with hundred spoons, polygun being sillies

notes ; could be read as a continuation of the previous nai fic, could not! still has the same aspects of it tho :3

You had met the Saverems when they moved across the street just barely diagonally from your house when you were just shy of six years old. Vash had caught you staring at their moving truck from behind the tall oak tree that provided a shaded sanctuary amidst the blazing summer heat. He remembers waving hello to the eyes that peeked out from the trunk of it before they flinched and ducked behind the sturdy wood again, slowly creeping back up to see if the pair of bright turquoise eyes were still staring at yours.

And when they were, Vash, being the more friendly and lively one of the two twins, decided to take it upon himself and drag his brother to go greet their new neighbor.

"Hi!" A sauntering young Vash had called cheerily to you, who was still hiding shyly behind the oak tree. "Are you our new neighbor? We just moved here!"

The young twins had managed to circle the trunk of the tree and before them stood a child around their age adorned in a colorful striped t-shirt and dirt-dusted overalls. Vash remembers you stepping back from the eager youngster, a less enthusiastic and distant version of him trailing not that far behind. You nodded, kicking at the dirt and not wanting to make eye contact with the sparkled-eye boy.

"My name is Valentinez, but you can call me Vash," he had said to you with a bright smile. He gestured to his lighter blonde and much more aloof counterpart. "This is Knives, you can call him Nai."

Your shy demeanor had suddenly faltered for a swift moment, your eyebrows getting all scrunched up in confusion at the odd names given to the two boys that little did you know, would set a place in your heart for the rest of your life. And it's returned back to the Saverem brothers. Your existence has stained each brother in such a unique way, and both Vash and Nai don't think they'll ever be able to forget you, not when your first words to them were,

"You guys kinda have weird names."

Such a sentence had lead a divide of two contrasting relationships involving the brothers—on one hand, Vash had taken it lightly to heart and merely laughed it off, easing himself into a breezy and steady friendship with you. On the other, Knives, or Nai as (only) you and Vash refer to him, had jutted out his lower lip in offense and insulted your dirty overalls, not taking into account that children still didn't have a filter before the age of ten. It forced you and him down a winding and tangling path, one that was devoid of flowery compliments and fresh smiles and laughs like the path of friendship you and Vash walked down together.

Oh no, the road you took with Nai was much more rocky, much more dwindling, and much more confusing. Insults jabbed at you and him like thorns as you'd trip over nonsensicality like sprouted tree roots waiting for you to stumble over them. The weather is never consisted as you travel down with him (never hand in hand, he'd so much as hiss out in faux pain whenever you'd brush against him). It could be stormy one day—the clouds heavy with misunderstandings, arguments and tears. It could be partly sunny—a ray of light peeking over the dismal clouds, similar to the nature of kindness that rarely shone through sometimes. Or it could just stay cloudy, as it has always been since the dawn of your "friend"ship with Nai.

Regardless of relationship status, there was certainly one thing that Vash had always knew of—that his brother had always had a quiet admiration for you. He just never seemed to act on it as much as other suitors of yours did. He isn't actually sure when Nai began to see you in a different light, but Vash can confirm that the longer he waits for something miraculous to happen, the more time will eat him alive.

He's seen it on his brother's face before. When you began your first relationship back in the more tender days of high school beginnings, Vash's eyes behind his glasses had flickered to a pair of similar ones across from him as you had introduced your then-boyfriend and he remembers the heaviness and ruddy ache that flittered across Nai's cavernous eyes. They contrasted your glowing ones, eyes filled with life and hope for the better future as you showed him off to everyone.

It was almost ritualistic, Vash thinks. Nai never seemed to care for romance unless it came to you. Vash thinks Nai would break all pairs of his glasses if he were to ever to say anything of a sort to his face, but he knew Nai was saving that blank space in his heart for you to fill, whether he realized it or not.

Nai Saverem is picky with people. He doesn't befriend those as easily as his younger brother, preferring to stay alone and distant with people that could easily take up his time so carelessly. It's why he shoos away any of his admirers with a cold glance that tells them they have zero chance with him and why there seems to be a certain thickness in the air whenever he's around that creates an invisible bubble around him. It's a thick barrier that refuses to let unknown others in and lets them know they won't be welcomed anytime soon. Introverted as he is, his energy is only so small, so there's a certain brand of people that wastes his time and therefore, he only uses his energy on people that he thinks are worth using it for.

And so Vash can't necessarily say he's too surprised like the others when Milly makes a separate groupchat that contains a series of images involving the two people excluded from it. The first is of Nai waiting outside the science building where your final class is held during Fridays. It was an odd place for him to be considering he only had one class on Fridays and would usually be home by mid-afternoon, so it was strange that Milly had caught him during the peeking hours of twilight still on campus.

The second is an image of you walking out the building and waving a hello to him, followed by the third of you and Nai's blurry figures connected via your hands in a sunset-inked sky making your way to Nai's car. The fourth of the photo sequence is a video. With a soft tenderness from Milly's hands, you get into the passenger seat with ease, the normal conversation of hostility and teasings between you and him seemingly devoid because there's no snooty faces or rolling of eyes. But it's when Nai properly starts the car that things take a turn. Its engines revving to life, he takes the time to pause and properly cradle the back of your head with his hand and properly give you a brief but soft kiss before pulling back with a dust of pink on his cheeks at the sight of your giddy, miniscule smile.

Behind the camera Milly gasps and drops her phone out of surprise on the concrete, and the video echoes the crack of the screen's phone before Milly's whine of "Oh no... it broke!" ends the video.

As buildings and nature of all arrays pass by, Vash replays the video over and over again in Wolfwood's car, examining it and the other images in full and wondering how Nai's daydreams finally came to life. Vash rubs his eyes behind his glasses, still attempting to process if what he’s seeing is real—that his icy older brother was truly thawing his resolve at the sight of you visibly and blooming a foreign affectionate that even Vash rarely sees nowadays.

Wolfwood groans when he hears the sound of the beginning of the video play again, grip tightening on the steering wheel as his knuckles whitening out of annoyance. "Would ya cut that out already! I get it, they're datin'!"

Vash flinches at his boyfriend's irritated tone. He tucks away his phone with a hasty laugh and apology. "Sorry, I'm just a little baffled that they're finally together after all these years."

The brunette makes a sort of scoffing noise. "I didn't lose all hope that your brother would never find love, but in all my years, I didn't expect it to be (Y/N) out of all people," he mutters, a cigarette dangling from his hand that sits on the edge of the window, its peppery scent lingering softly in the car. "How long do ya reckon they'll last?" he asks everyone in the car. "My bets on three months, their bickerin' is gonna put an end to it 'fore somethin' else does."

"That's mean, Wolfwood," Meryl scolds and flicks him on the back of his head, earning a yelp from him. "I'll admit myself I don't know how those two came to be, but I only wish them well and if they're happy with each other, that's all that matters."

Milly chimes in with a positive cheer. "Agreed! I'm just happy that Mr. Knives has finally found someone!" she chirps. "I really didn't want him to end up as a sad old grandpa alone."

"I wasn't insultin' them," Wolfwood huffs, "I was just merely statin' the reality. Y'all saw it earlier today too—both of 'em playin' musical chairs with the seat Knives stole in the lounge when (Y/N) got up to go get water."

Meryl shakes her head. "It's still really mean to assume their relationship won't last. I don't know about you guys, but I can see them—hey! You missed the turn!"

"Shit!"

Wolfwood swears aloud, hissing as he realizes he's passed the entrance to a vast park on the busy street. He makes a swift and hasty U-turn on the road that makes everyone grip onto the nearest object for dear life before zooming into an entrance that lead to a hidden field in the woods. The car slowly drives by it, where everyone can see a a lone picnic blanket atop a small hill with a laptop playing Miss Congeniality sits on a picnic basket. The back of two people face the parking lot, and it doesn't take long for everyone in the car to assume who they were.

On Fridays, it was a ritual to go to someone's house for a relaxing movie night and just wind down with everyone's presence for the evening. Today, however, you and Nai had excused yourselves from it with what seemed to be valid excuses until Milly's paparazzi work had jumbled in hours later.

“Can’t,” Nai droned, his eyes still glued on his laptop. “I’ve some papers to grade for one of my classes before the midterm ends.”

“And I’ve got a lab report to write up with my lab mates later,” you mentioned. “I can catch next week’s if that’s okay.”

It clicked to them that it was secretly code for you and Nai to actually attend a secret picnic movie date, which Wolfwood took mild offense to as Miss Congeniality was one of his favorite movies, disliking that it was being used for a date out of all things.

"They can't be serious," Wolfwood sneers as he pulls into a coveted shady area of the parking lot, safe from yours and Nai's view but still able to provide the gang with proper sights. "What screams romantic about Sandra Bullock having to attend a pageant? There's literally so much better romcoms out—"

"Shut up!" Everyone scolds.

"You'll give away our cover!" Meryl hisses. "The point is to be subtle and quiet, you idiot!"

Wolfwood snides and rolls his eyes, his hands throwing up in surrender.

On the other side of the hill, you gently press another strawberry to Nai's lips. His teeth gently bite into it, the juices of it slowly seeping out from the corner of his lips for your thumb to scrape away, a feather-like touch grazing his lips as it does so. You go to stare at the red-stained tint on them for a moment unconsciously, the natural gloss the fruit left off almost hypnotizing you.

It goes unnoticed by Nai, however.

"If you wanted a kiss, just say so," Nai says, plucking the greenery of the strawberry out your hand to put it into the trash pile.

You break out of your trance with a stunned shiver going up your spine at the sound of Nai's casualty. It was still somewhat unnerving for him to be saying such things, especially considering how he used to be before you two began dating. Words conveying such warmth were still unusual to hear, but it wasn't like you didn't like it.

A warmth creeps on your cheeks and you blink. "What? No, I was just simply... going to fix your collar, that's all!" you lie hastily. Your hand goes to fidget with an already-neat shirt collar before your wrist is grabbed by Nai's own. It pulls you into him and Nai's lisps peck your own quickly before his attention returns to the movie like nothing had ever happened.

You swear you can feel some steam coming out of your head. While you were usually the one that began the small touches of affections, it always felt different and much more intimate when Nai would return them or replicate them in his own fervor. Maybe it was due to the lack of intimacy he displayed to anyone else, or perhaps because they were from Nai himself that they felt more personal—the man who barely showed any emotion to anyone other than distaste and apathy—and so for such an individual to be sharing such liaison with you just felt more close to heart because he chose you to share it with.

"I thought you weren't one for PDA..." you mutter, fighting the urge the lick your lips as the acidity of the strawberry leftover lingers on them.

Nai shrugs. "We're the only ones around here, so the 'P' aspect of PDA doesn't necessarily apply right now."

"That's what you think," you interject. "There could be some weirdo prodding around the bushes as we speak, spying on us, y'know!"

He lets out a soft snort as the ending scene begins to play out, where Sandra Bullock begins to give her speech about friendship in the banquet hall starts to seal up the ending ropes of the movie. "And what weirdo would want to spend their time spying on two college students on a picnic?"

"A weirdo who tends to enjoy movies and real-life romance."

"Those people don't exist."

"To you they might not, but to me anything is possible."

"Shut up before I kiss you again."

You snort aloud, fighting the urge to react to his declaration like a schoolgirl. "You're acting as if I don't want th—"

Milly gasps loudly as she watches Nai dips his face to yours to once again, kiss you, but with more ardor than the last, this one lasting much more soundly than the previous one. She can sense there's true passion and dare she say, genuine love, in it and she melts at the sight of it fondly.

Vash himself watches the scene unfold with wide eyes, pausing his munching on his sandwich as he hogs the binoculars from a protesting Meryl. It takes all the fight in him to not proudly cheer aloud at his brother making a move and he gags on his sandwich when he witnesses Nai tuck a lock of hair behind your ear after the kiss. His lips still tell nothing of a sort, still a stiff downward line like they usually were, but the rest of his radiates a sort of fluster when you giggle softly at his antics. Confidence looks good on his brother, Vash thinks.

"Shit, they're on the move!" Wolfwood exclaims after a while of spying. Everyone hastily packs their things and duck as an ignorant you and Nai make your way down the hill and back into his creme white car, where Wolfwood's doesn't trail too far behind. The four of them spend the rest of the evening not watching a romantic movie as planned, but instead fending for the real life soap opera that enacts in front of them, tailing you and Nai as you travel around town and into various shops.

"Who do you think made the first move?" Meryl asks with her eyes peering behind the binoculars, peeking behind the window of the car that sits parallel on the same street a record shop was. "I'm placing bets that it was—oh no, everyone duck!" They shift under the seats when you two walk out with small bags in hand holding sorts of records and CDs, still talking aimlessly and the beat-up grey-black Camry still unnoticed in the background.

"Never really took Knives for a music-type of guy..." Wolfwood mutters. They slowly rise up from their spots and beginning to tail the car again.

Nai's eyes go to flicker to the rearview mirror. "Are they still following us?"

You give a chuckle and glance at the side mirror, where a familiar car of sorts drives only a car behind you. You had realized back at the ice cream parlor that four pairs of watchful eyes had their sights on you and Nai awhile back, but figured it'd be awkward to confront them and ruin the date. Instead, you let them have their fun being pretend James Bonds and went on with the date like usual, attempting to ignore them as much as possible (it was quite hard, however, when you could see Vash and Wolfwood almost start wrestling in the front seats for aux).

You knew that you and Nai had to come clean sooner or later, but he had admitted that he wasn't ready to state publicly that he was in a committed relationship. You still weren't sure whether it was because of his own pride of being frustratingly independent or it was nervousness of entering a new era that was holding him, but you respected his wishes and continued to play the part of a bickering old couple stuck in the bodies of college students like how you were beforehand. You think you were still just as nervous as you were in the first few weeks.

But when Nai's voice echoes the words he promised to you when he officially asked you out with sweaty palms and palpitating heartbeats, a warmth in your chest unfolds in comfort, reminding you to look on the brighter, warmer side of things, even if you weren't too confident.

"I... really want to make this work... so I promise to do all that I can if you'll do the same."

You give a soft smile at his promise he made awhile back to a particular no one. Nai raises a brow at your mysterious grinning.

"What are you smiling about?" he inquires as he leads you to the entrance of your apartment building.

"Oh, nothing..." you shrug off, leaving Nai in the dust of confusion.

Nai narrows his eyes for a bit in suspicion before sighing out aloud. His eyes go to hover on the sight of that dumb Camry again, its shaded windows concealing who its passengers was from view but Nai has seen it too many times to count to know whose car it was and only who could be inside of it. The smoke that wisps from behind the driver's window does nothing more that confirm his suspicions as he picks up the scent of familiar menthol cigarettes that doesn't take him long to guess who it belongs to.

"Do you think we should confront them?" you ask.

Nai shakes his head, "Just let them be for now. I'll deal with them later," he murmurs when he leads you safely into your apartment building. "Text me when you get up to your apartment," he directs before brushing his lips against your cheek as a goodbye.

You nod, affirmative. "I will, thank you for today, too," you praise fondly and give his hand one last squeeze before you let go. You watch as Nai makes his way back to the entrance before you call his name out again.

"Hey, Nai?"

His head turns back to you, raising a brow. You take this time to fully embody him before your own eyes, from the tufts of his hair to each freckle on his body.

Nai before your relationship and Nai in a relationship you think are two vastly different people, and you still can't place your finger on who the real one was. A part of you thinks he's putting up a front in the eye of the public for his own self-preservation, but another part tells you that he's merely just showing a newer, more refined side of him that you've never seen before—a more tender and protective version of Nai that you think only Vash has seen before a handful of times. Sometimes, you pride yourself in confirming that this side of Nai, whether it was real or not, was only shown to you as a sign of trust from his desolate self.

However, there were other times that made you think this honeymoon era might not last and you and him will go back to how things used to be, altering the fate of your relationship for the worst. A petal of guilt would bloom every time that thought crosses your mind due to the unsettling feeling that perhaps you didn't confide in Nai enough, that maybe you just didn't earn enough of him to lock your feelings into place.

But when he waits patiently for your response, blinking slowly, you realize that perhaps it was indeed the latter—a slow exposure to a new side of Nai Saverem—that was yours for the taking.

"I love you," you declare in the foyer, your voice echoing and forcing your message to repeat itself to him for a few seconds.

Your eyes scan for a reaction from him and you earn a flustered, non-verbal one as a response, one that makes his lips thin and makes him thickly swallow and cheeks flush. A grin teeters on the corners of your mouth as you watch him attempt to utter out a reply. It falls short on his tongue, however, and you're only given a nod and wave before Nai (almost hurriedly) exits the building, the tips of his ears pink.

A giggle slips its way out of you as you enter the elevator, fondly thinking on his lasting image. Baby steps, you think.

On the floors below, Nai groans and drags a hand down his face at the memory of your declaration to him. It's more difficult than he thought to ignore the loud thundering of his heartbeat, and he doesn't quite enjoy how it twists his chest so... tightly. He feels foolish for not even gathering up courage to just say a mere "Me too." back to you, but his embarrassment suddenly dissipates upon seeing the same car still in its place. Nai suddenly remembers the last errand he has to take care as his feet carry him to it, the scent of a cigarette growing stronger each step.

"Wolfwood, can you at least take that outside?" Meryl complains as the the black haired man lights up his fourth cigarette of the night. It's a miracle how his car seats don't reek from the stench.

He shakes his head, jutting it towards the building. "No can do, sweetheart. Our cover will be blown if Knives sees m—what the hell?!"

A loud bang rumbles through the car from the roof and the familiar figure of Nai Saverem looms over the car before he ducks his head down and gestures for a nervous Vash to roll down the window. Vash, fear-stricken, obeys his command almost automatically, leaving Nai to stare boredly back at everyone's pale faces. Wolfwood thinks Nai's fist had created an indent on the top of his car, but his words fail him when he goes to stare at Nai's icy face.

"So did you guys have fun spying on us?"

a/n ; this was just kind of a fluff blurb to help me write something that was the next chapter of if the shoe fits because i kind of needed something fresh and new to work on. writer's block? i'm not too sure! i hope you enjoyed either way!

thank you for reading once more and as always, comments and reblogs are always appreciated <;3!

[the-and-sign-anon]

First Spark

Word count: 6,000

Trigun Masterlist

In your years on the planet of Gunsmoke, you’d become an incredible shot and a nearly impossible target. While the Humanoid Typhoon could come whirling into a town with the best intentions and the worst luck, only to be chased out by bounty hunters or fearful townspeople, you arrived and departed with all the fanfare of a wheezing breath. 

You never took a shot you couldn’t make, never wasted a bullet. No one could hit what they couldn’t see, so you ensured they never saw you to begin with. Each town was visited for no more than a few days, just long enough to rest and resupply. When things went according to plan, no one ever even knew you were there. 

Your quiet stop one day in a town called Wraithwind was made much louder when a red clad gunman came tumbling through your window and into your motel room. He collapsed on the wood floor with a pitiful whine and a gentle apology. And just like that, your life was irrevocably changed. 

If pressed, you couldn’t explain why you took to following him around. Maybe it was because you were curious to a fault. Maybe you pitied him. Maybe you were just a masochist and wanted to see yourself suffer. 

You stuck with Vash for a long time, occasionally taking bullets for him and arguing over when he was allowed to cry for your injuries. Most days you just looked after him. You were only human and when you spent as much time with him as you did, it wasn’t too difficult to realize that he wasn’t. But that never stopped you from defending him, rarely with words but always with actions. 

Knives became aware of you after a run-in with Legato Bluesummers. His faithful disciple had been prepared to taunt Vash and ridicule him for his feeble attempts to look after humanity. He hadn’t quite seen you coming, which was exactly what you’d hoped for. A few quick, perfect shots had him running out of town with a venomous warning to watch your back. 

He was all too happy to report back to Knives, who took an immediate interest in you. Efforts were made to learn more about you, then to see you for himself. In a rare excursion beyond his sphere of influence, Knives made a personal trip to meet you. 

On a cold night too far from any town to rent a room, you took first watch while Vash curled up in a little cave to rest. The wind was light, slowly but surely reshaping the ever-shifting dunes. The moons were glowing brightly enough to illuminate your surroundings, but you were paranoid enough to keep your guard up. 

Knives approached silently, slowing as you locked eyes and drew your weapon. It was held at the ready, but you didn’t try to fire. You were smart enough (or stupid enough) to let him get close first. When he was ten feet away, you raised a hand. 

“That’s close enough. What do you want?”

He tilted his head and studied you in the dim light. 

“You’re the one my brother is so fond of?”

You hardly looked special at first glance. His words were enough for you to brace your weapon aimed at his chest. 

“Relax, simple creature. If I intended to kill you now, you would never have seen me coming.”

“Funny, I could say the same.”

“Then lower your weapon.”

“You first.”

How you could have known his blades were poised to strike, he wasn’t sure. No one could predict his movements, so he chalked it up to paranoia. Regardless, he let the blades retract and watched you holster the gun. 

“I’ll only ask one more time. What do you want?”

“To know why my brother is wasting his time running around the desert with such a boring creature. Surely he has better things to do.”

If you were offended by his words, you didn’t show it. Not that he would have cared, beyond perhaps a small bit of satisfaction. 

“I’m sure he does. But he’s the one who crashed through my window.”

Knives clearly lacked patience for your answers. He didn’t know what that response meant, nor did he care to learn. 

“Explain yourself. Why do you insist on following him?”

“Got nothing better to do. And I think he’s rubbing off on me, at least enough that I’d feel bad to ditch him now.”

Despite your better judgment, you kept talking to Knives. He clearly detested you, but you answered the questions he asked about Vash. You assured him that his brother was eating, resting whenever you could force him to, and still wearing that bright red coat. He bristled at that, though he knew it would have been wishful thinking to hope that might have changed. 

Neither of you could be sure how much time passed, but you yawned eventually and looked back at the dark cave. 

“Alright. As much fun as this has been, I need some rest. Vash is already bound to complain that I let him sleep too long. I’d guess you don’t intend to be here when he-” 

When you glanced back, Knives was already gone. Huh. No one can catch you unawares like that.

It went on like that for weeks. You never told Vash, though you couldn’t really be sure why. He admitted to you eventually that he was looking for his brother. He never elaborated much, never explained what drove them apart; but you knew it must have been bad. On nights you couldn’t reach a town though, Knives appeared again and again. 

Despite yourself, you slowly let him see more and more of you. Despite himself, he did the same. Like the first sparks of a fire, you started to see specks of light in each other. 

You could see it in the way he talked about Vash, loving him regardless of how they fought. He spoke about humans like dirt beneath his heel, but you couldn’t find it in yourself to feel offended. He never really explained, but you knew he had to have been hurt deeply to feel this way. You never asked, just as you never asked Vash. Regardless, you could see his light in his passion, his pride in his abilities, even the way he insists he could kill you at any time. 

“I’d skewer you before you could even cry for my brother.”

“I know your brother. He’d make you bleed same as me, assuming I don’t shoot you first.”

You never acknowledge when the threats lose their bite. 

Knives, as much as he hates it, sees something in you eventually. He can hear the weariness in your voice when you share the barest hints of your life before his brother came crashing into it. He sees the scorching fire in your eyes when you describe what you did with troublemakers before Vash came along. How little mercy you believed yourself to be capable of without the motivation of avoiding Vash’s tears. 

Unfortunately, good things rarely last, even when you refuse to admit that they’re good. 

You just needed some time to yourself. So you let Meryl and Milly tag along with Vash while you went to the next town over. You’d promised to come back soon with enough money from odd jobs to keep Vash’s belly full for three weeks at least. He was too busy bickering with the insurance girls to argue against your excursion, so off you went. 

You didn’t see any of them again for a long time. 

It was supposed to be as easy as you’d promised. Then some idiots with more bullets than brain cells got involved. You had just stepped into a general store to ask around for work. All you needed were some simple answers. But more than a dozen bandits surrounded the place and the fighting started. You’d never been overwhelmed by a fight before. But you hadn’t been in a fight without Vash since you met. You hadn’t been in a fight with concern for anyone’s life but your own since you’d met him either. 

With instincts you’d only formed since traveling with the Humanoid Typhoon, you rushed to protect the innocents, and paid dearly for it. Before you truly understood what had happened, you were knocked out and shot, left to bleed out among others while the gang took everything they could and ran. 

Your mind was a complete blank when you awoke in a ramshackle clinic in what remained of the town. The doctor and nurse helped you get back on your feet, but you had nowhere to go. You had been far enough away that Vash and the girls didn’t know what happened to you and you had no memory of them. So you remained there for nearly two months while you recovered. 

Knives tried to visit exactly once in that time, only to discover that Vash was alone and you were nowhere to be seen. He refused to try again, instead trying to puzzle out why he wanted to see you at all. You were a disgusting, twisted, vile human just like all the others. You existed to hurt and haunt and ruin everything you touched. He didn’t need you, Vash didn’t need you. No. He wouldn’t go back again, he would wait for Vash to find him and they’d have their grand argument again and either the spider or the butterfly would live. You were neither, you were nothing. 

When Vash was forced to accept that you had gone your own way and left him behind, he kept moving. The girls were worried about you, of course, but he had always thought deep down that you’d leave him. Even his dearest friends wised up to the danger of his proximity eventually and diverged paths. He just wished you would have said goodbye to him first. 

The last thing any of them expected after Vash bested Knives and dragged his battered body to the nearest town to recover was to find you. Although, it wasn’t quite you, but it could be again. 

You’d taken on a new name, offered by the children you’d saved that fateful day. You had a new purpose, taken up in the memory of the people you failed to save that day. Like being reborn, you had departed from that broken town to hunt down the gang that left you there. 

It took two years, but you slaughtered every last one. You stalked them, ripped them apart, cut them down even in the homes a few had made. Some buried part of you knew someone would weep for their blood on your hands, but it wasn’t you. 

When you found the last one, he was hiding in a town not far from November. Vash had found his way there as well, with his slowly rehabilitating twin and his three friends in tow. They’d all agreed to stick together and look after Knives, at least until Vash was sure the threat he posed was minimal. Even when Knives could manage just fine on his own, no one in the group broached the idea of splitting up. 

While he didn’t understand and could not wrestle an answer from Knives, Vash supervised a short walk each night in the light of the five moons. Were it not for Knives’ stubbornness in doing so, he wouldn’t have seen you again. 

You stalked across the rooftop towards an open window. Foolish. It was easy to slip in, draw a blade, and approach the bed where the final gang member slept soundly. You were poised to strike when a set of light footsteps approached. In an instant, you were back out the window watching as a child swung open the door and padded over to the man. 

His voice was thick with sleep, but he ushered the child into bed and shuffled his pillow aside for them to share. Complaints of a nightmare were gently shushed and you drew back further. Luck had abandoned you tonight, but you were sure it would return soon enough. You could bide your time. 

Knives was staring around him with intense suspicion as Vash watched him walk. He didn’t trust his brother, as much as he wished he could. The elder twin was under his constant watch, free of him only when he was resting and was replaced by Wolfwood or Meryl and Milly. 

His eyes caught on a flash of movement on a rooftop. His steps faltered, quickly mirrored by Vash. 

“What?”

“Look.”

He didn’t point, but Vash caught it himself soon enough. You were just hopping down into a dark alley as the twins approached. Vash kept one hand on his gun while Knives formed two blades ready to strike. You tucked your hood up over your head and turned to leave, then froze in place. 

“Y/N?”

Knives kept his blades drawn, but Vash raised his hand to his mouth in shock. He was sure you were gone forever. No note, no letters, nothing. Why were you here now?

Your brow furrowed. You hadn’t heard that name since…

Knives knocked aside the knife you threw, sending it bouncing to the ground harmlessly. You never missed. So how had he done that?

“Y/N, it’s okay; Knives is with me!”

Vash hurried to step in front of his brother and raise his hands in a placating gesture.

“Who are you?”

The despair set in immediately. Vash’s breath caught in his throat and he stepped closer, trying to brush aside the way you tensed up when he did so. 

“Come on, Y/N. It’s me, it’s Vash.”

“Brother, tread lightly. They don’t know you.”

“Please. Y/N, this isn’t funny.”

You drew another knife, but Knives saw it coming and two lengths of dulled blades lurched forward to grab your hands. You struggled as soon as he touched you, fighting to get free even as Knives rounded his brother and approached. Your expression betrayed no recognition of him either, so he made a decision. 

“Vash, trust me for a moment.”

“What?”

He reached out behind him to rest a hand on his arm. 

“Go around the corner. I will release them once you’re out of sight, then I will follow. Now go.”

Vash wanted to argue, but his mind was racing with questions, so he obeyed. You watched with wary eyes as he disappeared from the alley. 

“Y/N-” 

Knives spoke quietly, but you cut him off. 

“That’s not my name. Now release me, whatever you are, so I can kill you.”

He chuckled despite himself. Not because it was pitiful to believe you could accomplish such a task, but because he knew you’d make a valiant attempt.

“Whatever happened to you… it would benefit us all if you returned with us and explained yourself. My brother knows you, whether you are aware of it or not.”

“I’ve never seen either of you before.”

“You have. Just…” He couldn’t even believe he was saying this. “Just be careful, human. Vash… he doesn’t deserve to lose you twice.”

He loosened his grip and you practically melted into the shadows. Knives returned to his twin and they went home to the little house Milly was fixing up for the group to live in. Vash was inconsolable, at least to Knives. He was unwilling to let anyone else try to comfort the weeping blond, but eventually conceded that Milly was far more adept at doing so. And he didn’t feel like admitting that he knew you too, so pretended to have no knowledge beyond your public connection to the group. 

Meryl had a thousand questions Knives couldn’t and wouldn’t answer. He still detested her presence and never spoke to the humans more than needed, so he retired to the room with the best view of the rest of town and watched, as if he’d catch another glimpse of your shadow. 

On another of his walks three nights later, you dropped down from a building, catching Meryl by surprise. She flinched and put a hand to her chest as if to calm her heart. 

“Geez, Y/N.”

She stared at you, trying to reconcile what she’d known of you before with who stood in front of her now. You had always been terse, with a sense of humor even Milly didn’t seem to appreciate and a glare that could stop anyone in their tracks. All the warmth she’d witnessed when you talked with Vash or tended to children was gone now. You were wrapped in a cloak she recognized, but your eyes were vacant as you looked her up and down like a threat. 

“You.” Your gaze locked on Knives. “You spoke to me as if I were familiar to you. Why?”

He tensed up when Meryl waited for him to respond. He knew you’d never told her about the little meetups you had, and he wasn’t about to tell her himself. 

“Why don’t you come back with us and Vash can explain things?”

You stepped back when Meryl tried to reach out, stopping her as pain flashed in her eyes. 

“I’ve heard stories of the Stampede. Why do you believe I’m the person he traveled with? How would you know if I was?”

Knives spared Meryl a look. Vash had trusted him the first time. Meryl wasn’t so open though. After a few seconds of internal debate, she let out a frustrated sigh and retreated to the end of the street. She was still watching, but it was a step in the right direction. 

“Y/N-”

“Nemea. I’m called Nemea.”

He nodded once and tried again. 

“Nemea, then. We don’t just believe you’re my brother’s friend. We know you are. The others have met you, they’ve traveled with you before.”

“What about you?”

“I- I’ve met you. I kept tabs on my brother, I have for years.”

“Then what happened? If I was such a devoted friend, why did I leave?”

“You’re the one who would have answers to that.”

You were skeptical, that much was obvious. But he knew that whatever had happened, you weren’t playing dumb. You wanted answers as much as they all did. So you wrapped your cloak tighter around yourself and nodded for Knives to lead the way. 

The night was full of tears, which clearly made both you and Knives uncomfortable. Vash and Milly wept as you explained what you could remember in as much detail as you were willing to share. Wolfwood and Meryl listened closely and when you finished, they forced everyone to go to bed. Meryl made sure the twins were in their rooms before sitting down on the porch with you. 

“Nemea… I’m sorry. You were- you were a good companion for Vash. You’re the only one I’ve never seen him try to run from. If we had gone with you when you left, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“You don’t know that for certain. It’s possible I traveled farther than you think before I got in that fight.”

“But it’s possible you were really that close, too. That we just didn’t know. That we didn’t protect you like you’ve protected all of us.”

“Either way, what’s done is done.”

She fidgeted with her hands and you had a momentary urge to still them. 

“Do you… want to stick around? Try to see if being around us can jog your memory somehow?”

You looked out at the moonlit desert sands beyond town. You’d spent countless nights out there, you knew it. Even before you got in that fight, before that broken town named you Nemea. 

“I suppose… it wouldn’t be the worst idea. But I can’t promise I’ll go back to whoever I used to be. I don’t know what I may or may not remember.”

“I think even getting to know you all over again would be worth it for Vash. And for the rest of us.”

You stayed there when Meryl called it a night. She hoped you would stick around, but could hardly blame you if you didn’t. She had no idea what brought you to town in the first place and tried not to pry. She just left a spare blanket on her chair and went to bed. 

Wolfwood was the first one awake the next morning and found your scribbled note on the kitchen table. You explained that you had gone out for groceries and would return by midday at the latest. Milly and Vash were the most hopeful that things could settle into a new, better normal with you back. They were somewhat mistaken, but considered what they got a victory of its own. 

Every morning, you would assemble some kind of meal for the group. Most days, you went out to work around town, bringing everything you earned back to Meryl to manage expenses. You rarely engaged in their attempts at conversation or even chose to spend much time around them. To his utter shock, Vash watched as you slowly gravitated towards Knives of all people. 

Neither of you ate much or liked sitting at the kitchen table, so you both shuffled out to the back porch with one plate to share at mealtimes. You would watch each other closely, like wary animals preparing for a fight. Everyone tried not to listen in on conversation, but caught a few stories of your travels you shared with Knives on quiet evenings. 

Over the course of several weeks, you formed a tentative bond with the others over the tiniest things you began to remember. Whenever Wolfwood tried to light up around you, you would snatch the cigarette from his hand and scold him, stopping yourself halfway through the first time in confusion. Milly would offer you some of her precious pudding, smiling so wide you wondered how her face didn’t hurt when you accepted as you always used to. 

Whenever you brought the money you earned to Meryl, she would ask how you were doing and wait patiently for a proper answer. You found yourself sitting with her often, more interested in listening than talking, but sitting with her all the same. Vash was the toughest. He so clearly missed you and wanted to be close like you used to be. He tried to offer target practice together, or share his donuts with you. 

Try as you might, your memories of him were just so fuzzy. For over two months, all you could come up with was fleeting moments of the certainty that you often fought back to back. You never felt even the slightest bit nervous to turn your back to him, no matter the circumstances. After three months together, you ruffled his hair for the first time and drove him to tears. 

You’d been listening to Knives play piano. It took some doing, but the group had gotten one fixed up enough for him to tune it and he played it daily. Vash was seated on the bench beside him, hands tucked in his lap, humming softly along with the tune the elder twin played. You had finished cleaning the dishes from breakfast and lunch, drying them off and returning them to the cabinets before allowing yourself a minute to watch. 

Knives was… majestic when he played. His fingers danced across the keys with a mastery you couldn’t even imagine. He never once needed sheet music, though you offered once to look for some if he wanted it. Vash was watching too, his eyes tracing the black and white keys as they moved up and down. You slowly stepped closer, eventually rounding the piano to lean just slightly into Vash’s shoulder.

His eyes darted up to you, watching you close yours and sink into the music. When Knives brought the tune to an end, he looked over. Something in his gut twisted at the way his brother looked at you. As far as he knew, Vash was bonded to Meryl. So why did he look at you with such deep fondness? 

You slowly opened your eyes again in the stillness. Vash was still watching, almost waiting for something. You just narrowed your eyes at him and brought your hand up, ruffling his hair into a mess. 

“Hey!”

He swatted you away on instinct, then stopped short with tears in his eyes. 

“You-”

“What?”

He smiled as the tears began to fall, prompting both you and Knives to watch with mild discomfort. Vash gently touched your hand and you let him guide it back to his head before you ruffled his hair again for good measure. 

“You used to do that all the time…”

You managed a little half smile and stepped away when your gaze drifted to Knives. 

“Well… it’s not my fault. The hair is begging to be messed with.”

You turned away and left the room to shake off the awkwardness. Vash brushed away his tears and flinched when he saw his brother’s glare. 

“What?”

“Do you not have a bonded human already?”

He tilted his head in confusion and Knives continued. 

“The small one, is she not your human? I can hardly imagine you need two.”

Knives didn’t wait for a response before taking his leave as well. Vash just sat there for several more minutes trying to puzzle out what his brother could possibly be talking about. 

The months drifted by as you all learned how to live together. Arguments became few and far between, though there was a healthy amount of mostly good natured bickering. You and Milly were the primary providers for the household, though Meryl, Wolfwood, and Vash found some work here and there. Knives, as per his brother’s direction, spent most of his time resting or simply hiding in the house. You eventually dragged him into helping with chores, which he allowed only you to make him do. 

As your memories slowly began to resurface, you settled in better with everyone. The only person you were entirely honest with was Knives. In the dead of night, when the moons were slim and everyone else was asleep, you admitted to him what had brought you to town all those months ago. You told him about the lives you took, the blood on your hands. You supposed if anyone could understand, it would be him. He swore to you he would keep your secret and for the first time since your mutual agreement to keep your initial meetings secret, you trusted him with the information. 

After a year in that house, where Milly and Wolfwood repaired windows and doors, where Vash cleaned floors while Meryl washed dishes, where Knives played the piano and you hung laundry to dry; you walked back from a long day of work and realized it had become a home. 

You hadn’t had one in so long. The first place you considered as such was burned to the ground in an attack that lit a fire in your eyes like nothing you could possibly ignore. Your childhood died in those ashes and you rose as a killer, a gunslinger intent on never staying in one place again. You had spent so many years hunting, killing, forgetting, remembering, gaining, losing. 

For the first time you could remember, you didn’t have to do anything. You looked at the freshly painted shutters and newly built front steps and knew you could just be. With a light heart, you headed through the door and stopped in your tracks at the scene before you. 

Meryl looked thoroughly exasperated with the twins on the floor, trying to grab each other in a headlock while Wolfwood lightheartedly cheered them on. Milly was absentmindedly preparing to shoot them with her stun gun. 

“Uh… evening, everyone? What is going on?”

Knives paused for a moment at the sound of your voice, allowing Vash the opportunity to grapple him more effectively and trap him on the floor. He growled in frustration, but Vash wasn’t about to let him go. 

“Knives, apologize to Vash.”

“No!”

Your brow furrowed. What had he done now?

“Knives, I’m not letting you go until you apologize! I ask for so little, but I deserve that much!”

You looked at Meryl for an explanation, who ushered Milly and Wolfwood out of the room. She tapped your shoulder and you leaned in close. 

“They’ve been at it for over an hour. I think we both need to talk some sense into them.”

“What happened now?”

“Knives got it in his head that Vash is in love with you.”

You snorted and marched over to the twins. You grabbed them both by one ear and dragged them to sit side by side on the couch. Both winced and rubbed at their ears when you let go. Vash looked like a kicked puppy while Knives gave you his best glare. 

“Okay, boys. Meryl just said one of the stupidest things I’ve ever heard. So explain to me what exactly happened and why. Vash, you go first.”

“I didn’t do anything! Knives just attacked me!”

Knives shoved him like a child and you grabbed their arms to prevent it from continuing. 

“Knives, why did you attack him? You guys have been doing so well lately.”

He kept glaring at Vash until you put your hands on your hips. 

“Do I have to send him to the other room so you’ll talk to me?”

He grumbled something, then sighed when you still stared him down. 

“Vash thinks he needs two humans.”

“Vash likes most humans, Knives. Isn’t that what your century long fight was about?”

He huffed. An oversimplification, but not inaccurate. 

“But he thinks he needs two bonded humans. That’s different.”

“Vash, what are ‘bonded humans’ supposed to be?”

The gunslinger smiled sheepishly and rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Uh… he means being in a relationship. Meryl and I would count as ‘bonded’ in the way he’s talking about.”

You turned back to Knives. 

“And you think Vash feels that way about me?”

“Obviously!”

You guffawed and bent over in wild laughter. Meryl looked completely exhausted as Knives seemed to grow increasingly frustrated. When you managed to catch your breath, you stood back at full height and brushed away your tears of laughter. 

“I’m sorry. Knives, how in the world did you come to that conclusion?”

“He hangs around you constantly.”

“We all live in the same house, he hangs out with all of us.”

“He watches you.”

“Always has, he’s a weird little dude.”

Vash made a pitiful little noise and you waved it off with a reassuring smile. You’d called him weird before, he knew well by now that you considered it a compliment. 

“He cried when you ruffled his hair.”

“Because I had amnesia! Knives-” You knelt down to meet his eye when he refused to look up from the floor. “Vash is the best friend I’ve ever had. He and I stuck together for a long time. It was hard for him when I got amnesia and couldn’t remember him. It was really important for us when I started to remember again.”

“So you were bonded then?”

“No!”

You threw your hands up and gestured for Meryl to take Vash out of the room. Once they were gone, you sat on the couch beside Knives. 

“Knives… I’ve never felt that way about Vash, and he’s never felt that way about me. The kind of love he has for Meryl is something I’ve never seen from him before. He’s my best friend and neither of us would rather have it any other way. Got it?”

Knives slowly looked over at you and nodded. He didn’t like being wrong, but he supposed he didn’t mind this time. 

“Now. Why does all that even matter to you anyway? Is the idea of Vash loving two humans that much more off putting than him loving one?”

“...not exactly…”

“Then what is it? I know you aren’t Meryl’s biggest fan, but you haven’t complained about them being together for a while.”

You were willing to wait as long as you had to for an answer. You well knew by now that Knives took his time crafting answers. He never just rushed into saying anything. So you sat on the couch, twiddling your thumbs, watching the dust particles float through the air in the sunset lighting. 

“I didn’t like the idea of Vash… and you… being bonded.”

“I’m that repulsive, huh?”

Your weak attempt at humor was ignored. 

“My brother loves humans and I can’t change that. I understand that now. He loves Meryl. I can’t change that. I… haven’t cared at all for any human since Rem. I loved her as a child and I hated her when I felt I could no longer see her as blameless in our situation. I hated her for a long time, even when I shouldn’t have. And now that I’m learning how to let go of that, it’s more than a century too late to do anything about it.”

You leaned back on the couch and tucked your feet up. You watched the fading light out the windows while he took a minute to breathe before continuing. 

“What I’m trying to say is… I don’t connect with humans. I don’t want to, I don’t mean to… and against my better judgment, I do care about you. I don’t want Vash to bond with you.”

His words gave out. He couldn’t get any further than that. So you leaned a little, testing the waters. He didn’t jump to his feet or shove you to the floor, which you considered a victory. Knives let your shoulder brush against his, not too close, just enough to feel a whisper of your warmth. 

A part of you wondered how you hadn’t understood what he was feeling. People’s emotions had never been your strong suit, but you were pretty good at reading your closest friends. He was one of them now, or was on his way at least. But it took you a bit by surprise that he cared enough to fight with his brother over the idea of him loving you. 

As the room darkened and cooled, you ran a hand over your hair and watched Knives. His hair had been growing out since Vash brought him to town, but he refused to let anyone cut it for him. It hung around his face, brushing his shoulders and hiding his eyes depending on how he sat. His usually icy blue eyes looked almost gray in the fading light. 

“I’m going to make you a promise. I will never ‘bond’ with Vash. I won’t likely bond with anyone else either, at least for the foreseeable future. And if I do, I’ll make sure they have your seal of approval first.” His gaze flickered up to you. “But, you have to make me a promise in return.”

Knives huffed and hunched up his shoulders. He and Vash shared the ability to make themselves look small and innocent when they really wanted to. 

“You have to promise not to attack anyone else you think likes me. Deal?”

You took one more chance for the night. Your hand reached out to shake, and Knives matched it a few seconds later. Then you stood, letting your loose grip guide him to follow. A clattering sounded from the kitchen as you entered the dining room, clearly spotting Wolfwood as he yanked Milly around the corner. You decided to let their eavesdropping slide for now as the scent of stew reached your nose. Meryl was cooking. 

Dinner was a bit stiff at first, but when you flicked a little stew at Vash and he yelped dramatically, the tension seemed to fracture and things went back to normal. Chatter surrounded the table, everyone tore apart the bread in the center, and Knives gently shuffled his foot to press against yours on the floor. Whenever words came back to him, you’d listen. For now, he communicated what he could and you understood well enough.

[akilikesbread]

quotes from watching trigun stampede with my friends so SPOILERS:

“Bro he even falls zestily” (in reference to wolfwood)

“oh cool flashback” “more like a VASHBACK am i right? ZINGER” “kys.”

“my lawyers have advised me to not discuss what i would do to his stupid fluffy blonde hair”

WW: “the big man upstairs made me strong” “The big man upstairs made me like people with wires and mandibles.”

*vashs arm gets sucked into a blackhole* “bro wtf, hollow purple”

“boy why you so 🪴”

“motherfucker so gay the cigarette bends the second it touches his mouth”

“this is just a documentary of california”

*BadLads gang shows up* “BL? Boys love? They kiss men?”

*Livio standing menacingly* “SANS???”

*in reference to eye of Michael* “Why’s their logo literally new mexico”

*Legato appearance* “blue hair AND PRONOUNS??” “whats with daman mills and voicing gay men”

*Woowoo getting tortured* “theyre injecting 🏳️‍🌈 into his bloodstream”

*First wolfwood appearance* “He better hit people with that fucking cross”

“he looks hot when hes troubled”

*In reference to Rosa* “If pregnant lady dies i’m leaving the call

“OH MY GOD HES REDPILLED.” “Vashed and redpilled”

“Tricum stampede”

*we were watching on an illegal site so it kept opening new tabs* “AHHHH PORN”

*wolfwood gets fucking bent in half by legato* “Bro where can i get a massage like that”

“Roberto looks like. hold on.” The image sent:

“if the animation was a person i’d make out with them sloppy style. with tongue.”

*in Rollo’s old town with the biblical radio shit* “Guys this sounds just like something my bus driver would say”

*zazie turns into a swarm* “would you still love me if i was a worm :(“

“vash’s mom is pretty” “i’m gonna stop you right there.”

*vash.* “LOOK AT HIS SLUTTY WAIST”

“yeah nai just really liked taking out arms this episode”

*knives playing the piano in the distance* “IS THAT THE GRIM REAPER😨😨😨”

EG Bomber: “MASTER KNIVES😈” my friend in the zestiest voice ever: “master😳”

Vash: *reloading* “THATS SO FUCKING HOOOOTTT” “i wish i was that gun.”

*wolfwood gets fucking run over* “i think hes my new favorite character”

*vash getting chased by the residents of jenora rock* “california has never looked livelier”

“Call me Millions Knives.” “edgy ass emo name, he sounds like hes a 13 year old emo who listens to panic at the disco and cries himself to sleep at night.”

“is this prophetic stress dream bothering you queen”

“i wish Californian sand looked as good here, dont eat the californian sand, its chunky”

*conrad appears* “LUIGI???”

“so this is julai…” “its still may dude, idk how to tell you this”

*Julai screenpan.* “THIS IS JUST VEGAS.”

*wolfwood and vash running away* “me when i skeddadle”

*vash gets shot and walks away* “bros like ‘damn i just got shot :(‘“

“Nicholas the Punisher.” “he can punish me if he wants I MEAN WHAAAAAT”

*That Roberto Scene™️* “*through tears* SO HOW ARE YOU GUYS ENJOYING THE SHOW?”

*Knives dramatically playing piano* “You and that fuckin church organ.”

“5gum stampede”

“Why is nai so jacked???” “theyre both built like brick shithouses”

*Meryl points a gun at conrad* “KILL YOURSELF OLD MAN.”

“WHYS NAI CLENCHING HIS ASS SO HARD…”

“Vash wake up!!” “THIS ISNT LIKE YOU POOKIE”

*Wolfwood steals one last cigarette from Roberto* “Rare cigarette that wasnt fucked up”

“WHO CUT THEIR HAIR.” “Xinqiu.” “Yelan ass haircuts.”

*talking about vash* “hes such a shonen protag. Food friendship and (avoiding) fighting”

“Knives, ur literally gay. i dont wanna hear it.”

“The entrance to the higher plane!” “it looks like a butthole.”

*Knives fucking just floating into the higher dimension* “*cackling*” “WHY HE SLIDE LIKE THAAAT” “stone scraping sound effect”

“Vash shouldve been called damian”

“Prepare mentally for episode twelve, take a deep breath, take a sip of water-“ “KISS A MAN” “DONT KISS A MAN” “KISS A MAN!!!”

*start of episode twelve.* “surely this wont be horrifying”

“I promise to protect you both.” “well you really sucked at that, huh.” “yeah fuck you rem” “HELP???”

*looks at Nai* “Whys he wearing a speedo…”

*Red geranium sprouts in tint Vash’s hand* “NAI LOOK DO YOU WANNA SEE A MAGIC TWICK”

*Running through field of red geraniums* “this reminds me of the angry birds logo”

“metal wing?” “its made of knives, yk, like his name :D” “shut up.” “alright then.”

*chanting* “CUBE!!!!”

“HES GONNA STAMPEDE!!!”

“kiss my vash!!”