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Vash let out a deep sigh as soon as he and Wolfwood entered the hotel room, just barely managing to take his backpack off and throw it to the ground before he collapsed face-first onto the bed.
It'd been at least two weeks since he and Wolfwood had managed to snag a hotel room, and even longer since they'd managed to snag a decent one. This one actually had clean sheets free of mysterious stains and the curtains weren't half-eaten by worms! They'd even been spoiled a little, because there was not only a table in the corner but it was a decent one with decent chairs. A tiny closet was in the corner, and each side of the bed had its own nightstand! And, most importantly, they actually had a decently sized bathroom.
Now, this place hasn't come cheap, and both men would be fixing up the hotel owner's shed come the following afternoon in exchange for the woman giving them a handsome discount, but for right now prices and favors didn't matter. No, right now all that mattered was the soft bed beneath him and the fact that Vash was in heaven.
A heaven that Wolfwood was apparently out to interrupt, because there was a snort from behind him before the man spoke. "Gotta get changed into clean clothes before you go passin' out, spikey. And take a shower- you know as well as I do that we're both nasty as hell, and if we're hoping to stay for more than just the one night we gotta make a good impression tomorrow."
"I can get cleaned up tomorrow," Vash whined into the bedding, not bothering to lift his head so that Wolfwood might actually stand a chance at understanding him. “Right now I’m tired.”
However, surprisingly (or was it?) Wolfwood understood him despite his muffled words. "Not unless you wanna sleep on the floor tonight you aren't. I'm not sharing a bed with someone covered in sweat and sand.”
Vash sighed. “But I’m tired,” he repeated, turning his head to the side so that he could actually speak clearly. Then, blushing slightly and focusing very intently on the bedsheets, he quietly added, “and my arm hurts too.”
It’d been hurting since yesterday, if he was being honest. The only difference was that yesterday it’d been a dull, easily ignorable throb. When he woke up this morning that throb had spread from just his stump to his entire arm, shoulders, as well as shoulder blades and turned into a stabbing pain that was far harder to ignore. That pain had only gotten worse over the course of the day, and though he’d continued trying his best to ignore it, that was getting harder and harder to accomplish.
Wolfwood fell silent, and when Vash finally forced his eyes up from their spot on the bed, he was met with an expression so soft and caring and concerned for his health that for a second the blond thought he might be dreaming. Blue eyes met brown and neither looked away- something that Vash was still getting used to. He got the feeling that both of them were still getting used to looks that soft.
After a second, the black-haired man let out a deep sigh. “Fine, fine. You’re still gettin’ cleaned up, ain’t no way I’m letting you sneak out of that, but how ‘bout we treat ourselves a little, huh? We can take a warm bath instead of a shower, just relax for the night. Anything that requires effort can wait until tomorrow, that kind of thing.”
Vash paused, throwing the idea around in his head. While he wasn’t entirely in love with the idea of Wolfwood taking care of him instead of relaxing and taking care of himself, he also knew that the other wouldn’t have offered it if he truly didn’t want to. Wolfwood hadn’t managed to convince him of a lot of things, but the fact that the other man would only offer to do something if he truly wanted to was one of them.
Sure, that didn't mean that he was willing to give in to every single one of the other’s demands (most of the time he still put up a fight), but it did mean that he gave in to a few.
Seeing Wolfwood still looking down at him, Vash couldn’t help but give him a soft smile in return. “Sure, let’s do that. It sounds nice.”
_____
Despite his insistence that Vash could still help even if he was in pain, now that he’d admitted it Wolfwood forced him to stay on the bed while the black-haired man walked around getting all their things settled for the night. Finally, though, he appeared next to Vash holding both of their sleeping clothes in his arms.
“We take a bath and then right to bed, how’s that sound?” He asked, as if Vash would ever say anything other than yes.
“Sounds perfect,” he murmured, forcing himself to sit up (he’d managed to roll onto his back since they first entered the room, and wasn't that impressive?). “Just let me take my prosthetic off and we can head that way. Do you want to start running the bath water?”
“Yeah, I'll start the bath water- but you're staying right here until it's ready, got it? And I'm helping you take off your prosthetic, you’ve told me how hard that can be for yah when you’re in pain like this.”
Vash chuckled and gave a shrug, not bothering to fight back, because if he was being honest Wolfwood’s plan sounded great. Take off his prosthetic then lay in bed until the other man grabbed him and they went to relax in a hot bath together? It'd be one of the best nights he’d had in a while.
If it were anyone besides Wolfwood or possibly the girls he would've felt offended by this amount of babying and insisted that he was just as capable as usual. He'd insist that he could take his own prosthetic off, and that he didn't need to lay in bed while they did everything. But this was Wolfwood, who didn't look down on him as weak or less-than because of his broken body. Well, not broken according to Wolfwood. Despite all the scars, his missing limb and the occasional chronic pain that could leave him bedridden for entire days at a time, Wolfwood said he wasn't physically broken. His body was actually strong, because despite everything that had happened to it, it kept going. Vash kept going.
Vash didn't know if he agreed with the other man on that one, but he’d learned it was pointless to try and argue on that a long time ago. Now it only really came up when Vash was spiraling and couldn't stop thoughts of self-hatred from entering his mind.
“Okay,” he murmured, smiling as he stared at the ceiling and heard Wolfwood let out an affectionate huff before the man walked over and sat on the bed next to him.
“Good. If you hadn’t agreed I probably would’ve pinned you to the bed, so this makes things a whole lot easier.”
Vash couldn’t help but chuckle as Wolfwood leaned into his space and grabbed his red coat, sliding it down and off him to reveal the prosthetic in its full glory. The man hummed when he saw the agitated skin that was no doubt covering his entire arm at this point, but luckily didn’t scold him on it. The scolding was probably coming later, but at least Wolfwood let it go for now.
With a twist and a yank the arm was off, placed on the nightstand next to the side of the bed that Vash had already claimed as his own. Wolfwood reached out and scratched Vash’s scalp, which made the blond automatically closed his eyes and leaned into like the cat his partner (because partner was what felt right to call Wolfwood. They were partners in more ways than he could count) claimed he was.
The action got a laugh before Vash felt Wolfwood stand up, the man murmuring be back soon before he was off to the bathroom. Soon the sound of running water began, and Vash couldn’t help but grin at the promise of a warm, steaming bath. He grinned even wider when he thought about sitting back-to-chest with Nick, the other's arms wrapped around him or cleaning his hair. It was moments like these that made everything worth it, and the blond knew he would happily get covered in dozens of scars more if it meant he could keep having moments like these.
A few minutes later and he heard footsteps coming back into the room. “Alright, blondie. Let’s start headin’ that way. You want me to carry you, or you got it?”
Vash hummed, thinking it over for a second. On one hand, despite the pain he could definitely make it to the bathroom about ten feet away. On the other… It sounded fun to have Wolfwood carry him. Spoil him a little.
Looking up, Vash smiled playfully. “How about you carry me? You haven’t in a while, and when you do, it’s rarely ever in the fun way. It’s always cuz we’re getting chased by bullets or angry bandits! Oh, and make it a princess carry! Don’t think I’ve been treated like royalty in forever.”
Wolfwood snorted and rolled his eyes, as if the man was thinking seriously? Nevertheless, he complied. “Sure, sure. I’ll treat yah like a princess and all that. Just don’t be too difficult to try and piss me off or anything, got it?”
“Why would you even need to say that? I’m never difficult and I certainly don’t piss you off on purpose! This is an unjust accusation!” Vash exclaimed in mock offense.
“Uh-huh,” Wolfwood simply replied, walking over to the bed. Vash giggled, rolling into an easier position for the other man before Wolfwood scooped him up and Vash hooked his arms around his partner’s neck.
Wolfwood carried him into the bathroom, where steam from the bath had already fogged up the mirror. When Vash turned towards the bathtub, he could see literal steam coming off of it. The fact that he and Wolfwood were about to get into a steaming bath might be concerning if they were regular people, but they weren’t, were they?
“Alright spikey,” Wolfwood said, lowering him down onto the toilet seat. “You able to take your clothes off on your own, or do you want help?”
The question sounded degrading on the surface, but behind it was the kind of love and care that Vash had come to associate with his lover. “I can do it on my own.” Then, just because he could, “are you able to take your clothes off, or do you want me to come over and do it for you?” the blond purred, throwing in a wink for good measure.
That got him a snort. “It’s been three days since we last fucked, blondie. I think you can last at least one more night. ‘Sides, tonight’s not gunna be about that kind of relaxing- we do that kind of relaxing all the time. We’re staying here for the next few days anyhow, that can happen later.”
“If you insist,” Vash fake-whined, leaning against the back of the toilet. He watched for a few seconds as Wolfwood took his shirt off before the blond began undressing himself. In no time at all, the two were naked and Wolfwood was moving them into the bath. Wolfwood stepped in first, settling down before helping Vash in and pressing the blond’s back against his chest.
“There we go,” Wolfwood chuckled as Vash fully slumped backwards and rested all his weight on the black-haired man. The noise caused his chest to rumble and vibrate where it was pressed against Vash's back- one of the blond’s favorite feelings in the world. He made a questioning hum, prompting his partner for context. “Yer finally relaxin’. Been a rough few weeks, we both deserve this.”
“That we do,” Vash replied, not bothering to hide the small purr that rumbled in his chest. Just like Wolfwood's chuckle was one of his favorite sounds and feelings when they were like this, his purring was apparently, for some weird reason, one of Wolfwood's. He didn't understand it, and still forced the noise down most days (it would take a lot to undo the damage of being told he was a monster for a century and a half), but… Times like these, he gave in and let himself go.
The two men stayed in the tub, pressed against one another. At some point Wolfwood grabbed the cheap as shit complimentary soap and got to work cleaning Vash up. The blond let out a disgruntled whine at being shifted around, which only made Wolfwood snort and roll his eyes. You get like a cat when you're half awake, Blondie, the man had told him once, all grumpy and refusing to be moved.
Soon enough the hot water turned to lukewarm, despite only being half-asleep Vash managed to nudge Wolfwood until the man roused from his own half-asleep state.
“Come on Nick, time to get out before we both fall asleep. It’d be a bit embarrassing to say we both made it this far and then died by drowning, right?”
“Yeah, yeah. I hear yah.”
The two dried themselves off and ambled back into the room, Vash making his way over to their packs so he could grab his sleepwear while Wolfwood grabbed his own. The two got ready in comfortable silence that was only interrupted when Vash began the process of putting a shirt on with only one arm. A process that was interrupted when Wolfwood cleared his throat.
“Oi, Blondie. Keep your shirt off.”
Vash turned and raised a questioning eyebrow at the other man. “I thought you said no sex tonight because it wasn’t that kind of relaxation night?”
Wolfwood snorted. “It isn't, and I’m not askin’ you to keep your shirt off so we can fuck. Look, I know I said that said we’d shower and then head right to bed, but it’s been a while since your wings last got a good go-through, right? Think it was a few months ago when we were in Cyrus City. So unless you’ve done an in-depth cleaning at some point since then while I'm not around- and I know you well enough to know that you haven't- they need a good cleaning.”
Vash couldn't help the blush that covered his face- because no, he hadn't. He usually only took care of them when it was absolutely necessary until Wolfwood came around. It was no secret to anyone who knew him that Vash didn’t necessarily like those parts of himself- on the best of days it was something he could ignore. On the worst, he desperately wished that he could gather all those inhuman parts of his and rip them all out.
So the first time Wolfwood not only saw his giant white wings but offered to help him with them Vash had practically run for the hills. It was an ugly part of him that he didn’t want Wolfwood to see. But....
But the other man seemed to actually like helping take care of them. Said it was relaxing, and that he liked how good it clearly felt for Vash. Once Wolfwood had murmured that it reminded him a bit of one of the good parts of his childhood. Taking care of the thoma alongside his siblings, teaching the younger ones how to do it. So here they were.
In the present, Wolfwood had his hands propped on his hips and was staring him down with a raised eyebrow. He clearly already knew the answer, but Vash got the feeling that the black-haired man was waiting for him to say it out loud.
“Yeah, Cyrus City was the last place they got any proper attention,” he answered with an embarrassed laugh.
“That’s what I thought. Now sit down on the bed, back to me, and let ‘em out.”
Vash snorted but did as he was told, closing his eyes and reaching deep inside for the part of him that kept everything inside. Then, once he reached that part, loosening it until he felt giant, white wings sprout from between his shoulder blades. Feathers sprouted across other parts of his body, though after a few seconds they vanished again.
Now that Wolfwood had mentioned how long it’d been, Vash couldn’t help but feel all the feathers ready to molt and the sand trapped in what felt like every single nook and cranny of the two wings.
“Ugh, why’d you have to mention how dirty they would probably be?! I feel like if I move them too much I’ll get sand everywhere!”
He heard a snort as the bed dipped behind him. “Which is exactly why we’re doing this, and why we need to remember to do it more often. Might take an hour or so, but I think it’ll be worth it. You’ll certainly be a lot more comfortable by the time we’re done.”
Vash hummed. “I certainly won’t complain.”
“Just try not to fall asleep on me, blondie. I know you wanted to pass out the second we got in here, but this’ll all be worth it in the long run.”
“Can’t promise I’ll stay awake, but I can try.”
After that, the two of them fell into a comfortable silence. However, it was a silence that didn’t last very long before Wolfwood let out a resigned sigh. Vash turned to look over his shoulder and ask what was wrong, but he got the answer before he could even open his mouth.
“Change of plans- I’m getting a chair, sit however’s most comfortable but there’s a fuck ton of sand in your wings and I don’t want it to fall out and get all over the bed.”
Vash huffed a laugh but did as he was told, watching as Wolfwood walked over to grab a chair from the small table and set it next to the bed. Once the other man was settled, Vash lazily stretched out the wing so it fell into Wolfwood’s lap.
“So now you know I wasn’t exaggerating earlier when I said I didn’t feel like I should move them much,” he said, sitting criss-cross with his elbow propped on his knee and his head resting on his hand. “Feels like I just let them out one day and then decided to roll around in the sand for an hour straight or something.”
“That’s awfully specific- that something you’ve done before?”
“Wha- no! Why would I do that?!”
“I don’t have an answer for why you would do a lot of the things you do do- I swear that needle-noggin’d head of yours is as empty as the desert is hot some days.”
“Hey! I take offense to that!” The blond squawked, flicking the wing currently resting in Wolfwood’s lap so that it hit the black-haired man in face. A feather caught the other man’s nose at just the right angle to make him sneeze, and that alone was enough to make it feel like he’d gotten proper revenge.
The two fell into silence after that, a silence that was only interrupted when Wolfwood started humming to the tune of some old song from his childhood. Vash let out a literal sigh of relief as fingers were combed through the pure white feathers, just hard enough to remove the feathers that were about to fall out and shake all the sand in his wing out onto the floor.
“Alright blondie, that one’s done- time to turn around so I can get the other one.”
“Aw, do I really have to?” Vash whined, stretching the wing currently resting in Wolfwood’s lap out all the way. God it felt good to actually have enough room to fully spread his wings out. As to be expected he had a massive wingspan (about twenty feet across to be exact), which meant that they were particularly easy to spot from a distance. Which, in turn, meant that he often only let them out when he was in the privacy of a hotel room- a fact that didn’t mix well with how small hotel rooms tended to be. Or, at least the cheaper ones that he and Wolfwood tended to stay in.
“Yes you do. Come on, the sooner we finish this the sooner we can lay down and fall asleep. You know as well as I do sleeping while sitting is hell on the back come morning.”
“I know, I know,” he hummed, shifting around and laying his other wing in Wolfwood’s lap. Once more the man began to run fingers through his feathers, and this time Vash couldn’t hold back the purr that grew in his chest.
“There’s the kitty-cat sound I like so much,” Wolfwood teased, not looking up from his work.
“It’s not a kitty-cat sound,” Vash murmured in half-hearted protest, but at this point he was starting to nod off and made no effort to quiet the sound at all. It was another one of those inhuman parts of himself Wolfwood loved for some weird reason he’d never be able to understand.
“Well you sound like a kitty-cat to me.”
The purr in Vash’s chest got louder as his partner continued to clean his wings. From the sound of it, Wolfwood heard, the man letting out a small laugh.
And soon enough the black-haired man was nudging the wing in his lap ever-so-slightly to gain his attention. “We’re done, blondie. Time for bed,” the man murmured, speaking just loud enough for Vash to hear him and not a decibel higher. The quiet they’d created in the past hour felt like a warm blanket, and neither wanted to disturb that.
“Good, I was just starting to fall asleep,” Vash replied with a lazy smile. “Get me my shirt?”
“You got it,” Wolfwood hummed, standing up and grabbing it from where it lay on Vash’s backpack. He passed the article of clothing to Vash, sitting on the edge of the bed and watching as the blond put it on. “How’s your arm feelin’ by the way? Still hurt?”
Vash paused. “Just a little. More an annoying ache than anything else, the hot bath really helped. I’m guessing it’ll be better by morning.”
The other looked over him critically for a second before nodding his head. “Good to hear. We don’t have to head over to that lady’s house till late afternoon, so we can sleep in and have a slow morning for once in our god damn lives. Let yer arm rest for just a bit longer.”
Chuckling, “looking forward to the slow morning. Sleeping in and having a late breakfast sounds like just the thing we need after two weeks out in the desert.”
The blond shifted over to his side of the bed and got under the covers, laying down and looking at Wolfwood expectantly. The black-haired man smiled fondly at his companion before slipping under the covers and curling up right next to him.
It was warm under the covers, the two men pressed against one another. Vash’s head was tucked into the crook of Wolfwood’s neck, the man’s arms wrapped around him and pulling him impossibly closer.
“Night, blondie. See you in the morning.”
“Goodnight Wolfwood. I love you.”
“Love you to Vash.”
And just like that, the world shrunk down to become only their room. One full of nothing but love and peace.