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Wolfwood lies amongst the bedsheets of their two single beds. He and Vash took one look across their motel room, and both immediately knew what they had to do; push the two beds together. There's no way either of them would willingly sleep separately, so they've taken the liberty of rearranging the room just a little while they stay here.
He's on his back, just a regular t-shirt and boxers on as he resists the urge to reach over for a cigarette, staring daggers at the cursed little pack on the nightstand that holds his impulse hostage. He's promised Vash to smoke as little as possible inside the room and Wolfwood absolutely does not feel like getting up to put on clothes and smoke outside at this point of the day.
With a quiet sigh, he ends up averting his eyes and moving them towards the door leading to the bathroom instead. He's been waiting for Vash to finish his shower for a while now, which is even why the urge to smoke entered the forefront of his mind, but he also refuses to go and tell Vash to hurry up. He deserves to rest and relax as much as possible after the several chaotic days they've had. Wolfwood had also already showered; Vash had insisted he go first, so there's genuinely no point in rushing him, it would be selfish even, and so he resigns himself to his fate that is this painstaking wait as he watches the ceiling of their room and listens to the sounds coming from their shared bathroom.
The gentle echo of Vash humming to himself reaches Nicholas' ears soon after, it's the song he hums or sings every once in a while, the one that Rem apparently taught him. The running water stops just a moment later and Wolfwood has a hard time containing his smile, the one that oftentimes borders on dopey when it comes to Vash, and his gaze quickly travels back to the bathroom door.
Vash enters the room shortly after with only his simple gray pants on as he towels his hair. Wolfwood has seen him like this many times by now, but he's convinced he will never tire of this view, of Vash in his unabashed half-naked glory. Not only is Vash a handsome man, but the scars on his body tell a story of bravery and kindness. Naivety too, Wolfwood has said so several times to try and protect him but to no avail. These same scars and Vash himself though, are what keeps Wolfwood believing.
How ironic, that his new faith has been born out of the cradle of the man who stood against the cult that should've been his dogma instead.
Vash stops when he notices Nicholas watching and almost bashfully averts his eyes. In that moment Wolfwood couldn't care less about speaking His name in vain because God, Vash is so unbelievably gorgeous.
“Don't tell me you're getting shy on me now, Spikey,” he teases him with a smile.
“Am not, it's just hard not to get embarrassed when you're looking at me like a lovestruck fool,” Vash shoots back and it does make Wolfwood's face grow just a bit warmer as he rolls his eyes in faux annoyance; an excuse to break their eye contact at least for just a moment.
Breathe Nicholas, it's just Vash, he reassures himself internally.
“Yeah, well,” he begins and looks back to Vash.
He takes another short moment to convince himself to say how he feels, it's safe to do, as he sits up on the edge of the bed and faces Vash.
“Who says I'm not?” he ends up saying almost timidly, a roundabout way to admit something from the depths of his heart.
An eye-crinkling smile immediately grows on Vash's features. He discards the towel on a nearby chair and then steps closer to him. Vash brings his hand to Nicholas' face, a warm palm cradling and caressing his cheek as his eyes close. His hand reaches for Vash's arm, merely gently taking hold of it as Vash leans down to place a tender kiss on his forehead, his temple, and lastly his cheek.
“I love you too,” Vash whispers to him, almost like a saccharine secret meant only for the two of them and it makes Wolfwood's heart clench with something both sweet and painful.
He lets Vash shower him in affection, his hand rubbing soft patterns into his skin for a while longer as he tries to calm his furious heart.
Once Wolfwood feels his heart indeed won't try to crawl out of his chest, he opens his eyes and speaks up, “You ready for bed?”
Vash nods with a smile and lets go of Wolfwood, “Yeah, just-”
He trails off, reaches for the little lamp resting on the nightstand next to him, turns it on, and then walks over to switch the overhead light off instead.
The room feels much more comfortable that way, shrouded in the soft orangey hue of the light. It also feels more intimate, as it seems to drape over Wolfwood like a warm blanket, welcoming him to a little personal corner of Heaven with an angel that puts all others to shame.
When Vash moves back to their bed Nicholas scoots onto the other side, making room for him to lay down, which he does immediately with a sigh that others might call exaggerated, but Wolfwood knows that's just how Vash is.
“Finally a proper bed,” he nearly mumbles into the pillow as he lays on his stomach, eyes closed to soak in the feeling of a soft bed and even without his prosthetic arm his long limbs manage to sprawl all over the place.
Wolfwood can't help but smile as he watches Vash bask in the glory of a clean and comfortable bed for once and his eyes slip to travel over the muscular expanse of Vash's back, inspecting all the various scars, the majority of them faded to a pale pink.
An idea graces Nicholas' mind as he craves to touch, to feel the other's skin under his hands. There's nothing stopping him from reaching forward and doing just that, he and Vash have gotten to a point where either of them can just do things like that without having to ask, and the few instances when they should are known to them too.
Keeping this in mind, he takes a steadying breath and carefully brings his hand between Vash's shoulder blades, gently running his hand up and down.
Vash opens his eyes slightly at the contact to smile sweetly at Wolfwood, reassuring and comfortable and closes them again right after while his smile stays in place.
Vash's tender reaction helps Nicholas gather and calm the bundle of nerves that's settled in his mind and replace it with the courage to do what he truly wants. He shifts closer to the other and throws one of his legs over Vash's form to straddle his butt, carefully putting both of his hands onto his back right after.
“This okay?” Wolfwood speaks up quietly.
“Yeeaah..” Vash barely voices his reply as most of it is a drawn-out hum.
Wolfwood laughs to himself lightly but is brought out of his amusement by the sudden feeling of Vash's hand against the side of his calf, his thumb rubbing the skin there slowly.
It's always like this, Vash always manages to make his heart and mind stutter in the best ways possible. Even when his mind goes awry and everything feels like a threat to Nicholas, Vash manages to bring him back to the present and re-center him.
Wolfwood rests his hand on top of Vash's for a short moment, anchoring it there and internally basking in the warmth of both Vash's hand and the one that's nestled inside of his chest.
A while longer passes before he retracts it and goes to lay it onto Vash's back again, his fingers spreading out to touch as much of the skin there as possible.
It's always nice when they're like this, physically close but with no pressure or assumption for anything more. It's not like Vash has ever pressured him, but until quite recently Nicholas had little say in what happens to him and his body and it's going to take a while for the effect it had on him to fade, if it ever will.
His hands start carefully kneading the solid muscle of Vash's shoulders after he's had his fill of the simple absentminded touch.
He spends a while pressing his thumbs and palm heels above the shoulder blades, going from the sides to the middle where his thumbs meet on the back of Vash's neck, keeping the pressure even and firm but not painful, and then back to the sides to start over.
It's not long before he can practically feel the other melt into the mattress, humming into the pillow again as the thumb on Wolfwood’s calf occasionally stills or lightly digs into his skin in what Wolfwood assumes is Vash zoning out to fully focus on the feeling of his hands before coming back to himself again.
When Wolfwood feels like he's focused on Vash's shoulders long enough, he slides his hands all the way down across his back, thumbs on each side of his spine and once he reaches his lower back, goes back up the same way.
Admittedly Wolfwood has no idea if this is how a proper massage goes, he's just intuitively doing what he thinks feels good, and judging by Vash's reactions, it's most likely a job well done. The man under him sighs or hums every once in a while, especially when Nicholas finds a sensitive spot and then gently massages it out. The hand on Nicholas' calf hasn't moved from its place even for a moment either.
It's only when Wolfwood's hands have gotten somewhat tired that he stops and lets them just rest against Vash's skin again.
“Am I too heavy by now?” He ends up asking to break the silence.
“Nope, feels nice actually,” Vash starts, exhaling in contentment before continuing, “to have your weight on me like this.”
Another wave of warmth crawls inside Wolfwood's chest and cradles his heart and colors his cheeks lightly. It's almost absentmindedly when he leans down, towards the nape of Vash's neck and places a simple but heartfelt kiss there. The other immediately once again squeezes his calf in response and hums in a rhythm that almost sounds like a giggle.
His reaction makes Wolfwood's features bloom into a smile and it's not long before his fingers start caressing Vash's back as he seeks more contact once again.
At first, the movement follows the curves of Vash's muscles and occasionally the bumps or dents that have been made into his skin by various scars. There's not much thought behind the direction, all that is on Wolfwood’s mind is how gorgeous Vash is.
It's a moment longer of aimless touch when an idea graces his mind; to trace words onto Vash's back to see when he notices and when he does, if he'll be able to tell what words Wolfwood is thinking of.
He'll start simple enough, the other’s name.
Downwards to the right and then back up to the right again.
Upwards to the right, down to the right, and then a short straight line between these two.
Then what almost looks like a snake on the move.
“Tracing letters now? I didn't catch the first few, can you start from the beginning?,” Vash pouts, and who's Wolfwood if not someone who will happily indulge him?
So he starts again, this time finishing the name he had in mind.
V A S H
“Oh, is it my name?” Vash perks up immediately after Nicholas barely finishes tracing the last letter.
He laughs softly, “Yeah. I'll try another one.”
Vash hums simply in agreement and settles back down to properly concentrate on the sensation.
W O L
“That's gonna be your name!” He announces excitedly and shifts a bit to look back at Wolfwood again.
“Yeah but geez, Spikey, you could at least wait for a lil longer,” Nicholas chastises him with no real ire in his voice and a playful smile on his face.
“Yeah okay, sorry,” Vash laughs lightly, “continue, please.”
And so Wolfwood does and starts tracing his name anew.
W O L F W O O D
Considering how lighthearted this whole situation feels, tracing the letters of his name into the other’s skin feels so serious and heavy; like he’s branding him in some way, forever changed by Wolfwood’s mere touch and presence.
He doesn’t know whether that’s a good thing.
He snaps himself out of this specific train of thought before it can unfurl any more and make itself home in his mind and before Vash can catch wind of something distracting him from his current task; tenderly etching more words onto the exposed skin for as long as he wants him to.
Wolfwood settles on the next word, one that he intends to tease Vash with, both to hopefully make him laugh and to distract himself.
He traces the first few letters, slow and careful to help the other to recognize them more easily, Vash's brows are already furrowed in concentration and it's about halfway through when his attention span gets the better of him.
“That's still just one word?” Vash interrupts mildly perplexed, turning his head slightly to attempt to look at Nicholas.
“Yeah, now focus,” he shoots back amused, and continues on with the word.
A few more letters and it's been spelled out.
T U M B L E W E E D
Wolfwood shifts his weight back a bit, to rest his hands and back and to let Vash know the word he's currently mulling over is indeed not unending.
He watches him closely, waiting for his answer and admiring the adorable pout that has settled on his features alongside the wrinkled brows as he thinks.
“Is it ‘tumbleweed’?” Vash ends up asking him, his tone unsure and light.
Wolfwood hums an affirmative, just waiting for the next question he knows is already on Vash's mind.
“Why ‘tumbleweed’?” Vash indeed voices his confusion.
“‘Cause you always flail around the desert like one,” Wolfwood answers him with a wide and smug grin.
“Hey!” Vash immediately exclaims in offense but the light smile he's trying to contain tells him enough to know he's amused by it too.
“The king of all tumbleweeds, flailing among the golden sands,” Wolfwood rubs the new nickname in even more as one of his hands pokes Vash's side, threatening him with more as his hand stays there.
Vash goes from a barely hidden smile to practically bursting out laughing within just that simple moment.
“Okay okay, I yield!” He pleads as his words are broken up and interrupted by his giggles.
“Good choice, Spikey,” Wolfwood mutters, thoroughly delighted, and smooths his hand down Vash's side, freeing him of the looming danger of any more pokes between his ribs.
The carefree expression on Vash is a common one but Wolfwood can recognize when it's genuine and unlike in many other instances, this time it is. Here, under Wolfwood's weight and hands, he smiles and laughs freely without the need to put on any front. It tugs at Wolfwood's heartstrings in a way that he barely got to experience before him.
Vash is still giggling and moving around lightly as he tries to calm down with little success.
“I got one more for you, okay?” Wolfwood adds after a moment and his hand settles down onto Vash's back again, absentmindedly rubbing slow circles into the skin.
Vash reins in the giggles soon after, wiggling a little more just to get comfortable enough to be able to concentrate.
“Okay, I'm ready,” he says right after, a soft grin still plastered across his lips.
Nicholas takes a steadying breath, he knows what the next words on his mind are and he always finds it hard to say them so, he decides, he could at least say them now in this way.
“Two words this time,” he almost mumbles, trying to give himself some courage by speaking his intent out loud.
Vash hums in response, his eyes already closed in silent concentration.
And so he starts; down, to the right.
A small circle.
Down to the right and back up to the right.
He watches his finger trace all the remaining letters, focusing on the sensation of Vash's skin underneath it, and shifts his eyes to watch the other's reaction only after he's spelled it all out.
L O V E Y O U
The expression that already rests across Vash's features is one of adoration, eyes soft and warm and lips tugged up into an adorable smile.
“Could you sit beside me, please?” He asks quietly.
“Uh, yeah, sure,” Wolfwood's brain stutters momentarily before he lifts his weight off Vash and sits cross-legged in the middle of their joined beds.
Had it been anyone else, Wolfwood might feel the ugly sting of rejection and uncertainty in his chest, to be honest, he still does just a little, but he knows Vash asked him to move not because he wants to be rid of him, but for another reason.
Vash maneuvers himself around to be able to sit up right in front of him, their legs touching, and it gives Wolfwood the courage to meet his eyes once more.
His gaze is just as tender as before as he reaches out towards Nicholas with his hand. It comes to rest on his cheek with a loving caress of his thumb, before Vash leans in and Wolfwood's eyes close as he soaks in the fuzzy warmth in his chest and then the following soothing feeling of a kiss to his forehead.
Vash adjusts his hand to gently hold Nicholas’ jaw and presses the next kiss to his cheek before tilting his chin up and finally making their lips join in a long but surprisingly chaste kiss that manages to make even a man like Nicolas glad that he's already sitting down otherwise his knees might've just buckled right under him.
When they finally separate he wastes no time and reaches out towards Vash with both of his arms, softly encircling his midriff to pull him closer and keep him there while burying his face in the crook of his neck.
Vash's own arm comes up around Wolfwood's shoulder, rubbing slow and comforting circles into his back before he starts shifting around some more but the hand on Nicholas' back stays and so does he.
A little surprise in the form of another kiss to his head where Vash manages to reach makes Wolfwood's cheeks grow just a bit warmer and suddenly he's even more grateful to be in the position he's in as he hides his face where the other can't see.
Vash's head softly goes to rest against the side of his head afterward, settling into something both comfortable and sweet before repaying Nicholas' heartfelt confession.
“I love you too,” he whispers, his breath caressing Wolfwood's hair and ear and making his form shiver involuntarily.
It makes Wolfwood nuzzle even closer into the other's warmth and acceptance, thanking the unlikely forces that may be watching over him for the miracle of holding an angel in his arms, and Vash for never giving up on him.
It is then that he decides that he needs to start telling him all these things more often.