Tempest Wind (Vash x F!Reader)

Odd Job

You head back to the inn and slip back unnoticed. Before returning to your room, you give him back his red coat that he had refused to take earlier. You didn't speak much while you walked back, and Vash is still worried he might have pushed too hard. Saying goodnight to you once more at the door, he is happy to see your face this time, and he gives your shoulder a light touch before going to his room.

You had decided to sleep—not that you need to do so, but more so to pass the time, and maybe then the noises in your head won't bother you. Before that, you go to the dirty and broken mirror over the washbasin in the corner of the room. You look at your tired eyes and the trails your tears have made onto your face, where the dust clings. You touch your cheeks, your skin is smooth and flawless. Has it always been like that? You think back on the faces of the people you've seen; time has left its mark on them, be it wrinkles or scars.

You take off the black long-sleeved shirt, and you are greeted by the dark stain over your heart, still visible on the wrappings around your chest. Your fingers brush against the hole in the bindings where the knife pierced through. You unwind the cloth and look at yourself—not a single scar or mark, nothing to suggest you have spent 150 years on this planet, that you have had people throw rocks at you, that you have been slashed and shot at. Just flawless skin.

After stripping yourself naked, you make use of the basin and large jug of water to wash yourself. To get off the grime time had left on you. Untangling your hair took longer than expected, but in the end, you felt clean, almost like you had washed some of your sins away too. Giving your underwear, or what was left of them, a quick wash, you ring them out and leave them to dry before getting into bed and pulling the sheets over yourself. The fabric is rough, but it is comforting in a strange way. You turn to have your back against the wall, unaware that just on the other side sleeps Vash, his back against yours.

***

You open your eyes at high noon. The sunshine pours into your room, and you are surprised at how this happened. You feel calm and rested; there is no sign of the troubles you had fought with last night. You turn to be on your back and stretch from your fingertips to your toes. Has your body ever felt this good? That's a dumb thought; of course it has, but now it's something more. The way Vash had admired your strength and speed last night had given you a different kind of confidence; it was his acceptance of you that made you feel this way.

A small knock on your door is what finally gets you out of bed. You haphazardly drape the linens around yourself, holding them up on your chest when you shuffle to the door and open it. You aren't surprised to see the blond man standing there, practically towering over you.

"Good afternoon! I'm glad you're still here! Your room sounded so quiet, I was afraid you had left me all alone." His voice sounds genuinely cheerful and happy to see you. "I brought you something. I hope they fit; if not, you can exchange them! I tried my best!"

He takes out a pair of boots from behind him and presents them to you. Only then does he notice your bare shoulders and the bed sheets hanging down from where your hands held them over your chest, the skin over your ribs visible. The realization that you stand in front of him naked with just a sheet covering you makes him immediately shoot his eyes towards the ceiling.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" The words tumble out of his mouth. You see redness climbing up from underneath his turtleneck, over his upturned chin, and painting his cheeks and ears pink. His free hand covers his eyes, which were still directed to the ceiling.

"I... I just wanted to make sure you hadn't run away, and I got you these boots so you don't have to walk around barefoot! I didn't mean to disturb you or anything! I mean, you did choose to open the door like that while you could have just told me to wait or come back later or something, so it is kind of your fault..."