Tempest Wind (Vash x F!Reader)

Back in a Lab

"Iris! Iris, you're safe." Vash's voice finally reaches your ears. You raise your head to see his soft expression, eyes downturned with concern, but a smile flickers onto his lips as he sees recognition in you.

"Red..." you say slowly, and then peek around his head to look at the man on the far side of the little room. He is wearing clothing from the space age, but he looks harmless—a little grumpy and confused as he leans his wrench on his shoulder and is looking around, but not the nightmarish figure that you had seen.

"Are you alright?" One of Vash's hands moves from your upper arm to your cheek, stroking over it and over your sandy hair. "That's Brad, he's an old friend."

Your eyes find his again, and his expression is so gentle, no longer weighed down by concern. You can still hear the voices in your head, more upset than before, but your rushing heart and Vash's presence keep them at bay.

"I'm sorry... I just... I thought he was someone else... The clothing reminded me of Him," you swallow. "It just took me by surprise. I'm okay now."

He stands up from his squat with a smile and holds out his hand to you. With his help, you find balance and stand up to peek around his side again, and you see the man still standing there, looking away from the two of you.

"Hello!" you say. If he's Vash's friend, then you trust him too. "I'm Iris."

"I'm Brad," the older man speaks up and comes towards you, holding out his hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Brad. Am I correct in assuming we're on a Seeds ship and you're from the space age?" you ask as you shake his hand.

"Is it that obvious?" Brad pulls at his wrinkles and laughs a bit. "But how did you reach that conclusion so fast?"

"Well..." you aren't sure what to say, and you trail off. You are interrupted by the sliding doors opening again, and a woman with similar clothing to Brad steps in.

"Vash! It's good to see you again!" the woman says before turning her attention to you. "Hello there!"

"Hello." You feel a bit unsure, with a headache starting in the far corners of your brain. You feel claustrophobic in here. "I'm Iris."

"My name's Luida." Her voice is so soft and motherly.

"Brad, could you secure the toma? It's a little crammed in here for all of us. How about we go to the dining hall? I'm sure the two of you must be starving." Luida seems to read your mind and ignores the older man's complaints about being left behind to do the dirty work.

Vash takes off your blanket and brushes off most of the sand from both himself and you before picking up your bags. You're left to wonder how you got so dusty and how you got here in the first place. The blonde's hand takes your fingers without hesitation and gently pulls you along to follow Luida through the clean corridors of the spaceship.

"How come you're so far out and so close to settlements?" Vash wonders out loud.

"We have been investigating some anomalies recently. Brad managed to fix another sensor a while ago, and suddenly it started to go off fairly frequently, but at different places, we have finally caught up to the signal after some tweaking of the instrument. We aren't quite sure what we've been chasing, but I hope to find out soon." Luida talks calmly and doesn't look back. "And what brought you here unannounced? I'm happy to see you, but you didn't even radio in."

"Yeah, sorry about this." Vash hesitates for a split second. "But we need your help. I'm not sure you can help us, but I'm all out of ideas."

Despite your surroundings providing you with ample visual interest, you feel yourself drifting away again. It gets harder and harder to hold on, it feels like a deep and dark abyss with slippery edges. Once you lose your grip, you're gone.