Out of the dark

[localdisaster]

Characters: Vash (localdisaster) and Wolfwood (outlawpriest)
Summary: After Vash snaps out of the nightmare, Wolfwood decides to distract him by ... teasing him mercilessly. One thing leads to another.
Setting: On a hill overlooking the beach area, right after the nightmare event ended and before the dessert one began.
Warnings: PG-13 for gayness.


They hadn't stopped walking until they'd reached a hill, one that provided a better view of the area around them. Yet all Vash had seen was destruction, with practically nothing left at all to mark that they had left the beach. Still, it was a good place to stop for a while.

Vash had sat next to a pile of debris that might've formerly been a tree or two, and had nodded off, thanks to being so worn out emotionally. It was something he needed. He wouldn't have slept at all without Wolfwood there to watch his back.

But when he woke, he realized that something was different. The first thing Vash saw was green, green grass and the glint of sunlight through the leaves. He was leaning against an actual tree, and he could hear birds, and everything wasn't dead... He jumped up to his feet, drowsiness gone in an instant. "What...?!"

Wolfwood had let Vash sleep. The man was tired and seeing things and shit, he wasn't about to wake the Plant up just because he felt lonely. So he smoked, watching the water - still amazed by all that water - and listened to the birds sing. He got hungry but a MEAL bar solved that problem.

He was drifting off himself, warmed by the sunlight and the clean air when Vash jumped up and yelled. Wolfwood fell over, getting grass in his hair and losing his smoke. Righting himself he tried to shake the grass out.

"What's wrong with you?"

Vash whirled around to face Wolfwood, his initial surprise giving way to a bemused grin. "It's all here! I thought it was all gone, but it's not..." Which didn't many any sense at all, he was realizing. And then his might decided to catch up to the rest of what he was seeing. "...Ah! And I can see you? Are you alive?!"

"I know, I know, ya kept on askin' me 'bout how much was gone," Wolfwood grumbled and got the grass out of his hair and looked around for where his smoke went. He found it, made a face when he saw it was ruined and stood up. He eyed Vash for a moment and gave him a not-so-gentle punch on the arm. "Feel real 'nough for ya?"

"Hey!!" Vash backed up a step, rubbing at the spot he'd gotten socked on. It wasn't too bad, but his voice held a whine anyway, "What'd you do that for? There are better ways to prove it!" ... Though, of course, the landscape itself was proof enough. He recognized where they were standing. He looked off towards the ocean, his tone completely serious now. "... I know that I set off the Angel Arm. I'm absolutely sure that's what happened, so how....?"

"I never saw the Arm go off." Wolfwood figured if he tried one of the other ideas he had in mind, Vash would have socked him one in return. He stuck his hands in his pockets and looked over the view. "You were wandering around like ya saw th' devil himself down there near that palm." He pointed with his chin in that direction and sighed. "I don' know what it was, but you didn't even hear me until I hugged you."

"..." Vash slowly looked down at the grass, his fingers tightening on his arm. "So it didn't happen? ... It seemed so real..." As glad as he was that everything was 'back', this just didn't make sense. It scared him a little, to think he'd gone through something so potent without any basis for it at all. "Everyone else is okay?"

Uh-oh, that might be a good thing. Wolfwood kept his eyes on Vash, trying to keep cool even though he might have to figure out a way to keep Vash from going nuts. Not that this place was sane to begin with, but a nutty Vash was a dangerous thing to let loose. "Not to my knowledge. There's a couple o' people on the Network an' one's tryin' ta flirt with me."

"...They're what?" Vash looked back up at him, expression blank... until a smile slowly spread over his face, and he just barely stifled a chuckle. "Listen, I'm okay now. So if you have a date, you shouldn't let me keep you away..."

"I don' have a date!" Wolfwood stuck his lower lip out at Vash and huffed. Like he would leave Vash alone in this state of mind. There was no telling what he would do and Wolfwood wasn't about go wandering off just because someone said that he slept with them.

Laughing softly at that, Vash shook his head. "You act like having a date's a bad thing." Heck, it wasn't surprising that someone had tried flirting. What woman wouldn't want the priest? It was only now that he let go of his own arm, moving to lean back against the tree.

"They ain't that bad," Wolfwood snorted. "But it ain't someone I ever met!" And that was the gust of it. He wouldn't have minded if he knew the guy, it wouldn't be the first time he went off with someone to try to get his mind away from the Plant. But this person was coming on like a heavy hitter and Wolfwood never even met him face to face. And this was actually pretty interesting, how talking about his sex life was getting Vash away from whatever the hell was bothering him.

"Huuuh... so you don't like it when strangers flirt with you?" Vash hummed consideringly, tapping at his chin like he were considering a very complex question. Honestly, this was a nice distraction from his own thoughts. He'd much rather ponder Wolfwood's strange relationship woes than to wonder at the state of his own sanity. "...Guess that means there's more for me!"

"Guess not..." Wolfwood blinked as Vash's last sentance reached his ears. He coughed, turned, and leered at Vash. A little over dramatic, but hey, who cared? "I'd thought you'll never ask!"

Vash stared at him for the space of two seconds before his face started to turn a shade of pink. "W-What?! I didn't mean it like that!" He'd been talking about those strangers, not the other way around ... but it had sounded bad, hadn't it? For a while there, he'd completely forgotten that Wolfwood liked men, too.

Wolfwood laughed at that expression. There. That was far better than the haunted look he'd been seeing on Vash's face sicne he'd found the Plant wandering about. Chuckling, he tapped his finger against Vash's nose, noticing the way his skin was flushing. "But you did say it, Vash."

That only made him blush harder. The priest was doing this on purpose, wasn't he?! To his credit, he didn't flinch away and give Wolfwood something else to laugh about. "Then forget I said it," Vash said, sounding faintly irritated as he reached up to rub his own face.

Of course Wolfwood was doing it on purpose. It was entirely the point of this whole avoiding the real issue conversation they were having. It was so cute too, the infamous outlaw blushing like a school girl. He leaned close, still grinning. "I will... if ya tell me something."

Vash tried to lean back, but the damn tree behind him blocked his progress. He took a lot of offense to this, he did! It was just very hard for him to squash down feeling so flustered, especially when Wolfwood was invading his personal space like this. "...yeah? What?"

Wolfwood was going to enjoy this. He was so going to enjoy every single twitch the blond would do just from the nature of the question in... well question. Grinning still, he leaned even closer and asked in a mock whisper, "Are you still a virgin?"

"..." What... the..... "WHAT THE HELL SORT OF A QUESTION IS THAT?!"

"It's the kind I want to ask!"

"It's not any of your business! I'm not even sure why you would care!!" Vash was torn somewhere between anger and a lot of embarrassment. As much as he didn't like fighting, he was seriously considering smacking Wolfwood around a bit.

"Fine, I'll just think that you are." Wolfwood nodded. They have seriously got off the track of Vash's little nightmare and were now back in familiar lands. Not that talking about sex was normal for them, but it at least was fun. "But see, if there's more of me for you, I'd like ta know if you've been around or not. Jus' for general idea."

Vash was definitely not thinking straight right now, he was so outraged. "I told you, it was a mistake! I dont even know what makes you think I haven't!!" He'd never wanted to talk to Wolfwood about his sex life, so how had this happened?! They were supposed to be talking about him, not about Vash! And not about sex at all!

Hey, turnabout's fair play. Talk about the priest's sex life - or current lack therefor of - and he'll want to talk about yours. Wolfwood looked Vash over and shrugged. "I don' know, mebbe it's th' way ya talk 'bout it?"

"We aren't supposed to be talking about this in the first place!" Vash was just a few stages away from being as red as a beet right now, but he was taking a few deep breaths, trying to regain some of his composure. It wasn't working just yet. "What about that woman hitting on you, huh? What happened to that?"

"Woman? Shit, if it was a woman I might go see her, but it's some weird man." Wolfwood raised a hand to try to cut off whatever Vash may say because yes, this was fun and wow, he never expected Vash's face to turn that color before. "I prefer to talk about you anyways."

Okay. That came out a bit weird

...It was a man? A man had been flirting with Wolfwood, and he was standing there talking about it so casually? There went Vash's attempts to calm himself down. He gaped at him for a moment, then shook his head almost violently. "And I don't! Since when were you so perverted, anyway?!"

"I've always been perverted! And since when have you gotten so thin skinned 'bout all this?" Wolfwood waved his arm in the general direction of wherever the other people were. After all, he had watched Vash hit on a couple women before. Okay, that was not entirely fair since Vash was drunk at the time, but hey, Wolfwood did know Vash had to be perverted just a little.

Vash huffed audibly, crossing his arms. Okay, so maybe Wolfwood was perverted, but he'd never experienced that pervertedness being directed at him. It was a lot different being on the receiving end. "I'm not! You're just... you're acting like that!" He'd barely managed to stop himself from accusing Wolfwood outright of hitting on him.

Wolfwood laughed and since he was leering at the blond, the laugh probably came out just a little dirty sounding. But that was fine. Wolfwood was trying to make Vash feel just a bit uncomfortable. It would take his mind away from whatever else was knocking around and making him moody. "I'm acting like what?" He took a step closer as well.

If he was trying to make Vash feel uncomfortable, he was succeeding. Vash was already pressed back against the tree, so now it left him in very close proximity. Eyes widening a little, he got out in an almost petulant mutter, "..you're hitting on me." There, he'd admitted it.

"Let's see..." Wolfwood said, grinning and looking Vash over. He was a bit cute - in that clean, not quite innocent, good boy kind of way. Wolfwood found himself staring at Vash, which was probably not a good thing. But then again... His grin faded and he nodded, still staying close to the blond. "Yeah, I guess I am."

the donut outlaw: Vash's face was already too red for him to be blushing much more, when he realized he was being stared at. And just like that, the situation had turned serious. This was no less awkward than the teasing had been before. Unable to bring himself to turn away and break eye contact, Vash smiled a little, "...I don't think I mind."

"I'm not good for ya," Wolfwood replied, still studying Vash's face. He raised his hand, touching the soft, heated skin of Vash's cheek. He shouldn't do it - they weren't from even the same place in time - but he still couldn't help himself. Vash the Stampede. A monster. A friend. Both strangely fascinating and a terrible being all in one package. "Why are you so compelling?"

He was still smiling, some of his earlier embarrassment starting to drain away. This was still a little weird, but it was more familiar territory. Vash reached up to put his hand over Wolfwood's, fingers curling though he didn't try to pull his hand away. "I wouldn't say that I am. But you know... from where I'm standing, you're looking pretty good to me."

Wolfwood answered Vash's smile with one of his own, taking a deep breath. So, it probably didn't matter about when and where. As long as Vash could still smile like that at him, it was possible no matter which time and place they came from. "You are to me, Stampede." He leaned close, brushing his lips against the blond's, hesitating just a little.

He didn't move, at first, that soft touch still making his skin tingle. But then Vash leaned forward a fraction more, pressing their lips together more solidly. It was a chaste kiss, and his lips were dryer than was entirely pleasant, but the way his heart was pounding he might as well have been running a race.

He was kissing back. Wolfwood let out the breath he was holding, his whole body throbbing with his heartbeat. This was something missed at a level he wouldn't - couldn't - admit even to himself. Tilting his head, he smoothed his fingers over Vash's cheek, his lips parting and his tongue touching Vash's lower lip.

Vash opened his mouth to Wolfwood, tentatively touching their tounges together. They hadn't even really started this yet, but it felt good. He put a hand on Wolfwood's side even as he deepened the kiss slightly, sliding their tongues together further. The feel of it drew a soft, needy noise out of him.

Slow and sweet, something about him always made Wolfwood gentle his reactions. He teased Vash's tongue with his, drawing the blond closer against him. His fingers slide into his hair - and oh it was far softer than the spikiness suggested. Making a sound of enjoyment, Wolfwood's free hand smoothed over Vash's hip.

It had been a while since Vash had the luxury of being able to get so close to someone. He had both hands on Wolfwood's waist now, pulling him closer until there wasn't any space left between them, needing that physical contact. The kiss was slowly getting deeper, but Vash pulled away before it could get that far, resting his forehead against Wolfwood's as he licked his lips to get one last hint of his (slightly ashy) taste. "...huh."

The sun was warm against his back, but Vash was even warmer, pressed so close against him. Wolfwood cupped the back of his neck with one hand, his other gripping the jut of Vash's hipbone. The intensity was growing between them when Vash pulled away, still close, those clear blue-green eyes looking into his. Wolfwood swallowed, licking his lips and trying to steady his breathing. "...yeah."

Now that they had stopped, Vash missed the kissing. He wanted to do it again, but held back, his only motion to curl his fingers into Wolfwood's jacket. "So what now?" he asked, quietly. He wasn't even sure if it was a good thing for him to enjoy kissing his best friend. It made things a lot more complicated, that's for sure.

He couldn't stop looking down at Vash's lips, still slightly swollen from their kiss. It took him a bit to focus on Vash's words and then he just frowned. Why ask a question that they probably won't have an answer to? Something like this just had to be worked through by ear. "Where do we want ta go form here?"

"I don't know," he admitted. All he really knew was that, so far, he really liked this. It was hard to miss how Wolfwood was staring at his lips when they were so close like this, so Vash liked his own lips again on purpose, slowly moving his tongue. "I think I want to kiss you again."

Wolfwood sucked in his breath, his eyes going back to watching Vash's lips. Dear Lord, Vash was doing it on purpose now. Not that Wolfwood was going to complain, especially since Vash was voicing the exact same thing on his mind. "I think I'd like that."

"Good." Vash closed the distance again, kissing him a few times before beginning to urge his mouth open again. He slid an arm around his waist, running his other hand up to lightly rub against his back. Maybe he should have been questioning this right now, but all he really wanted to do was give in to the nice, slow pace of this and the warm feeling it gave him.

Wolfwood pressed against Vash, his lips parting and his tongue brushing against Vash's. They should be questioning this attraction, this need, but he didn't want to stop either. It was cozy and warm and shit if Wolfwood felt so welcomed by anyone than he did right now.

He was all too glad to slide their tongues together, slipping his tongue into Wolfwood's mouth to get an ever better taste of him. Vash was starting to kiss him harder, and more heatedly, throwing some of his caution away in favor of 'getting to know him better'. This was definitely one part of him he wouldn't mind being more familiar with at all.

Moaning into the kiss, Wolfwood pressed tighter against him, his hand sliding from his hip to give his butt a squeeze. His other hand tangled in Vash's fine hair, hanging on because he felt like he was fast leaving all his common sense behind. Exploring his mouth, he just wanted to feel the here and now. Everything else was just the past.

Vash's squeak of surprise was muffled, and he squirmed up against him, faintly embarrassed but at the same time enjoying it far more than he should have. He tightened his grip on Wolfwood, hardly able to hold onto him any harder. Though he was wearing too many layers to be able to feel his warmth, holding him so close was nearly as good as the kissing was.

There were a lot of layers between them. That might be a good thing since Vash was a mess of metal parts and scar tissue, but it hadn't bothered Wolfwood before. Maybe he was a bit strange in the head to want to feel that marred skin against his, of wanting to be as close as he could get to Vash. smiling against Vash's lips, Wolfwood gave his ass another squeeze, dragging him up against his leg.

Feeling the pressure between his legs, Vash pressed further up against it, and oh that felt amazing. He was starting to grind up against Wolfwood without fully realizing it, the hand on his back sliding up to cup the back of his neck instead. Softly panting into his mouth, Vash managed to now catch and lightly suck at his tongue.

Oh yeah. That had him rocking against Vash, making muffled sounds against Vash's mouth. Wolfwood was having a hard time breathing, not that he cared with the hard body pressed against him, their lips locked and limbs tangled around each other. He pressed his thigh harder against Vash, riding the blond's leg as much as he was able, his hand flexing rhythmically over the seat of his pants.

Vash actually slid his leg forward now, to help give Wolfwood more friction, moaning helplessly into his mouth. A short time after that, the fact that they were mindlessly humping each other finally struck him. It took a lot of effort for him to untangle their tongues, kissing him over and over again even after he'd pulled away. "...wait... we shouldn't...." He managed to direct his kisses to Wolfwood's jaw instead, slowing down the movements of his body.

Oh Lord, why did he do that? Wolfwood whimpered at the lose of contact, even though they were still pressed together, and were still touching each other. Gulping for air, he returned Vash's kisses, pieces of his brain starting to work again now that he wasn't feeling so much. It was sad; he wanted to feel everything before the inevitable death that will claim him. Just a taste of having something before his body aged to the point of no return. "...Vash...why..?" Why stop, why shouldn't they, why couldn't he put his feelings into words.

He had to stop himself before he followed Wolfwood's jaw up to his ear and did something a little too inappropriate. Like licking it. Vash ducked his head down slightly, breathing hotly on his neck, finally managing to slow down until he was just pressed against Wolfwood instead of grinding against him. "This is going way too fast."

Groaning, Wolfwood rested his chin on top of Vash's head, moving his hand off of his ass to his hipbone while his other hand rested on his shoulder. Dammit, Vash was right. The kisses were getting too intense too fast. Not that it was a bad thing, but they couldn't just jump each other's bones like that. Especially up against a tree. Taking a deep breath to try to clear out the last traces of his lust, Wolfwood nodded. "Yeah, guess it is."

He was far, far too tempted to start kissing his neck, so Vash opted for hugging him tightly instead, moving his head to lie on his shoulder so it'd be a little further out of the danger zone. Why was it so hard to be responsible? "Sorry. ... Maybe we should get back." If he could manage to pull himself away from Wolfwood entirely.

"Maybe." Wolfwood didn't make any move to untangle himself from Vash though. He didn't want to and being only barely out of his teens, he didn't feel like listening to his adult senses. It might be because this felt so comfortable and so right. He turned his head, kissing Vash just below his ear and sighed. "not your fault."

Mmm, that felt nice. Vash smiled faintly, giving him a squeeze before trying to pull away from him. Trying, because he was still pressed up against that tree and couldn't back up any further himself. "I need to let my roomies know I'm okay. I don't know if they were around when... you know."

"yeah." Wolfwood didn't want to move but he had to. It was either that or risk having Vash all mad at him from not moving. He took a step back, not really letting go yet, but the coziness of before fading more. "You were pretty out of it."

"I don't know what I'll tell them," Vash admitted, slowly pulling his arms away from Wolfwood's body. No, it wasn't fair, but they both needed time to calm down and think about what they were doing here. He gave Wolfwood a small smile then, before asking, "What about you? Are you going back to your place?"

"Tell 'em that you had to get away from all th' pineapples," Wolfwood replied, letting his arms drop and taking another step back. It was so not fair. So much so that he started looking for a smoke the moment Vash left his arms. He still wanted him and could still taste him. "I'm tired of looking at daisies all the time. Figured to look at the water an' maybe see 'bout gettin' ta town."

"..That's right, we were going to get a drink at some point..." Vash rubbed at the back of his head before saying, with another smile, "Let me know when you have the time, okay?" He really did have to check on Danny and Keigo first. Maybe he would take Wolfwood's suggestion and claim that the pineapples temporarily drove him crazy.

"That we were. Idiot." Wolfwood smiled as he said it, though it didn't stop him from cuffing the blond. Hey, he was trying to get back to normal here, trying not to think about just jumping the Plant and starting all over. Having a smoke in his mouth made it easier though. "I've got plently of time. Ya jus' need ta tell me when."

He ducked away from the cuff just a few seconds too late, "Hey, it's not my fault! That weird... thing with the zombies happened before we could!" Vash still didn't know how to explain that one. He was just relieved that everyone had came out of it unhurt. "I'll let you know. Maybe tomorrow?"

Wolfwood shrugged - there were no zombies for him, just the sudden ability to be smaller than he ever remembered. "Huh. Well then, I guess we can meet up when things are settled with your roomies. tomorrow's good though."

"Yeah." Vash smiled at him again ... suddenly aware of the fact that he still hadn't moved from that spot. Whoops. "I'll, ah, see you then!" he said with a quick grin and a wave, before turning to jog down the hill. It was a little hard to leave after all that, but having something to look forward to helped.