[The sudden shift as Vash nearly stumbled back was enough of a shock to break him out of his own head, and he gasped, his own arms tightening as he felt himself being clutched harder, felt Vash pressing his face against his hair. He moved his face gently enough that he wouldn't dislodge him from where he'd burrowed against him but Nick could still look out from the crook of his neck, his own tears turning quickly to concern. Shit. Shit. He hadn't realized how exhausted Vash was, he hadn't stopped to pay attention to the signs in front of him. And the freshness of the blood on his coat suddenly coalesced into realization.]
Hey, hey Vash, hold on, wait. [It must have been so recent, he must have been exhausted, he'd ended up using those strange powers of his and that always seemed to leave him winded without the shock of thinking he'd just watched one of his friends die.] How you feelin', Needle-Noggin? That fight was a bitch, did you even-...
[His eyes finally focused enough through the tears that he could see the white feathers on the skin of his cheeks, the long, arching curve of them as they folded around the two of them and shielded them from the rest of the world. It made his breath catch in his throat even as it worried him. There'd been a time when those would have been terrifying to him, when every sign of Vash's not-human nature was another reason to run screaming. But now? They were beautiful.
He was beautiful.
And he was also, obviously, very, very stressed. He knew damn well enough to know that those things only ever showed up when he was near keyed up out of his God-damned mind. And little surprise, there, after the day he must have had!]
Come on, Vash, you're ok. Let's go sit down for a minute, ok? You eaten something lately? [These past couple years had instilled in him a hypervigilance when it came to Vash's eating habits, what with the other guy's habit of denying himself. He hadn't even been around him all that long, they'd only been traveling with him after finding "Eriks" for a few months now, but it was already engrained in him and now became the first thing he thought to fuss over. Vash had always needed to eat more than most, anyway. He turned his head slightly to shout back the way the other two had left without taking his eyes off of Vash.]
Hey, Blondie? Can you get us something to eat?
[He sniffed back what tears were still clouding his vision, pulling away just enough to wipe at his face with one hand while keeping his other arm around the man in front of him for support, and then turned to look him in the eyes, checking in on the state of him, the now-freed hand reaching up unconsciously to cup his cheek and brush those feathers down with his thumb, trying to sooth even as the sight of them rippling across his skin threatened to take his breath away.]
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Hey, hey Vash, hold on, wait. [It must have been so recent, he must have been exhausted, he'd ended up using those strange powers of his and that always seemed to leave him winded without the shock of thinking he'd just watched one of his friends die.] How you feelin', Needle-Noggin? That fight was a bitch, did you even-...
[His eyes finally focused enough through the tears that he could see the white feathers on the skin of his cheeks, the long, arching curve of them as they folded around the two of them and shielded them from the rest of the world. It made his breath catch in his throat even as it worried him. There'd been a time when those would have been terrifying to him, when every sign of Vash's not-human nature was another reason to run screaming. But now? They were beautiful.
He was beautiful.
And he was also, obviously, very, very stressed. He knew damn well enough to know that those things only ever showed up when he was near keyed up out of his God-damned mind. And little surprise, there, after the day he must have had!]
Come on, Vash, you're ok. Let's go sit down for a minute, ok? You eaten something lately? [These past couple years had instilled in him a hypervigilance when it came to Vash's eating habits, what with the other guy's habit of denying himself. He hadn't even been around him all that long, they'd only been traveling with him after finding "Eriks" for a few months now, but it was already engrained in him and now became the first thing he thought to fuss over. Vash had always needed to eat more than most, anyway. He turned his head slightly to shout back the way the other two had left without taking his eyes off of Vash.]
Hey, Blondie? Can you get us something to eat?
[He sniffed back what tears were still clouding his vision, pulling away just enough to wipe at his face with one hand while keeping his other arm around the man in front of him for support, and then turned to look him in the eyes, checking in on the state of him, the now-freed hand reaching up unconsciously to cup his cheek and brush those feathers down with his thumb, trying to sooth even as the sight of them rippling across his skin threatened to take his breath away.]