I need not to need, I've always been the tower...

[screwattack]

Who: Samus Aran (screwattack) & Vash the Stampede (mayflyhunter).
When: Sometime after Samus' experience with Juri.
Where: The garden. Chillin' with their pal Rex.
Rating: PG?
Summary: Samus is afflicted with the feelings. She finally got the balls to ask Vash to see her so she could deal with it. Conversation will ensue.
Warnings: I dunno, I doubt it. Language, maybe

Comments

[mayflyhunter]

Vash was completely and utterly oblivious to what was going through Samus' head. Whether that was a good or a bad thing... that remained to be seen. Either way, he was on his way into the garden, hands deep in big pockets, whistling aimlessly.

He knew Samus wasn't feeling too good, but he also knew that talking seemed to help people. He wasn't the greatest talker in the world. But she always seemed to feel better after he opened his mouth. And besides, they were friends, weren't they?

"Hey there!" he called out, with his usual cheer. "Sorry I'm late!"

[screwattack]

And suddenly, whatever unease Samus had been feeling seemed to melt out of her, her body relaxing, her leg dropping back to the ground as Vash approached. How did he always have that effect on her? She didn't understand it...she never let her guard down fully, never quite let go of her icy cold core. But Vash seemed to have the unique ability to make her forget about all of her problems just by existing.

"It's quite all right," she assured him, smiling gently at him. "I haven't been waiting long."

[mayflyhunter]

"Hey, that's good!" he laughed, flopping down in front of her without ceremony or invitation. "I forget time sometimes. Especially here because there aren't any suns or anything."

He leaned back on his hands, appearing completely and utterly at ease. The conversation with Wolfwood was still bothering him. But she didn't have to know that. No one did. It was easy for him to look like he had not a care in the world. He did it all the time.

[screwattack]

Samus kept smiling gently at him. It was all she could do not to reach out and pet Vash's head, honestly. No, she had to keep him at arm's length, no matter what it was she was feeling. She was getting too familiar, too attached as it was. But there was something about him...this strange sense that she could talk about almost anything, and somehow, he'd understand exactly where she was coming from.

"So how have you been lately?" she asked him. "I've been so mopey and self-absorbed lately, I must seem horribly inconsiderate..."

[mayflyhunter]

Vash simply shrugged, red fabric swishing around his shoulders. "Just okay," he said. "I mean, I'm still alive! So I can't be doing too bad, can I?"

He smiled, and did his best to make it a real smile, and not the usual empty one he gave to most people. She was feeling sad. So she deserved to get a real kind of grin.

[screwattack]

"You sound like me," Samus muttered, pulling her knee up under her chin again. "Just worry about surviving and anything else is just a bonus." The way she phrased it, it couldn't be certain if she picked up there was more behind that statement or not. At the very least, she was worried that there might be.

She turned her head, resting her check on her knee instead so that she could look look at Vash. "I'm sure I have you confused. And probably a little unnerved. I know that's how I feel myself right now. I just...I don't know. You make me feel comfortable. Safe. ...Happy. I can't remember ever feeling like this. Certainly not about another person."

[mayflyhunter]

"I do?" he asked, dumbly. He didn't think he sounded like a tall woman with a big scary suit half the time. Except she wasn't wearing the suit now. Something else. And it was very nice. He should probably tell her that... "You look nice!"

... He sounded like an idiot.

She didn't have him confused until she said that last part. She'd been feeling sad, right? So he'd come to talk to her, and try to cheer her up without something exploding. Except she seemed to think he could do a lot more than that. "H-hey, that's... why we're friends, right?" he asked, trying to figure out if that's what she was getting at. Because he honestly had no idea.

[screwattack]

Samus looked at Vash for a few moments after his outburst, simply blinking, wondering where that came from. Then she began to laugh, covering her mouth with her hand, trying not to look like she was insulting him. "Thank you," she managed to gasp out at last. "I wasn't sure, honestly."

She got a handle on herself, still smiling. "Right, friends. I suppose that's what that means." It was obvious that she wasn't terribly familiar with the concept. Allies, comrades, colleagues...but no one she'd really consider a friend before. Even Sam, who she threw the term around about, was closer to an ally. Was that the reason for her strange feelings? "Someone else told me it looked like I have a 'warm, fuzzy protectiveness' over you. I'm not sure if that explains things any better," she offered. She leaned over and kissed his cheek gently. "Thank you for that."

[mayflyhunter]

Well... he had sounded pretty stupid just blurting it out like that. Laughing too, albeit nervously, he toyed with the short strands of hair at the back of his neck. "You're welcome?" he said, voice a little uncertain.

Vash was a lot less familiar with friendship than he appeared. No one ever stuck around him long enough to get that close. No one wanted to, really. Not that he ever blamed them. He wouldn't have. It just simply wasn't their fault. "That's okay--" he started to say.

But then his brain broke. Because a woman had just, unasked, and unsolicited, kissed him. Granted, it had been on his cheek, and pretty damned chaste. Even so, the mere concept was enough to send him into a state of stuttering, incoherent confusion.

"Wha?" was the first thing like a word that came out of his mouth.

[screwattack]

Once that was done, Samus slid a little further away from Vash on the bench. One violation of personal space was probably enough for one day, after all. She really needed to reign in her urge to do that with him. "Sorry about that," she said softly. "I just...thought you deserved something like that."

She looked over at him, sudden movement causing her hair to fall around her shoulder. "I'm just...very bad at this. Interacting with people. I'm sure I don't need to tell you that. I certainly did nothing to deserve being able to call someone like you a friend. Just the opposite: I keep expecting you to realize what I really am and run away any second now."