Obstacles and Excitations

by Grey

Author's Note:

This is a Vash/Meryl story, which takes place after the series. Continuity nuts might want to note that it takes place after the events in my other story, "Not a Revelation". Reading that first may give the reader additional background information as to why Vash acts as he does here, though those who have not read it shouldn't have a problem.

Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 5 are R rated, and chapter four is a lemon, containing adult situations. It's rated NC-17, and should be skipped by the younger set (yeah, right). You have been warned.

Thanks to the ficmuses, for all your help... especially Jaina, for betareading above and beyond the call of filthy smut.

---

Obstacles, Part One: Overtures

When Vash found her, Milly was cleaning the room that the Bernardelli women used for an office. Every available surface was covered in stray papers, pens, and strips of correction tape. Vash smiled at this. They'd been talking about reorganizing the office for weeks; now the time had finally come to make sense of the chaos once again.

Milly used the same "piles of stuff" organizational method that he did, but Meryl was more of an "everything in its place" person. Somehow, this dichotomy didn't interfere with the natural, easy partnership the girls shared, but it did make cleaning a bit of a stressful occasion.

Milly and Meryl had resolved this tension by agreeing to clean in shifts. Milly would sweep, dust, and throw away everything they didn't need to keep, and then Meryl would sort through it all and see to the organizational phase of the operation. Vash remembered that Meryl had left the house for the day, removing the temptation to bother Milly while she worked.

All in all, it provided Vash with the perfect opportunity to ask Milly for her help.

From where he stood at the door, he could see Milly's back, but she hadn't heard Vash yet. The back of Milly's hair was festooned with part of a typewriter roll, so Vash stepped forward and removed it gently.

Milly turned in surprise, then welcomed him with her customary smile.

"Vash-san, I didn't hear you come in!"

He smiled in return. "Hi, Milly. I wanted to ask you something, if you've got time..."

Her smile grew even wider. "Sure! I was just about to take a break, anyway." She made as if to shove some of the papers off one of the chairs, but Vash stopped her.

"Is it okay if we talk outside?" he asked. Milly's activity had kicked up the desert dust that plagued all homes on their planet, and it was more than a little hard not to sneeze.

Milly nodded, and the two of them retired to the porch.

---

Outside, the suns were at their apex, making Vash feel thankful for the protection of the covered porch. He sat beside Milly at the edge of it, just inside the strip of shade that it provided.

The big girl stretched her legs, seemingly grateful for the chance to rest, and then turned to him with a questioning look. "So, Vash-san, what did you want to ask?"

Vash blushed a bit, thinking of his request, but managed to find his voice. "I, well," he began. This didn't seem to enlighten Milly, so he went on. "Your partner..."

"Oh, you missed her for today," Milly said. "She went to town."

"No, it's not that," he said hastily. "I - I was going to... and I wanted your advice, and..." he trailed off again, wincing. All of a sudden, he couldn't seem to put a coherent sentence together.

Milly examined his face for a moment, and then exclaimed, "Oh, you like her, and you want me to help you!"

Vash stared. How did she do that?

Milly continued. "What do you need help with?"

He frowned pensively. "I want to show her how I feel. Do something nice for her, so she'll like me back."

Milly's smile was traded for a puzzled look. "She already likes you, Vash-san. Why don't you just tell her?"

He flushed, but continued. "Do you really think I could?" He considered this for a moment, then abandoned the idea. If it was this hard just to talk to Milly about it, it'd be practically impossible to approach Meryl out of the blue. He'd fought countless gangs and stared down the worst of criminals, but even the Humanoid Typhoon's much vaunted courage had its limits.

Milly seemed to sense his discomfort. "So, ways to tell her," she mused, cradling her chin thoughtfully in one fist. She stared into the distance for a while, a tiny, bittersweet smile on her face, before speaking so softly that Vash barely made out her words.

"You could bring her some sandwiches."

Vash blinked. "Huh?" he asked, feeling as if he'd missed something important.

His voice seemed to bring Milly back to herself. "Oh, sorry, Vash-san," she apologized, that wistful note leaving her voice. She paused, then continued, "How about a nice dinner? She'd like that."

Vash snapped his fingers and stood up abruptly. "Of course! I'll cook for her, women love a guy who can cook!" He struck a heroic pose, one knee bent dramatically upon the porch, and then deflated at Milly's next words.

"I thought you didn't know how to cook. Did you learn?" she asked innocently.

That night, after scraping the burnt remains of dinner-to-be out of the ruins of Meryl's favorite saucepan and enduring the ensuing angry lecture from the object of his affections, Vash treated the three of them to chicken wings and guacamole chips at the bar. It was decidedly unromantic, and proceeded to become even less so when Vash lost the rest of his money at cards, and then threw up on Meryl's shoes.

---

The next day, Vash got up as early as his hangover allowed, determined to find a way to express his feelings for Meryl. Milly was still asleep, even though the light of the suns was streaming through the front window of the house. Vash had been looking forward to grilling her for additional romantic advice, but he consoled himself with a breakfast of donuts and beer.

After breakfast, he stopped into his brother's room. It wasn't a "room", per se, but a walk-in closet off of the hallway, equipped with a cot. Vash planned to partition his own room to give Knives a better place to stay, once he awoke, but up until now he was still unconscious. Strangely enough, he didn't seem to need food or water. Day in and day out, Knives lay on his cot, moving not at all, except to breathe.

Vash laid a gentle hand on his brother's chest, feeling his breathing and pulse. They seemed normal, as usual, and after a minute or so Vash took his hand away, suppressing a shiver. Knives was almost corpselike, now, and it disturbed Vash to see his brother like that. He gave Knives a quiet "See you tomorrow", and then headed back to the kitchen.

After an hour or so, Milly came down the stairs, looking bleary as she usually did in the morning. Vash pressed a cup of coffee into her hands, and she sat down at the table. She spooned enough sugar and milk into the cup to feed a child for a day, as per usual. Meryl often remarked that she ought to try some coffee with her coffee, but then again, coffee was nigh unto a religion for Meryl.

Vash hadn't seen Meryl that morning, as she'd sequestered herself in the office. She probably wouldn't emerge again until her part of the cleaning was finished, giving Vash time to plot.

"Dinner didn't work," he said matter-of-factly.

Milly blinked at this, and then gave a tremendous yawn. When she'd recovered a little, she suggested, "I still think you should just tell her, Vash-san. You're making too much of this."

"I can't make too much of it!" he exclaimed, waving his arms for emphasis. "What if I go talk to her, and she hits me, and she never talks to me again? I'd die!" By this point, he was out of his chair, pacing back and forth beside the table.

Milly frowned. "Senpai would never do that. Don't you know how much she likes you?"

Vash regarded her for a moment. "That's why I have to do this, Milly," he said soberly. "I can't mess this up." With that, he turned to go, headed for the front door.

"Vash-san, wait! Where are you going?" Milly called after him, but there was no reply.

---

Later that evening, Milly found her partner in their room, gazing at a little plant. It looked to be an ordinary wildflower, of the hardy, bushy type that grew in less harsh places on their world. This particular plant was mostly a mass of olive-colored stem and leaf, but a few tiny blue flowers were protected by its black-tipped thorns. Someone had transplanted it into a battered bucket, the edges of which were still marked with splashes of white paint.

"Where'd you get that?" Milly asked. It wasn't completely unusual for people to try to raise plants indoors, but she'd never known her Senpai to take an interest in it.

Meryl looked up from the plant, and Milly could swear she saw a hint of a blush on her cheeks. "Vash-san gave it to me, to apologize for yesterday."

Milly grinned. "That's nice of him," she ventured.

"Yeah, it is," Meryl agreed, a small smile on her face. "It almost makes up for his ruining my best pan."

Milly managed to suppress her wince, turning it into a cough. She knew Meryl well enough to tell that her partner was pleased with the gift, though she was too proud to say so directly. Maybe Vash-san's plans would work, as long as he didn't try too hard.

With these thoughts in mind, Milly headed off to bed. It did not escape her notice that Meryl took a second to give the plant a little water before retiring.