When the world is too dark

[anthophilia]

[ The Evergreen has a strong no-assholes policy. This is undermined somewhat by the fact that Nick basically runs it now, but it means he can use himself as a gauge. If anyone’s a bigger asshole than he is, they get kicked out.

Steve is the kind of asshole who should have been kicked out way earlier. That’s on Nick. He was over-cautious, cut the guy too much of a break, because running this bar is the only thing that has him making enough cash to keep up with his responsibilities. He’d worried that word would get around that The Evergreen wasn’t a friendly place anymore, and he’d ruin the reputation Al had carefully built up for it over the years, drive customers away. And it’s not just because Al’s basically promised him the place and it’s his future he’s gambling on, but respect for Al. He built Nick sure as he built up this bar, and the very least Nick can do in return is not tank it. And in fairness, Steve had started slow: the kind of coarse jokes that are mean instead of funny, taking sly digs at people. Way too much flirting with women beyond the point it became clear that they didn’t want to be flirted with, at least not by Steve. Nick finally found his balls the night he’d rounded the corner to check there was enough paper in the johns and seen Steve caging a girl in against the wall, face leaning in even though hers was twisted adamantly away. He’d grabbed the man by collar and belt with no regard for the fact that Steve had a good three inches and 20 pounds on him, marched him out the door, and told him not to come back, ever.

Which means that Steve is now going on the Wall of Shame, and he’d been such a dick about it Nick wants to make it a special occasion. There’s a little florist across the street that’s probably gonna close down any day now, judging by the amount of foot traffic they get, so before opening the next day Nick heads over to give them a little last bit of support. There’s a little bell that rings cutely as he pushes the door open, a blast of welcome cool, fragrant air, and… the most beautiful man he’s ever laid eyes on behind the counter. Blond hair in one of those trendy cuts that look goofy on most people that aren’t pop stars but somehow suits him just right, big eyes shaded with long lashes, a sweet little beauty mark.

Nick stops dead just inside the door, confident that if he takes one more step without preparation he’s gonna trip over his own feet. ]

Comments

[spiculatus]

[ business is... slow.

which is okay! vash is absolutely, totally, almost-definitely sure that things are gonna pick up any day now. it just takes a while to get things rolling, right? and he's only been open six months, sooo. any day now.

nai had protested this location when vash had picked it out, and sometimes he still drops the occasional nudge about packing up shop and moving downtown. closer to his office, nestled in amid the high-end shops, where window-shoppers are more common and people have money to spend. (plus, he'd said, it'd make it easier for us to eat lunch together every day and that was officially the closest vash had ever come to bending on the issue.)

it's not even a bad part of town, per se. closer to the kind of neighborhood where he and nai had lived with rem; sure, there are places where you shouldn't go at night, and the people here don't have money like they do on the other side of town, but there's still plenty of good. people look out for each other here, learn each other's names, always call out greetings to vash when he's opening the shop in the mornings. and everywhere deserves flowers, not just the rich and glitzy places.

still, it's been a slow day on top of a slow week, and vash is struggling not to yawn where he sits perched at the counter. he's already swept the floor (twice), gone through the routine of checking in on each of the plants (watering them, pruning the ones that need it, chattering to them about the latest episode of the spaghetti western he's been keeping them all up-to-date on), and even rearranged the window display for good measure. maybe he should clean the windows? it's officially his least favorite chore, but --

then the bell above the door chimes out, and vash's head snaps up. ]

Welcome to Seeds! [ brightly, his best customer service voice. ]

[anthophilia]

[ Well, the voice matches the look. It's light, almost sweet. Honestly, it's a wonder this place doesn't have more teen girls stopping in just to blush and giggle.

Nick takes a deep, grounding breath, until he's sure he won't blush or giggle, and strolls to the counter with his hands plunged in his pockets. ]

Hey. I'm lookin' for a wreath. Funeral wreath, about yay big [ and he holds his hands up, indicating a space that would be juuust about big enough to circle an unflattering picture printed out on A4 paper ]. You do anything along those lines?

[ Good, very cool. Not fawning at all! He mentally congratulates himself, even though his sunglasses did most of the work by concealing the way his eyes got wide when he first got a look at this guy. ]

[spiculatus]

[ huh. it's not exactly the kind of request vash was expecting, even if the guy does look a little bit like an undertaker. a dark mess of hair, eyes hidden by dark sunglasses, jaw sketched out by just enough stubble to make you wonder if it's purposeful or just careless shaving.

he looks... cool. kinda like the anti-heroes that roll up into town just when the odds are against the hero, saying stuff like i'm only in it for the money and then never actually taking the reward.

but. suddenly, recognition. ] Oh! You're the guy from across the street, right?

[ the bar's been longer here than vash's shop has, but he's never actually seen much of the guy until now. mostly because business over there is only really starting to kick in once vash is closing up shop for the day, still sleepy and shuttered when he opens in the morning.

... but. he leans back a little bit, looking past the guy to catch a glimpse of the building across the street, eyes a little wide. ] ... did someone die?

[anthophilia]

Not for a few good years yet, God willing.

[ Al likes to joke about how he's circling the drain - Nick's words are even an echo of him, even if he left the and the creek don't rise off the end - but Nick likes to think the old coot'll hang on until Nick's too old to even want to own a bar. He smiles crookedly, knowing this is the kind of thing some people could take real offense to. ]

Gave a customer a lifetime ban last night. There're a few people who'll be glad they don't have to put up with him hanging around imposing himself anymore, so I thought I'd break the news tonight where everyone can see it. [ A beat. why does he feel like he needs to apologize? He doesn't even know this guy! Even if he does look like the type where if Nick said yeah, my grandma his eyes would fill with tears and they'd be horribly genuine. ] Kinda dark, I know.

[spiculatus]

[ ah, whew! lifetime bans? that's way less scary.

and if vash picks up on the fact that kinda dark, i know is supposed to be halfway to apology for the morbid humor, he isn't letting on. the opposite, if anything -- there's an ehehe as he kicks at the base of the stool he's sitting on, giving himself a twirl that propels him up and out of the seat. ] Got it! Mission accepted!

[ and lucky, lucky, because the perfect plants for the job have flowers that vash is pretty sure they won't mind sparing him. most of the other florists in the city get their flowers shipped in from farms for their arrangements -- vash prefers to keep as many living plants as he can in the shop and work from there, occasionally dipping into the plants he keeps blooming at home. sure, it takes more work, but he likes the idea that they're all teammates pitching in to make the place work.

swinging himself around the counter, crouching down in front of one of the stands spilling over with plants. but -- tipping his head back to make eye contact with his customer again, catching himself. ] Oh! Sorry! You want me to drop 'em off later, or you want to wait around? Shouldn't take that long. [ wiggling his fingers in the guy's direction. ] Fastest fingers in the West, right here.

[anthophilia]

I - [ He should have them dropped off. It's early to open, sure, but nobody does their best work while they're being scrutinized, and what's he gonna do? Stand around with his hands in his pockets like a jackass? ] I'll wait. Don't know a lot about floristry, and I never pass up a chance to learn something new.

[ This is news to Nick, for anything that doesn't relate directly to his work. Still! He said it out loud, too late to back out now. ]

So, quickdraw. When everyone asks who did the flowers, what name do I give 'em?

[spiculatus]

Oh, cool!

[ his expression is already sunny as the afternoon, but somehow? when the guy says he's actually interested in learning, vash still manages to brighten. ] C'mere, then, I can show you!

It's Vash, by the way. [ he's tempted to tell the guy to stick to telling people he got his flowers done by quickdraw -- that sounds cool. but it'll also make it hard for people to actually look him up, so he's gotta can the idea. ]

[anthophilia]

Thanks, Vash.

[ Looks like he might learn something after all, in spite of himself. Even if when he moves closer, he's far more interested in a particularly fine specimen of sunflower than the wreath-in-progress. ]

Oh - I'm Nick. Good to meet you, finally. Is it just you here?

[spiculatus]

[ nick. even the name is cool! ]

No, duh. [ and he's reaching up without an ounce of permission, grabbing at wolfwood's elbow and dragging him down as he plops his ass right on the floor. ] I've got a ton of coworkers.

See? [ dragging one of the heavier pots forward, a trellis covered in climbing, cheerful pink roses. ] Say hi to Nick, guys.

[ grabbing one of the leaves and making it wiggle, pitching his voice up as he chirps out a hiii, nick! and yeah, he absolutely does laugh at his own stupid joke before he digs a pair of pruning shears out of his jacket pocket and sets to work. ]

[spiculatus]

[ vash lucks way out when wolfwood is still down to come hang out on friday night even after watching him get kidnapped.

it takes some clearing up! which he probably should have done immediately, but he'd been preoccupied with ruining legato's attempt at a lecture by kicking the back of his seat the entire way home. and then he does sit very politely through the lecture nai lays on him once he's back home -- mumbling sorry, sorry while nai grills him about not checking in and going out alone. and then! even though he is definitely not drunk, he does end up crashing facefirst on his bed and taking something suspiciously close to a drunk nap for about two hours.

and by the time he wakes up and remembers to plug in his phone, he's got a handful of missed calls and a pile of increasingly worried texts from wolfwood, which makes him feel guilty and warm all over.

so! he persists in inviting him over on friday night, because nai's almost always out 'til late, and they can hang out and watch a movie or something, then crash and head to the orphanage together in the morning. it's perfect! a plan with literally no flaws!

except now that friday night is actually here, vash is a jittery mess of nerves. he showers to make sure he can scrub the dirt out from under his nails, stresses over what to wear until he throws on a pair of sweats and a sweater that's both great for snuggling and also hopefully suggests that he is Totally Cool about this whole thing, and then makes a lame attempt at straightening the pillows on the sofa just because he's at a loss for what else to do.

it would probably be very cool of him to wait a few seconds after the door buzzes, just to hammer home the idea that he's a very cool guy dripping with game. instead, vash bounds over to it like an overgrown labrador, throwing it open and beaming. ]

Hi!

[anthophilia]

[ For Nick's part, it was only Lena's cool head that saved him from chasing after Vash and trying to smack Mr Blue Hair in the head with the baseball bat he keeps under the bar. Sniffing trouble, she'd grabbed his arm as he was pulling the bat out and insisted that was the guy who picks Vash up after work every day. How she noticed THAT from the kitchen he doesn't know, but he trusts her.

He apologizes to the patrons, tells them he'll follow up, and declares it happy hour with half off drinks to try and soothe their jangled nerves. It's sad hour(s) for Nick: he's scrubbing through footage from the security camera out front trying to get a plate number from the guy's car by the time Vash answers his messages and reassures him that Mr Blue Hair is neither a psycho killer nor an abusive boyfriend and he's home safe and sound. Despite his better efforts, he stays a little worried about it until Vash re-extends the offer to come over Friday night (to a rizty part of town!), for a movie and food and no hanky-panky, just a good early start on the day.

Unless he's inviting him over so his blue-haired boyfriend can knock him in the head with a meat cleaver and dissolve his body in a bathtub full of acid, but you know what? Vash might be worth that risk. It's a belief that only strengthens when Vash answers the door, enthusiastic as a dog greeting a family member and dressed in sweats that might actually convince Nick that designer clothing is worth the price tag. Vash looks like a Very Comfy model, and here Nick is in jeans and a henley. Oh well. ]

Hi yourself. I'm surprised they let me in, this place is swank.

[spiculatus]

[ there is at least two full seconds where vash forgets everything that isn't the way wolfwood left his shirt unbuttoned, rocked by how badly he wants to put his mouth on the guy's collarbones. then he blinks! realizes he's staring! goes pink!

but reaches to grab wolfwood by the wrist and haul him inside, anyway. ]

Yeah, ahaha, it's totally overkill, right?

[ they'd run a fucking background check on wolfwood just to add him to the approved guest list, and vash was forced to break out his best puppy dog eyes to keep the doorman from trying to call nai for his sign off. not because he's hiding anything! he's not! nai just gets... tetchy, sometimes. especially about new people. and it's, uh, easier to just. not have the conversation? ]

[anthophilia]

[ Oh.

Vash is looking at his chest area and blushing. And Nick isn't working. Does he dare? He does! He lets his eyes travel slowly over Vash's tall frame, and hums. ]

Maybe, but the view's excellent.

[ OH WAIT! He hoists a large bag of stiff brown paper, folded neatly at the top. ]

Lena says hi. I dunno if you had plans for dinner, but I told her how much you liked her burger and she started preening.

[spiculatus]

Seriously? You're my hero!

[ there's a second where vash is tempted to plant a kiss on his cheek, just... because it makes the joke extra funny! no other ulterior motives! ... but he also just invited the guy inside, and there's gotta be some kinda rule about that. ]

C'mon, we can eat on the couch.

[ a little tug on wolfwood's wrist to make sure he's following, then vash is bounding down the hall. the apartment is huge, the foyer spilling into an open floor-plan living space that combines a designer kitchen with the living room. vaulted ceilings make room for wall-to-wall windows that look out over the city below, and the room is crowned by a giant, squishy sectional set up around a stupidly huge TV. and all the expensive finishes might be enough to make the place look cold, but everywhere, there's plants. tucked into the corners, blooming cheerfully on the countertops, spilling down the hallway in a wall-mounted garden. almost like a greenhouse exploded in the place, or someone's done their damndest to see about retheming it to a jungle. ]

[anthophilia]

[ Nick looks around.

He looks, and he looks, and he looks.

The plants, at least, are exactly what he expected. A riot of green and living things, happy to provide beauty in exchange for water and care. Everything else is...

a lot. He whistles. ]

Is Seeds like... a pet project? Hobby in your downtime, maybe?

[spiculatus]

[ for his part, vash doesn't notice. he's too busy flopping back onto the sectional with an oof and then digging the remote out from where it always ends up buried in the seat cushions.

that, though. he blinks, looks up. ]

Huh? No, why?

[anthophilia]

[ He follows, 'cause he might be overwhelmed but he's not rude. Not unless it's on purpose, anyway. The sectional is fucking gigantic, which means there's a whole lot of mental calculus to do on where to sit. Too far away and it's cold, too close and it's presumptuous. Where he'd like to sit is in Vash's lap. He settles for next to him, less than an arm's length away. ]

Just wondering if you're a secret billionaire heir or something. It's not a front, is it? Not that I care, but it does mean I probably shouldn't come visit when I'm meant to be at work.

[ Nick you shouldn't be doing that anyway. ]

[coillier]

[ vash has never been very good at hiding anything from him.

and really, knives doesn't know if his baby brother has ever tried?

why should he, after all? what can one half hide from its mirrored reflection, what secrets shouldn't they lay bare? it's never mattered that there are parts of his own life that knives keeps shadowed from his twin; it isn't hypocrisy when it's for vash's own good, when the knowledge would only be a burden and a torment. if vash wanted to know, there is nothing knives wouldn't show him, but that's not what vash asks of him. he's always leaned into his older brother's hands, asked knives to cup them around his eyes and provide blinders for his periphery. vash has never wanted to see the ugliest parts of the world, and it's never been a burden to shield him.

still, this clumsy farce might be the closest his brother has strayed towards duplicity, and it pricks knives' attention. it starts when he delays from coming directly home after his shop's usual closing time, and legato reports tersely that he's ventured into the bar across the street. curious, but not concerning; vash is a moth drawn hopelessly towards the tempting light of company, and it's not a terribly dangerous urge to indulge. more curious is the way his little brother has someone added to the list of permitted visitors for their home, but knives begins to pay real attention when vash tries to make sure it won't be reported on. (of course, the man had called him the moment vash had left his office, but the attempt alone makes it worth noting.)

knives runs the name. nicholas d. wolfwood. an orphan with no parents on record, a ward of st. michael's orphanage. one brother registered to him by law and not blood. a few smudges on his criminal record as a juvenile; sealed, but no real challenge to have opened up for his curiosity. a few years logged at seminary before he'd left it, and not because he'd been struggling academically. a lapse of faith, maybe? it isn't particularly relevant, but it adds a little color. pitiable finances, mostly because it seems that the man redirects most of the profits from his bar toward the task of putting his brother through school. unremarkable overall, but the qualities in other people that snag vash's attention rarely follow any lines of logic.

there are at least a hundred ways to handle this, direct and indirect. but protecting vash is a balancing act -- if knives draws the leash around his brother's neck too tight, vash remembers that it's there. too lax, and knives runs the risk of letting someone damage vash in a way that won't even prove instructional. if this man represented any reasonable threat, knives wouldn't hesitate to interfere, but.

for now, he doesn't see any real risk in letting this play out a little longer, until he can get a better idea where he might benefit.

it doesn't mean knives is expecting the stranger to stay the night. it's a first for vash -- he'd had a friend or two back to the apartment when he'd been in college, mostly study partners or project groups. but none of them ever stayed over, and the break in routine makes knives itch. he knows the man is still here from the moment he slips into the apartment and closes the door behind him; he's had years of attuning his senses towards any possible change in his environment, filtering through information to sift out any threats, and the presence of someone else in their home is almost a physical thing. unsettling, uncomfortable, unfamiliar. vash has overstepped a boundary, and even though knives forgives him for it, it's a jagged edge in their relationship that knives will have to file carefully back down.

impossible to sleep with someone else here. but it's late (early) enough for sleep to be all but a moot point anyway; knives has never required much of it. so he sets himself to his morning routine instead -- works out, showers, dresses, bides his time attending to a few work details that require his attention, and then, finally, baits his trap.

breakfast for vash, something that he likes -- a tofu and veggie scramble, presented at an hour where the smell of food is likely to rouse him. and then knives settles down to wait at their kitchen table, opening up a collection of reports on his phone and turning half his attention towards them. time to wait and see. ]

[anthophilia]

[ It's a good night.

Nick never really sleeps well in rooms that aren't his own - a definition that's expanded to include both the one in his apartment and the one above the Evergreen, where he's crashed enough times after particularly hectic nights that he just keeps clothes there now - but usually, waking in the night means he stays awake. Here, every time he wakes it's with Vash twined close, arm and legs octopused around him or head tucked on his chest, and he's warm enough and sweet enough that it lulls Nick back to sleep each time. When he finally wakes and it's light enough to count as morning Vash is still asleep, and the desire to just stay in bed until he wakes is strong - but so is the urge to check and see if they have a balcony of some description where he can have a quick cigarette before sneaking back into bed. He disentangles himself gently as he can, cleans up a little - and that's when he realizes the thing he thought he was forgetting last night was his shirt, which is probably still puddled on the floor by the sectional. Oh well. He can scoop it on the way, and hopefully the fact that Vash's brother pulled a late night means he'll still be in bed and Nick can be halfway decent if they meet.

His hopes are pretty quickly dashed. There's the smell of food, and once he gets out into the main living area, there's the brother. Very blond, just as built as the pictures made him look. He has a pretty intimidating vibe, honestly, but it seems silly to be intimidated by someone who's made from the same formula as Vash, a solid-gold sweetheart. He debates grabbing his shirt before saying hi, but that seems just as silly, so he just nods in greeting. ]

Hey. You must be Nai. [ Some big-brother instinct kicking in before he thinks about it, saying see? we talked! I listened! I didn't just take your brother straight to bed! ]

[coillier]

[ it's not entirely surprising when their houseguest ends up being the first one awake.

knives knows his little brother well enough to know that vash could sleep past noon if he was allowed; there'd been plenty of mornings when vash was still in school where knives had been forced to drag him out of bed so he'd make his morning classes, ignoring every pitiful whine and sleepy protest thrown his way. and yes, it rankles him to think of vash sleeping peacefully in the presence of this stranger, but it's an irritation easily soothed -- vash has always lacked in self-preservation instincts, counted on knives to hone his for him.

speaking of.

he lifts his eyes away from the report on his phone, giving the intruder in his own a cursory once-over. a largely unremarkable physique, dark skin dusted with darker body hair, enough muscle to suggest that he's fit but not enough to make it seem that it's something he works at. nothing to suggest that he's any different from the impression knives had gotten from his profile -- pedestrian. average. not an equal to vash in any measure.

his eyes return to his phone, tone perfectly neutral. ]

A friend of Vash? [ it's petty, but he can't resist the impulse. ] He didn't mention you.

[anthophilia]

[ The brother gives him a pretty dismissive once-over, and boy, you know what would be nice to have right about now? A shirt. No playing off what they were up to when he's half-naked. But then there's that - perfectly smooth, perfectly even, perfectly calculated, and rather than bristling at it Nick feels soothed. It's petty as fuck, and it makes the Übermensch before him seem human. He smiles, rolls his shoulders. ]

He might not have thought I was worth mentioning.

[ Can't help smiling as he says it. His fighting days are (mostly) behind him - now he knows the best way to deal with someone spoiling for a fight is not to give it to them, and it gives him enough confidence to stroll over and pick up his shirt, pull it back on as if it's what he was looking for in the first place. (Because now that he sees Nai, he has the strong feeling that he's more welcome to jump from the balcony than smoke on it.) ]

I'm Nick. I'll leave it to Vash to update you on whether that's worth remembering.

[spiculatus]

[ fortunately! that’s about all the time the two of them get for their little brother-in-law bonding session, because a lack of cuddles and the smell of food have finally been enough to rouse vash out of sleep.

well. mostly. ]

Wha’m I s’posed to remember?

[ scuffing down the hall, scrubbing sleepily at one of his eyes. barefoot, but he’d made enough of an effort to tug on a pair of sweatpants and a long-sleeved t-shirt that reads hoeing ain’t easy over a little cartoon graphic of a garden. (he’d been too sleepy to get the prospective joke when he’d dug the shirt out of a drawer, but he’s going to think it’s real funny later.)

he makes enough of a detour to be able to dip in and press a kiss against wolfwood’s cheek and mumble a sleepy g’morning to him, and then he lets himself get dragged towards the smell of breakfast. nai’s en route, so it’s easy for vash to be able to lean down and press a good morning kiss to the top of his head —

but nai reaches up and catches him by the wrist before he can finish his pilgrimage towards breakfast, thumbing gently over the pulse point on vash’s wrist. ]

Vash. [ it’s smooth, low. not angry, but wreathed in that older sibling i-know-better tone. ] Shouldn’t you tell me if you’re going to let strangers stay over?

[ which is, maybe, a fair point, but vash hates the older-brother voice, so he summons up his most mature ugh instead. ] Yeah, but Nick’s not a stranger! He owns the place across the street from Seeds.

[ no mention of the fact that they met yesterday. omission isn’t exactly the same as lying! he gives a little tug in an effort to free his wrist, and when nai holds firm? vash ducks his head and blows an obnoxious raspberry against nai’s temple. it works exactly as intended — nai jerks back and releases his wrist in the same motion, and vash triumphantly ignores the Look he’s given and drops into one of the seats at the table. ] B’sides, we’re dating. You can’t date a stranger.

[ it looks like it takes visible effort for nai to bite back whatever he wants to say on the matter. instead, he slides the plate full of breakfast towards vash, and follows it up with the little plastic cup of the meds he’s supposed to take in the mornings. ]

I would have made more, [ it’s carefully flat, but vash knows nai well enough to hear the smug he’s hiding. ] If I had known we were having company.

It’s fiiiiiiine! [ with a roll of his eyes, stuffing the first bite into his mouth. ] Nick and I can just share! [ and then he’s beaming over at wolfwood. ] Right?

[anthophilia]

[ Nick thinks the tshirt is funny right now, and barely buckles down on the laugh when he sees it - no point rubbing it in, after all - but he returns the little kiss Vash gives him, and -

whoa, they're really close, huh? That sure was a kiss. Not that there's anything wrong with a friendly little good morning kiss between brothers... even if he doesn't plan on introducing that little routine next time Livio is home for the holidays.

But Vash says we're dating and Nick can't help flashing Nai a slightly artificially bright smile. Looks like he passed the test :) Vash's smile, on the other hand, seems 100% genuine, and he settles in next to Vash and presses a little kiss to his cheek. That's not for show; it's just for Vash. ]

It's okay. This is early for me. Don't think my stomach would know what to do if I put food in it right now.

[ This is true, and also, that looks offensively healthy. There's a hashbrown, and sausage and egg muffin, and a thermonuclear black coffee somewhere in his future. ]

[spiculatus]

[ nuh-uh, this is an argument that can't stand. ]

Breakfast -- [ he begins, spearing a healthy mix of tofu and veggies on his fork, then reaching over to pinch the corners of wolfwood's jaw neatly open before he pops the bite into his mouth. easy as feeding a stubborn puppy. ] -- is the most important meal of the day! How're you gonna keep up with a bunch of kids if you don't fuel up?

[ there's a look in knives' eyes that suggests he'd much rather see wolfwood choke on the bite than anything else, but then he goes back to his phone like he's perfectly able to tune the two of them out. ]

[anthophilia]

[ Oh, that's the kind of shit he usually hates, and he's ready to protest but...

he looks at Vash's face as it happens, handsome and playful, and his objection dies on the spot. Ends up opening his mouth obediently, and hey! It's no deep fried hash brown, but it's pretty good. He chews and swallows, is (quite rudely, given who's house he's in) not even thinking of Nai when he smiles at Vash. ]

I'm fighting a losing battle here, huh? You'll have me civilized in no time.