Roderich sat a long while in the garden, half expecting that Vash would get over himself and come back, but after about five minutes of sitting outside, he knew Vash was not going to lighten up in the least bit. Some people could be very proud beings; Vash was clearly brimming with pride. He was a rich country, self sustained and sufficient, he'd always been left to defend himself and Lilli without any help, so it was to be expected that he had a lot of pride in him. But Roderich had trouble accepting that, even when Vash was the most conceited man he'd ever met, it was hard to imagine he'd be so idiotic as to turn down help. He was ill, terribly ill, and to turn down help when he knew that was just plain stupid. Vash may have been pretentious, but normally he wasn't quite so dense.
After a few more minutes of waiting, Roderich moved out of the rose garden and walked back toward the house, only to find Vash hadn't made it so far. The blonde haired young man was sitting on the edge of the fountain, hands on his knees. His hair hung over his face, hiding his pained expression as he sucked in long, deep breaths as if he were trying to calm himself or regain his breath like he'd just been running. The later seemed far more unlikely, especially since Vash had nearly passed out after running a very short sprint, he would not have run away from Roderich just to do more running, if he did then Roderich would have expected him to be passed out in the yard somewhere, not sitting on the fountains edge, his black jacket lying on the ground.
Wordlessly, Roderich moved over to the fountains edge and sat beside Vash, maintaining a safe distance between them so that Vash wouldn't jump up and run away immediately. Roderich sat and watched a bit, wishing he knew what to do for Vash in such a state, even though he knew that anything he did would only make the blonde angry with him. It didn't make sense! One minute he could help Vash, in fact he was being asked to help, and the next the blonde boy had gone running just because he had a friend to lean on. It just didn't make sense at all!
Over head, the sky rumbled and dark clouds began moving in above them. Earlier it hadn't looked like a storm, but somehow in the hour that passed since Roderich had last looked to the sky, it became quite evident that rain was unavoidable, and they had little time until they were hit. The problem became Vash, who showed no promise of moving away from his spot on the cement walling of the fountain. Rain could not be good for him, he was already sick enough. Besides that, Roderich didn't want to get sick himself and he didn't want to take care of Vash the whole time the blonde's were visiting. There were things he actually wanted to show Vash, things that required leaving the house! That wouldn't be possible if they were sick the whole time!
With a soft sigh, Roderich reached a hand out to Vash and placed it on his shoulder gently, his touch kind and caring. For a moment neither of them moved, neither of them spoke, they just sat there. It was very short lived. Vash reached his hand up to his face slowly and rubbed his eyes. For a second, Roderich seemed confused by such a motion, but when he glanced to the ground beneath the Swiss man, he saw the small silvered droplets on the ground.
He was crying. Roderich thought with a sigh, patting Vash's shoulder gently to offer him some reassurance. More than anything it was probably just a wasted effort, compassion didn't usually faze someone quite so hot headed, but at least Roderich felt as though he was doing something to cheer him up with such a notion. Vash seemed far from pleased with such an action and pulled away, scooting a few inches around the fountain's edge only to have the Austrian scoot alongside him.
"What exactly has gotten into you Vash? An hour ago you would have been happy with my help; you surely wouldn't have run off. What's so different all of a sudden?" Roderich pleaded, hoping for any kind of answer. He hated seeing his friend like this, torn apart and in so much emotional distress; it just didn't suit the Swiss at all. Vash was a strong individual; it didn't make any sense that he'd be crying so much. He hadn't cried in years, and yet Roderich, in three days time, had already seen him in tears twice.
"I can't protect Lilli like this. I can barely even support myself, so much that I need your help just to stand after a short sprint." Vash answered in a hushed tone, his eyes still locked on the sand stone brick beneath his feet. He crossed his arms loosely over his knees while he thought about it a bit more. There was more to it than that, a lot more, but he was afraid to say some of it to Roderich. They were finally talking to each other, after years apart; it would only hurt to speak his mind fully. "I feel so weak! I was always the one to carry you home, I was the one who cared for you, but now… I just don't like it!"
Roderich sat in silence as Vash's calm tone turned to a small fit of rage. He could get so worked up about such little things for no reason at all other than to get angry. Sometimes it was entertaining, occasionally funny, even a bit obnoxious, but for once it was depressing. There was more to it than that, there had to be, Vash was simply too worked up for it to be about that, after all, he hadn't thrown a fit the day before when Roderich had been the one literally taking care of him. Yes, there was more to it than just a little power struggle; something else was getting to him.
"And…? Come on Vash, there's more going through that head of yours."
"I don't want to love you! I never did!" Vash yelled at him, jumping to his feet. His eyes were a blood shot red and his cheeks still looked damp. Despite his tone, the look on his face was far from angry; he looked almost remorseful, sad about what he was saying. Roderich had been poking for an answer and he got it, even if the moment it reached his ears he wanted to stand up and run away just as Vash had before. He tried to remain composed as Vash continued, though he felt his heart break a bit at those words. "I really want to just hate you! But no matter how much I try, I can't… even when you do something I hate above everything else, my heart only swells. I hate it! I hate the fact that I am so god damn in love with you!"
Above them, thunder rumbled once more. A bolt of lightning split the sky, and the clouds began to rain down. There was no slow drizzle to start, only a sudden downpour that drenched the boys in moments. Neither moved away, neither fought against it, they were too frozen in the words that had been said. Vash seemed to have even surprised himself in what he'd said; he was almost angry to know he'd been so cruel hearted to someone that had only showed him kindness. Already he felt guilty, wished he could take back the pointless words that had slipped his tongue, but there was nothing he could say to take it back. He watched hopelessly as Roderich let his head droop, as his dark brown hair became drenched in the rain water and dripped streams of water to the ground. He felt his heart ache at the side of the Austrian's glasses all fogged over and the indistinguishable water marks that he couldn't determine them from the rain or his tears.
Roderich stood slowly, sucking down any response he might have had. He turned away from Vash and started toward the mansion door, but before he could move even a step away, Vash grabbed his wrist. He didn't turn to look at the man who held him back, he didn't complain or argue; he just stopped still, his arm pulled back a little so that Vash could still hold his wrist. Beads of water rolled down the gray trench coat and mixed in the forming puddles on the ground. A cold breeze of air whipped around them, but neither moved, they didn't even shiver.
Slowly, Vash edged closer and pulled Roderich toward him, turning him around ever so gently. Roderich didn't look up to him; he kept his eyes on the ground as Vash pulled him in. It wasn't until Vash ran a hand along his cheek that he looked up. Even then, there was sadness in his eyes that even Vash could not have matched, not when Roderich played their piece on the piano, nor when his heart ached endlessly; only Roderich could look so utterly defeated, so depressed. Vash sighed softly and moved his hand under the Austrian's chin, forcing him to look the Swiss man in the eyes.
"I said I didn't want to love you. I didn't say I'd stopped loving you." Vash whispered before he pulled Roderich's lips to his. The dark haired man didn't move, he wasn't sure how to react; he was simply caught completely off guard. In the process, he was in fact, caught off guard as well, and so near to the fountain, that was a dangerous thing to be. He grabbed at Vash lightly, trying to keep his balance, but it became a useless effort, and within seconds he was in the pool at the base of the fountain, Vash on top of him.
They both paused, confusion and unease resting on their lips, but within a moment it subsided to laughter. Vash slowly crawled out of his very suggestive position in the fountain atop his friend, and got to his feet. He brushed his hair out of his eyes so that he could see, and offered his other hand to Roderich, who took hold of it almost immediately. Even drenched in the rain water before they'd fallen in, the Austrian was anxious to get out of his fountain and inside to warmth. Another chilled wind blew past them as the rain continued to pound against the ground, and the boys both shivered, clinging to one another to stay warm as they climbed out of the fountain one foot at a time. Vash leaned on Roderich slightly as they raced toward the back door of the house, knowing fare well from earlier that he couldn't easily run like that without wearing himself out.
Inside, two maids stood waiting with endless layers of blankets and towels that they draped around the two. Vash took the liberty of removing his soaked pink shirt and handing it over to a maid, then pulled the blanket close to him. Roderich discarded most of his layers as well, taking advantage of the warm, dry cloth that the maids had given them upon entrance instead of the soaking clothes he'd had on. He kept his pale purple shirt on beneath the layers of blankets that draped around his shoulders. He took Vash's hand gently and led him down the hall to a large sitting room. There was a long, elegant couch of a peach color that faced a large fire place. There was already a roaring fire going beneath the mantel and the two boys took seats up on the couch. One of the same maids came in with a tray that had two tea cups and a steaming pot of tea on it. She set it on the counter and proceeded to pour both pieces of china full of the hot liquid. Neither of the boys argued as she held it out to them in an urgent manner, and they waited till she turned to leave before they drank it all down.
The warm liquid was calming, pleasant, and by the time their cups were empty, Vash had cuddled up to Roderich, his eyes on the flames that flickered under the mantel. Roderich took the china out of Vash's hands and set it on the table in front of them before moving his arms around Vash and leaning his back against the arm rest of the couch.
"What do you suppose the girls will say? When they see our clothes are soaking wet, I mean." Vash asked softly, but Roderich quieted him gently and moved a hand up to his forehead. Vash didn't argue about that either, he could understand Roderich's concern. In fact, even when it might have bothered him, he found it rather pleasant, so instead of pushing Roderich off, he leaned his head against the Austrian and closed his eyes.
Maybe nothing could go wrong after all.