CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Scattered Rain
PART ONE…Hidden …One after the other, Vash popped Vanessa's sushi into his mouth, chewing each slowly, quietly. It was weird, eating her prepared fish again. It still had the same texture and unique flavor as did her sushi a century ago, in her cave on Gunsmoke. Glancing up, and back down, he reflected on how cold and squishy it was.
Vanessa also ate in silence, pulling the cold fish bits up with wooden chopsticks. Her pieces were milder than his, and not cut as carefully or elaborately. As always, she cut the best sushi for him.
Staring at the empty water bottles at his side, Vash cursed his thirst. When he was nervous, he drank a lot. "Excuse me," he murmured, standing. "I have to go to the bathroom." He immediately walked into the woods, looking for some distant tree.
"Wait." Hearing a rustling and soft groan behind him, he spun to see Vanessa struggling to stand, scooting her body roughly up the tree's bark, positioning and repositioning the round feet of her crutches.
"Um, I can find a place myself, you just wait there," he called. But she didn't seem to hear him. A light bulb went off in his mind – "Do you need to go, too?"
She grunted through her teeth, face warm with effort but hidden from his view. "Well, yes, but that's not what I was going to say," she muttered.
"What?" he called, still standing twenty or so feet behind her.
She hobbled over to her camouflaged home. "Come inside and use my bathroom!" she yelled over her shoulder.
Pausing for a while, shoulder sloped down, Vash wondered. He wanted to call out his reply, that he'd rather use a tree. But she was already on her feet and struggling towards her door. Attempting to be gracious and helpful, he accepted, rushing over to her. "Need help?" he asked, eyeing the wall, wondering where the shutter was.
With that, the door shuttered open as if from nowhere, leading into her stone-floored, vast room of a home, with its high glass ceiling.
"Bathroom's across, left of the kitchen," she instructed, slumping her armpit onto a crutch so that she could point to it.
"Woah," he whispered, in awe, as his eyes panned the room, feet stuck in place. There were so many things painted here, with such vibrant colors.
Rolling her eyes, she laughed. Slowly stumbling across the stones, Vanessa worked her way to the bathroom herself. "I'll go first, then."
Vash began to walk along the wall, eyes darting to and fro, taking in the beautiful work. Landscapes, animals - there were a great variety here, all executed in sharp and blurry focus. All of it was lovely, and he edged his way around at a speed just slow enough to see it all, and just fast enough that he could look at the whole perimeter of paintings before she came back.
A large, gray wall space greeted him on one side, as he walked. It seemed as though paint had been scraped away from the surface, pulling off whatever was painted here. Little shavings and larger chunks of the discarded paint lay at the base of the wall.
He continued shuffling around the room, past the kitchen.
Maybe he'd taken her work for granted back on the ship. After all, things were a daily drama there, and he saw her paintings constantly. Or maybe she'd improved exponentially over time, and these paintings were simply far better than the ones before.
Another interruption in the wall stopped him. An expanse of blue fabric was covering a large area, much the same sized area as the scraped-off part. The fabric was pinned down at the edges, tugging at his curiosity. What could it be? He reached out like an innocent child, and put a finger under the cloth edge, leaning his head in. With one eye open, he peered under the edge, lifting it ever further. It was dark, he couldn't see. Maybe if he could unpin an edge and look…
"Ahem."
Jumping, Vash grabbed at his chest. She had startled him terribly.
"Your turn," she choked out softly, face pale, gesturing towards the bathroom door. Vanessa slumped into the opposite doorway, leaning for support, and watched him enter through the corner of her eye. She pretended to be looking up into the sky, but was trying to read his face with what peripheral vision she had.
Once back outside, Vash sat against his tree and waited, gritting his teeth, as he watched her slowly and laboriously sit at hers. Finally, he took his chopsticks back in hand and began the meal again.
Panting with the effort, Vanessa's body relaxed. "Vash, you know how I told you that, all these years, I tried to give you all the privacy I could? Well, can you please try to return the favor?" she asked, more patient than angry.
Blushing, Vash nodded. "Sorry. I couldn't help myself."
She nodded, smiling. "I understand."
For the remainder of their meal, and for several hours after, Vash entertained Vanessa with stories of his community work and travels. It seemed Vanessa hadn't explored many of the more interesting areas of the globe – just the ruins and museums in a few main areas like Egypt and Europe – and she was very interested in what he told her. She read it all before, but his take was enlightening nonetheless.
The reason for their sudden comfort and relaxed conversation was due to the curtained painting. Vash was impressed with her calm reaction to his attempted invasion of privacy, and also knew how important it was that she was willing to let him into her home – her '2nd cave.' And Vanessa relaxed because she felt at ease with Vash now. He hadn't seen the paintings that she didn't want him to see, and he seemed fine with her secrecy. Also, she'd been able to learn from his actions and expressions, indirectly, about his feelings for her.
Vash found himself content with their standing.
Vanessa wasn't completely content yet, but she knew she would be.
XXXX
Tessla smiled at the hologram blueprints swirling in 3-D in front of her. "Perfect."
She'd spent all day on these, while her father was away. The device's design was complex – completely one of a kind. Surely this was the only such model she'd ever make, and that was best, considering what it was for.
Leaning back into her chair, Tessla's broad smile narrowed. Closing her eyes, she laughed softly. "This'll solve it, daddy."