A Change of Thought {Mathias and Francis}

[Deleted]

Vash sighed, he was taking in the smell of oak, paper, dust and coffee, and was enjoying the sounds of papers turning…no noise….nothing, however, he wasn’t feeling himself for some strange reason. The library was a place that he loved, especially late at night when there was no one about, his friends were the books that lined the walls and he read through so quickly. He was always searching for new ways to use…strengthen his powers and discover something unknown….something new that he could do…or try to do.

His present challenge was the use of melting in order to change his physical features, to clone how someone else looked just from an image….and maybe eventually into another creature all together. Vash had managed to make his nose a little longer, and his forehead higher…but so far, that was it. He was looking for anything that might help him increase his concentration, or some sort of hypnosis that could possibly make it easier.

Vash however, was growing tired, the day had been filled with studying and school and training…as per usual, and even with having his clones help with all of the work….he was only half a man himself, so the burden grew to be twice as much when a task like this came along.

Why couldn’t everything be as easy as cloning, when he let part of his body melt, it naturally began to form into another one of him, his own cells wanting to retain their natural state. Of course, however, nothing was ever that easy….and what didn’t kill you made you stronger right? Well….hopefully anyway.

Vash took the last swig of the coffee that was now cold and emptied the mug, he rubbed his eyes and groaned, looking at his watch. It wasn’t even that late…but he’d missed dinner….not an unusual event though of course…he often got carried away in his work.

Vash found that it was getting harder and harder to concentrate with every page that he read, and every page that his clones read….for a change, he wasn’t enjoying the quiet of the library, or the speed at which he was getting things done. He tossed the book that he was reading off into the pile of “still to search” and rubbed the bridge between his nose after pulling off his reading glasses and putting them away in his pocket. He couldn’t understand why he felt so miserable right now….he was doing all that he loved to do and there was no one to bother him.

Vash couldn’t be feeling lonely…no…the idea on it’s own was preposterous! Vash never sought for comfort in the presence of others…of course not…they were unreliable! He groaned and reabsorbed all of his clones except for the ones that were looking after Eva and Matthias, needing just to think.

He rose from his seat and began to pace, taking slow and deep breaths. What if he were to go to bed early? No….that would waste time and he would just sit in bed mumbling to himself.
Maybe he was sick?

Vash touched his forehead and frowned, no sign of a fever….well…it was probably a good thing, but that left the mystery of why he was feeling strangely still unaccounted for.

Was he home sick?

Vash’s frown deepened as he felt his stomach churn. He sighed.

He sat down and closed his eyes, propping his head up in his hands. He couldn’t think of home….he shouldn’t think of home…that was behind him now…he had better….more important things to do. He however, did know why he was feeling homesick….in part it was the beautiful scenery and play that he had there, but mostly he missed his uncle.

His uncle had been like his best friend….he missed hunting with the old man….and he missed his dog. He missed being able to have someone to talk to other than himself, and where he didn’t feel out of place. It was a funny thought, he knew that, to feel out of place at a school for children with special abilities….but he did. It wasn’t because his abilities were different, or weirder than anyone else’s….or because he had none at all…no it had nothing to do with that, but rather the fact that he didn’t really have friends and he was a year younger than everyone in his year.

Vash huffed and quickly slammed his fist into the table, feeling the impact to help him keep his emotions in check. He couldn’t busy himself with thoughts of home…he was a senior after all….why would he be homesick?!

He began to put the books away with something to busy his hands, not with the aid of his clones…but just by himself, taking his mind off of things so soft minded as home.

[MATHIAS ANDERSEN]

Mathias couldn’t believe it. He knew Vash was paranoid, and he knew the “mini Vashes” were supposed to be some kind of messed up form of protection because apparently the Dane couldn’t do anything properly and he needed help getting through his everyday life, but Mathias could seriously say that he was sick of it. He wasn’t stupid! He wanted his privacy, and he drew the line at one of his partner’s clones telling him the “proper” way to use the restroom.

He wasn’t stupid for crying outloud!!

He finished drying his hands off and made his way into the kitchen.

Normally it took quite a bit to make the Dane mad, but right about now, he was genuinely perturbed. So much so that as soon as his hands were washed, he plucked the little Swiss clone from its hiding spot in his hair and cupped it within his hands. He then marched directly into the kitchen and tugged out a Tupperware bowl. He threw the struggling little creature into it, being sure to shut it tightly, and stomped out of his dorm.

Could this be considered abuse? Well. Maybe it could. But to be honest,

Mathias was just so weary of Vash’s antics and he had to draw a line somewhere. He held the bowl up in the air and flashed the mini Vash an angry glare.

“I’m not giving you any air holes either! Because you’ll just get right out!”

Some people that passed him in the hallway gave him a funny look, and

Mathias looked up in time to smile widely at them, only to go back to marching down the hall one second later. He knew exactly where Vash would be at a time like this. It seemed that nine times of ten, most of the little angry little Swiss man was holed up in the library by himself, doing mounds upon mounds of homework. Or at least, that’s what he claimed. For some reason Mathias couldn’t help but think he did much more work than what was required of him, but it really wasn’t his business so he didn’t worry about it.

He pushed open the doors of the library.

“Vash!?”

He yelled rather loudly, only to be shushed by the librarian. He grimaced and worked his way inside to where his partner was sitting. But seeing him putting his books away instead of being engaged by them, told the Dane that something was off.

He placed the Tupperware bowl on the table in front of the Swiss and bit his bottom lip.

“Here Vash, take this back, I need a bit of privacy. Sometim…” His voice fell silent upon seeing the look of despair that was on the other’s face, “Oh buddy, what’s up with you?”

The Dane plopped into the seat across from him, his brow twisted up in worry.

“You look like you’ve just seen your mother killed right in front of you!” Mathias immediately regretted saying that, especially because he didn’t know Vash’s past… and what if Vash’s mother was really killed right in front of him!? Oh man that would’ve been the worst thing ever to say!
Oh well. It was too late to fix that. Now it was just time to find out what the hell was wrong with Vash.

[Deleted]

Vash was pulled from his thoughts when he felt a slight sensation of anger run through his shoulder, where the clone that was following Mathias had sprouted from. This pulled him from his thoughts of people and prepared for a fight with Mr. Oh—So—Popular. He partially resented being paired with Mathias for a partner, in part because he felt like the other was “better” than him for being in the Hero class and Vash merely being in the Sidekick class. He wanted to prove one day that he didn’t need a “Hero” and that he could deal with powers and villains all on his own. Just because he didn’t have some AMAZING powers like FLYING didn’t mean that he couldn’t be a hero, it didn’t mean that he had to listen or be a backup to anyone. He would not be some sort of “supporting actor”.

He was determined to prove that it wasn’t the power that made someone into a hero or not, but that it was the discipline and knowledge of one’s own power that made the hero or the sidekick. He partially resented Mathias for the fact that he was in the Hero class and yet he didn’t even seem to do a fraction of the work Vash did.

He felt his anger begin to brew just thinking about it and he jammed the last book into its spot, waiting for the loud Dane to storm into the library and try to pick a fight. When the Dane stormed in causing noise and chaos as usual, the hair on the back of Vash’s neck rose. He couldn’t stand it when people invaded on his safe place…particularly his partner. How did he make so many friends?! Vash could never understand how people seemed to crowd around him and collect near him…he also didn’t understand how he could just talk to them all so easily.

Vash saw his clone inside the plastic container and sighed, really not in the mood for fighting as soon as he looked at the Dane’s stupidly innocent face. He took the plastic container and opened the lid. The little clone crawled up his sleeve and melted into his shoulder where it should be. Vash was about to say something to snap at him about his private life and thoughts being none of his business but he just closed his mouth after seeing that damned look on Mathias’s face.

Mathias really was his only friend, as much as he would never admit to the Dane being his friend, he was the only person at the school other than his sister that he seemed to have an actual conversation with that didn’t involve either tutoring or an argument that lead to detention. (However those were not uncommon). The look that Mathias had on his face however wasn’t smug or mocking…just concerned.

Vash sat down and completely collapsed in the chair, fidgeting with the mug that used to hold his coffee, not really knowing what to say. The comparison did make him laugh a little though, considering the fact that he wasn’t really raised by his mum, so he didn’t have much of an attachment to her, but yeah he would probably be pretty upset if the person who gave birth to him passed away.

He had no idea what to say to the other that wouldn’t seem lame or wimpy so he just let out a short huff and shook his head. “It—it’s nothing….just get those stupid feelings sometimes…I don’t suppose you ever feel lonely huh?” He let out a forced laugh before looking down at his hands that were still fidgeting with the mug. “Why do you even care anyway?”

[MATHIAS ANDERSEN]

Mathias’ mouth twisted in worry as he watched a number of emotions work their way over his sidekick’s face. Of course Vash never seemed to be all that pleased to see him, which for the most part he figured was his way of trying to cover up a sense of jealousy he had that Mathias was the hero and he was the sidekick. Well that was his own damn problem. Or rather, that was how Mathias saw it. He didn’t have the power to bump Vash up to a class where the angry little Swiss didn’t have to deal with him as his partner anymore. It wasn’t normal for the Dane to think like this, but even he could only take so much distrust, being yelled at for not doing something right.

But the pathetic look that passed over Vash’s face, caused the Dane’s short lived frustration to wane significantly as he pulled a chair out and sat smoothly into it.

“It—it’s nothing….just get those stupid feelings sometimes…I don’t suppose you ever feel lonely huh?”

Mathias frowned as he rested his cheek against a balled up fist. Of course he knew the feeling. It never happened while he had been at Asher Academy, but of course, when he was at home, he could count the times when he wasn’t feeling lonely on his hands, and when he was lonely he got restless. And when he got restless, well… he tended to make trouble.

Hell, when he was at home it… well he wasn’t exactly known for being the most well behaved of kids. He tended to get rowdy and shaky, and when he was younger he took this out on other students in a plea for attention. But now… now that he had friends in school, when he returned to his home in Aalborg—as much as he loved the place—the feeling he had over whelming loneliness was even worse than ever before. He loved his mom, but she often had to work, and Mathias would be sitting in the living room watching tv, with nothing better to do.

“Why do you even care anyway?”

Mathias raised his eyebrows

“…We’re friends right? Why would I not care? That’s a dumb thing for you to say Vash!” He smiled weakly, “And of course, everyone gets lonely sometimes. You just gotta… find someone you care enough about to spend all your time with that isn’t Lili… o-or me. I mean, we can hang out, but…” Of course Mathias didn’t want to upset Vash more than he already looked. The blonde man seemed to be quite disheveled but Mathias had to say what he wanted to tell him, even if it did mean that Vash wouldn’t like it.

“And- And you need to invest some trust in me!! I’m grown-up and I don’t need you to have one of your clones watching over me the whole time.” He was now sitting up, his fists balled up on the table, “If you want to hang out with me… then just ask! If you opened up to people more, and stopped being so grumpy all the time, I’m sure you’d have tons of friends! I just don’t like using the bathroom and…”

He paused a moment.

“And having you analyze my urine isn’t exactly what I signed up for…” He shook his head, before he sat back down, “But Vash… why are you only feeling like this now?”

[Deleted]

Vash disregarded the other sitting down next to him, not particularly wanting anyone to see him in such a sore sight. As soon as he saw the anger disappear from Mathias’ face and the look of worry come over it, he groaned.

He was incredibly private about things…everything as a matter of fact….especially when something bothered or confused him and he couldn’t figure it out. He had always been taught that expressing emotions is how people get hurt…and he could see that…understand that…but that was about all that he could make of so called “feelings”. Sometimes he just wished he had none, it would make everything so much simpler and more productive in his mind…especially right now. He should be studying and reading different books on how to shape shift. They were more of a pain than anything in Vash’s mind, and so he tried to avoid expressing them as much as possible…however his temper was one thing that even he wouldn’t try to control….

Of course he knew that this is what made him seem so sour or bitter to a lot of people…and possibly not the first person someone would try to befriend….however he couldn’t control his own opinions. They were something he valued almost above everything else….but that didn’t change the fact that at the moment, he was kicking himself for letting Mathias see his weakness.

Vash blinked when he heard Mathias call him a friend and scowled a little, he didn’t think he knew the other for them to really be friends…and it wasn’t like they had the option of knowing each other when they were first paired together. He felt the urge to correct him when he saw the weakness in his smile, something that he hadn’t really seen expressed on his face at all….well…not that he really hung around with him all that much.

He tried to wrap his head around the idea of spending his time with anyone like he did with his little sister….the only sane person he seemed to find around here, coupled with his means of fighting off any strangers who wanted to “get to know her”. The idea of hanging out with Mathias and all of his millions (or what seemed like million) of friends made him wrinkle his nose a little in disapproval. He couldn’t stand the loudness of large groups of people….and if all of them were like Mathias when he was happy…he didn’t want to even think about the volume that his group of friends reached when they were all together, or the amount of chaos that would possibly ensue.

His frown grew when Mathias mentioned the idea of analyzing his urine and wondered why he hadn’t thought of that before….well…not Mathias’…but possibly Eva’s after she went out to dinner or ever went out to a party or something…just to make sure no one had tried to drug her. He shook that thought from his head, knowing that doing so was a little more than unreasonable and that his clones should take care of her.

“I don’t /analyze your urine/.” He said evenly. “That is not my intention…I make them follow you so that I can find you easily if I need to and so I know whether or not you are in trouble…you can’t very well call someone if you are passed out, now can you?” He glared at him for a moment before shaking his head.

“Why am I feeling like this now? I don’t know….if I knew I wouldn’t be bothered by it…I would have /fixed it/ and moved on….” He grumbled, still annoyed that he wasn’t as productive as he had hoped to be.

The idea of “opening up to people” was a strange one…he didn’t really know how to be anyone other than himself….and Vash…as being himself…didn’t socialize very well or easily. “And who /exactly/ do you propose that I hand out with…hmm? How exactly do you propose I /open up/ to people?! I can’t very well be anything different than I am….I can’t open up to people when they don’t feel the desire to talk to me…isn’t that right? And I don’t even know /HOW/ to be open if I’m not being it right now!” he huffed and shook his head, feeling slightly overwhelmed and a little annoyed at this whole thing.

He used his anger as a defense mechanism, probably the best one he had….even over his ability to melt or anyone of his series of weapons that he had on him right now.

[MATHIAS ANDERSEN]

“I don’t /analyze your urine/. that is not my intention…I make them follow you so that I can find you easily if I need to and so I know whether or not you are in trouble…you can’t very well call someone if you are passed out, now can you?”

Mathias groaned audibly and rolled his eyes. He tapped his fingers lightly on the table, before glancing up and producing a reply for the other, only to be cut short before he could say anything.

“Why am I feeling like this now? I don’t know….if I knew I wouldn’t be bothered by it…I would have /fixed it/ and moved on….”

Mathias once again didn't get a chance to speak before Vash was going on once again.

“And who /exactly/ do you propose that I hang out with…hmm? How exactly do you propose I /open up/ to people?! I can’t very well be anything different than I am….I can’t open up to people when they don’t feel the desire to talk to me…isn’t that right? And I don’t even know /HOW/ to be open if I’m not being it right now!"

He was about to reply once more, only to have a librarian storm in their direction, and lightly tap on his shoulder, as if he had been the one screaming just now.

"Mathias, if you're going to cause distractions it'd be best if you left."
Her shrill voice grated on his ears and a slight feeling of inner frustration formed within him, both as Vash's helplessness and at the fact that he hadn't really done anything to warrant being yelled at like this.

As the librarian scuttled away again, he shook his head at himself, before turning back to Vash, blatantly refusing to move from his spot.

"Ahh.. Well first things first, I usually hang out with Antonio... And Natalia wouldn't let herself pass out if something happened to me and I couldn't talk to you on your phone. And plus we're at school! There is almost always people around somewhere in case something goes wrong! So you don't need to follow me with your... clones."

His bright blue eyes met evenly with Vash's stern green ones as he continued on with his little speech.

"And secondly, I'm not asking you to change yourself! I know as well as anyone that that is really hard to do! I can't stop being Mathias even if I wanted to! But that isn't what I'm getting at here. You don't even try to make a friend. And I know you are lonely. Even someone like me can tell something like that! And even Lili tells me all the time. She is probably really worried about you.."

Mathias shot the librarian another glance, breaking his eye contact with Vash. She was staring him dead on. It was getting clear to him that he wasn't wanted there, both by Vash and by the err... staff there.

"Look Vash, if you are looking for someone to... romance, then I'd say you have to make a friend first, but I know someone who can possibly help hook you up with girls better than me."

The sound of a creaking chair told the Dane that the grumpy librarian was standing up from her seat to come kick him for continually talking.

Mathias frowned and jumped up from his seat, staring at Vash once again.

"I'll see you later. Cheer up some, okay?!"

With that, Mathias darted out of the room before anything more could be exchanged between himself and the old woman.

((OKAY SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG BUT PLEASE FOLLOW MATHIAS I HAVE A PLAN.))

[Deleted]

Vash tensed a little when the librarian came up to them, knowing it was partially his fault for raising his voice. He scooted all of his books back into his bag and resolved that nothing else would get done today….at least…not now. His head wasn’t in the game and he couldn’t help but bite his lip and avoid the gaze of any on lookers. He even had a hard time keeping his gaze with Mathias locked as he listened to the other, and was somewhat glad when the librarian interrupted.

His face began heating up and he looked down at his feet, he firmly gripped the back of the seat that he was sitting in just to give him something to keep him from completely giving in to such irrational things as emotions.

Vash let out a squeak at the last bit when he caught it, and he went to grab Mathias’ collar to keep him from just walking off after that type of comment. He couldn’t help but sputter and his face glow a deeper shade of red, which extended to his ears and he glared at the other. “WH—WHAT??!!?!!” He managed to squeak out in such a manner that it held as much menace to it as if he had just yelled it in his usual tone. His expression still held a mix of emotions, the underlying pang in his stomach forgotten…but still keeping the back of his mind busy, and the despair and shock at the comment covering it up…for now. Vash was dumbfounded, he didn’t even think of something like that…it was just so….strange, he didn’t really know how to communicate will with people in general…let alone someone that he was romantically attracted too, especially at his age. He always thought that romance was something for someone who was older, when they were in a financially stable position so that they could afford such luxuries and the unpredictable whims of someone else that they would have to comply with to keep them satisfied.

He let out a low hiss when he realized that he had missed Mathias’ collar and quickly picked up his book bag and slung it over his shoulder, chasing after the other. Mathias was /not/ allowed to just leave after saying something like that. He finally made pace with the other after a few seconds of scurrying, hands shoved in his pockets and face bright red. He stepped in front of the other and turned on him, intending to cut the other off…but then again, reminded of the height difference between the two of them.

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT “ROMANCING” HUH?!” He glared, but his anger began to gradually die down as he thought about everything and the knowledge that Mathias was just trying to help made itself present. He tried to imagine himself going on a date with a nice girl. His definition of a date, of course being sitting down and studying or training with them as their training partner. Or possibly discussing various fighting techniques over coffee or something.

Vash couldn’t help but frown, he could picture himself doing all of these things…but he just couldn’t find the image of him with a girl something that was extremely appealing. His brows knit together when he tried to picture him kissing someone—his face lit up like a Christmas tree and he shook his head a little. He just couldn’t find the idea of kissing some little girl something he liked. He presumed that it would just feel all gross and taste like the last thing she ate and possibly whatever lip-stuff she was wearing. He couldn’t even come up with a mental image of a girl that he could think of in that manner….whatever it was? And well, this was a problem wasn’t it? People that were dating each other kissed didn’t they? And they liked it??? Or was that just something that was in the movies? But either way, that whole area wasn’t something that he dared touch with a ten foot pole and he had no idea how to deal with feelings like that…or even what he was supposed to be FEELING in that case. “Wha—what makes you think I want to date someone huh? I don’t even know what it’s like to…well like someone!” He blurted out, far too quickly. He just mentally sunk into his pit of despair and embarrassment. He could see himself digging his own emotional grave and looked at his shoes. He bit his lip and shook his head. “I—I don’t know what it’s like to look at someone like that….I mean….I’ve never had time for that sort of thing…studying comes first…so…I don’t really think about it…”

He just swallowed and closed his eyes for a minute, trying to process the conversation that they just had. All of this was so strange....why of all times when he was studying did weird stuff like this have to show up? All because of the fact that his stomach was being all funny. He hated dealing with people, more often than not. They were so unreliable and just went on whims and never did what they were told. That was probably the main reason why he hasn’t really managed to make any friends at the school over the few years that he had been there.

“How can I try to make friends when I don’t know how?!” He huffed weakly, his voice sounding a little more desperate now. The idea of talking to people other than himself seemed to appeal to him at this very moment, not that he would admit it out loud. But at least someone to compare research with, and compare assignments with to make sure they would maximize the grade they would receive. “I can barely talk to people okay?! How do you expect me to make friends?”

[MATHIAS ANDERSEN]

“WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT “ROMANCING” HUH?!”

Oh. So Vash did decide to follow him after all. Man if there was anyone that was easy to work up, it was this guy. Not that it was entirely a bad thing, as Mathias knew how to work it to his advantage, like now for instance, but sometimes it could be a bigger bother than it was even worth. Vash was always a lot of trouble. Even for someone like him.

“How can I try to make friends when I don’t know how?!”
By this point it seemed that Vash has calmed down somewhat, which was good news for the wild haired Dane. Dealing with an angry sidekick was like wrestling a bear while being tangled in bed sheets.

“I can barely talk to people okay?! How do you expect me to make friends?”

Mathias rolled his eyes, before smiling towards Vash with exasperation.

“Buddy…it isn’t about “talking to people”… it’s about uhmm...” He bit his nails as he attempted to think, “You just have to…” Mathias sighed again. Making friends always came so easily to him… Maybe it was cause of his bubbly personality, but it also meant that people like Vash got annoyed with him twenty times faster.

“Okay I really have nothing, you’re a lost cause Mr.Zwingly!”
Mathias chuckled and patted him roughly on the shoulder, “But I actually do have a friend that could hook you up with a nice lady if you’re feeling a little…” Mathias gave the hallway a quick glance before leaning towards Vash, “frustrated.” Mathias wasn’t even sure if Vash was into ladies, the more Mathias thought about it, the less likely it seemed that Vash would date anyone at all.

But regardless of that, maybe if Mathias could help get his Swiss friend laid, then there was a good chance he wouldn’t be such an asshole all the damn time. Okay… maybe asshole was coming on a little strong, but regardless, Vash was a grump and came on stronger than a bull to a matador’s behind. So it was only fair to call him an asshole…wasn’t it?

Mathias suddenly glanced upward as a familiar … smell filled his nostrils. It was the smell of a rather famous Frenchman who attended their school… It was just who he was looking for. French people were world renowned for this kind of stuff… weren’t they!?
Inwardly cheering that he didn’t have to drop his French buddy a line, Mathias ran over to him and casually placed a rough hand upon his shoulder.

“Bonjour Francis!!” Mathias called out in some kind of gnarled French, “You are just the person I was looking for!”

And without even giving Vash a chance to fend for himself against the Frenchman (Or him), Mathias moved over to him and grabbed a hold of his hand, tugging him over.

“My friend here needs a little—“ He looked him over a moment, noting that his hair didn’t look like it had been brushed in ages, his eyes had sags underneath, and his face was twisted into the sour-est of grimaces he had ever seen. On top of it all, he was shorter than most girls, “…A lot of special help, what do you say? Do you want to help me help him… or what?”

[Deleted]

To keep himself occupied, Francis had been planning to go for a quick walk around campus.

Of course, the keyword was planning.

The day was mild; the weather surprisingly tepid, and ridiculously uneventful. The last part was not much of a deviation of his daily schedule, but Francis was looking to possibly change that. Fortunately for him, it seemed he would not have to look too far.

When an unfamiliar hand dropped down on his shoulder somewhat roughly, Francis nearly jumped a foot in the air and tried to muffle a grossly strangled sound before it left his lips. He turned to see the person responsible.

”Bonjour, Francis!! You are just the person I was looking for!”

Francis cringed both inwardly and outwardly at Mathias’s mispronunciation, and attempted to smile good-naturedly. “Bonjour,” he enunciated the word explicitly, as a way to passively correct the Dane without trying to seem like he purposefully wanted to make a big fuss about it. “Mathias.”

But before Francis could question what Mathias meant by his second sentence, the other was already moving away, and bringing another over. This person was also blonde; hair not in what Francis would describe as the best condition, with sharp and clearly judging green eyes, short, and an obviously not pleased scowl.

However, this certainly didn’t mean Francis did not find Mathias’s companion attractive.

“My friend here needs a little… A lot of special help, what do you say? Do you want to help me help him… or what?”

Previously, Francis wasn’t quite sure if the other he was looking at was a man or a woman; biologically speaking. There was distinct lack of breasts at first glance, but one could never be too sure. He hadn’t wanted to make assumptions, but he at least had confirmation now.

“Oh, I see,” he nodded once, studying the now known boy in front of him. If Mathias came to him for what he called “special help”, it most likely meant assistance dealing with or specifically centered on love and romance. He didn’t mind at all; Francis liked helping people with such things. He smiled. “I would be happy to help, mon cher!”

He turned to the other, and extended a courteous hand out of pure politeness, with a charming smile as company. “I am Francis Bonnefoy. And you are…?”

[Deleted]

Vash couldn’t possibly feel more embarrassed after all of what Mathias said, the damned Danish boy was so rash and quick to jump to conclusions. Sometimes he was surprised that the Dane made it through a day without getting himself killed. If Vash was capable of warping his expression to resemble that of a pout, it would be shining like a beacon on his face at the moment. However, seeing as he was incapable of warping his lips into such an expression, he just looked like he had bit into a lemon thinking that it was a chocolate bar.

His face was about as flush as it could get and eyes as narrow as could be without being the direct result of a black eye, or being asleep. He glared at Mathias as he spoke, his expression only growing more and more sour as he folded his arms over his chest.

His eyes widened slightly at the mention of being frustrated and what exactly he was referring to. He opened his mouth to say something, completely shell shocked , but found there were no words that came out—nothing, nothing at all. Vash had been rendered speechless, and in an argument of any sort, that was extremely hard—impossible it seemed sometimes, for anyone to do.

The thought of intercourse was something completely on it’s own, he barely thought about relationships—sure, he knew that one day he would (hopefully) have one. But intercourse, that—that was something completely on its own, a whole other world away it seemed. He could honestly say that the thought of anyone touching him was petrifying, he could barely stand physical contact (hugs, or even a handshake that was held too long) with clothing on, let lone without. He had no idea what drove people to do that sort of thing, emotionally anyway, but even the physics of it was bizarre. From the sounds of it, intercourse didn’t seem to be pleasurable at all, it seemed like it would hurt a lot, with a great many possible negative repercussions. How could that be in any way enjoyable? Especially if it could ruin someone’s life. It also sounded like a lot of work, all of the physical forces that would counteract such actions—friction and heat being a drain on one’s energy that could be well spent doing something else. One of these things would be stimulating the mind or training to improve one’s skills. It seemed like so much work for mere suffering—how was this a good thing? Especially if there was potential for disease, or offspring, if not all went to plan. This sort of understanding was beyond him…but all that Vash knew, was that this whole scenario was far too much for him to handle and definitely not expected—or scheduled in his day planner for that matter.

Vash felt as if this day couldn’t go any worse, he hated surprises…especially ones that made him deal with ~feelings~ and all of this talk about romance and other things that deal with emotions was just too much. It was like his grave had been dug for him overnight and he jumped into it, only to realize that he was being buried alive after he was a metre or two under. Granted, dying at this point seemed preferable to what was going on…especially when he became aware of a pungent odour that vaguely resembled that of some sort of perfume—the symbol of romance and money not-so-well spent.

He barely had a moment to process what was going on before he was dragged closer to the source of the smell. Saying that he was not happy was an understatement. He struggled against the Dane as he was dragged forward, just wanting to hide in a pit of despair—but not like that did much at all, with Mathias being about two Vashs combined, in strength and otherwise.

When he looked up at the other boy, his fear only grew and if he hadn’t been blushing before, well, he certainly was now. He quickly averted his gaze and gave Mathias a shove to try and get him to release him so that he may make his escape. However, the struggling only made him feel more like a trapped mouse in front of two felines. He just wanted to find a nice place to hide—or maybe playing dead would make them loose interest and he could flee when they weren’t looking. Maybe he could just find a way to collapse in on himself and make a small scale black hole and swallow up the universe so that he wouldn‘t have to deal with any of this.

He would be lying if he said that he hadn’t felt some sort of….emotion stirring around in his gut when he looked at the stranger—he wished that little knot in his stomach would vanish. He really just wanted to melt away into oblivion right now, anything that could get him out of this mess.

He bit his lip when Francis introduced himself, of /course/ he had to be French…that’s just how the world worked wasn’t it? He had heard stories from his uncle of French men whisking the women in their family away and showing them what the true meaning of love is and all of that…..something of which Vash would prefer to avoid. “Je m’appelle Vash Zwingly.” He managed to get out, still avoiding looking at anything but the wall—which seemed to be very interesting just now. His pronunciation was perfect—as he had been forced to practice the national languages and English in regular school, of which he had made a point of continuing—it was the only way one could really manage a stable and well paying job in any major city in Switzerland.

He swallowed nervously and stared at the hand for a moment, before deciding that he had to at least seem like someone older than 12 when it came to first impressions—as if he wanted to be there anyway. He gingerly took Francis’ hand and shook it, his hand slowly becoming less and less solid as he did so.

What he hadn’t noticed, was that while he was trying to keep himself composed, was that he had gradually started to melt to the floor and his feet were now cemented where he was standing. One of his clones had also managed to escape and had crawled up to Francis’ shoulder, and was now giving him a kiss on the cheek. When he saw this, all colour left his face and he let out a quiet squeak, before quickly feeling his arms go numb as he went fully and completely into a state of shock. He was completely and utterly overwhelmed and had they been standing by a cliff—well, he would have jumped just about now. He lost feeling in his legs and arms and felt his legs melt further into a puddle. Dying was definitely the best option right about now. Especially as he watched the little clone deliver more kisses to Francis’ cheek and then snuggle up just un the nape of his neck.

Life as he knew it was over.