Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Welcome to the big league kid, I hope it’s nothing like you dreamed of.” 

Meryl still had her hand outstretched, ready to shake but the older man before her never took it, just sighed and turned his back as he started walking down the rows of offices along the walls and the open plan workstations in the middle of the office floor. 

An annoyed grunt pressed out from her, drowned slightly by the upbeat pop music that was still playing over the office sound system 'a sprinkling of love' by the idol known as Vash the Stampede. She had recently graduated, top of her class in Geotechnical Engineering and landed at the biggest biotech corp in the damn world; Plant-vation and was being treated like a damn intern.

Pressing down her annoyance, Meryl followed the man down the hallway, looking over at the occupied workstations, people set up with two or three monitors, cubicle all bare of any personalization and everyone seeing so focused on their work that it looked like you would have to physically shake someone to get their attention. 

“You’ll be under my supervision in the bio sample collection division. The big boss shows up once a month, the next visit is in three days so try to get on your feet as fast as you can.”

“Sir…” damn, the man hadn’t even bothered to introduce himself yet, of course Meryl had researched her job very thoroughly so knew this was Roberto De Niro (she wondered what kind of man would use a famous actor's name?) “Don’t I get any time to settle in? At least let my station set up?”

The man looked over his shoulder at her and gave a rye chuckle “kid, did you miss the ‘no personalization allowed’ in your hiring package? Here at Plant-vation the focus is on the future of supporting biodiversity through technology” Roberto held up air quotes as he repeated the company's mantra that has been drilled into him over the years “the big boss wants that to be everyone’s sole focus while at work.” 

Meryl gave a deep sigh, looking down at the small box of items she had bought for her desk “not even my own pen?” She dug out a red ballpoint pen with a little donut charm dangling off the clicker end, there was something written on it in a golden font. She walked right into Roberto who stopped when he saw the pen.

There was a strange, almost mischievous look to Roberto as he grinned seeing the pen “I can’t see the harm in a little thing like that, Already newbie lets get you to work.”

The first three things Meryl noticed about her new work place: the people were utterly terrified of the CEO Mr. Knives, really focused on their work, almost more zombieish than any other place she’s been at and that was probably in part of number three; all day everyday the only thing that played over the speakers was every song ever put out by the Idol “Vash the Stampede.”  

It didn’t take long to notice that on her second day, she was actually humming along to the song ‘Black Cat’s Got My Back’ when for the first time someone beside Mr De Niro actually spoke to her.

“Hey… Can you not.” A man with amber eyes and grey hair despite looking only to be in his 30’s asked, no, told her. 

Meryl looked at the dead eye’d man who came from two cubicles down and gave a nervous laugh “Oh, sorry about that. I’m Meryl Stryfe, nice to meet you!” She extended a hand to shake with her still unnamed co-worker. 

The man blinked for a moment but eventually took her hand and shook it “Livio. Please, I know you just started here but… Even if you like Vash, you’ll get sick of him soon enough, it’s all that ever plays.” His amber eyes sweep over Meryl’s desk and spots the pen “smart move, having to meet Knives so soon after starting here, bringing something to appease him.”  

Before she could even ask what the heck he meant by any of that he walked back to his workstation and was back at the grind, eyes glazing over at the reports on his monitors. She looked over to the glass walls of the office where Roberto was, he didn’t seem to notice any interaction and she just signed internally to herself. 

‘Well, if he’s a fan of Vash then maybe that can help me get on Mr. Knives good side,’ Meryl thought to herself before trying to finish up her first report to present to the big boss tomorrow. She kept herself from humming as the next song ‘Feathers Like Knives’ started and noticed by how everyone in the office let out a collective groan that the song must have special meaning for the boss, the volume suddenly going up at least five notches. 

Today was the big day! Meryl set three alarms to make sure there was no chance of sleeping in (though she never had yet) and took extra time this morning to make sure she was at her most presentable for when she would get to meet the big boss today. She had done her research before applying around and had a good idea of what could capture Mr. Knives attention and had three flash drives and sent a copy of one of her school projects to her work email to ensure she would have it ready to show.

It was ten to 2pm and Meryl felt her anxiousness starting to get to her. She had her work files up but had put her school project in the documents folder, ready to bring up when she got the chance. Roberto was out of his glass office and looking over everyone’s work when Meryl saw a well dressed man with blue hair come out of the elevator and behind him, an ever sharper dressed man with platinum blond hair swept back, sharp black rimmed glasses with a slim profile a beauty mark was visible under his right eye, his suite was silver with blue trim but as the two approached she could see something yellow peaking out of the breast pocket.

The two came up to their row of the office floor, and the blue haired man cleared his throat “Mr. De Niro, let’s hear your department’s update.” The man had the most dire case of resting bitch face that Meryl had ever seen, still better than the look of cold indifference she was getting from Knives. 

“Ah yes Mr. Bluesummers, you see…” Everyone in the department was standing to the left of their workstations, allowing their monitors to be seen and ready to answer any questions as Roberto was talking. Her eyes flitted from Roberto and Bluesummers to Knives for a brief moment but was rooted in place when he noticed his cold gaze on her desk.

“You, you’re new.” Knives looked from the desk to Meryl herself, causing her to stiffen under his intense gaze. 

“Yes, Sir, Mr. Knives! It’s my third day on the job, thank you so much for this opportunity! 

His gaze fell back on her desk, before looking over at the blue haired man who must have been his assistant “Legato, your clipboard.” The blue haired man extended his hand, giving Knives the clipboard with a loose leaf notepad on it. Knives then stepped up to Meryl’s desk, looking over the report she had up before turning to her

“I’ll borrow your pen.” Once again, not asking but stating before he picked up her lucky red pen with the donut charm on it, clicking out the end and from what she could see, just scribbled nonsense on the pad for a moment, clearly feigning interest in the report she had showing before he stood up straight, clicked the pen closed and put it in his breast pocket with whatever it was he already had in there. 

A sound died on her tongue as she was about to say something about that being her pen before everyone aside from Knives gave her a warning look. “All good then, keep it up.” He said before turning around, back to the elevator “Legato! We seem to have forgotten about an important call to make.”

“Yes sir.” The blue haired man quickly followed Knives back, getting to the elevator shaft fist and waving his keycard. Once the two were on their way up and out of sight, Meryl groaned out loud about the loss of her lucky pen, Roberto laughed and gave Meryl a too hard pat on the back. 

“Good on you newbie for accepting your fate. The last person who tried to get anything of theirs Vash related was fired on the spot. Alrighty everyone, drinks are on me after work, let's get back to it.”

After that crazy first week on the job, Meryl had managed to settle in well enough, she was indeed growing tired of listening to the same songs day in and day out, apparently this was a quirk of the main building that she worked it; Plant-vation had lots of offices around the world and most big cities like the one she was in had at least two though transferring out of the headquarters was harder then transferring it.

She still liked Vash the Stampede but had learnt to drown out his music, though a new album and concert tour was coming up next year so at least there would be something new playing soon. The week turned into a month and soon her six months probation was coming up and being in head office meant that she would get a fifteen minute one on one with Knives in person rather than online. 

Meryl was at her desk as always, free of personal items, kept clean and her focus on her work when she felt the tap of someone on her shoulder. She looked up to see Legato with his trademark resting bitch face peering down at her. “Come with me for your allotted time with Mr. Knives.”

She stood up, locking her workstation and kept a few steps behind Legato as she followed him to the elevators. It took a moment for one to come, neither saying anything the whole time and the silence (aside from the constant background music) continued all the way up to the 60th floor where there was only a short hallway leading up to large double doors with shiny golden handles. Legago knocked three times and waited a moment for the “enter” before opening the door.

Inside was what one would expect to see of one of the top 30 CEO’s offices; floor to ceiling windows, the room was bigger than most people's apartments, a large dark real wood desk in the centre and some doors leading to other private quarters and probably the nicest bathroom in the city's downtown.

However there were things you’d more expect to see in a teenaged girls room too; along rich wooden bookshelves mixed in with ledgers and other books were figurines and plushes, acrylic stands, keychains and every manner of memorabilia of Vash the Stampede. Where one would expect an oil painting of Knives above a fireplace mantle was the absolute highest resolution photo of Vash in his trademark red coat and winning smile, hands forming a heart and little heart emojis photoshopped around him. The room was filled to the brim with everything Vash related there could possibly be. 

Meryl thought of her stolen pen, she could see it in a cup holder with others from the set on the desk and swallowed thickly to keep her cool as Knives looked up from the monitor in front of him. He looked up at her and gestured to the chair on her side of the desk, she took a few stiff steps and sat down, hands gripping into her dress pants and she worked to keep her face as natural as possible.

“So, Ms. Stryfe, you’ve managed to make it six months with the company, congratulations on the first milestone.” Knives didn’t speak with any enthusiasm, looking her over a moment before reaching for his coffee mug, one depicting a chibi version of Vash in his sweet lolita dress, the mug seemed comically small in his large hands. 

“Ye- Yes sir! Mr. Knives! I look forward to working even harder and beginning what I’ve learned in my six years of schooling to the company! If you would like, I could forward on my capstone project to you.”

He raised one of his thin blond eyebrows at her and gave a noncommittal sound. “Pass it along to your department lead and we’ll see.” 

‘Oh gods it’s only been five minutes and I’m ready to pass out’ Meryl thought to herself worried how to fill the last ten with knives’ complete non-interest when there was a sudden rhythmic knocking on the doors behind her.

Knives shot up from his large office chair, circling around his desk, focus completely off of her when the doors flew open.

“Niaaa!! Surprise!”  

She knew that voice, she would forever know that voice. She could only just turn her head around, body overcome with shock as she saw none other than the one and only Vash the Stampede striding into the room and Knives was rushing to greet him.

“Vash! What a wonderful surprise!” Knives swept Vash up in his arms, holding him with the ease his large well toned frame allowed a good foot off the ground. 

“I hope I’m not interrupting any big important meeting” Vash said with a giggle, he was still smiling but opened his eyes and could see Meryl seated at his desk and gave her a wave. Knives looked over his shoulder at her. She could see the smile melt off his face as he turned his attention from Vash to her.

“No, not at all, we had just finished so you can go, Ms Stryfe. Now.”

“Aww no need to be rude Nai, here!” Vash was still held up by his waste by Knives but reached into an inner pocket of his red coat and pulled out a wanted poster of him and a sharpy, autographing the poster and held it out to her as she began to leave the room “It’s the art for my upcoming album, you’re just in luck as it’s about to officially drop but you get the first sneak peak!”

She took the poster from Vash and looked at it; it was styled like one of those classic posters from a western movie, Vash’s boyish charm radiating from the smile and his right hand on his chin, in bold red letters it had what must be the new album title on the top ‘Wanted; your love and peace!’ and said ‘Vash the Stampede’ on the bottom with a ridiculous bounty of $$6 million under the name.

“Th-Thank you!” She couldn’t help herself but smile wide, it was hard not to be happy around Vash, even when she could feel the daggers Knives was staring into her back (it honestly felt like he was actually stabbing her with how intense his looks was.) She just kept walking, making it to the still open double doors and didn’t dare look behind her as she could hear them.

“Vash!!! How could you not give your number one biggest fan big brother the first poster?!”

Meryl damn near tripped as she passed the threshold, doors slowly closing behind her. Brother. They were brothers?! 

“I’m sorry Nai, here, you can have as many as you’d like to make up for it! Oh! You still keep a mini-me in your pocket!”

The door couldn’t close fast enough but Meryl was clearly out of mind to Knives as he gave a low chuckle “I’ll always keep you close to my heart”

The doors had finally, mercifully closed, fully soundproof. Merly needed a minute or sixty to process everything she had seen, the poster held gently in her hands the only proof that she wasn’t dreaming. She looked in the small hallway before her and saw Legato, standing stoic as ever and another man, he had dark hair and tan skin, dressed in a ruffled black suit and was sucking on a lollipop. The two men were clearly in a staring contest before Meryl came into view.

“Sorry there Little Lady if you were meeting with Vash’s big bro, he’s been dying to surprise him for a while now” the dark haired man spoke. “Ah Vash gave you a poster, how nice. Now I’ll need you to sign this NDA before letting you get back to work.” The man pulled out a contract from his suit jacket and held out a pen, not from the same series but it was still Vash merch, this one with a black cat’s head as a charm dangling off of it.

“Uhh…” She took the contract and pen in her hands and looked it over; legalise was not what she went to school for. “This is for…?”

“You can’t post that poster online until the official drop and you can’t speak about Vash and Knives/Nia. You know how it is with Idols, they need to give off the illusion of being available. Unless you want to mess with Vash’s body guard” The man smirked, pointing a thumb to himself. 

Even though she had known this was real, Meryl was really hoping to wake up from this nightmare as she signed away. Giving the contract back to the man but kept the pen. 

“Well then, Legato, you can take her back, don’t worry I’ll be keeping watch.”

She didn’t think it was possible but Legato’s resting bitch face intensified “Wolfwood.” Was all he said as he turned from the man to look over Meryl and simply called for the elevator that was thankfully still there. 

Meryl was staring at her monitors, had been for the last two hours. She opened her desk drawer to see the poster and the pen still there; she would take them home with her tonight.

“So, you still with us, newbie? Survived the lion's den?” Roberto placed a hand on her shoulder, shaking her slightly to wake her from her stupor. 

“Yes, sir. I’ll be emailing you my capstone project if you could please review it and pass it up along the chain.” Meryl looked at the clock on the corner of her desktop, it was 4:30 she could make it the half hour till quitting time and go drink the day away. 

Overhead, the speaker system began to play ‘Feathers Like Knives’ stripped down version and the whole office floor gave a groan.

Chapter Text

Meryl had gotten into a good routine now that she was past the six month mark at her new job. A work-life balance was formed where she would take one weekend every month to meet with her old university friends, one weekend for indulging in hobby activities and one weekend just for laying about. 

She would sometimes take her lunch break out of the office but for the most part just used the food court that was on the public access levels. She would admit she needed to spend some free time actually cooking and meal prepping but hey, the new job paid enough to buy lunch damn it!

Normally she worked on the 30th floor but there were labs up on the 35th floor that she would sometimes have to work out of; labs might have been a generous term for the part she would work in, it was more like a high tech greenhouse. And with ten minutes to her lunch break, it wasn’t the place she wanted to be stuck in during a lockdown. 

There was a flashing white light along the ceiling, every ten or so feet and it blinked every fifteen seconds, and as to be expected for the head office building of Pant-vation; the emergency broadcast simply spoke over the ever-present music of ‘Vash the Stampede’ rather then it cutting out.

“Please remain calm and stay where you are, the lockdown protocol has been engaged. We are currently accessing if this is a true emergency. The elevators will be returned to the ground floor and stairwells are locked.” An almost robotic sounding voice repeated every minute and with the flashing lights, Meryl just groaned and slumped down into a nearby chair.

“Ohh come on! I was just about to go for lunch!”

“Aww, I’m sorry to hear that! I’ve got some snacks with me if you want!”

Meryl jumped up at the sound of someone else's voice, she was supposed to be the only one in the lab right now. 

“Who said that! You’re not supposed to be here!” It would just be here luck for this to be an actual emergency and to be stuck with the cause of it.

The person gave an infectious laugh “Guilty as charged! Sorry to scare you, I just wanted to get away for a bit.” 

Out from a trellis of thick vines that had split the room like a dressing curtain came a young adult, fluffy golden blond hair and his trademark red coat. A sheepish grin on his face as he gave Meryl a friendly wave.

“Oh! I remember you! You’re the new person who was meeting with Nai! Sorry I didn’t get your name…” 

Meryl was in shock, once again in the same room as the idol ‘Vash the Stampede’ the idol who’s music she had been forced to listen to for over seven months now “It’s Meryl.” Vash reached out to take her hand and vigorously shook it. She could almost cry, not just from being around Vash but from someone in the grey office actually showing any kind of positive emotion.

“I’m Vash! But I guess you probably already know that” Vash rubbed the back of his head with his left hand and gave a good natured laugh. “I really do have snacks, if you’d like!”

Meryl was in shock enough to at first wonder why the hell some big idol was here but then remembered learning about how he was the (clearly little) brother to the CEO of the company, Millions Knives. But that still didn’t fully explain what he was doing here. 

“Uhh… sure, if that’s ok with you?” Meryl cleared off a desk that had a stack of paper reports from the flora they were studying, neatly stacking them and moving them to a free counter space and pulled up a second chair for Vash.

“Of course! I’m always well stocked when it comes to snacks and posters for my fans!” Vash seemed to really have the boundless energy of a puppy, practically bouncing into the offered chair and began digging though lots of hidden pockets from the inner side of his coat. 

Soon the table was piled high with all sorts of junk food; chips, snack cakes, cookies, gummies and most surprising was a few one litre bottles of ice tea and other non-carbonated drinks that could survive being shaken up; they were even cool! 

“How are these still cool?” Meryl asked as she picked up a bottle of apple juice. Vash gave a ‘winner of fan favourite smile, 5 years running’ smile and then from the same hidden pocket pulled out a cool pack.

“I’m not just all charm and songs! I can be clever when I want to! Having to get from place to place, not being able to just pop into a convenience store or mall whenever I want to means I gotta keep stuff on hand.” Vash’s smile dimmed ever so slightly as he picked up a bag of chips and a bottle of ice tea and began to eat. 

“Well that’s a clever use of such a big coat, I always wondered why you wore it.” Meryl took a sip of her apple juice and picked up a bag of mixed nuts. “Do you ever get in trouble for eating junk food?” 

It was strange, despite being one of the top five idols she didn’t feel like Vash was unapproachable at all, his charming nature seemed so genuine that she could feel at ease around him… were it not for his relation to her boss who seemed a little too supportive of his brother. 

“Oh everyone’s given up on that one! I’ve still got a good metabolism and dancing at least four hours a day will keep you in good shape! Honestly I need the sugar to keep up sometimes.”

Meryl just nodded at that ‘man it must actually be a lot of work to be an idol’ she thought to herself. They ate in a comfortable silence, aside from the alarm system that was still going on.

“Though.. Nai will still bug me about it every now and then, it’s always ‘Vash! How can you sully yourself with that processed garbage! Your body is a temple, you should worship it like the rest of us.’” Vash lowered his voice to imitate Knives, doing a surprisingly good job at it, enough to make Meryl choke on her drink.

He reached over and patted Meryl on the back, helping her cough out the juice “ahaha sorry sorry, it’s always fun to imitate him!” 

After clearing her throat Meryl straightened up “I guess you were here visiting him again?” Vash’s smile softened into something more of fondness than charm, his eyes had such a deeper blue than she thought possible. 

“Yeah his birthday is coming up and I had hoped to get some idea of what to get him but all he ever wants is my merch but that just never feels meaningful, you know? I got frustrated when asking him to take me seriously for a change and kinda stormed out.” 

Vash stood up and walked over to the thick vines that were budding with flowers, still closed but a deep purple could be seen on them. He reached out to feather his fingers over the buds, watching as one or two began to bloom under his touch.

“The greenhouses are my favourite spot so I thought I’d cool off here. It was childish of me..” The flowers opened, deep purple petals that were spotted with white splotches, Vash signed as he returned to the table. 

“I’m sure if I check my phone there'll be at least 400 texts from him and Wolfwood already but I want to at least get one idea before I’m dragged away.”

“Vash…” Meryl didn’t really know what to say, this felt like something you would talk to your best friend about, not someone you just met. ‘Maybe being an idol makes it hard to have friends’ she thought, it  did seem to come with more restrictions then she realised. 

“I’m sure no matter what, he’d love it as long as it came from you! You have no idea what it’s like working for him, he’s always so cold and focused on business but anything related to you will get his attention faster than a fire! He…” Meryl thought carefully about actually telling the story of her third day but it seemed like it might help lighten Vash’s mood. “He saw I had a pen of yours and stole it! You’re music is always playing all day everyday and we’ve both seen his office. Honestly if he wasn’t your brother he’d be the kind to buy out every meet and greet raffle ticket.” 

Vash gave a warm laugh “you know, back before we reconnected he actually did! We were split up for a time, our jr. high and high school years, but he was determined to get us back together before I even became an idol. I dedicated my tenth song to him…” 

Meryl reached out a hand to put on his shoulder to comfort him before it was whipped away as Vash shot up from his chair. “That's it! I’ll write him a new song! Meryl, what colours do you most associate with me and him?!” 

Meryl had to blink a few times at the sudden mood swings from almost sullen to a bouncy puppy again. “Uhh for you, red for sure. For Knives…” Meryl though first of shades of grey and white but those weren’t really colours.. Steel maybe? “Humm.. if I had to pick a colour for him, it would probably be blue. His eyes are a more pale ice than yours but most of the suits he wears do have blue trims to them.”

“Red and Blue, eh? I can work with that! Though it’s a little overplayed… Hummm… Red and blue, red and blue…”

Vash was walking back and forth as he held his hand up to his chin in thought. Vash turned to look at the blooming flowers and stopped his pacing “...purple… THAT’S IT!”

Vash spun back to look at Meryl, grabbing her hands in his; eyes twinkling with delight “Meryl, thank you! What are those flowers called?!

“Eh??” She looked past the literal sparkles she could see coming off of Vash to the flowers that were grafted to the vines “Those are 'Night Sky' petunias.” 

“Ohh that’s great! Ok! I’m sorry to keep you from your lunch but you’ve been a big help Meryl, thank you, really.”

Meryl gave off a measured laugh “I’m glad I could help. When is his birthday anyways?” Meryl had turned to see that Vash has stepped into view of a security camera and was waving at it. 

“Thank you for your patience, the situation has been assessed and there is no threat to the personnel or building. Lockdown will end in two minutes, please return to work as normal.” The automatic voice was finally giving the all clear, the flashing lights stopped and that gave Meryl pause as she watched Vash stop waving to the camera and sat back down at the table.

“Oh, you don’t know? July 21st!” 

In the time it took Meryl to remember the significance of that day, the elevator dinged, doors opened and she saw that tan man in the ruffled black suit stuffy step out, an angry look in his eyes.

“OI! Tongari! I thought you said you were going to stop trying to get me fired!” Wolfwood held up a fist looking like he was ready to punch Vash but held back.

“I’m sorry Wolfwood! I’ll make it up to you, promise!” Vash looked like a kicked puppy as he was being yelled at but turned to Meryl as he followed Wolfwood back into the elevator. 

“Wait! Knives has the same birthday as you? How many years apart?” 

Vash blinked twice behind his amber sunglasses “huh? We’re twins! Can’t you tell?” 

Meryl fell back into her chair and could hear Wolfwood cackling as the doors closed before shouting “YOU ALREADY SIGNED AN NDA, DON’T FORGET!” 

Meryl sat there in sock, there were still a few snacks left on the table but she didn’t feel like eating any more. Vash and Knives… they were twins?! But Vash looked so much younger, all carefree attitude and boyish charm, lithe figure whereas Knives was unnecessarily thick for a CEO, a serious look always on his face making him look older than he probably was. But after returning to the 30th floor and mulling it over for another two hours, she could see it. 

Another stressful day done at Plant-vation, another well earned double dollar. 

------

It was Friday, at last! There was a very slightly better feeling at the building on fridays, people looking forward to two days of quiet and maybe a bit of relaxation. Meryl had almost forgotten it was also the big day, July 21st. 

Around 1pm the speaker system, for the first time since she joined, actually stopped playing, cutting out in the middle of ‘Mystery Man’ from Vash’s newest album. Everyone actually looked up from their desks. Most everyone was back from lunch and looked to one another when the voice of Legato Bluesummers, Knives’ personal assistant came on.

“Attention Plant-vation employees at the headquarters location; In honour of today you may take a half day after this special presentation of Vash’s newest song ‘purple’ anyone caught leaving before its finish will be terminated.” Meryl could hear the venom in Legato’s voice as he spoke and for a moment wondered if it was their position that would be terminated or their lives.

The song began, slow at first, with a soft piano backing and a vocal choir; it sounded less like something from a pop idol who had just done a western themed album to more like… a love ballad 

/they say my colour's passion but it’s just my beating heart/ I’m a flower not in bloom/ pick me up and bring me in, let a colour change begin./ let our colours combine, I’ll be yours and you’ll be mine/

/I’m red, what can I do?/ when I look into the sky I don’t see blue, I just see you./

/let's make purple/ like the galaxy your born from, oh but I’m rooted in the ground, will I be found, will I be found?/ 

Let’s make purple, let’s make purple, let’s make purple ooh/ there’s no resentment to find, only the hope that you’ll be mine, let’s make purple.

Let me find the calmness of you/ I’ll protect what we’re going though/ let’s be purple./

Everyone in the office looked surprised by the genre change but quickly began packing up as the song repeated. Meryl actually took her time to listen to it two more times before packing up; She could hear the influence of the Flowers she knew that inspired the song but still, for a birthday gift to be a love Ballad… So far the two times she met Vash they ended with a bombshell surprise, she could only start to steel herself for the next one as she made her way out of the office; no sign of the new song coming off repeat any time today.

Chapter Text

An alarm was going off, the vibration of the phone adding to the too loudness of too damn early o’clock. Fuck if this job didn’t pay so gods damned much he would have quit long ago, but yes the pay was good, it even had benefits and let him claim all the kids back home as his dependants so up at the ungodly hour of 5am was Wolfwood’s week days. His charge would be up at 6 and out the door by 7, a chipper as fuck morning person who was only part of his constant though of quitting. As Wolfwood yelled at his phone to stop, ahh there it was, the usual 5:05 text from his actual boss, always the same as if he probably queued it “Don’t fail your mission.” That was the other constant source of his wanting to quit.

Wolfwood sighed, reaching for his first smoke of the morning as he dragged himself out of bed and onto his apartment balcony to light up. Smoke, black coffee, dress and get his ass to work. Same in and same out for the last three years and who knows how many to go. Still, it was better than the dirty work he used to have to do, he could feel better about the money he was sending back home to the orphanage. Having finished dressing, Wolfwood made his way to the door out of his apartment, grabbing his gun from it’s nightly resting place of his bedside table and was out to the parkade to his motorcycle to cross over to the nice side of town.

Knives had been awake for some time now, he wasn’t a morning person but he was naturally awake by 5am, he wasn’t annoyed by his strange circadian rhythm, long used to simply not needing as much sleep as a human should; today was one of those rare days he was glad for it. His eyes drifted down to his chest where a head of golden hair was pressed into it, he smiled fondly and watched the steady rise and fall of the smaller man’s sleeping form. It had been months since the last time they were able to spend time together at home, each of them having very full schedules and commitments out of the city so Knives would enjoy this time just watching Vash take comfort in him. Carefully reaching his right arm across the bed to a night stand, Knives sent off his usual text, just because the current bodyguard had lasted longer than the last five doesn’t mean he gets to slip up today. Message sent, Knives moves his hand to stroke Vash’s soft hair; not caring how his left arm had gone numb long ago from Vash sleeping on it. All too soon Vash’s alarm went off, chirping birds and the sound of rain mixed with Knives gently kissing his forehead woke Vash up.

Wolfwood pulled up to the gate at the entry of the property, pulling out his keycard from inside his leather jacket and holding it up to the scanner to the side of the gate, tucking it back in as the gate slowly rolled to the side to let him into the property. A long driveway before him that was lined with large trees of all kinds at the front of the property to help block the view in soon gave way to highly manicured lawns, gardens and flower beds as the mansion came into view after a short drive. There was already a groundskeeper or two out in the wee hours of the morning and of course Wolfwood saw a few security guards as he pulled up to park his motorcycle. It was 6:35 by the time he got up to the front door, nodding to the guard who stood in front of it. 

He had escorted Vash to the homes of other idols before, none as opulent or well guarded as his; of course most don’t also house billionaire CEOs getting into questionable bioengineering with shady pasts. He’d seen his fair share of shady billionaire homes before so the estate before him was more of Knives’ then Vash’s but Knives always insisted it was theirs equally. 

Wolfwood walked through the foye and down a hall to the kitchen where he knew to find Vash, Wolfwood never bothered with his own breakfast because Vash would always shove some new pastries he was trying on him. 

“Morning Spiky, what disasters are on the agenda today?”

Wolfwood looked to the kitchen island where Vash was sitting in a stool still in loose PJ’s, a plate with some fruit and eggs accompanying a few pastries before him which meant only one thing…

“You’re five minutes late.”

‘Ahh crap, the big boss was here today’ Wolfwood thought to himself with a sigh. Looking around the kitchen to the source to see Knives, fully dressed in surprisingly casual attire; bright blue blazer over a white dress shirt, though he still had that cold look on his face whenever his gaze was on anyone besides Vash. Vash looked up to Wolfwood too, a bright smile beaming and waved to the tan man.

“Morning Nico! Nai finally said he’s finally making good on our belated birthday date!” 

Wolfwood signed, keeping a groan back. While Vash had gifted Knives that love song that he kept insisting wasn’t a love song, all he wanted in return from Knives was a ‘normal day out.’ Wolfwood heard Vash go on endlessly about it in their free time between appointments and appearances. The damn human form of a Golden Retreaver didn’t even realise how in love with his fucking brother he was despite everyone around them knowing. It’s not like the public really knew about them being brothers let alone twins, Knives was rarely seen in public and though Vash would try and visit him at work as much as he could, there was the cover story of how Plant-vation was making all of his eco-friendly biodegradable merch. It also helped that unless you got to look at their faces close enough, they didn’t entirely look too much alike; Vash with his lithe form and sunny look, Knives with his washed out tones and bulkier frame and a few inches taller.

Wolfwood looked over to Knives, not saying anything about the late comment, seeing a bead of sweat forming on the temple of his platinum blond hair. Wolfwood had seen the messages on the security team group chat, Knives had apparently even used city planning data to figure out what would be the least busy day out, picking a Tuesday in September two months after the twins birthday. Knives was still worried about paparazzi and Vash’s fans crowding him, keeping Vash from having a simple peaceful day he dreamed of with his big brother. 

“Yes, so you’ll be on shadow duty today, keep back but only enough to let Vash enjoy himself. You still need to be at the ready for any enemies.” Knives was staring Wolfwood down “The rest of the security detail will be keeping eyes on entry ways to any place we go.

“Uugh Naiiii! You don’t need to be so serious!” Vash made a move to playfully push Knives over, but the bulk of the older twin made that an impossibility for Vash to do physically. “I just… I just want to spend time with you, not cooped up at home or in your office. I want to do normal things, go to a park, get lunch out, a little bit of shopping… I know you’re worried about me but if I have you there then I know it’ll be fine.”

Wolfwood had to look away from the absolutely ridiculously pleading face Vash was making, Knives had promised him this day out and the only thing that had ever kept Knives from keeping a promise to Vash is a threat to his safety so there wasn’t too much Vash had to worry about. Wolfwood had to hold back from pretending to wrech as he heard a sniffle from Knives at Vash’s display 

Not for the millionth time Wolfwood had to watch as Knives pleaded with Vash to just retire from being an idol already, Knives having long since bought the company that held Vash’s contract so it wasn’t like he was under any obligation to continue but Vash always refused. Not wanting to risk that conversation continuing, Wolfwood cleared his throat to get the twins' attention.

“Well then a day out, I got it, keep to the shadows.”

Knives looked from Vash with a slight twitch to his green eyes and Vash just smiled brightly as always, Wolfwood only hated drawing attention to himself slightly less then being the third wheel of an argument so he just sighed as he popped a nicotine gum into his mouth; he’s not actually allowed to smoke within 20 feet of Vash on Knives’ order so he’ll maybe stay just far enough to smoke today.

Yes, this was one of those situations where Wolfwood was ready to throw himself out of a moving vehicle; Vash and Knives were sat in the back of the sedan and he was riding shotgun where Legato was driving, clearly also not fully enjoying the company. Close behind the car they were in was another sedan, same make model and colour with the rest of the security detail; normally just one or two bodyguards was all Vash needed but Knives insisted on a full detail as they were going to be in more than one location.

“So, for today’s agenda…” Wolfwood used the rearview mirror to look into the back of the car to where Knives was speaking “Oh come on! It’s a day out together, we don’t need an ‘agend’ Naii!” The three other men all sighed in unison as Vash put on a pouty face to Knives. Vash relaxed his posture a bit, turning his head to look down into his lap “I just want to spend the day out with you, I want one normal day where we just do things, ok?”

“Oh Vash” Knives moved to place a hand on Vash’s over his lap “and I’ll never deny you your requests, I just want to keep you safe. Don’t worry Vash, you’ll get your wish.” 

Wolfwood turned his attention on the road ahead, not needing to see the pseudo lovers quarrel and saw they were quickly approaching their first stop of the day. Legato slowed the car down, the second one passing them and pulling up into the parking lot first, Legato parking a moment later, leaving the car with Wolfwood and waiting for the others to get in place first before opening the door to let Knives and Vash out. 

Knives got out of the drivers side back door and held his hand out as Vash slide over and excited the same side, happily taking Knives’ hand. 

The park was relatively empty, a few people on a late morning jog, some elderly folks walking along, sitting on park benches or feeding ducks in the ponds. The whole time Vash never let go of Knives’ hand, happily leading him along from one path to the next. Wolfwood watched on from a good six feet back, keeping up whenever Vash rushed ahead to look at a statue or some other display set up in the park. 

“Nai! Look!” Wolfwood couldn’t see Vash’s face from where he was watching the two but he could see the sparkles Vash gave off that went with his biggest, goofiest smiles. Vash actually managed to pull Knives forward with his excitement; before them was a single large oak tree in a sea of red flowers. Despite how graceful Vash could be when he was dancing or forced to weave through crowds of fans he managed to trip on his own two feet as he rushed up, pulling him and Knives tumbling into the flower bed.

Vash gave out a cheerful laugh and to the surprise of the security team watching them, Knives was laughing too, a deep baritone to contrat Vash’s. Legato moved forward to help them up but Knives shot him a look that told him to remain in place. Vash untangled his long limbs from Knives’ thick ones, dusting himself off before smiling up at Knives.

“Sorry, you know how much I love these flowers.” Vash gave a light chuckle as he finished patting himself down.

“Of course, that’s why we have lots at home.” Knives was looking around, seeing if they had drawn any attention to themselves but was satisfied to see only one or two of the more elderly patriots look and turn away once they got up.

“Yeah but it’s still always nice to have a change of scenery” Vash had a fond look on his face, looking over the areas of the park he could see. “Come on, let’s finish our walk, I want to see if that gazebo is still here!” Vash tugged on Knives arm to get him to move along with him. 

“I can’t imagine they would ever think to remove the ‘birthplace of Vash the Stampede’” Knives chuckled as he let Vash lead him, jutting his head forward as he looked behind to Wolfwood and the others.

The two twins walked down the path that led to a wooden gazebo. It was meant to be red but it must have been some time since it was last painted and was sun bleached into a soft pink. Knives held Vash’s hand as he tried to tug the bigger man forward, keeping Vash at a leisurely pace; giving one of the security team members time to check for anyone in it.

Once Knives saw the all clear sign he allowed Vash to rush up to the wooden gazebo, letting go of his hand as Vash lept up the few steps, almost as if he was flying and spun around to face Knives, doing one of his silly poses. Knives clapped as he walked up to where Vash was standing now.

“After all these years, you still think of this place, eh?” It was after they were separated, the twins going with a different parent, Knives already learning the ways of their father’s business had been forced to follow where Vash stayed behind with their mom. Knives knew Vash always wanted to give the world his all and wasn’t surprised to hear how he would often come busking at the park here. He had so wanted to come back to the city from time to time, surprising Vash by showing up to the park where he was singing and dancing his little heart out for the world, looking for love that Knives should have been there to shower him with. But he never was given free time, so much was expected of him and he would always take on more responsibilities willingly. Knives was willing to bare it all if it meant that one day he could provide and protect Vash. 

Vash walked around the small space of the inside of the gazebo, running a hand along the wooden railing, a small soft smile on his face as he looked around and then at Knives. “You know me, I’m nothing if not sentimental” Vash stepped forward, wrapping his arms as far as he could around Knives' wide back, pressing his face into the clean white shirt he picked out for Knives. 

Knives held Vash in return, easily wrapping his hands around Vash “I just wish I could have been there back then, but I’m here now.” Knives let go of Vash, patting the top of his soft head before taking a step back to see Vash's face. Vash had a light dusting of a blush from ear to ear and gave a nervous laugh before looking up at Knives.

“Hey, that’s more than I could ever ask for, come on! Let's get lunch!!” Vash took Knives’ hand again, tugging on it to lead him back to the pathway.

Vash had insisted they could walk from the park to the restaurant but Knives insisted they take the car, less risk of being recognised on the street Vash just sighed and agreed, the security team following them all the while. Wolfwood kept his good six feet back the whole time, watching mostly Vash and Knives but also kept an eye out for anyone he could see who was too quick to pull their phone out. The park was easy but they were moving on to lunch; it was going to get more crowded and there would be more people in Vash’s target demographic range. 

Wolfwood had signed up to keep Vash safe from his fans, stalkers and the paparazzi but he never signed up to be stuck having lunch with Legato. His eyebrow was twitching and it wasn’t like Legato was anymore pleased to be in the same situation. But with six people in security detail that means three tables close to where Vash and Knives were sitting could be safely occupied. 

Vash had gone on to Wolfwood about how he didn’t want to plan out the day so far in advance, picking where they would go for lunch based on how he was feeling that day but Knives insisted he let Legato know at least a week in advance to make reservations. Vash and Knives were sat at a table along the back of the restaurant, Wolfwood and Legato were sat at the table in front of them and the other on either side. 

“So, what’s good here?” Wolfwood looked up from his menu to Legato, smirking with the small victory of annoying the too serious man. Legato just scowled and turned his attention back to Knives and Vash. Wolfwood put his menu down; it didn’t matter where they were, he’d always just get a cheeseburger and fries no matter how fancy the place. Wolfwood’s attention was drawn to the approaching waitress to their group of tables.

“Welcome! What can I get you?!” She had gone right to Vash and Knives table first, a sure sign she recognized Vash.  Vash smiles up at her as he places his order, it’s clear now that she’s a fan but the way she’s almost dancing on the spot. Knives clears his throat before pointing at the menu, Wolfwood can see he has his phone open on top of the menu page, a note to the waitress as she stills before finishing taking his order and coming around to the rest of their tables. 

“Hello, I’m supposed to sign something before I take your order?” The waitress looks to Wolfwood as her eyes dart back to Vash and Knives’ table. Sighing, Wolfwood takes out an NDA from the stack Knives insists he has ready to go for today. 

“Standard NDA, you’re not allowed to go blabbing to the internet about anything related to Vash’s order or anything else, you can say you saw him but it has to be at least three hours after he leaves. I’ll take a bacon cheeseburger, no veggies on it and fries with spicy mayo dip. You’ll get a signed poster after the fact.” 

She nods, signs the NDA and finishes taking all of their orders. As she leaves to the back, Wolfwood makes eye contact with Knives and gives a nod as he slips the contract into his coat. Wolfwood tunes out Vash and Knives' conversation as he turns his attention to the rest of the people in the restaurant, thankfully more focused on their lunches then looking around. ‘Wait’ he thinks, as his eyes just catch the tail end of someone who was looking. He files that in the back of his mind just encases. 

“Three tables forward and one to the left” he speaks discreetly into his wire. The rest of the team give their different singles of acknowledgement, not wanting to tip the person off. 

Unsurprisingly Vash’s order comes out first, a good few minutes before the rest of their orders. Vash ordered a pizza; ham and roasted pineapple, always needing something a little sweet. He looks excited to take his first bite but looks across the table to Knives “Should I wait till your food comes, Nai?” 

“You can start, only if I can steal your first bite” Knives tries to make it sound playful but of course, he wants to make sure there’s nothing off with Vash’s food. Vash nods and takes a slice, folding it slightly and holding it out towards Knives “say ah!” 

Wolfwood’s attention is split between the two of them and the person he saw before, still at the table, taking their time to finish up their lunch but sees a very slight blush on Knives face as Vash insists on feeding him.

Wolfwood and Legato both shifted their chairs, sitting annoyingly close together but fully blocking the view of the twin’s table from any possible onlookers. 

Knives took his bite from Vash’s pizza slice, hiding the fact he hated pineapple on pizza but chewed slowly and deliberately to make sure nothing else tasted off. He nodded to Vash who turned the slice back to him, looking at where Knives bite was before finishing it off with a slight blush.

The rest of their food came and everyone else ate with a quicker pace then one would take to enjoy their lunch, only Vash and Knives taking their time. The person Wolfwood was keeping his eye on did eventually leave before they finished and he had all the social media apps up and was checking all of Vashes tags by the second to make sure their location wasn’t leaked. 

The waitress returned with the bill, all for tables on one per Knives request, Knives gave it a quick glance while pulling out a credit card, seeing that Vash’s pizza and drink was left off “Is this correct?” he asked her with one raised eyebrow and as she gave a nervous “yes” Vash leaned over to try and see what had gotten Knives attention. 

“Aww you don’t need to do that! It’s not coming out of your pocket is it?” Vash looked up at her with his award winning smile. 

“No, no, it’s fully on the house!” she stammered clearly trying to gather her words in Vash’s presence. Vash wasn’t wearing his trademark red coat; he had on a red with white striped shirt with an obscenely deep v cut to it showing a dark blue undershirt so he reached down into his bag and pulled out a poster, asking the waitress her name and signed it. 

Lunch finished Knives looked over to Vash “where to next then?” Vash tilted his head in thought “can we try to go to the department store? I know a mall is too risky but that should be fine, right?” Vash had his puppy dog eyes on, Knives taking a deep sigh through his nose “ok, we’ll go there next.”

This time they did walk, the store was only one block over and even Knives couldn’t see it being less exposure than driving in and out of parking lots, though he did have Legato move the main car encase they needed a quick escape. 

Knives watched from Vash’s side as Vash skipped along the sidewalk. “What’s got you so excited, Vash?” Knives couldn’t take his eyes off of Vash as he hummed along the way “Oh nothing really in particular, I’m just really enjoying this day out with you!” 

Knives was struggling to keep his neutral face, his heart was in his throat with adoration for Vash, really they could have done all this from the safety of their home; spend time in the gardens on their property, have someone bring food in, shop online but… Knives was enjoying this too; being out and spending time in such a meaningful way. He wanted to find the way to tell Vash he was enjoying it too, how deep his love for the younger one truly went but it was too much of a risk; until the day Vash gave up his idol career he couldn't ruin his reputation like that.

So instead Knives just gave a pleased hum as they continued walking down the street, the department store just a few doors ahead now when someone walking the opposite was from them gasped.

“OMG Vash!!! Over here!!”

Vash turned to looked at the fan who had gotten way to close, Wolfwood was closing in as she already had her phone out and snapped a photo; Vash Smiling and held out a peace sign with his left hand, sparkles floating around his face but Knives was also in the background of the picture, a look of cold anger at the camera. 

Before she had even put the phone down, Wolfwood was in front of Vash, the rest of the security team looking around for anyone else that might approach. The fan suddenly realised the gravity of the situation and started shaking as she took a step back.

“Sorry but it’s my day off, thank you for your support though!” Vash reached out a hand to Knives and patted Wolfwood on the shoulder as he tried to keep walking. ‘It was inevitable’ Knives thought as he stared daggers into the fan who was quickly walking back from them. 

Despite Vash’s best efforts nigher man budged “It’s all good! One photo is more than a price I’m willing to pay for a day out, it’s just me on the street so let's keep going.”

Wolfwood looked over at Knives. While Vash was his charge, Knives was still his boss so he got final word on whether they keep going or leave. Knives was always ready to drop whatever they were doing at any time and leave for home but… Vash was squeezing his hand and subtly trying to tug it forward, he still wanted to keep going and this day out was meant to be his gift to Vash so…

Knives jutted his head towards the way they were walking and continued onward with Vash. He would give his brother as much time out as they could manage. They kept on and reached the department store that Vash wanted to go to, looking around before entering.

The shop was thankfully quiet, Vash dragged Knives over a sunglass display and was trying on every novelty pair they had; ones shaped like clouds with dangling charms of raindrops and lightning bolts, ones shaped like hearts or stars and ones that were clearly a knock off of his officially licenced ones. 

They made their way up one level at a time, Vash’s attention was with anything impractical and novel; on the home goods level he held up a vase that was shaped like a cheetah's head. “Nai! It’s so ridiculous!! I have to get it!” Vash’s smile was radiating as he held the hideous thing up to his head.

Knives signed “Vash, do you even plan to do anything with it?” Knives was never one for wastefulness and Vash had long bemoaned his choice in interior design; either minimalist or Vash merch; no in-between. 

Vash tucked the long neck of the vase under his arm as he continued walking. This particular area of the store only had them, their security team and a single clerk; a very tall woman with long chestnut brown hair who had a simple smile on her face. Knives eyed her from where they stood but she never approached them or acted like one of Vash’s fans when she saw them so he deemed it safe to linger here. 

“Alright! I’m going to get this then we can head out! But can you just wait here a min?” Vash looked up with pleading eyes to Knives. He sighed and nodded, staying still as Vash strode over to the sales desk, placing the vase on the counter and then seemed to hunch over something else there.

Knives quirked an eyebrow as he watched from afar before a notification sound came off his phone. Knives looked away from Vash for a moment to check his phone, the sound came from his trending topics alert set for ‘#VashtheStampede’ and frowned. It was the photo that random fan grabbed of them an hour ago on the street. It had the caption “OMG I SAW VASH💖💖!!! But his new bodyguard is scary!! 🙀😖 Don’t worry, Wolfy is still here! He stopped me next lol”

‘Just as well’ Knives thought’ they were leaving after Vash made his purchase and they would head right down to the parkade, glad he had Legato bring the car over. He looked over at Wolfwood who had also seen the post and was moving in closer. He walked up to the counter where Vash was still chatting with the sales clerk and turned his head over as he heard Knives get closer, spinning around, holding the ridiculous vase in his hands. 

“Hey, Nai, come here for a second! Look at this neat detail!” Vash held the vase up in front of his face, the lifeless face of the cheetah pointing to Knives. “Vash it’s time we-” Knives’ heart stopped as everything happened in slow motion.

Vash pulled the vase down, leaning up to Knives’ lowered head as he was talking to Vash, getting up on tippy toes and kissed him square on the lips. Everything sped up as the normal pace of the world suddenly seemed too fast for Knives. He blinked in disbelief at Vash who was blushing from ear to ear with a soft genuine smile on his face. 

Around them the security team all shifted awkwardly and an “aww!” could be heard from the sales clerk. “V…Vash!!” Knives was left stuttering as he pulled Vash close to himself. He looked from side to side, still not seeing anyone around them besides the clerk who by some miracle seemed oblivious to what she’s just witnessed.

Knives could feel Vash moving as he as pressed him into his chest and quickly turned them around to the elevator, his own face was beet red still from the sudden kiss from Vash. Vash nearly dropped the hideous vase as he was dragged away, Knives wrapped his arms around Vash’s waist and lifted him up just enough to carry him away without dragging them. 

Knives didn’t let Vash go till they were in the elevator, they were on the sixth floor and Legato was waiting for them in P2 so they had a short ride to go. When Knives dropped his grip on Vash, the younger of them didn’t pull away, his shoulders were hitching. The elevator dinged four times so far, they still had a ways to go down before Vash pulled away from Knives. His eyes glistened with unshed tears.

“I’m… I’m sorry Nia… I thought maybe…” Knives' eyes went wide, his face had returned to its normal pale shade and his hand shot out to grab Vash’s, bringing it up to his lips and kissing it. Vash stilled as Knives placed the gentle kiss on his hand, risking looking up to the older one.

“Vash, you have nothing to be sorry for” Knives then moved to lift Vash’s hand to his cheek and smiled down at him. Vash gave a weak smile back as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

“All clear, come on, out you damn love birds!” Wolfwood all but pushed the two out into the parkade, unsure if he was more annoyed at his presence in the elevator being forgotten or grateful for it. 

Legato was thankfully close by the elevator and Wolfwood shoved them in the back of the car before slipping into shotgun “seat belts!” he shouted at the two in back as Legato started the car to make their quick getaway. 

The four men remained in silence for a good twenty minutes, the city quickly passing them by as Legato drove at a breakneck pace back to their home on the outskirts of town before Vash risked breaking the silence. “Hey… Nai?” 

Knives gave a ‘hum?’ sound as he looked over Vash. 

“Thanks again, for today.” Vash’s posture was starting to loosen, he was still looking out the window on his side of the car as he spoke but then turned to look at Knives with that soft small smile “do you think… could we try that kiss again?”

Knives leaned over, as far as he could with his seat belt still fastened and Vash leaned in to help close the gap.

Five o’clock had finally rolled around and Meryl was packed up and out the door. She was scrolling through her social media feed and almost tripped down the steps that lead up the building. She had seen the post of Vash and his apparent ‘new bodyguard’ but even with such a different look could tell that was Mr. Knives. She saw some missed texts from her high school friend Milly too but was still looking at the post when she recognised where they were, it was almost in front of the shop her friend worked at!

“Omg someone finally bought that poor lonely cheetah vase! I kept hoping it would find a home after so long.” 

Meryl sighed at the first text, Milly wasn’t into fandoms even when they were in high school so she probably didn’t see that Vash was close by. She kept reading the rest of the texts.

“Ooohh! The cute blond boy that bought Mr cheetah is apparently on a date! He wants to use it to get his first kiss with the Mr big buff he’s with! >w< go for it little dude!”

‘Wait…’ Meryl kept reading 

“He did it! Poor little man looked so nervous but the big guy just scooped him up and swept him away! The friend they brought along had to rush after them!” 

‘What was the chance…’ she kept reading the last missed text.

“It's suddenly so busy here! Apparently some big celeb was seen nearby, do you know anything? That’s more your wheelhouse.”

Meryl quickly made her way to the subway station that was right by the office, waiting to get on before texting Milly back. Once she was sat down, she pulled her phone back up and shot a text back.

“Yeah I saw that, it seems Vash the Stampede was close by there.” Meryl hesitated a moment before saving the picture and copying it to the text.

A moment later Milly texted her back.

“Oh! That was the couple! Glad I didn’t know it was someone famous, that seems like a lot of hassle :P anyways, dinner break is over, back to the grind I go!!” 

Meryl sat there staring at Milly’s last message till her phone blacked out and then she was just staring at her darkened reflection on the black screen. She almost missed her stop but robotically stood up and walked the rest of her way to her apartment; still processing the bombshell revelation that she would never speak of. She deleted today’s texts from Milly, the ones that were sent to her and the ones she sent along with making sure the pic wasn’t saved on her device. As much as she thought about starting to look for a new job in the moment; she didn’t want to risk being forced to.