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Life on Nomansland is difficult, but not impossible. Worms evolved to live on this arid desert planet, the natural inhabitants, long before the alien species of humans crashed here. Yet despite its harsh desert landscape and lack of flora diversity, it is still a planet that humans can survive. The atmosphere is nitrogen and oxygen-based, the temperature on average is hotter than Earth but still livable, and there are still natural water springs and underground sources of water. Plenty of natural minerals and metals.
Humans are surprisingly resilient and can adapt to inhabit a wide range of climates. Things on Nomansland would be much more difficult without the technology the spaceflight age left behind, or the plants that were brought with them. However even without those helpful boons humanity would find a way.
Having a plant or two in a town ensured the survival rate and overall comfort of the town was much higher, yet it did not mean that a town would still survive. Or that a town without a plant could not thrive. Some towns built themselves over natural underground springs, and found ways to live modestly but comfortably, as one can get on Nomansland. Some towns built themselves on the wreckage of seed ships, who misused the resources available to them and the town became abandoned. This was one such town.
Lost in the endless desert, far enough away from other towns to be an inconvenience but not far enough away to be a trip. Elevated near a rocky outcrop, the town could be seen for miles away, a beacon of safety in the harsh desert. The buildings at the edge of the town were in the worst shape, weather worn from years of wind, sand, and sun. Yet despite how decrepit they were, they still stood protecting the buildings deeper in from the worst of the desert’s battering.
Most of the town was built out of rock and metal. Wood was uncommon, a rarity, as Earth plant life was only available to those who had geo-plants. It was circular in shape, built around the jutting remains of a smaller seed ship, or at least part of one, it was too small to have been one of the main fleet. To those unfamiliar with seed ship design, it looked like an architectural nightmare, with the amount of redistribution of the original structure and added on buildings. Besides the nearby rock outcropping, it seemed this town had no natural resources to sustain it without a plant.
The sun was setting behind the great dunes they traveled past to get here. The temperature would linger before cooling down. They arrived here in hopes of finding a place to charge the car and stock up on supplies. Their hopes fell as they pulled into the abandoned town, everyone’s hopes but Vash.
He ran his fingers along the rough sandstone exterior of one of the buildings, feeling some of the rock loosen. Shadows of a once bustling street, the joyous laughter and the clinks of glass, no more. Only the sounds of the small group and the wind.
“Vash you ok?” Meryl called out to him.
He spared one last somber glance at the building, before putting on his cheery demeanor.
“Yeah!”
“Hmm, are you sure? You seemed down when we entered the town.”
“Ahh well, It's tragic to see towns like this is all.”
They continued walking, Meryl and Milly filling up the air with their chatter about the town and if they could find a decent building to spend the night in. Wolfwood trailed behind Vash, ever-present, yet staying quiet. Vash could feel his eyes on him.
They walked to the center of the town. To the remains of the old seed ship. There the group split. Meryl and Milly to see if there was any information on the town they could find, a place to stay, or anything they could use as supplies. Vash and Wolfwood were sent to investigate the central building. Vash knew it housed the plants of the town and other various technologies.
As they drew close Vash turned to Woflwood, ”May I have some time alone?”
Wolfwood just sighed, fishing out a cigarette box out of his pocket. Vash waited quietly for him to say something. He pulled out a slightly squashed cigarette from the crumpled box and his lighter, flipping the lighter to ignite the flame to light the cigarette. He took a long drag and leaned against the wall. He did not look Vash’s way, just waved a hand in a clear notion of dismissal.
Vash smiled softly at him and whispered ‘Thank you,’ before walking around the center building alone.
He found a door leading in, rusted over in places and rough from sand wear. Next to the handle was a dust covered touch pad. Carefully wiping the dust away, the panel lit up as Vash typed in the universal code he had made years ago with Nai back on ship five, before the fall. They had come up with it together, but it was mostly Vash’s code, to be able to override doors without flagging the system so they could run around the ship without alerting others who were not privy to the knowledge of the two independents.
The panel blinked twice before a low hiss and a click came from the door. Vash grasped the handle and with a good push the door opened for the first time in a long time. The door closed behind him with another click, locking him in the building. Slowly dim strip lighting on the floor illuminated the hallway he was in, leading deeper into the building. Letting the dim floor lights guide him, he ventured toward the dull emergency call being sung from farther in.
After several floor changes and twisting hallways, he pushed open the heavy door that led to the plant room. There in the center, illuminated by the soft red glow of the tank was one of his sisters. She was curled up tightly in her resting position, still alive, conserving strength. Vash walked up slowly to the glass, resting his head against it. He pushed forward his conscience, reaching along the threads and wavelengths plants shared and communicated with.
‘Hello, I’m here. I'm sorry it took so long, I can help..’
Somewhere in his soul he could feel something stir, tugging on a frayed but never broken thread. He ignored it, pushed it away to focus on his sister in front of him. She did not respond. Pushing more of his thoughts to her, he tapped into his gate, energy flowing threw him to her.
‘Sister, I can help you, please let me help..’
With the energy he was pushing forward to her, she stirred from her conserved state.
*brother*
It was weak, but there. Slowly she moved, each petal of her bulb unfurling with her remaining conserved energy. Once open she locked eyes with Vash, their plant markings flared up and pulsed until they synced up. Continuing to flow energy to her, Vash beckoned her to come and truly link up against the glass, to let him freely regulate her back to a healthy and stable strength.
She agreed, it had been a very long time since she had gone into the energy conservation state and she trusted her brother to regulate her. That was his purpose, or a part of it at least.
Vash did not know how much time passed, as he connected with his sister, flowing the energy and life through his gate to her. It was pleasant and warm, giving a hug to a loved one. Once she was stable they stayed connected. It had been so long since Vash last was able to have the time to be himself, to be an independent plant and embrace a side of him he kept hidden almost always.
He picked up the loose threads of the plant network, linking up to her, and the myriads of other sisters she was connected to.
*Brother! Brother? Brother is here! Where is the other brother? Where is your other half? Where is the one humans connect to? Brother. Brother is here. Brother helped!*
‘Other brother? Ahh you mean Nai? He is not with me..’
*Why brother? You are one and the same? Brothers are one, Brothers are the same. Brothers are for different reasons. Brother is for us, Brother is for humans.*
‘We have different views right now. I want to save both plants and humans..’
*Together you can. You can save us. Brother can save them. You can't save humans, Brother can't save us.*
Vash felt a comforting sensation wash over him, like he had been doused in warm water to cleanse the sand from his body. His markings desynced from his sister’s, linking up to the one other person in the entire universe he would always be linked to. He pulls away from the glass of the plant tank, his connection with his sisters fizzling out before he could truly think on their words as he turns his attention to his soulmate, his other half.
“Nai…”
“Vash..”
They stared at each other, plant markings slowly pulsing in sync. Vash searched Nai’s face for answers, ones he already knew but wished them to be different.
“Why are you here, Nai?”
Nai said nothing, peering out from under his large hooded gate. He took a step forward.
“Are you here for her?”
Nai took another step.
“Are you here for me?”
He continued to steadily walk toward Vash. There was a tug on their frayed connection, a question, a plea to open up. Although he might try to resist, Vash is weak for Nai. Emotions flowed through it. Overwhelming love and hate. Unyielding devotion.
“Vash,” Nai reached his hand to gently cup Vash's cheek, thumb caressing the mole under his eye.
“Please Nai, why are you here?” Vash spoke, leaning into the touch of his other half.
“Is it unbelievable I'm just here to be with you?” Nai whispered, leaning into Vash’s space, his breath ghosting his neck. “My dear brother,” lips gently pressing to his pulse point.
“Yes,” Vash exhaled as teeth sunk into his flesh, not enough to break the skin.
“Then believe,” He says as he lavishes the marks he is slowly leaving on Vash’s neck. “Like you believe in those vile ants.”
The words stab through his heart. Why can't Nai understand that the world is a cruel place but there is still good in it? That the choices and actions of one don't dictate a whole race. Nai is a stubborn bastard who even after all these decades, centuries, still is holding onto his ideas of a scared young independent. But Vash is just as stubborn, they really are twins.
Vash maneuvers his hands to Nai’s chest and pushes him off. Shock then disappointment flashed across his face. Anger and conviction are pushed along their bond, teeth bared at each other. They come together in a mash of lips and teeth. Two celestial bodies always orbiting each other finally colliding in an explosion of lust.
Vash growls into Nai’s mouth, biting down hard on his lip, the metallic tang of blood on his tongue. It is euphoric, he bleeds just like Vash, and he craves to see more. Nai responds by digging his fingers into Vash’s hair, pulling hard to rip his head back to bare his neck. Nai’s eyes are wide with lust, drinking in the form of Vash slightly disheveled. Blood trickles down his lip, he licks it clean with a swipe of his tongue, the action causing Vash to swallow hard. Endorphins high, his blood is running hot flowing south toward his groin.
With a soft smile, Nai fluidly transforms part of his gate into his signature multitudes of floating knives. He gently removes the red overcoat from Vash, he knows that despite it being a gift from the humans he despises, Vash still treasures it. He has enough empathy for Vash to at least not ruin that piece of clothing. The coat is tossed to the side to be forgotten for now, and Vash lets him.
“Vash,” Nai starts but Vash doesn't let him finish. He kicks Nai in the chest and twists out of his grip, the roots on his head aching from how hard they were pulled. He then charges at Nai.
“Shut up,” He yells as he jumps at Nai, throwing his full weight at him. Nai catches him, taking a step back to keep his balance. Vash’s teeth sink into the meat of Nai’s shoulder and his hands come up to tightly grip Vash’s ass. They come together and then part. It is a primal dance of two beings destined for each other yet they fight the pull. Vash lashes out with nails and teeth, leaving bloody possessive marks in his wake. Nai constricts with force, painting bruising art on an already torn canvas. He refuses to physically cut or harm Vash in the way his beloved humans do.
Somewhere in their clash, Vash’s clothes are ripped off and Nai’s gate dissipates. Vash is strained with his arms pinned above his head, weak to everything Nai is. Nai his brother, his twin, his soulmate, his destined lover, his everything. He is built weak for him, yet it does not mean he is small and meek for him. He is his own person with his own ideals and goals, ideally, they should share them, yet they are opposing.
‘I ruin this horrible world for you to be safe.’
‘I'm saving the world to show you it is still beautiful even in the rough parts.’
Nai is pushing him against the plant tank wall supporting him with his knives, knee shoved between his legs right up to his slowly unfolding petals. His hands are gently exploring every scar and stitch on Vash’s abused body. Every old wound is met with a delicate touch and every new one a small kiss as if that would take away all the troubles. He thumbs along the two matching surgical scars under each pectoral, the only scars he actually wanted, asked for and received proper care for. His hand on his body feels so good but it is not what he wants.
It's too soft for Vash, Nai is being too soft and it breaks his heart to be treated like such a delicate thing, as if he can't take the punishment that humans give him, that he deserves. He was as much at fault for the great fall as Nai was. Yet this soft, loving side of Nai is too much for Vash, he prefers their messy lustful fighting over this, at least then he can forget about everything and live just in the moment. Pushing away all the feelings he doesn't want to feel or process now, or ever.
“Nai, fuck me already,” Vash bites out, shoving his hips forward, trying to get any friction on his petals to open up more. He can feel the slick building up behind them, but their primal foreplay wasn't enough to fully unfurl them. Nai is healing his wounds too fast for Vash’s liking, he could at least wait to heal them until they are done. Nai removes his knee, leaving Vash to groan in frustration. He slowly showers Vash’s patchwork body in gentle kisses moving down til he kneels. Looking up at Vash from near his trembling petals.
“Is that what you want, dear brother? To be fucked like an animal, no better than the ants crawling all over this planet?” He gently presses his mouth against Vash’s leg in a hot open mouthed kiss. “We could build up something greater than that, there is a better meaning to life—” Vash cuts him off and lets the knives hold him up, wrapping his legs around Nai’s shoulders and pushing his groin into his face. Secretly he hopes for the knives to dig into the flesh of his wrists, the clean sting of cuts and the wet trickle of his blood down his arms. The knives are dull to not cut, only to dig into his flesh with a hint of tantalizing pain but no more. Nai however gets the point and puts his mouth to better use then spouting words Vash doesn't want to hear.
Vash lets out a breathy moan as Nai finally licks along his petals, the tough outer petals unfolding to open up to their sensitive undersides. His petals flutter as Nai takes Vash’s small stamen in his mouth, sucking and lavishing his tongue along it. Nai moans around him, sending electric pleasure through him that has his hole leaking thick slick. Pleasure radiates from their bond, amplifying and bouncing back through it.
Their plant markings are in full glow, in sync and pulsing to their shared heat. The blue glow grows stronger along their sex. While they were both twins, they differed in their sex. Almost identical, they both had petals that covered stamens and a pistol hole, yet Vash’s was small and he was designated more feminine because of it. Nai on the other hand had a larger stamen that he could make bigger and had more control over. They both fit perfectly into each other, two beings destined to be intertwined as one.
Nai pulled away and stood up, slick sticking to his face and dripping down his neck. He took two fingers, wiping some of it off his face and shoving them into Vash’s mouth. Vash moaned around the digits as the thick sweet tangy taste that was uniquely him flooded his tongue. He cleaned up his slick from the fingers, coating them in his saliva and nipping at them when they started to explore his mouth. He closes his eyes and loses himself in the sensation of his mouth being explored by Nai’s long and elegant fingers. They were built to play the piano creating beautiful melodies, not to orchestrate an entire species' demise. Yet only Nai could play Vash like his piano, drawing out wondrous music from him with his beautiful hands. Nai pulled his fingers out and leaned in to kiss him, open mouthed all lips and teeth. At the same time he took those same long sinful fingers and probed at Vash’s entrance, drawing teasing circles around before thrusting them inside. Vash thrashed against his hold as Nai set a tortuously slow pace. It was not enough, too slow and too empty. He needed more.
Vash whined in need, pushing his cravings of more through their bond as he ground his hips against Nai’s hand. Between his legs Nai’s petals had unfurled and his stamen was hanging heavy and full. Vash wanted to reach out and touch it, to grip it and guide it deep into his hole, but he was still held up by Nai’s knives. Letting out a frustrated grunt he bit down hard on Nai’s lip and yanked his arms free from the knives. He let him break free as Nai wouldn't harm Vash that way, never again. With his arms now free he threw himself forward, pushing Nai to take him down with him. They fell to the ground, Nai wrapping up Vash in his limbs so he remained protected in his arms.
Vash finally on top and in full control of his limbs, took charge of the situation. He was tired of the slow, gentle pace Nai wanted to set. He wanted hard fast fucking, messy and hurtful not the too emotionally charged love making. Nai would do that for him but he was taking too long for his liking. If they were going to have sex, they were going to fuck. They were not going to come together and intertwine as one like they were destined to, not when they could not see eye to eye on humanity and plants part in it. Nai lets Vash take the lead for now, letting him take what he needs too.
Vash finally lined up his leaking hole to Nai’s thick stamen. The tapered tip of his stamen easily entered him and he threw his head back with a loud moan as his hole was deliciously stretched out the more he sunk down. When he was finally fully sheathed inside him, Vash placed his hands on the strong muscles of Nai’s stomach and used him to steady himself as he lifted his hips up. He sets a pace that is fast and controlled. Below him Nai is flushed, their markings syncing up with the pace Vash is setting, Nai’s hands come to grip tightly at his hips helping Vash keep stable.
Vash is a leaking trembling mess when Nai grips his hips tightly and starts to thrust up to meet him. Vash loses control of the pace letting Nai take over and leans down into him. He bites down hard at the soft flesh of his neck, gently licking and sucking at the spot til the flesh is darkening with abuse. He growls into his neck as a new pace is set and his hole is rammed hard and fast, feeling every inch of Nai’s stamen thrust deep into him. With the change of angle, he can feel the head brush that beautiful bundle of nerves that spark electricity along his limbs, heat pooling deep in his gut. His hole slowly leaking between them adding to the sloppy wet symphony of their fucking.
Nai grips tightly onto the back of Vash and flips them over in one smooth move, not even letting his stamen leave the tight warmth of Vash’s hole. Vash growls and licks over another bite, losing himself deeply in pleasure and squeezes tightly around the thick stamen that is rearranging his guts. The deep need to be pumped full of Nai’s seed overwhelms him and he wraps his legs tightly to not let Nai leave. Nai’s hips jerk and stutter for a few thrusts at how deliciously tight he is before breathing deeply and resetting his brutal pace. Vash throws his head back in a loud long moan as his stamen nails him in just the right spot to make his vision blur blue. He feels the heat and pressure grow in his gut, their bond is overwhelmed with electric pleasure flooding in from both sides.
He groans out as his hole is assaulted in all the right ways. The erratic pace and thrusts push him over the edge and he is leaking thick slick from his full hole. He tightens around him as he cums, ridding out his pleasure. He can tell Nai is not far behind him in losing it all in orgasmic bliss. Nai captures Vash’s mouth with his, as his hips stutter and his stamen swells, twists and locks them in place as he fills Vash with his seed. Nai’s grinding and the hot seed flooding him, send Vash over the edge again and straight into blissful overstimulation from being so full of seed. Nothing but Nai, his brother, his twin, his soulmate, his destined lover, his everything. As Vash is riding the high of overwhelming pleasure, Nai is holding him close, kissing him softly and brushing the sweaty hair from his eyes.
When Nai’s stamen unlocks, untwisting and deflating back into a size that can be tucked back up into his petals, he pulls out with a sad smile. He stands up on strong legs, leaving Vash on the ground slick and seed pooling out from his abused hole. His gate summoned once again manifesting his body suit and jacket that faintly resemble their old suits on ship Five.
Vash struggles to sit up, unable to form words as their bond is muted, plant markings fading away to their faux human skin. Their primal coupling is done and over, they come together and part, such is the way things are, but not how they should be. Their sisters do not understand. Vash wishes he could get Nai to understand him, it's been a hundred and fifty years of this. Nai who has everything to give but chooses to give death to humans. Vash who has nothing to give but life to plants. If Nai could just see his way, then they could have it all for both species.
Vash called out to the leaving form of his soulmate, "Then what's the meaning of life?"
Nai paused and turned to look directly into Vash's eyes, "You."