[ Would it have hurt Knives to answer his questions? Typical behavior though. Vash frowns at his device and considers where to wait for his brother's arrival for a few minutes.
He settles on the front patio outside, his signature red(purple) coat nowhere to be found. It probably wouldn't take Knives long to get here, but it makes Vash's nerves thrum with low key anxiety anyway. ]
[One of Vash's questions might answer itself when Knives arrives: his gate is nowhere to be seen, and he's forced to once again dress in human clothing, a cloak drawn around his shoulders to disguise his weapons. He has, at least, lost his limp, so however he'd chosen to mend his injuries, it seems to have been permanent, even with the loss of his powers.
He stops on the path leading to the patio, surveying Vash.]
[ there's a lot to take in about his brother's appearance, but not anything that Vash didnt expect. He knew the wishes being made wre likely false hope at best and a trap at worst. It is a relief to see the limp in Knives' step is missing, however. He also notes a lack of any remaining crystal corruption. Good.
Vash's own arm is gone, his prosthetic not currently attached but his sleeve is tied just below the juncture. It aches sometimes, and here he feels at least comfortable enough to remove it when it does.
He just barely stops himself from rolling his eyes when Knives speaks, and instead, he just huffs out an annoyed puff of air. ]
You haven't given me a reason to run. Did you want to come in?
[Knives is staring at him intently, taking in the missing arm, and the lack of corruption. It doesn't seem to have reoccurred, then. It's all the information he needs, and he stalls on the path like some lingering spirit; he could leave now and be satisfied.
[ Vash isn't going to beg him to stay, but he made the offer. If his brother just wanted to lay eyes on him, that's fine. But he offered, at least, because he wanted to. ]
Mm, for a little while anyway. I was staying at an inn in Stellari for a while.
[ The expression isn't lost on Vash, but he chooses to ignore it. He does wind up rolling his eyes as he turns on his heel and walks back towards the cabana. ]
I was cooking. [ Not really, no he wasn't. He has a pizza in the oven. He's managed to figure that out, thanks to the ladies who he worked for at the inn. ] So if you're hungry, it'll be ready soon.
[ He pulls the door open stepping aside for his brother to go in first. ]
[Knives steps inside, and shrugs off his cloak. Multiple blades are sheathed at his hip -- whether he bought them legitimately or 'acquired' them is another matter.]
You need to eat again, then.
[As he looks around, he can smell something baking in the oven. It makes his stomach growl, though he tries to hide it with a cough.]
[ Wanted to. Except for when Knives wished that all away. The stomach growling is definitely noticed, but Vash is smart enough to keep that part to himself. He does turn from Knives to go check the oven though, just to make sure he's not burning the pizza. ]
Isn't that important? Changing the things you don't like about yourself, and becoming a better person.
[ He's not looking at knives, too busy working on pulling the pizza from the oven. He's wearing ridiculously oversized mitts, so he looks more like a woolen crab than anything like a serious cook. ]
I haven't given up, Nai. I just know when it's worthwhile to put up a fight and when it isn't.
[ He feels particularly thoughtful about it around this time of year, especially. It may have been just three years but he's made a lot of effort in this amount of time. ]
[Vash looks ridiculous enough that any more acrid retort dies in Knives' throat, and he huffs a noise that might have been brief amusement, even if that undercurrent of frustration is still very much present.]
When will it become worthwhile to you? How much more do you need to endure?
[ He glances over his shoulder at the sound of the snort, his expression curious with raised brows. What was that?
But the question gets him to sigh again as he places the tray down on a wooden block. ]
I guess when acting's going to matter. I've saved up shards, I just haven't made a wish yet. I want it to count.
[ He's cutting the pizza now, the scent of it wafting through the kitchen with a vengeance. There are, conspicuously enough, two plates next to the pizza. ]
[Knives wants him to make that wish. He wants it, but he also thinks the crystals are abhorrent things he wants to shatter with his bare hands. He can't reconcile the two, so he settles for a stiff:]
I don't recall saying I was hungry. [He's grabbing a seat anyway. Not much point in keeping up the pretence, if Vash has seen through it already.]
[ He'll take the subject change as a win, which isn't really accurate but he's stubborn. ]
I don't need you to say you're hungry to know you get hungry. Or that you're stubborn enough to avoid it.
[ He puts two slices on one plate and pushes it towards his brother. It's steaming hot still, and Vash is quick to sit down a bottle of some kind of fizzy something to drink along with it. ]
[By now, he neglects to add, but he's at least been here long enough to know not to eat hot food too quickly. Nor has he forgotten the way she used to say such things to Vash himself, even if it's a dim memory that by now he'd sooner push out of his mind.
He's ignoring the pizza and picking up the bottle, examining it like a foreign object, though. Someone's still not very familiar with the concept of soda.]
You haven't been experiencing any side-effects since we last parted ways?
I'd hope so. We're over a hundred and fifty years old.
[ It's a little smarmy for a joke, but he means it in good humor. He pulls a slice of pizza onto his own plate before blowing on it. He's definitely hungry and isn't beyond a little mouth burn for the sake of pizza.
He stops though, when the question is asked. ]
No. Not really.[ Maybe some phantom pain in his missing arm, weirdly enough, but he doesn't bother to mention that. ] Why? You're not, are you?
[ He looks at his brother with renewed skepticism, eyes trailing over his features and what he can see of him. ]
[Why? Knives stares at him for a long moment; he can still see clearly how Vash had been twisted, those unsettling rows of teeth, the way he moved like some mindless creature, and it still haunts him. Fills him with all manner of paranoid thoughts when he so much as lays eyes on or hears mention of the crystals.
That is why, but doesn't bother to explain as much, averting his gaze to unscrew the bottle and pour them both a drink. It's a stiff mimicry of human behaviour.]
[ It's weird, how somehting so normal can still feel so weird. Maybe because with them, this kind of thing isn't the usual. Vash watches Knives open the bottle, He watches him pour. He also stays quiet, letting those words tumble around in his skull as he tries to pull at the threads of his memories. It's hard to remember what happened. He remembers bits and pieces of course, like his brother pulling him from the tarry mire he'd felt trapped in, drowning.
He also remembers being bitten. Vash flinches a little at the memory but recovers with an exhale. ]
[How can he not worry? He sets down the bottle, noticing that flinch from Vash, spotting an opening.] You're downplaying it and blaming yourself because you're comfortable here. Life is easier for you.
[He reaches across the table to grab Vash's arm, imploring him to listen. World's most serious discussion over pizza.]
Suppose something happens again, and I'm not there to protect you? Stay as you are, and you're going to sleepwalk into your own destruction.
[ Vash doesn't seem to mind the touch, his other hand coming to rest atop his brothers. It's the prosthetic, of course, so maybe the touch isn't as impactful as it should be, but he's listening. ]
I hear you. I'll think about it, if it will make you feel better.
[ He could be stubborn, continue to hold out against wishing back powers he didn't feel particularly attached to. Or, he could wish them back and set some of his brother's obsessive worries at ease.
Self defense isn't something he's against, even if the more he asks for the further it separates him from the things and people he cares about. ]
Your thoughts won't make me feel better. Action will.
[Still, Knives relents and lets go of his arm. Perhaps as an olive branch to that concession from Vash, he even stops complaining long enough to try some of the pizza. It's... not bad, actually. He pauses, swallows.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
😊
Stay there. I'll be with you soon.
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[ Would it have hurt Knives to answer his questions? Typical behavior though. Vash frowns at his device and considers where to wait for his brother's arrival for a few minutes.
He settles on the front patio outside, his signature red(purple) coat nowhere to be found. It probably wouldn't take Knives long to get here, but it makes Vash's nerves thrum with low key anxiety anyway. ]
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He stops on the path leading to the patio, surveying Vash.]
... And here I thought you'd run from me.
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Vash's own arm is gone, his prosthetic not currently attached but his sleeve is tied just below the juncture. It aches sometimes, and here he feels at least comfortable enough to remove it when it does.
He just barely stops himself from rolling his eyes when Knives speaks, and instead, he just huffs out an annoyed puff of air. ]
You haven't given me a reason to run. Did you want to come in?
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Still, the invitation gives him pause.]
This is where you've been living?
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Mm, for a little while anyway. I was staying at an inn in Stellari for a while.
[ There's a pause as he considers. ]
It's Dolph's place.
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Very well. Show me it.
[Why does he have to be demanding when he's already been invited in...]
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I was cooking. [ Not really, no he wasn't. He has a pizza in the oven. He's managed to figure that out, thanks to the ladies who he worked for at the inn. ] So if you're hungry, it'll be ready soon.
[ He pulls the door open stepping aside for his brother to go in first. ]
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You need to eat again, then.
[As he looks around, he can smell something baking in the oven. It makes his stomach growl, though he tries to hide it with a cough.]
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[ Wanted to. Except for when Knives wished that all away. The stomach growling is definitely noticed, but Vash is smart enough to keep that part to himself. He does turn from Knives to go check the oven though, just to make sure he's not burning the pizza. ]
It's part of what makes me who I am.
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It must be convenient for you, that you can pick and choose who you are here. Living like a human as you have been, rejecting the parts you dislike.
[Done giving the place a once over, he turns his attention back to Vash.]
I won't give up on what was taken from us.
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[ He's not looking at knives, too busy working on pulling the pizza from the oven. He's wearing ridiculously oversized mitts, so he looks more like a woolen crab than anything like a serious cook. ]
I haven't given up, Nai. I just know when it's worthwhile to put up a fight and when it isn't.
[ He feels particularly thoughtful about it around this time of year, especially. It may have been just three years but he's made a lot of effort in this amount of time. ]
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When will it become worthwhile to you? How much more do you need to endure?
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But the question gets him to sigh again as he places the tray down on a wooden block. ]
I guess when acting's going to matter. I've saved up shards, I just haven't made a wish yet. I want it to count.
[ He's cutting the pizza now, the scent of it wafting through the kitchen with a vengeance. There are, conspicuously enough, two plates next to the pizza. ]
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I don't recall saying I was hungry. [He's grabbing a seat anyway. Not much point in keeping up the pretence, if Vash has seen through it already.]
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I don't need you to say you're hungry to know you get hungry. Or that you're stubborn enough to avoid it.
[ He puts two slices on one plate and pushes it towards his brother. It's steaming hot still, and Vash is quick to sit down a bottle of some kind of fizzy something to drink along with it. ]
Blow on it or you're going to burn your mouth.
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[By now, he neglects to add, but he's at least been here long enough to know not to eat hot food too quickly. Nor has he forgotten the way she used to say such things to Vash himself, even if it's a dim memory that by now he'd sooner push out of his mind.
He's ignoring the pizza and picking up the bottle, examining it like a foreign object, though. Someone's still not very familiar with the concept of soda.]
You haven't been experiencing any side-effects since we last parted ways?
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[ It's a little smarmy for a joke, but he means it in good humor. He pulls a slice of pizza onto his own plate before blowing on it. He's definitely hungry and isn't beyond a little mouth burn for the sake of pizza.
He stops though, when the question is asked. ]
No. Not really.[ Maybe some phantom pain in his missing arm, weirdly enough, but he doesn't bother to mention that. ] Why? You're not, are you?
[ He looks at his brother with renewed skepticism, eyes trailing over his features and what he can see of him. ]
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That is why, but doesn't bother to explain as much, averting his gaze to unscrew the bottle and pour them both a drink. It's a stiff mimicry of human behaviour.]
No. You bore the brunt of it, after all.
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He also remembers being bitten. Vash flinches a little at the memory but recovers with an exhale. ]
It was my own fault. But I'm fine now I promise.
[ And then, quieter, ]
You don't have to worry, Nai.
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[He reaches across the table to grab Vash's arm, imploring him to listen.
World's most serious discussion over pizza.]Suppose something happens again, and I'm not there to protect you? Stay as you are, and you're going to sleepwalk into your own destruction.
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I hear you. I'll think about it, if it will make you feel better.
[ He could be stubborn, continue to hold out against wishing back powers he didn't feel particularly attached to. Or, he could wish them back and set some of his brother's obsessive worries at ease.
Self defense isn't something he's against, even if the more he asks for the further it separates him from the things and people he cares about. ]
wrapt
[Still, Knives relents and lets go of his arm. Perhaps as an olive branch to that concession from Vash, he even stops complaining long enough to try some of the pizza. It's... not bad, actually. He pauses, swallows.]
...You can tell me when you've done it.