[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.]
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no subject
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.]
no subject
[ 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.
no subject
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.
no subject
[ 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. ]
no subject
When will it become worthwhile to you? How much more do you need to endure?
no subject
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. ]
no subject
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.]
no subject
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.
no subject
[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?
no subject
[ 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. ]
no subject
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.
no subject
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.
no subject
[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.
no subject
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.