Been working on this around Zazie-Doo (contrast much?) so whee. Weird, kind of silly, kind of not, fic. Just pointless and fluffy. Very, very fluffy. Usual disclaimer about characters not belonging to me (do they ever?) applies.
This fic is dedicated to Shiawase who's "Niau" helped me more than mere words can describe.
---
"Rem, is this really such a good idea?"
Rem had been asking herself the same question for the past week.
She wasn't sure how the two would take it.... they were hard to predict normally and she hadn't the foggiest idea if the two would even like this, especially Knives who seemed to act almost like a miniature adult. Rem hoped Vash would at least get a kick out of it as he was more easily amused in some ways than his brother. Knives though....
Well, it was at least worth a try.
"Mm! It'll a nice break from the usual routine too! Don't you think so, Joey?"
"Ah, if you say so," Joey didn't sound horribly convinced, but he had agreed to this after all. The entire crew had agreed to help actually after a bit of prodding, except Steve which was no surprise. He was likely on the other side of the ship, as far away from the rest of them and the 'monsters' as humanly possible, drinking again. Rem sighed a little at the thought of the man, reminding herself that he'd come around eventually to accept the boys as they all would. Joey was still unsure of himself around them, but Rem never got the same impression of fear from him that she sometimes could pick up in the others when they talked about her boys.
"There," Joey said, bringing Rem out of her thoughts, "I think that should do it."
"Alright," Rem beamed, looking over the deck with bright eyes. They had decided to hold it out here in the grass, under the trees and bright blue 'sky' since it was the place were the two boys seemed the most comfortable. /Their own little piece of Heaven..../ Rem gave everything a quick once over, fingering some of the brightly colored pieces of paper and making sure the food was all set out. Satisfied, she shooed Joey, Mary and Rowan into their hiding places. /If there's a God out here, deep in space, please.... I just want them to feel welcome and forget about everything for a while. Please,/ she silently pleaded as she started down the hall to the boy's bedroom.
As she'd hoped, the two blondes were in their shared room. Knives was meticulously making an elaborate house out of playing cards he'd gotten from who knows where and Vash was looking from his brother's work to a severely wrinkled 'National Geographic' Rem had managed to dig up for them. Rem smiled to herself; they didn't suspect a thing.
"Rem!!" Vash's face lit up like a small Christmas tree as he noticed the quietly smiling dark haired woman. Practically leaping out of the chair he'd been reclined in only moments before, he ran over to her, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. "I've missed you!"
Rem laughed, taking a slight step back to steady herself from the impact of Vash's enthusiastic greeting. "I've missed you too!" She smiled down at the child, looking away long enough only to glance over to Knives, who was simply watching the two of them, face neutral. She sighed internally.
"Are you done being busy now?" Vash asked with a inquisitive tilt of his head.
Rem successfully fought off the urge to brush her fingers through those long bangs, making a quiet mental note to give her boys a hair cut one of these days. Or at least braid their hair. "Mm, I am," she said with a nod as she glanced over to Knives again, "And I have something interesting to show the both of you!"
"Interesting?" Knives managed to sound both curious and dubious at the same time.
"Hai! Come on," she said, managing to gently work free of Vash's grip around her. Rem led them out of the room, charmed by the matching looks on their almost identical little faces.
"Rem, what--" Rem put a finger to Vash's lips, cutting off his question as they stopped outside of the deck where the others waited.
"It won't be as interesting unless it's a surprise!"
"But it's just the--" Knives was cut off in a similar fashion.
"Now, close your eyes."
The two boys half frowned at her before glancing at each other, probably exchanging some questions about their caretaker's sanity. After a long, silent moment, Knives sighed quietly and closed his eyes. Vash smiled then and did the same. Rem let out a breath she hadn't been aware she'd been holding and smiled as well. It really was going wonderfully. "Keep them closed until I say to open them. Just trust me," she said, watching a Knives' eyebrows furrow faintly. "Trust me," Rem repeated, nudging them forward gently as the mechanical door hissed open.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
---
It had been a good idea after all.
Even if some sort of disaster struck suddenly in the next five minutes, the surprised squawks her boys had let out in perfect unison when the crew popped out of their hiding places made the entire week of sneaking around and preparing well worth it. Although they had been shocked at first -- really, she had no idea that Knives' eyes could widen to that size -- Vash had immediately perked up at the sight of the cake and Knives had relaxed soon after his brother. Everything had gone smoothly.... if you didn't count Vash accidentally flicking a healthy scoop of vanilla ice cream on his twin as he attempted to spoon some out of the carton anyways. After about an hour of devouring the sugary food and then watching the twins opening and carefully inspecting their presents, Joey and the other two had gone back to work. After all, someone had to take care of everyone while Rem played with the two boys. /Speak of the angels.../ Rem smiled to herself. Vash was happily digging into what had to be his tenth piece of cake as Knives sat nearby, idly solving, scrambling, and then solving again the rubix cube Joey had given him.
Being on a ship in the middle of space, the presents were a little limited but their new owners seemed pleased with them none the less. Knives now had a new toy to tinker with, and likely dissect later, as well as a massive dictionary, courtesy of Rowan and Mary, and a stuffed black cat with huge yellow eyes and a green bow about it's neck. Vash had gotten a book of riddles which would no doubt be poured over later that night with Knives, an old copy of the Bible -- Rem hadn't the foggiest idea why Rowan or Mary decided to give that, but it was the thought that counted -- and a stuffed black cat with huge yellow eyes and a red bow about it's neck.
The cats had been a small personal nightmare for Rem for the past week. She had often had to come up with some flimsy excuse to escape her boy's eyes, causing disbelieving looks from Knives and confused ones from Vash. The fact that her sewing skills were not exactly perfect had been another problem.
/"Rem! Are you okay?!" Vash's voice had been almost on the edge of panic as he looked over her single bandaged finger. He'd always been overly worried and protective about the ones he loved, even if it was just a small cut. Although it was odd to watch him almost reduced to tears by the sight of one Band-Aid, it was also touching to know that her boys cared as much about her as she did them.
Rem had smiled sheepishly, giving a little laugh. "Un. I'm fine, Vash. I just cut my finger while making breakfast this morning." It was a lie, the first one, but it was for a good cause. She would make up for it later.
"I'll do it from now on then!"
"Vash, it's okay."
"But.... I don't like seeing you hurt...."/
"Rem!"
"What is it, Vash?"
Rem blinked a little as a brightly colored paper plate, complete with hardly recognizable melted ice cream and squished cake, was thrust at her. "Aren't you going to eat anything?" She smiled again then -- she always smiled around her boys -- and shook her head.
"Mmm, no thank-you. Today is a special day."
"A special day?" It seemed Knives' interest had been caught by their short conversation.
"That's right! It's your birthday after all, so you two get whatever you want."
"Whatever we want...." Knives echoed softly, brow furrowing a bit in thought.
Vash screwed his face up into a very convincing pout and it took all of Rem's self control not to sweep him up into her arms right then and there. "But I want you to eat something too!"
Rem laughed and caved, taking the offered mixture of cake and ice cream. "Alright, alright." She poked at it gently with one of the plastic forks, making a face. "I think it's turned into some sort of birthday soup...."
"Rem." She looked up at the sound of her name on Knives' lips, the boy looking confused. "Why...."
"Why all this?" He nodded. "It's like I said, Knives. Because it's your birthday."
"You never celebrated anyone else's birthday."
She'd seen this one coming. "That's because we're usually too busy working to throw a party like this. It doesn't mean that that day is any less special though."
"How is it special?"
"Can't you tell just from the name, Knives? 'Birthday'. It's the day a new life, a new _future_ was created. Of course a day like that is special."
"Mm," Knives nodded again, apparently satisfied for the moment with Rem's explanation.
"Rem...."
"What is it, Vash?" She asked gently, preparing herself to answer the next set of questions from one of her boys.
"Your birthday soup is dripping...."
"Ah! My good shirt!"
---
/He really does love her.... just like he told me. I don't really understand though why, Vash. Of course, she's nice, she's been nothing _but_ nice to us. That doesn't mean....
That you have to like her more....
She doesn't even know when we were really born. This.... birthday.... is just the anniversary of the day that they first pulled us aboard their ship. The day they found us. The day they removed us from our womb. The day we were first separated.
I remember her eyes then. I don't remember much, I don't think you do either, of the first early days. Mostly just noises, colors and smells. And something warm. That was you, I think. But I do remember Rem's eyes. I didn't have anything to compare them to then but I think I found something now. They remind me of coffee. The same brown color, the same shifts and ripples. It's almost poetic.
But nothing like your eyes.... that green.... like grass.... like trees, like the life you and Rem adore so much. It's one of the few things that doesn't make us an exact mirror image of the other.
I like your eyes better.
I wish you'd look at _me_ with them once in a while./
/This was nice.... this was really nice. Thank-you, Rem. The cat is my favorite, I think. It's really cute! Soft too! Knives likes his cat too, though he probably won't admit it. I don't know why he doesn't like to say what he feels. It's just how he is, I guess. But he likes it too!
I'm happy, Rem. Right now. I'm really very happy. I don't need to tell you though. You always seem to know what I'm thinking even before I do, like Knives. It's not fair! But I am happy. I'm happy to be here with you, and with Knives, in this place. In this little section of Eden.
I can't wait to see the real thing. I know you'll be able to create it. A perfect world. An Eden. A sacred place where people can live as people. I want to see it, so badly....
With you./
---
Vash yawned widely as he hugged the black cat plush to his chest, curled up next to his half asleep twin in their bed. Cracking an eye open, Knives regarded him in the darkness. "Can't you sleep?"
"No, not yet."
"I told you all of that sugar was going to keep you up all night."
"But it tasted so good," Vash pouted behind the black 'fur'.
Knives gave him an exasperated look. "You should think then next time."
"Un...." Vash yawned again, causing Knives to yawn then as well.
"Just try to get some sleep, Vash," Knives said, rolling over onto his side, clutching his own black cat in thin arms, "We're going to have a lot of work to catch up on tomorrow. Plant Number Six is having problems again."
"I hope she feels better soon."
"It's because of Steve. He's pushing her too hard."
"You think so?"
"I know so."
"Oh.... good-night, Knives."
"Good-night, Vash."
".... Knives?" Vash tugged gently on the back of his brother's pajamas until the other blonde rolled over to face him again.
"Mm?"
"Rem.... Rem.... and you.... and me.... we'll always be together, right? We'll all be together in Eden right?"
Knives sighed silently, opening his eyes to regard his brother. He looked so small, even to Knives, in the dark with green eyes glittering. "Of course not. Rem is a human. She'll eventu--" Knives cut himself off quickly as Vash's eyes began to waver, grass being swept by an unforgiving wind. He stared at him for another long moment before giving a short laugh, reaching forward to wrap an arm around his twin's slight body. The two pressed together, forehead to forehead with matching black cats squished in between their forms. "Un. We'll always be together, Vash. We'll always be together in Eden."
---
- end
random note: How many times can Joydrop repeat one word? A lot it seems. It's probably tea or something that they're drinking in ep. 17 but I made it coffee cuz I can. So there. I also blatantly stole the idea for plush cats from a) Cadence (who makes me green with envy *drool*) and b) my mom who made me one of my very own plushie kuroneko-samas for con =^-^=
random ramble: Something I've personally noticed in a lot of the closer relationships in Trigun is the contrast between the intellect and the emotional. The amount of the contrast usually depends on the characters, but it seems to almost always be there : Meryl & Milly, Wolfwood & Vash (Wolfwood is much more a Realist while Vash is an Idealist), Knives & Vash, Joey & Rem (Information vs. Emotion), Meryl & Vash, Wolfwood & Milly (Realism again as opposed to Naiveté), etc. I think I exaggerated this contrast a bit much in this fic seeing as how Vash is also _very_ intelligent but I think I might've made him act too much like a kid. Then again, that's how he acted for the most part in episode 17.... *sweatdrops* Oh well. I also think I made Knives more jaded (not to mention resentful towards Rem) and outspoken than he was originally (pre-hair cut & squishing spidie anyways). I also just suck at writing Trigun. Waugh. I can only pray for Knives-sama's forgiveness.
{Knives} Forget it.
Damn!
This fic is dedicated to Shiawase who's "Niau" helped me more than mere words can describe.
---
"Rem, is this really such a good idea?"
Rem had been asking herself the same question for the past week.
She wasn't sure how the two would take it.... they were hard to predict normally and she hadn't the foggiest idea if the two would even like this, especially Knives who seemed to act almost like a miniature adult. Rem hoped Vash would at least get a kick out of it as he was more easily amused in some ways than his brother. Knives though....
Well, it was at least worth a try.
"Mm! It'll a nice break from the usual routine too! Don't you think so, Joey?"
"Ah, if you say so," Joey didn't sound horribly convinced, but he had agreed to this after all. The entire crew had agreed to help actually after a bit of prodding, except Steve which was no surprise. He was likely on the other side of the ship, as far away from the rest of them and the 'monsters' as humanly possible, drinking again. Rem sighed a little at the thought of the man, reminding herself that he'd come around eventually to accept the boys as they all would. Joey was still unsure of himself around them, but Rem never got the same impression of fear from him that she sometimes could pick up in the others when they talked about her boys.
"There," Joey said, bringing Rem out of her thoughts, "I think that should do it."
"Alright," Rem beamed, looking over the deck with bright eyes. They had decided to hold it out here in the grass, under the trees and bright blue 'sky' since it was the place were the two boys seemed the most comfortable. /Their own little piece of Heaven..../ Rem gave everything a quick once over, fingering some of the brightly colored pieces of paper and making sure the food was all set out. Satisfied, she shooed Joey, Mary and Rowan into their hiding places. /If there's a God out here, deep in space, please.... I just want them to feel welcome and forget about everything for a while. Please,/ she silently pleaded as she started down the hall to the boy's bedroom.
As she'd hoped, the two blondes were in their shared room. Knives was meticulously making an elaborate house out of playing cards he'd gotten from who knows where and Vash was looking from his brother's work to a severely wrinkled 'National Geographic' Rem had managed to dig up for them. Rem smiled to herself; they didn't suspect a thing.
"Rem!!" Vash's face lit up like a small Christmas tree as he noticed the quietly smiling dark haired woman. Practically leaping out of the chair he'd been reclined in only moments before, he ran over to her, wrapping his arms tightly around her waist. "I've missed you!"
Rem laughed, taking a slight step back to steady herself from the impact of Vash's enthusiastic greeting. "I've missed you too!" She smiled down at the child, looking away long enough only to glance over to Knives, who was simply watching the two of them, face neutral. She sighed internally.
"Are you done being busy now?" Vash asked with a inquisitive tilt of his head.
Rem successfully fought off the urge to brush her fingers through those long bangs, making a quiet mental note to give her boys a hair cut one of these days. Or at least braid their hair. "Mm, I am," she said with a nod as she glanced over to Knives again, "And I have something interesting to show the both of you!"
"Interesting?" Knives managed to sound both curious and dubious at the same time.
"Hai! Come on," she said, managing to gently work free of Vash's grip around her. Rem led them out of the room, charmed by the matching looks on their almost identical little faces.
"Rem, what--" Rem put a finger to Vash's lips, cutting off his question as they stopped outside of the deck where the others waited.
"It won't be as interesting unless it's a surprise!"
"But it's just the--" Knives was cut off in a similar fashion.
"Now, close your eyes."
The two boys half frowned at her before glancing at each other, probably exchanging some questions about their caretaker's sanity. After a long, silent moment, Knives sighed quietly and closed his eyes. Vash smiled then and did the same. Rem let out a breath she hadn't been aware she'd been holding and smiled as well. It really was going wonderfully. "Keep them closed until I say to open them. Just trust me," she said, watching a Knives' eyebrows furrow faintly. "Trust me," Rem repeated, nudging them forward gently as the mechanical door hissed open.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
---
It had been a good idea after all.
Even if some sort of disaster struck suddenly in the next five minutes, the surprised squawks her boys had let out in perfect unison when the crew popped out of their hiding places made the entire week of sneaking around and preparing well worth it. Although they had been shocked at first -- really, she had no idea that Knives' eyes could widen to that size -- Vash had immediately perked up at the sight of the cake and Knives had relaxed soon after his brother. Everything had gone smoothly.... if you didn't count Vash accidentally flicking a healthy scoop of vanilla ice cream on his twin as he attempted to spoon some out of the carton anyways. After about an hour of devouring the sugary food and then watching the twins opening and carefully inspecting their presents, Joey and the other two had gone back to work. After all, someone had to take care of everyone while Rem played with the two boys. /Speak of the angels.../ Rem smiled to herself. Vash was happily digging into what had to be his tenth piece of cake as Knives sat nearby, idly solving, scrambling, and then solving again the rubix cube Joey had given him.
Being on a ship in the middle of space, the presents were a little limited but their new owners seemed pleased with them none the less. Knives now had a new toy to tinker with, and likely dissect later, as well as a massive dictionary, courtesy of Rowan and Mary, and a stuffed black cat with huge yellow eyes and a green bow about it's neck. Vash had gotten a book of riddles which would no doubt be poured over later that night with Knives, an old copy of the Bible -- Rem hadn't the foggiest idea why Rowan or Mary decided to give that, but it was the thought that counted -- and a stuffed black cat with huge yellow eyes and a red bow about it's neck.
The cats had been a small personal nightmare for Rem for the past week. She had often had to come up with some flimsy excuse to escape her boy's eyes, causing disbelieving looks from Knives and confused ones from Vash. The fact that her sewing skills were not exactly perfect had been another problem.
/"Rem! Are you okay?!" Vash's voice had been almost on the edge of panic as he looked over her single bandaged finger. He'd always been overly worried and protective about the ones he loved, even if it was just a small cut. Although it was odd to watch him almost reduced to tears by the sight of one Band-Aid, it was also touching to know that her boys cared as much about her as she did them.
Rem had smiled sheepishly, giving a little laugh. "Un. I'm fine, Vash. I just cut my finger while making breakfast this morning." It was a lie, the first one, but it was for a good cause. She would make up for it later.
"I'll do it from now on then!"
"Vash, it's okay."
"But.... I don't like seeing you hurt...."/
"Rem!"
"What is it, Vash?"
Rem blinked a little as a brightly colored paper plate, complete with hardly recognizable melted ice cream and squished cake, was thrust at her. "Aren't you going to eat anything?" She smiled again then -- she always smiled around her boys -- and shook her head.
"Mmm, no thank-you. Today is a special day."
"A special day?" It seemed Knives' interest had been caught by their short conversation.
"That's right! It's your birthday after all, so you two get whatever you want."
"Whatever we want...." Knives echoed softly, brow furrowing a bit in thought.
Vash screwed his face up into a very convincing pout and it took all of Rem's self control not to sweep him up into her arms right then and there. "But I want you to eat something too!"
Rem laughed and caved, taking the offered mixture of cake and ice cream. "Alright, alright." She poked at it gently with one of the plastic forks, making a face. "I think it's turned into some sort of birthday soup...."
"Rem." She looked up at the sound of her name on Knives' lips, the boy looking confused. "Why...."
"Why all this?" He nodded. "It's like I said, Knives. Because it's your birthday."
"You never celebrated anyone else's birthday."
She'd seen this one coming. "That's because we're usually too busy working to throw a party like this. It doesn't mean that that day is any less special though."
"How is it special?"
"Can't you tell just from the name, Knives? 'Birthday'. It's the day a new life, a new _future_ was created. Of course a day like that is special."
"Mm," Knives nodded again, apparently satisfied for the moment with Rem's explanation.
"Rem...."
"What is it, Vash?" She asked gently, preparing herself to answer the next set of questions from one of her boys.
"Your birthday soup is dripping...."
"Ah! My good shirt!"
---
/He really does love her.... just like he told me. I don't really understand though why, Vash. Of course, she's nice, she's been nothing _but_ nice to us. That doesn't mean....
That you have to like her more....
She doesn't even know when we were really born. This.... birthday.... is just the anniversary of the day that they first pulled us aboard their ship. The day they found us. The day they removed us from our womb. The day we were first separated.
I remember her eyes then. I don't remember much, I don't think you do either, of the first early days. Mostly just noises, colors and smells. And something warm. That was you, I think. But I do remember Rem's eyes. I didn't have anything to compare them to then but I think I found something now. They remind me of coffee. The same brown color, the same shifts and ripples. It's almost poetic.
But nothing like your eyes.... that green.... like grass.... like trees, like the life you and Rem adore so much. It's one of the few things that doesn't make us an exact mirror image of the other.
I like your eyes better.
I wish you'd look at _me_ with them once in a while./
/This was nice.... this was really nice. Thank-you, Rem. The cat is my favorite, I think. It's really cute! Soft too! Knives likes his cat too, though he probably won't admit it. I don't know why he doesn't like to say what he feels. It's just how he is, I guess. But he likes it too!
I'm happy, Rem. Right now. I'm really very happy. I don't need to tell you though. You always seem to know what I'm thinking even before I do, like Knives. It's not fair! But I am happy. I'm happy to be here with you, and with Knives, in this place. In this little section of Eden.
I can't wait to see the real thing. I know you'll be able to create it. A perfect world. An Eden. A sacred place where people can live as people. I want to see it, so badly....
With you./
---
Vash yawned widely as he hugged the black cat plush to his chest, curled up next to his half asleep twin in their bed. Cracking an eye open, Knives regarded him in the darkness. "Can't you sleep?"
"No, not yet."
"I told you all of that sugar was going to keep you up all night."
"But it tasted so good," Vash pouted behind the black 'fur'.
Knives gave him an exasperated look. "You should think then next time."
"Un...." Vash yawned again, causing Knives to yawn then as well.
"Just try to get some sleep, Vash," Knives said, rolling over onto his side, clutching his own black cat in thin arms, "We're going to have a lot of work to catch up on tomorrow. Plant Number Six is having problems again."
"I hope she feels better soon."
"It's because of Steve. He's pushing her too hard."
"You think so?"
"I know so."
"Oh.... good-night, Knives."
"Good-night, Vash."
".... Knives?" Vash tugged gently on the back of his brother's pajamas until the other blonde rolled over to face him again.
"Mm?"
"Rem.... Rem.... and you.... and me.... we'll always be together, right? We'll all be together in Eden right?"
Knives sighed silently, opening his eyes to regard his brother. He looked so small, even to Knives, in the dark with green eyes glittering. "Of course not. Rem is a human. She'll eventu--" Knives cut himself off quickly as Vash's eyes began to waver, grass being swept by an unforgiving wind. He stared at him for another long moment before giving a short laugh, reaching forward to wrap an arm around his twin's slight body. The two pressed together, forehead to forehead with matching black cats squished in between their forms. "Un. We'll always be together, Vash. We'll always be together in Eden."
---
- end
random note: How many times can Joydrop repeat one word? A lot it seems. It's probably tea or something that they're drinking in ep. 17 but I made it coffee cuz I can. So there. I also blatantly stole the idea for plush cats from a) Cadence (who makes me green with envy *drool*) and b) my mom who made me one of my very own plushie kuroneko-samas for con =^-^=
random ramble: Something I've personally noticed in a lot of the closer relationships in Trigun is the contrast between the intellect and the emotional. The amount of the contrast usually depends on the characters, but it seems to almost always be there : Meryl & Milly, Wolfwood & Vash (Wolfwood is much more a Realist while Vash is an Idealist), Knives & Vash, Joey & Rem (Information vs. Emotion), Meryl & Vash, Wolfwood & Milly (Realism again as opposed to Naiveté), etc. I think I exaggerated this contrast a bit much in this fic seeing as how Vash is also _very_ intelligent but I think I might've made him act too much like a kid. Then again, that's how he acted for the most part in episode 17.... *sweatdrops* Oh well. I also think I made Knives more jaded (not to mention resentful towards Rem) and outspoken than he was originally (pre-hair cut & squishing spidie anyways). I also just suck at writing Trigun. Waugh. I can only pray for Knives-sama's forgiveness.
{Knives} Forget it.
Damn!