Effervescent Evasion
Chapter 1: 'The Incurable Spoilt Brat'
Author's Note: This chapter has been beta'd by CookieAsylum. Thank you very much!
Taking care of Millions Knives was more of a chore than Meryl Stryfe cared to admit. Being stuck in the same worn-out old house with him - alone, at that! - was almost more than she could bear.
"Woman."
He was needy.
"Woman. Bring me water, now."
He complained.
"My arm hurts."
He insulted her.
"You are by far the saddest excuse for a care-giver I've ever had the misfortune of being in the same room with."
After this last particular declaration, Meryl leaned over against the sun-soaked faux-wooden railing of the porch. Her short, dark hair ruffled in the blazing-hot breeze. She closed her eyes and inhaled, slowly - exhaling so heavily that it felt like her heart would drop right through her body.
Ugh, it doesn't even feel like I'm taking care of a grown man, Meryl thought. More like babysitting a petulant child.
Thankfully, the Incurable Spoilt Brat was bedridden, which meant Meryl didn't have to worry about him wandering around the house and haranguing her - or killing her.
Vash had apparently felt comfortable enough with his brother to leave Meryl alone with him for a month. A whole month. The insurance girl frowned until her brows furrowed. This was the Millions Knives - mass murderer and psycho extraordinaire. And Vash expected her to sit back and cope with the man all alone.
Even Millie had the sense to get out while the getting was good; Meryl's best friend had taken an investigation job back in New New York.
Frankly, Meryl didn't blame her.
"Woman."
She pressed her palms onto the worn 'wood'. Maybe if I pretend not to hear him, he'll go away, she thought.
'No such luck.' She could practically hear the smirk in his mental voice.
Meryl groaned aloud. That bastard could even read her mind. Was there no peace in this world to be had? After a dangerously long silence, Meryl stood up so violently that the rocking chair she had been trying to relax in screeched in protest and rattled backward.
"Woman," came the needy voice once more.
She whipped around and stalked into the house, startling the little black cat that had been sleeping in the doorway. Being in socks prevented her from stomping as effectively as she would have liked, but Meryl did her best. The insurance girl made a beeline for the Plant's room.
When I see him, I'm going to give him a piece of my mind! I leave him alone for fifteen minutes, and the bastard is already complaining. Even for him, this is a new record, she thought.
She threw open the door and bellowed, "What could you possibly need now? I just checked on you -" What Meryl saw made her stop in mid-sentence.
The lanky blonde Plant was kneeling proudly on the floor, face contorted in pain. One of his pallid hands was gripping his bicep tightly, rivulets of ink-red blood trickling between his fingers. Knives had been healing rapidly despite the fact his body had been riddled with bullet holes when Vash had brought him to Meryl and Millie. Apparently, despite his rapid healing abilities, even a 'superior being' could re-open his wounds if he made overly ambitious movements.
"Don't just stand there staring like a dead fish," Knives snarled. "Help me."
Meryl blinked and bit back a retort. Moving smoothly over to him, she helped him back onto the bed (was that a 'filthy spider' she just heard him mutter?). Meryl opened the cabinet built into the nightstand and hauled out the first-aid kit.
You'd think a being as supposedly intelligent as he would have the sense not to push himself to the point of self-destruction, Meryl thought.
She may as well have said that aloud - she felt his ice-chip eyes focus on her with eerie clarity. Meryl felt a blush creep up the back of her neck. The hairs there stood on end - oh, lord. Ignoring the sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach, Meryl said thinly, "Let me see your arm. Please."
Knives considered this for a moment. Clearly the Plant was debating on whether or not - or, more likely, how to punish her for her mental transgression. Meryl calmly rolled the bottle of antiseptic in her hands, a wheel of gauze looped around her wrist.
Knives held out his arm.
There was an uncomfortable silence as Meryl set to work patting dry the bloodied wound on the blonde's upper arm. She uncorked the antiseptic bottle and made a point not to look into the Plant's burning eyes as she emotionlessly poured some of the stinging liquid onto the raw skin. Knives wasn't known for his tolerance to pain .
Meryl could feel his glare. "Almost done," she said. You big baby.
Knives stiffened and she knew she was pushing her luck. She'd have to be careful to keep her thoughts quieter when she was around the mind-reading Plant. One more misstep and who knew what he would do. Meryl wound the gauze very gently around the wound, making sure that her fingers were as gentle as bird wings.
"There," Meryl announced. "Please don't strain yourself unnecessarily in the future."
Knives said nothing but merely stared out the dusty window. He was silent as a corpse, and his regal form was about as welcoming. Meryl knew when she was being dismissed. Sighing, she pressed two fingers to her temples. She put the first-aid kit away and left.
Maybe the next day would be less trying. Meryl doubted it.
TBC