Disclaimer: Trigun is sadly enough not mine, or there would have been way more episodes!

Chapter 21: Vash's POV
He had awoken confused and in a daze. His bed was in the wrong spot for one thing. And why was he so warm for another? Then he had recalled the previous night. He had been certain that it was a dream but here he was, curled around his Meryl. Her smaller body tucked up against him as if it was the best place to be. Then she had turn in arms and he had been certain that regret was going to be the first thing he saw but it wasn't.

The next couple hours pass in a mostly joy filled blur because his little human has decided that she likes his body and he is all for that. It is such a weird feeling after years of avoiding physical intimacy to finally have someone to have it with. It's amazing, yet so very scary.

What happens if she changes her mind? He thinks to himself after their shower. She might decide that I am not worth the hassle. I know she said she was staying and I know she likes how I look, yet I...

Stop worrying or learn to shield. Do you realize how hard it can be to think when you have someone else's lust and fear hitting you alternately? Knives' mental voice is full of annoyance. Thankfully I am good at shielding or I never would have gotten any rest last night.

Oh. He responds to his brother, slightly shocked because he had never thought that he was that mentally loud. The girls had never complained about him being loud.

Of course we would not complain of you being loud, Merra tells him hearing his thought, we are always connected to one another, silence is not something that happens to us very often. We are more worried when it is not possible to hear than we are when we can. Besides as long as we can hear you, it gives us free reign to comment when you ask mental questions.

Oh, he replies, at a loss for words. That explained a lot over the years. How whatever sister he was closest to always seemed to be able to speak with him. Particularly now that he knew that Knives had not been hear them for this entire time. Okay then, so even though I am not part of the hive, they enjoy listening to my mind because I am not blocked. I am going to have to have Knives teach me shielding then. There are some things that I am sure I want private I just not sure what.

Don't worry about it, learn to shield for his sake, not ours. We enjoy listening to you, we who are bound enjoy listening to your running commentary on the world which you interact with and we merely watch. Merra informs him, a brush of warmth like a smile touching his mind. Her bell like voice sounds to be amused. Anyways, I am going to return to my resting. Have a good day brothers.

So how much ribbing should I expect from you? Vash inquires of Knives as he sits down to eat lunch of the donuts Milly had got him for breakfast.

Meryl was in her room, changing clothes or something. He hadn't asked when she slipped in there. He had just went on to the kitchen to find some food. He was slightly startled to find Knives sitting at the table, a pad of paper in front of him and a pen.

Knives looks up, raising an eyebrow and smirking, Me? Rib you for spending the entire night and then the entire morning in bed with your mate? I don't know what you're talking about. I would never harass you about the fact you fine her birthmark on her hip to be adorable, or the curiosity you have about some of the scars that she has. Not ever. The entire time Knives was talking he is tapping the pen against the table and watching him turn bright red. I am not even going to get into the fact that you took so long to get up this morning. Or the fact you missed an opportunity in the shower that I have heard can be rather enjoyable.

Vash nearly chokes on the donut he had just eaten with that pronunciation. "Knives!" he exclaims, turning even brighter shade of red. Had he still been wearing his coat his skin would have almost matched in tone.

A small hand touches his shoulder, "What did Knives do?"

Knives turns his blue eyes on Meryl and flashes his smirk, "I'm picking on him, he asked how much ribbing he was going to get, so I did so."

Meryl rolls her eyes, and then inquires, "So what's with the paper?"

Since he is curious as well, he turns his attention from the hand on his shoulder to his brother and waits for the reply.

"It's a list, things that need to be dealt with, ways to deal with them, such forth. Ideas really," he replies. "I was given as a task in order to 'restore balance' Yali called it, now I am thinking through the task. Normally I would do this on the computer, but we're not at my home. We're in a spider community."

He watches his brother and Meryl, there is some type of current there, though he cannot figure out what it is. He knows it's not attraction. Meryl almost radiates anger whenever she is around him. Even at her angriest at him she never had so much agitation towards him, it was almost always attraction she felt towards him. Something is going to break eventually and he has a feeling it's going to be her patience. He can visibly see her calming herself as her eyes narrow at his twin. She really dislikes being referred to as a spider. Curious, he wonders if it is because she understands the relationship between spiders and humans according to Knives. That would make sense. However, he has a feeling that there is something more than that.

"I. Am. Not. A. Spider." She growls, her temper just about past the boiling point. Each word is emphasized.

Knives tilts his head to the side, looking at questioningly. "I didn't say you were, nor have I called you one today. The majority of your race however are spiders." He shrugs, a ripple of motion.

Part of him is concerned over his brothers behavior, yet a larger part of him is not. He expects to see some changes, it would be impossible for there not to be changes when he had been brought into the hive link. That alone would have caused a change due to the fact there was now a chorus of voice that would always be there. But some of the other changes, well they are not as expected, though no less of a good thing.

Meryl nods, but he can still feel some of the anger. "So what's on the list?"

"Food, funds, housing, and transportation," he replies, a calmness that Vash cannot explain settling over him. "I can provide all four, however, I am equally sure that my home is not somewhere you would feel comfortable, so we will just stick with three of the four."

Vash stares at him, startled. He knew that Knives had a place other than where they had finally had their match, but he had not realized the rest of it.

How? He inquires to his brother, not even realizing he is using the link between them like they had done as children.

Knives shrugs, replying aloud, "When you're not the one being hunted, and you're good at repairing the plants, it is easy to make large amounts of money. Transportation was simple too, I have a couple of the hovers that I salvaged and repaired. Food, well that is from the money, or the fact I have a green thumb as you have seen."

Meryl nods and he just stares. So during the time frame they had been having problems, his crazier than a cat brother had been making money?

"Oh, and then there is a fact that a lot of times I had Legato take what I wanted so money was not spent," again he shrugs, a careless expression on his face. "I also understand that those motives are not going to be allowed anymore, Kikyo has assured me off that. I even think of the darker side of our gifts and she is there ready to subdue me." The chuckle his brother lets out is full of dark humor.

The mention of Legato so casually bothers him, particularly since he had been the one to kill him. His attention turns inwards, towards that day, apparently more than he realized as Meryl's smaller hand connects with the back of his head, pulling him out of it. She doesn't say a word, just scowls but he gets the clue quickly. With that small reference, any peace she was feeling towards Knives vanishes and the anger returns.

Knives glances at her and raises an eyebrow questioningly, she merely nods in his direction. When Knives glances back at him, it is almost as if the clogs in his head are turning. Then it clicks, and the realization is easy to see in his eyes.

"Legato, that's right, you shot him not too far from here, not that long ago." He murmurs. "Listen, you have no reason to feel bad about that, he was going to be dead either way. He was burning through his power faster than he was letting it return, he would have burnt himself out had you not killed him."

It doesn't help, he still feels guilty about the fact he had killed the guy. No never mind that he had saved his Meryl in the process, there still had to have been a way for him to have done both.

There wasn't, your telepathy is not nearly good enough, even if you were fully trained. Merra's voice chimes in. I had thought that you had come to grips with that situation, what has you back in a bind over it?

The causal way that he mentions him, without even noticing his death. He replies, mentally shaking his head. I don't understand it.

The warmth of her power brushes against him like a hug, Recall that for him, Legato was dead before it even bothered to happen in one way or another. Empathy is not his strong suit, its yours. The only person who could have saved him was also the person that had already dismissed him for dead. It is not your fault now stop worrying about it.

I just, what if it affects this thing that's developing between me and Meryl? He asks, his tone scared, he had been past Legato's death but that was before he was actually considering moving on with his life.

Her bell like laughter drifted through him, Boy, that girl is as good as aim as Knives, with no problem with killing a person trying to kill her and you ask that? He gets the impression of her shaking her head, she is happy to be alive, she understands that sometimes dark actions are needed to stay that way. Relax, she will tell you if there is a problem.

The connection is broke without another word and he finds himself ducking his head as he realizes that he had zoned out, and both Meryl and Knives are staring at him.

"Sorry," he mumbles.

They both shake their head in shared exasperation. Then upon realizing that they agree with each other about something look anywhere but at each other. This time it's Vash's turn to feel exasperation.