His desert calmed him.
It was hardly hospitable, but it was the natural state of the planet he'd selected, personally. It was chosen that night on the SEEDS ship, when at one year of age he graduated from boy to man, so to speak, and a man of action at that. Proximity, time mattered more than luxury. Most pressing was, as quickly as possible, getting his brother and he away from the human scientists, to get them and the rest of their captive brethren off of those ships, to let the slumbering humans in their cryo-tubes disintegrate in the atmosphere. It was to be the plants' Eden.
Knives sighed. If only his brother weren't so weak of heart, so thoroughly deluded by the woman he called 'mother', Rem, if only Rem hadn't managed to save that small percentage of the passenger ships, he was sure this planet would've already become Eden. 150 years later, it was as much a wasteland as it ever was. So many of his sisters were dead. But he'd still make this an Eden.
He smiled at the horizon, the cleanly barren, sandy hue, the cloudless sky of clearest blue. Call it what you will, it would forever be his planet.
Knives tightened his grip and shifted his weight. "Are you through?"
Vanessa glared at him and tugged against his grip again. "Let go."
He squinted against the bright sky. "Aren't you accustomed to this by now?"
"I don't want to hold hands," she spat in disgust.
"We're hand in hand to keep you safe and near. You won't win this argument. Let's continue on."
Digging her heels into the sand, she leaned away from him and tried to pry his fingers from hers.
Knives tilted his head back to laugh. "To think, two months ago you were whispering sexual favors to me! I've been so patient, so accommodating to your wishes, yet today you're having a child's fit about holding my hand?"
She gripped his forearm and dug her fingernails into his skin. "This is a substitute for a short leash. I offered to be your lover but I never agreed to be your dog."
Before she could flinch, he snatched her hand from him. He twisted her wrist behind her, pressing her forward against his chest. "Dogs go about on all fours without clothing. Would you like to try that, instead?"
"I'd like to try you keeping your hands off me," she growled, trying unsuccessfully to lean away from him.
He pressed his lips together in a sly smile. "Well, I can picture it. You look so much better nude," he mused..
She scoffed, though she seemed concerned. "The humans haven't left yet."
"True, but I've ways to amuse myself that don't involve the act of impregnation, technically..." he suggested playfully as he wound his arms round her. "I've ideas of things I'd enjoy without violating our pact; perhaps I should take a break from hand-holding to explore the rest of you."
She forced her palms between their stomachs to push him away. "That's not fair."
"That's what I promised. You should have listened more carefully," he murmured, staring down her cleavage. He savored the feel of her against him and didn't bother to hide it. "I've done you the favor of controlling myself, but you take this for granted. I can forget these favors so easily if you're going to be difficult."
That seemed to drain her courage, along with much of the blood from her face. "Is this the kind of man you are? Can you really enjoy yourself when you have me at such a disadvantage, when I'm afraid of you?"
He cupped her face. "Vanessa, you're always afraid of me."
"Not usually this much," she gasped, as he tugged up the side of her skirt.
Letting his breath tickle her neck, he slid her dress up a littler further, until she loosed a plaintive yelp. He let her discomfort linger for a moment more. "Does holding my hand as we walk seem so intrusive, now?" he whispered into her pointed ear. He waited, then released her, stepped away, and held out his palm.
Vanessa dropped down onto her heels and cradled her head in her hands. She panted to catch her breath. "I'll name your kids Fork and Spoon," she muttered miserably.
"Adorable," he returned with equaled sarcasm. After a moment's wait, he pulled her hand away from her face and lifted her to her feet. "Let's go."
Defeated, Vanessa began walking to match his pace.
"Knives..."
"What."
"Knives, when we made our agreement, you promised to wait until the humans left, because you're letting them go. Right?"
Knives stared forward. "I'll wait until they're gone, as I said."
"Don't be cute with me, dammit, are you letting them go?" she cried out. "Gone, as in, away, and alive! That's the promise I made!"
"Calm yourself. We said exactly what we said and that is what the promise is."
"You lied to me!"
"I don't lie, Vanessa. Certainly not to you," he replied, offended by the accusation. "If you were unclear on what we were agreeing to, you really should have gotten clarification before making the oath, shouldn't you?"
She sputtered for a moment before speaking. "Knives, I will never forgive you for this!"
He frowned. "Perhaps not, but that doesn't matter. We're immortal and I have boundless patience, though to be honest you're trying it today."
"You're a monster," she murmured, staring at his fingers twined with hers.
"So I'm told," he muttered through gritted teeth.
"You shouldn't be allowed everything you want..."
"I doubt I'll ever have what I truly want, don't worry about that." Knives continued to march a step ahead. He quickened his pace and began to huff exasperation. Shaking his head, he curled his free hand into a fist and growled an angry cry to the horizon. "But you only worry about yourself, isn't that right? Too much like my brother, too selfish and narrow-sighted. You play games and take beatings while your sisters suffer and die. Save and heal the humans, instead of having the courtesy to stay out of my and nature's way. Call me a monster...I have the burden of righting the wrongs by myself, without either of your assistance.
"We have to repopulate our species; for shame I should enjoy it, hmm?" He stopped abruptly and gestured at her, up and down. "Knives has no right to enjoy something? I have only duty? No, I want something for myself. I want you. This is all I ask for.
"But what do you care. You've no reverence even for the importance of your existence. You scowl at the honor of bringing angels into the world, the miracle of receiving my seed. And your gate? You had it carved from you – did you pay to have it done? Such ignorance!
"Ignorance you cannot be blamed for, yet you did let the gift of your gate go to naught. You should have utilized your skills to help me annihilate them. You could have worked such efficient justice on them. Instead, you used it on me. On me! To make me – of all things – to make me cry like my brother? On his shoulder? To humiliate me in that way? Do you have an inkling what a waste of your talent, of your power it all was?
"Do you have a clue as to the slavery persisting around you? Have you seen, felt, smelt, heard the death of a bulbed plant as humans suck the last drops of 'usefulness' from them? Will you champion those who have no voice, no weapon, no sentience to protect their innocent lives from the vermin who bleed the essence from them? Will you listen to me? No, that would be asking too much, when you've the sugar-sweet nonsense he's fed you fresh on your tongue. To you, mothering sentients is a burden. So, I'll ask nothing more from you than that. But you'll be rewarded nonetheless; you will have the pleasure of being mate to the one who will free our sisters, exterminate our oppressors. You may never thank me, but one day you will gain the clarity I've had for a century and a half. One day, you will taste freedom and be grateful to be my mate." His thumb rubbed circles across the back of her hand while he spoke, as his thoughts to the future widened his eyes with pride. Meeting her gaze, he was unsure if she looked to be frightened or awe-stricken. Perhaps both. He took a moment to catch his breath, having gotten quite caught up in his enthusiasm. "I've more concern for your well-being than you have for yourself; you should trust me."
Vanessa moved her mouth to speak a few times before making clear enough words. "Do you know how egotistic, how megalomaniacal that sounds?"
Tilting his head to the side slightly, he frowned. "Of course I do. I'm sure this strikes you as delusional. You hate me; you think I'm insane. What can I do to change that, but to allow you the autonomy to enlighten yourself in time?"
"Autonomy?" she spat. "You've taken everything from me! The last vestige of my individuality, this agreement of ours, stupid me, I've only now realized it was an illusion. You wouldn't let me keep the illusion!"
"Our contract stands," he insisted. "You don't understand. It's not something I agreed to easily. You have control over our reproduction. I will not impregnate you by force, but when you willingly submit to it. That is a great sacrifice for me. And once the planet is razed and safe for you, I will give you a great deal of space and time, a great deal of patience and freedom. I plan to suffer for you, more than you appreciate, because I respect your sentience, your perfection. Even if you do not." Knives looked away as his eyes welled up with tears, and cleared his throat. He began to walk again, drawing her behind him by the hand.
"Wow." Her shuffling feet kicked up the sand in puffs. She bit her fingertips as she laughed bitterly. "I thought I bought their survival for an immortal lifetime of obedience. Guess I overestimated my value," she mumbled past her fingers before the nervous laugh continued.
"You've far from overestimated it. The trouble is, you've spent so long among the parasites, assuming yourself on their level. You're still dangerously underestimating the danger they pose to us. I care for you too much to let them free to leave and come back with things far worse than guns."
"You think they have any reason to come back to this worthless rock? You are insane."
He frowned at her low opinion of his choice of a world. "This 'rock' is in the 99.9th percentile of habitation. Not as 'worthless' as you might think. There is a chance humans will return to claim it for some selfish reason or another. I see their innate parasitic nature and will cancel out that possibility. If your presence has taught me anything, it's that my hesitation, my inaction from Bering to March was a grave mistake."
"Then why are you dragging me around the world, when you could be riding in on a white horse to save your sisters?"
"Acting directly would put you in danger. More of them die, but you're safe, and that to me is the correct decision."
"I'm not safe."
"Vanessa, that's not true," he argued gently.
"Ha. When I still could, I should've killed you." She spoke in a whisper, teeth firmly gripping her first two fingertips, but loud enough to be heard.
Knives coughed a short, bitter laugh. He turned his face away to hide the streak of wet running down his cheek.
