Vash slowly walked forward, an intent expression on his face, his left arm stretched out in front on him as he searched for the barrier. Which caution did not stop him from bumping his toes on it.
"Ow," he said, leaning over to rub his toes. "Ow," after hitting his head on it. "Ow ow ow ow," after whacking his right hand against it. He ended up on his butt, rubbing various parts of his anatomy. "You can't see it," he whined, his eyes pained as he looked at her. "That's not fair!"
"No, Vash. You can't see it. But it is there, isn't it?" she replied with a grin.
"Yes. It's really there." He stopped rubbing his head and stood to try again, left arm outstretched, the rest of his body angled well away from the searching arm, and cautiously inched forward.
He still managed to bump into it. His left hand had passed beyond the barrier, being not flesh, and he jammed his right hand against it. "Owies!" he exclaimed, backing up a step and shaking his hand. "How did… oh. Heh."
"Yes. It's based off genes, not some strange body aura that comprises a sense of Vashness." He looked at her oddly, and she rushed past the weirdness. "If it's not flesh, the barrier won't stop it. If it's not male, the barrier won't stop it. It's really not a very strong barrier; just specific."
"So, Meryl can pass through?" He was testing the barrier, poking his left arm through and pressing his right against it, then poking at the fingers of his right with the index of his left. "This is so strange," he muttered under his breath. He leaned one knee against the barrier and reached out as far as he could with his left arm, waving it about in mid-air. Kiley was tempted to just sit and watch his antics. The puzzled look on his face was priceless.
"Yes. But let's not test that," she said after a few minutes of watching him try to get through the barrier. Her favorite was when he tried to stick another finger through the "hole" made in the barrier by his mechanical arm. That was hilarious. "She is pregnant with a boy, and I don't think you want her to miscarry."
"Oh. Yeah!" Vash left off playing with the barrier and ran back to Meryl. "Well, see ya later, I guess," he said with a wave, hustling her and their baggage through the door. Kiley watched them go, bemused at the sudden flurry of activity. She shook her head after watching the door close behind them, then sighed as she turned around and faced the desert. At least she was getting to leave with a bit of a smile.
*******************************************************************************
Vash and Meryl had made a straight line for the infirmary. Well, as straight a line as they could make with the improvements that Knives had made to his ship. Regardless, it was their first stop. And it happened to be where Knives found them.
"Hi, Vash, pet," he said distractedly. "Seen Kiley?"
"This morning, as she was leaving," said Vash as he looked up from slathering jelly on Meryl's stomach.
"Damn," he sighed, then leaned against the doorframe. He massaged his temples with his left hand and sighed again. "Damn, damn, damn," he repeated sadly.
"Did you guys have a fight?" Vash asked, leaving off the jelly and looking around the room. Meryl pointedly ignored Knives and the entire conversation, suddenly finding herself engrossed in the ceiling tiles. Fun things, ceilings. She could pretend that Knives wasn't there at all if she didn't have to see him. And his voice… she could just be hallucinating that. Easily.
"Not recently. Not for a few days, at least. That's a long time, right?" He paused, thinking about time, and days, and the nature of the fourth dimension. "She really left?" He ran his hand through his hair, distracted.
"Yes. She put up a barrier around the ship. You and I can't get through."
Knives' hand drifted down from his hair to his nose, absently fingering the red mark there. "I noticed," he said sadly. He shook his head and really looked at what was going on.
"Vash… why are you doing that?" He stepped into the room a couple paces to get a better look. "That's prenatal equipment."
Vash stopped as he reached for the ultrasound. "Um… You're going to be an uncle. I hope."
"So she finally messed around on you," he said, looking disgustedly at Meryl.
Meryl gave off staring at the ceiling. "I did not!" she yelled, then blushed, paled as she remembered just who she was yelling at, and returned to staring at the ceiling.
"It's my baby," Vash said calmly, rearranging the position of the monitor and picking up the device to roll over her belly.
"That's impossible. She can't be pregnant. Not with your child. She's just a human."
"She is. Kiley said she's been pregnant before, too. She just can't keep the baby, not without help."
"She can't be pregnant." Knives shook his head, trying to shake the annoying concept away. "You're certain it's yours?" he repeated, rubbing his temples again.
"Yes. She is pregnant; it's mine."
"How far?"
"Kiley said a week. But the fetus develops faster than Meryl's body can nurture it."
"If she's a week along, you aren't going top see anything with an ultrasound."
"You're not?"
Knives rolled his eyes and sighed. "No. It's still smaller than the tip of your little finger, moron. Try finding that in her body. If there really is a baby."
"Oh. There really is a baby. We did a pregnancy test."
Knives turned to leave, not really able to take this in on top of Kiley's abrupt departure, then paused. "You guys staying here long?"
"Until after she has the baby. I can't leave until the barrier goes down, anyway."
"Oh. So a few months then," he mused to himself. "You leaving right after the thing is born?"
"Your nephew," Vash stressed, "and yes."
"Good."
He walked away, muttering to himself. "I should have stayed asleep," he whined to the empty hall.
Then he found himself on the floor, arms wrapped around his knees, sobbing and wondering why he was crying. She was only a human. Nothing special, no one to think twice about. He should be glad she was gone. Glad that she had decided to stop polluting the air around him with her presence. Happy that he no longer had to look at her, or feed her.
Or touch her, or hold her, or hear her laugh, or watch her move. He choked on his tears, and coughed. "Why," he whispered. "Why did she have to go now? Why did she have to come at all if she was just going to leave so soon?"
He sighed, wiped at the tears on his face, and forced himself to his feet again. Why did all this have to happen now? Why did Vash and Meryl have to be here, when all he really wanted to do was curl up in a ball of misery and cry. He'd never hear the end of it if Vash caught him crying.
He looked back the way he had come and saw his brother standing there, looking very awkward.
"What?" coughed out Knives. "Do you have something you want to say?"
"I'm sorry. You really like her, don't you."
"No."
Vash ignored that. "Meryl and I both saw that, the way you reacted to her in the desert. She likes you too."
"She left."
"I'm sure she had her reasons."
"I know her damned reasons," he snarled, hands clenching at his sides. "I don't care about her reasons."
"You just want her here." Vash took a couple steps forward, then lowered his voice. "She loves you, I think. It hurt her badly when you left her in the desert."
"I know. I'm a bastard. Vash, what's new about that? She's just a human; why should I care about her feelings?" He paused, huffed, then continued. "I'm the one who's hurt now."
"I know. And I'm sorry to see you like this."
"What?" he yelled and glared at his brother again taking a few steps toward him until they were only a foot apart. "You must love it. Your brother making a fool of himself over a human. Must make you feel all warm and fuzzy inside."
"I have never wanted to see you hurt. Ever, Knives. Ever."
"Well, it hurts now, Vash," he said angrily. Then his face crumpled, and he fell into his brother's arms. "It hurts so damned much now." Vash just held his brother and let him cry, stroking his hair and making soothing noises as Knives grieved.
