Yeah, um, I guess Sunday's chapter was a little late, wasn't it? But I had so much fun….
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Knives stretched out into the space that his brother had just vacated, working out the kinks that had developed in his knees during the drive. Everyone had silently agreed that his presence now would be more of a hindrance than anything else, so he stayed behind in the car while his family visited Millie. No one had said anything as he didn't make a move to leave the vehicle; not even his brother tried to make everything seem all happy and perfect by trying to include him in the gathering.
He didn't really mind staying behind; there was nothing about that woman that was so wonderful that he felt the need to converse with her, or even be forced to listen to her. For the most part, her babblings were childish and emotional, and the woman refused to see the world as it really was. It was no wonder that she and his brother were friends; both believed in the fairy tale that people had a better nature. He ignored the fact that non-inane things she said had a tendency to be uncomfortably true. He did not avoid humans. They ran from him.
The sounds of children playing filtered dimly through the closed windows of the car, and Knives sighed. Games were such a waste of time, teaching one nothing. Better to spend your time studying, or exercising to keep the body fit. The pursuit of fun was a waste of time, and games always ended up hurting someone. The infirm, the less-popular, the shy, none of these benefited from games. It was just a means by which the strong showed off their strength, a place for the popular to rub their popularity in the face of others. Yet still parents encouraged this waste of time, more as a means to be freed from the demands of their offspring than because they felt that games held any benefit for the development of the child.
He closed his eyes and tried to nap some more, but the amount of rest he had partaken of during the ride over left him wide awake now. He tossed and turned a bit, as much as one can on a seat two feet wide, and finally settled with one arm flung over his eyes to block the fading light.
Soon it would be night, and time for him and Vash to return to December, to get Kiley out of whatever mess she had refused to leave. He tried to keep himself from wondering why she had decided that it was better to stay and face the ravaging horde of humans than it was to return to see him, but he tried to not take it personally. Surely, she wasn't avoiding him.
A soft tapping at the widow caught his attention. He peeked out from under his arm and saw a pale, slender girl peering in the window. He closed his eyes and settled back. The tapping resumed, and he looked again. The girl smiled shyly and waved at him. He rolled his eyes, but waggled his fingers at her, slightly, then returned to his rest.
The sound of the front passenger door opening made him sit up.
"Hello," she said as he scrambled.
"What are you doing in here?" he asked crossly. "Shoo."
She ignored him, instead folding her arms on the back of the seat and resting her chin over her crossed wrists. "What are you doing in here?" she repeated, her voice soft. "Ms. Thomson is really nice; I'm sure she would make you tea, too."
"I like it here. That woman annoys me."
"She's sweet," she said, enunciating the words carefully, showing off a tendency to lisp by how carefully she shaped the sibilants.
"Just because you like someone does not mean that I have to." He scowled at her, hoping she would go away, but she seemed unperturbed by his glare.
"I guess not," she admitted. She stared at him for a minute, and he just wished she would leave. He didn't want to lie back down while she was in the car; she might take that as tacit permission to remain. He continued to glare at her, then when that showed no signs of working, pushed at her arms.
She sat back and started to cough, deep wracking coughs that left her breathless. "You looked lonely," she gasped at the end, then looked past him, slightly flushed.
Knives was surprised to see that she was embarrassed to have been caught coughing. It struck him as amusing that so bold a child would be nervous about a reflex. He grinned a little at the thought, and she flushed more.
"Sorry," she said softly. "I'm not very healthy. My lungs don't work right."
"Is that why you aren't out making a hellacious amount of noise with those other children?" he asked.
She nodded in response, still not meeting his eyes.
"Then you should be studying now, and working to improve your mind. Not sitting here and annoying strangers." He sat back and flung his arm over his eyes again and prayed that she would leave.
"I'm sorry," she whispered, then got out of the car. He peeked and watched her leave, watched her slow passage to the large building. She paused to rest after getting to the door, as if walking up the few stairs to the porch was a severe tax on her energy.
Knives spent a few seconds wondering what was wrong with the girl, but dismissed her from his thoughts. He had more important problems, like trying to figure out how to get Kiley out of one of the most heavily guarded places on the planet. Without killing anyone, too, as he knew that neither she nor his brother would stand for the easy solution to the problem.
Fools. He was surrounded by sentimental fools.