Howdy! I'm getting a lot of this done faster than I had hoped! It's really
coming together nicely I think. The next chapter is already in motion and
I've got a potluck of ideas in my head. Hopefully the next chapter will be
bigger. I didn't want to post the 1/4 of a chapter I had already made. I
figure I'll save that one for next time. But anyways, enough rambling. Read
this!
***
It was an absolute waste of time to sit and ponder the reasons why he always attracted danger. To calculate the reasons why he was always in a fight or trying to stop one was beyond her comprehension. Her pals grasped tightly around the metal bed post as she sobbed heavily. The cold metal stung her warm hands while outside, a downpour was beginning. Millie ran to the window when she saw a blonde man dragging his feet with his hands to his sides. "Meryl! Stop crying! He's back!"
Meryl looked up from the bed and released her grip from the metal post to run to the door. She unlatched the locks and flung them open to see him standing there, drenched from head to toe. She looked at his face which was dark and vacant. "What happened." Her voice was emotionless as she let tears stream down her face.
"It's not over." He sighed and walked past the girls and into his bedroom where he would stay for the rest of the entire day. --Chapter Five-- -Sweet Nothings-
Vash walked out of his room to discover Millie was already awake. An odd thing to see. When he turned the corner, he saw Millie hovering over Knives' body. Vash stopped silently and watched her. She smoothed down his hair with her hand slowly and gently, not missing a beat. Vash noticed something was off about her this morning. Then he saw it. She pulled a knife out of her coat and held it over Knives. Vash's eyes widened. "What are you doing." He said sternly.
Millie jumped as she turned around. "Oh! Mr. Vash! I was just going to--"
"Millie, you can't kill him. Even though you may think it's right, you know deep down that killing someone isn't the answer. No matter how bad a person may be."
"I'm just looking out for you." She said with a serious face.
Vash smiled and walked over to her side. He watched her eyes carefully as he took hold of the knife. His smile turned into a sympathetic plea. "So am I."
Millie dropped the knife down on the counter as she walked to the sink. "Mr. Vash, I just want you to know that I wasn't intending to kill him. Just to spook him."
"I can do that on my own!" Vash laughed loudly but covered his mouth as he realized how loud he had become. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. I didn't bring him here without a plan. I might look clumsy and uncoordinated on the outside, but on the inside, I'm full of brain power!" Vash put his hands on his hips quickly as he grinned. "Look at me! I'm a regular old scholar! Ha ha ha!"
"Would you SHUT UP, you bumbling IDIOT?!" Knives grunted as he heard Vash's voice echo in his dream. "I swear to God, you get louder and more obnoxious every day." Knives scowled as he turned over to face the opposite direction of Vash and his mouth.
"Sorry, Knives. I'll speak quietly..." Vash frowned while he brought his arms around to his back. Vash looked over his brother's body and then turned back to Millie. "When was the last time we changed those bandages?"
Millie picked up the teapot and set it on the burner with a loud thunk, then glanced over in Knives' direction with a grin on her face to see if it had disturbed him. "Oh, the bandages! Well, lets see here. I changed them yesterday at noon. Meryl changed the ones on his legs right before she went to bed. I'd say that was the last time! But before I forget, the doctor wanted me to run down to his office to pick up some things for Knives. I'll be back soon!" Millie pulled her jacket over her shoulders and walked out the door.
Vash smiled and picked up the basket full of bandages and ointments while he walked towards Knives. Vash sat down next to him on the bed and waited for Knives to respond. Knives' slowly opened with a glare, one eye to stare back at Vash's smiling self. "What do you want..."
"Only to care to your every whim and to make your stay comfortable!" Vash smiled widely as he pushed the basket towards Knives. "How are you feeling today?"
"Like shit. Thanks for asking." Knives rolled the blankets over his face angrily while Vash's expression softened into a mild grin. Vash pulled the corner of the blanket up as he peeked underneath to see Knives. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!" Knives shouted as he jerked away from him.
"Hi there! Mind if I lay next to you? You know, brother bonding?" He began to tuck his legs under the blankets as he slipped in next to him.
"Yes, I mind! Get the hell out of my bed! If I'm going to have to spoon feed me back to health, the least you can do is not molest me."
"Buck up, Knives! Things are bound to look up!" Vash rested his head on Knives' pillow and sighed. "In any event, I'm glad you're here."
Knives scowled and looked away from Vash. "Terribly sorry. I can't say the same thing. You crippled me, I'm stuck in this damned house with those two ungodly women, and worst of all, you've got feelings for the bitchy one. It's a soap opera in this little town." Knives did the best he could to avoid the glare coming from Vash's direction, but he knew it was unavoidable. He had to look at those green eyes that only wanted to help him.
"You're not being very fair about this. You should at least give them all a chance before you go and judge them." His eyes pleaded with Knives while he tried not to cry out to him and beg.
"I suppose you're right, Vash! Maybe I should give them a chance!" Knives' expression suddenly turned excited and filled with passion.
"Really?!" Vash exclaimed while he turned his entire body to look at his changed brother.
Knives grinned an evil smile, mocking the comment. "Yeah, and maybe I'll start laying golden eggs and selling them to orphans. Get a clue, Vash."
"Hey pal, that's not very funny. I was being serious."
"You can only hope that I was, can't you?"
Vash studied his brother's expression while he formed his words carefully. "What's the supposed to mean?"
"It means that you can take me here, help me get well, and hope that I change. It doesn't mean shit in the real world, Vash. You can't change something that is set in stone. Humans are useless resource consumers. It's an inevitable fact. If you want to keep aiding to these creatures, then fine. Have at it, Mr. Humanoid Typhoon. But you'll never be one of them. Who you are is in your genes. You're not a human. You're just like me."
"I'm not like you at all, KNIVES." Vash's eyes beamed with anger and regret. "The only thing we have in common is that we're brothers. Deep down we're totally different people!"
"I bet you thought that when you were destroying July, huh." Vash gasped. "Or maybe it was Augusta when you realized it." Knives grinned wildly. Vash's expression sunk deep into his chest as his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "You can't sit here and tell me that the feeling of power and greatness at your fingertips didn't make your spine tingle and your mind race. You can't get titles like, "Mankind's first human disaster" by accident."
"It was all you! I never wanted that to happen!" Vash shouted as he jolted up, pulling the blankets with him.
"But when it did you felt it! You felt the same rush I feel when I kill someone. Or maybe it was just that you finally felt superior to all of the people who had ever doubted you!" Knives sat up and grinned at his brother with his eyes raging with questions. Ready to pounce back again and preach more into his face like rain falling onto bedrock. "It's in you, Vash! I can see it! Doesn't it kill you?! Doesn't it just eat you up inside knowing what you're capable of?!"
"NO!" Vash covered his ears and closed his eyes. "I DON'T BELIEVE A WORD YOU'RE SAYING! I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO DIE! I NEVER WANTED ANYONE TO DIE AND WHEN YOU SIT THERE AND TELL ME THAT I'M JUST AS MUCH OF A KILLER AS YOU ARE IT TEARS ME APART! JUST STOP IT! STOP IT!!" His eyes clenched down tightly as he kept his tears from showing.
Knives chuckled and slid back into his blankets. "You're such a baby."
Vash's eyes opened suddenly to face his brother. "I'm sure that you're no better! Deep down I bet you're the one who's crying out for help! You're the one who needs the attention!" His hands moved towards the bandage basket slowly as he reached out for a wrap.
"Deep down I know who I really am and I'm not running away from it like you are. It's called respect for your own race, Vash. Seems as though you need some."
"My race brings destruction and death. Why would I respect that?"
"It's not a choice, Vash. Get it through your head. You can't decide who you are. That's something you can't change no matter what. Your genes are your genes. There's no getting around it. If you're not proud enough to say that you're a superior breed, then--"
"I'M NOT A SUPERIOR BREED! EVERYONE IS EQUAL HERE, KNIVES! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!"
Knives sighed as he let himself sprawl across the bed. "Here we go again."
Vash pounded his fist down onto his own leg and exclaimed, "Here we go with WHAT again?!"
"The butterflies and the spiders. We are the butterflies. Beautiful, harmless, and they are smart enough to know better than ruining the land they breed upon. They are the spiders. Resource consuming, problem causing, specks of DNA that should be squashed. I kill spiders to save the butterflies." His grin widened as he let a little laugh escape his lips. "I love that philosophy."
"You need a reality check." Vash picked up the bandage basket and walked to the table nearest to him.
"You need to get back to reality." Knives closed his eyes slowly while he let himself slowly rest again.
Vash turned back to face Knives before he stormed off to the back of the house in a huff. "I should have let Millie finish you off."
Knives' eyes burst open just as Vash had left the room. "Finish me off?!"
***
It was an absolute waste of time to sit and ponder the reasons why he always attracted danger. To calculate the reasons why he was always in a fight or trying to stop one was beyond her comprehension. Her pals grasped tightly around the metal bed post as she sobbed heavily. The cold metal stung her warm hands while outside, a downpour was beginning. Millie ran to the window when she saw a blonde man dragging his feet with his hands to his sides. "Meryl! Stop crying! He's back!"
Meryl looked up from the bed and released her grip from the metal post to run to the door. She unlatched the locks and flung them open to see him standing there, drenched from head to toe. She looked at his face which was dark and vacant. "What happened." Her voice was emotionless as she let tears stream down her face.
"It's not over." He sighed and walked past the girls and into his bedroom where he would stay for the rest of the entire day. --Chapter Five-- -Sweet Nothings-
Vash walked out of his room to discover Millie was already awake. An odd thing to see. When he turned the corner, he saw Millie hovering over Knives' body. Vash stopped silently and watched her. She smoothed down his hair with her hand slowly and gently, not missing a beat. Vash noticed something was off about her this morning. Then he saw it. She pulled a knife out of her coat and held it over Knives. Vash's eyes widened. "What are you doing." He said sternly.
Millie jumped as she turned around. "Oh! Mr. Vash! I was just going to--"
"Millie, you can't kill him. Even though you may think it's right, you know deep down that killing someone isn't the answer. No matter how bad a person may be."
"I'm just looking out for you." She said with a serious face.
Vash smiled and walked over to her side. He watched her eyes carefully as he took hold of the knife. His smile turned into a sympathetic plea. "So am I."
Millie dropped the knife down on the counter as she walked to the sink. "Mr. Vash, I just want you to know that I wasn't intending to kill him. Just to spook him."
"I can do that on my own!" Vash laughed loudly but covered his mouth as he realized how loud he had become. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing. I didn't bring him here without a plan. I might look clumsy and uncoordinated on the outside, but on the inside, I'm full of brain power!" Vash put his hands on his hips quickly as he grinned. "Look at me! I'm a regular old scholar! Ha ha ha!"
"Would you SHUT UP, you bumbling IDIOT?!" Knives grunted as he heard Vash's voice echo in his dream. "I swear to God, you get louder and more obnoxious every day." Knives scowled as he turned over to face the opposite direction of Vash and his mouth.
"Sorry, Knives. I'll speak quietly..." Vash frowned while he brought his arms around to his back. Vash looked over his brother's body and then turned back to Millie. "When was the last time we changed those bandages?"
Millie picked up the teapot and set it on the burner with a loud thunk, then glanced over in Knives' direction with a grin on her face to see if it had disturbed him. "Oh, the bandages! Well, lets see here. I changed them yesterday at noon. Meryl changed the ones on his legs right before she went to bed. I'd say that was the last time! But before I forget, the doctor wanted me to run down to his office to pick up some things for Knives. I'll be back soon!" Millie pulled her jacket over her shoulders and walked out the door.
Vash smiled and picked up the basket full of bandages and ointments while he walked towards Knives. Vash sat down next to him on the bed and waited for Knives to respond. Knives' slowly opened with a glare, one eye to stare back at Vash's smiling self. "What do you want..."
"Only to care to your every whim and to make your stay comfortable!" Vash smiled widely as he pushed the basket towards Knives. "How are you feeling today?"
"Like shit. Thanks for asking." Knives rolled the blankets over his face angrily while Vash's expression softened into a mild grin. Vash pulled the corner of the blanket up as he peeked underneath to see Knives. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT?!" Knives shouted as he jerked away from him.
"Hi there! Mind if I lay next to you? You know, brother bonding?" He began to tuck his legs under the blankets as he slipped in next to him.
"Yes, I mind! Get the hell out of my bed! If I'm going to have to spoon feed me back to health, the least you can do is not molest me."
"Buck up, Knives! Things are bound to look up!" Vash rested his head on Knives' pillow and sighed. "In any event, I'm glad you're here."
Knives scowled and looked away from Vash. "Terribly sorry. I can't say the same thing. You crippled me, I'm stuck in this damned house with those two ungodly women, and worst of all, you've got feelings for the bitchy one. It's a soap opera in this little town." Knives did the best he could to avoid the glare coming from Vash's direction, but he knew it was unavoidable. He had to look at those green eyes that only wanted to help him.
"You're not being very fair about this. You should at least give them all a chance before you go and judge them." His eyes pleaded with Knives while he tried not to cry out to him and beg.
"I suppose you're right, Vash! Maybe I should give them a chance!" Knives' expression suddenly turned excited and filled with passion.
"Really?!" Vash exclaimed while he turned his entire body to look at his changed brother.
Knives grinned an evil smile, mocking the comment. "Yeah, and maybe I'll start laying golden eggs and selling them to orphans. Get a clue, Vash."
"Hey pal, that's not very funny. I was being serious."
"You can only hope that I was, can't you?"
Vash studied his brother's expression while he formed his words carefully. "What's the supposed to mean?"
"It means that you can take me here, help me get well, and hope that I change. It doesn't mean shit in the real world, Vash. You can't change something that is set in stone. Humans are useless resource consumers. It's an inevitable fact. If you want to keep aiding to these creatures, then fine. Have at it, Mr. Humanoid Typhoon. But you'll never be one of them. Who you are is in your genes. You're not a human. You're just like me."
"I'm not like you at all, KNIVES." Vash's eyes beamed with anger and regret. "The only thing we have in common is that we're brothers. Deep down we're totally different people!"
"I bet you thought that when you were destroying July, huh." Vash gasped. "Or maybe it was Augusta when you realized it." Knives grinned wildly. Vash's expression sunk deep into his chest as his eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "You can't sit here and tell me that the feeling of power and greatness at your fingertips didn't make your spine tingle and your mind race. You can't get titles like, "Mankind's first human disaster" by accident."
"It was all you! I never wanted that to happen!" Vash shouted as he jolted up, pulling the blankets with him.
"But when it did you felt it! You felt the same rush I feel when I kill someone. Or maybe it was just that you finally felt superior to all of the people who had ever doubted you!" Knives sat up and grinned at his brother with his eyes raging with questions. Ready to pounce back again and preach more into his face like rain falling onto bedrock. "It's in you, Vash! I can see it! Doesn't it kill you?! Doesn't it just eat you up inside knowing what you're capable of?!"
"NO!" Vash covered his ears and closed his eyes. "I DON'T BELIEVE A WORD YOU'RE SAYING! I DON'T WANT PEOPLE TO DIE! I NEVER WANTED ANYONE TO DIE AND WHEN YOU SIT THERE AND TELL ME THAT I'M JUST AS MUCH OF A KILLER AS YOU ARE IT TEARS ME APART! JUST STOP IT! STOP IT!!" His eyes clenched down tightly as he kept his tears from showing.
Knives chuckled and slid back into his blankets. "You're such a baby."
Vash's eyes opened suddenly to face his brother. "I'm sure that you're no better! Deep down I bet you're the one who's crying out for help! You're the one who needs the attention!" His hands moved towards the bandage basket slowly as he reached out for a wrap.
"Deep down I know who I really am and I'm not running away from it like you are. It's called respect for your own race, Vash. Seems as though you need some."
"My race brings destruction and death. Why would I respect that?"
"It's not a choice, Vash. Get it through your head. You can't decide who you are. That's something you can't change no matter what. Your genes are your genes. There's no getting around it. If you're not proud enough to say that you're a superior breed, then--"
"I'M NOT A SUPERIOR BREED! EVERYONE IS EQUAL HERE, KNIVES! DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND?!"
Knives sighed as he let himself sprawl across the bed. "Here we go again."
Vash pounded his fist down onto his own leg and exclaimed, "Here we go with WHAT again?!"
"The butterflies and the spiders. We are the butterflies. Beautiful, harmless, and they are smart enough to know better than ruining the land they breed upon. They are the spiders. Resource consuming, problem causing, specks of DNA that should be squashed. I kill spiders to save the butterflies." His grin widened as he let a little laugh escape his lips. "I love that philosophy."
"You need a reality check." Vash picked up the bandage basket and walked to the table nearest to him.
"You need to get back to reality." Knives closed his eyes slowly while he let himself slowly rest again.
Vash turned back to face Knives before he stormed off to the back of the house in a huff. "I should have let Millie finish you off."
Knives' eyes burst open just as Vash had left the room. "Finish me off?!"