Day 182
It doesn't hurt as much now. He'd like to think that this is because, like his brother, he is developing a tolerance for pain. This, perhaps, is partly true, but it is more likely that it is simply a sign of his recovery.
Vash helps him walk step by step around the room, holding Knives up by one shoulder.
It hurts, his joints feel stiff from disuse as much as wounds, and every step is an effort. But he can stand on his own now, he can walk around with little difficulty, though he still requires the use of a handy wall or prop to keep him moving. His arms hurt, but he can move them well enough. Vash has given him exercises in stretching, moving, and making his disused joints subtle again. Knives promises himself that he will follow the regime religiously, he has no with to spend his life as an invalid.
Vash buys him a stick from in town, which helps Knives hobble about the house. For the first time, with his brother, he is able to leave his room and explore the house at large.
It is a simple place, there's a large living area combining both main room and kitchen, it is sparse but homely, lacking in ornaments but comfortable none the less. Knives, for once, approves. He has always disliked the clutter and redundancy of useless ornaments.
Just off the main living space is another bedroom, this one Vash's. There is nothing much remarkable about it; it is much the same as his own.
There's also a bathroom, which brings a smile to his face, it will be good not to have to use a bed pan any more.
There's a small cellar leading off from the Kitchen, too, but there is nothing much of interest down there.
The only other door is the front door, which leads off the main room, and out into the world. Knives eyes it hungrily, and Vash looks at him in concern, no doubt guessing what he is thinking. Some things do not require telepathy.
'Knives…' he begins, hesitantly, obviously not sure how to voice his concerns.
'Do not be concerned,' interrupts Knives, 'I won't be leaving this place… yet. I'm not strong enough, as well you know. Both my mental and physical abilities are still too weak. If I tried to escape now you'd catch me before sundown. I'm not strong enough to run, I couldn't walk far, and driving is out of the question.'
Vash manages a tiny smile at this, remembering, years ago when they were wandering GunSmoke together, his brother's attempt to ride a Thomas. He had turned out to be a worse rider than Vash, and that is saying something.
'Never the less,' he says, reluctance evident in his voice, 'I don't want any trouble from you, Knives. So whilst I'm out I'm keeping you locked in your room. I'm… I'm sorry.'
Knives shrugs, 'probably wise,' he says, moving into the kitchen area and examining the equipment 'I might try to hurt one your precious spiders, after all.'
His next movement is quick, so quick it would be almost impossible to follow with the human eye.
He picks up an object from a small rack on the kitchen counter and hurls it at Vash.
The sharp kitchen knife embeds itself in the wall just behind his brother; it comes so close to hitting him that it actually shears a strand of hair from the top of his head.
Vash watches in mute amazement as the strand of hair floats slowly down to the floor. There air fills with a humming sound as the knife quivers in the plaster.
'Damn,' mutters Knives, massaging his shoulder, made all the sorer as it's the one which bore the infection all those months ago, 'sorry about that, my aim's a bit off. Guess you're gonna have to have another hair cut. You need one, anyway. I'm off back to bed.'
With a quick, gleaming smile, he turns and hobbles back into his room, closing the door behind him. He is not surprised to hear Vash lock it behind him a few moments later.
In the privacy of his room he grins. He has no real intention of hurting his brother, not at the moment anyway. He's promised himself he'll listen to what Vash has to say, promised himself he'll give his brother one last chance. Besides, in this condition he has no chance against his brother's skills, which are equal to his own.
_Equal?_ says a little, private voice in his head, _or superior, he won, after all._
No, no that was luck. Luck and overconfidence on Knives part, how was he to know that damn Cross Punisher was hidden in the sand? Really he had been the winner in that fight, but fortune, once again, had come through for his brother.
Still, it had been nice to be able to make his brother jump like that, been nice to feel the security of a knife in his hand. It had been good to show that the cat, sick at it was, still had claws.
The question, which niggled at him and undoubtedly Vash also, was when and how it would use them?
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Review Replies…
Yay! Lotsa reviews! Happy Yma! Be warned though, the Easter holidays are upon me, and I'm going back home which will mean I'll have to post these from a different computer. What this will mean in the long term I'm not sure, hopefully nothing, but the chapters might be a little slower coming out. Still, every review it is treasured and the more reviews I get the more motivated I'll be to post!
Now… onto specifics… I'm going to make these a little shorter than usual because there's such a lot of you. Sorry.
Ron the Future Weasel: Heh, I agree, Vash really should slap Knives silly! :Fangirl giggle: I'm lad you're still reading, though I didn't realize you were a kitty… Sorry to keep you waiting again, the next one might be a little longer too, but not too long, so don't worry.
ATO: No problemo! I understand the time thing, makes your reviews all the more precious! It's a wonderful feeling, knowing I'm on so many people's favourites list.
TerribleT: Ooooh! A new reviewer :glomp: will you be sticking around? Yeah… you have a point here… ah well, it's only one hole in my reasoning. I was mentioning it more to bring up the continuing issue of 'how far away is Eden?' question, and the vague irony. Suppose I should have thought it through more. Well, never mind. I hope you're still enjoying this!
Angelstrke: Firstly, love the fic you're writing now. Go read it people! It has an interesting story line! Secondly, yep, this is short to keep stop the dialogue from dragging, there's so many ideas I want to discuss, but one long conversation would just be dull. Hope the action in this chapter was a nice break. Thanks for finding time to review this time, please keep it up if you can!
(Oh, and hurry up writing that fic, I wanna know what happens next too, you know!
Android: So happy the interaction is working well, I love doing character stuff. And keep studying for those exams, you hear? A bit of hard work and I'm sure you'll get A+ in EVERYTHING! I've got my fingers crossed for you!
Aoi: Well spotted! I'm glad you noticed that reference. Yep, I'm sure that, with their knowledge and power Vash and Knives could make Gunsmoke an Eden, if they worked together. And you're right, the fact they're their on the first place is Knive's response, read my reply to TerribleT for grovelling. BTW, was the damage Knives did here good enough? He doesn't want to annoy Vash too much, but he wants to show he's still a force to be contended with!
Lady Zephyr: Another new reviewer! Double glomp! Oh yeah, don't worry plenty of trials ahead. And as long as you keep reviewing, come rain, snow, sleet, hail or nuclear war, I'll add! So stick around!
EmpressGalaxia: Ooh, I've reduced you to simple sentences. Cool. But seriously, you've got in right on the nail, these are puzzle pieces and, hopefully, by the end they'll come together to create something more cohesive. Fancy sticking round to see what?
TheDreamsoftheDead: And a third new reviewer! Tri-glomp! (sorry, couldn't resist) Thank you so much for joining us, and for the complement! I like to think I'm making something… well… different. Though masterpiece is perhaps to grand a title (blush) I congratulate you that you've trauled all the way through this, I was half afraid that the sheer amount of chapters behind me now would have put most perspective readers off. I'm very glad to see that's not the case. I hope you can review this chapter and those beyond it, nothing is more fulfilling than reading such lovely reviews.
Well, that's it… see you next time when things take a slight different tone… when Knives meets, and talks to, humans…