Day 269
It's odd how easily habits can be formed and changed, even if the same is not necessarily true for opinions.
He still hates humans, he tells himself this, tells his brother this, he feels it in his bones and yet… and yet…
Twice a week, every week, Pete comes to the door of their small home and enters freely to play games of cards, chess, and checkers with Knives. Vash has taken on a couple of late shifts, so it is good to have the company, inferior as it might be.
Despite himself, Knives finds himself looking forward to Pete's company. He puts it down to loneliness, yet he knows this is a poor excuse, he's been alone all his life, why a sudden craving for company? Least of all a spider's company.
Yet this spider is… refreshing. He doesn't talk much unless invited to and when he does he speaks plainly, simply, not mincing his words or sugar coating the situation. Knives understands the trap he is fallen into, sees the spider spinning a web of companionship around him. Each day he tells himself he isn't enjoying this, not really, he's only doing it for his brother's sake, that's all and for his brother… he can give this up any time he wants to…
Indeed, he's tried several times, promising himself that he'll shoo Pete away as soon as he gets to the door, that he'll make some excuse about being busy, that he simply won't answer Pete's earnest knocking.
Yet, each time, he finds he cannot resist, like a moth drawn to an electric light bulb, he opens the door and invites Pete in, then sits down and plays games until the late night, when Vash returns home.
At first it frightened him, now he is numb to it, trying not to think about what he's doing. He allows himself to be drawn into the rhythm of the days, the simplicity of his time with Pete.
One night Pete comes round with a small bottle of whisky under his arm. Knives eyes the bottle suspiciously, wondering what it bodes.
'Thought I might bring round something for us to sip on,' says Pete merrily, for he too has grown more comfortable in Knives' presence, 'should make the evening pass quicker, not that they don't pass fast enough already.'
They move into the main room and Knives starts setting up a game of chess. It's one of Knives' favourite games and short of Vash, Pete is possibly one of the best players he's ever encountered, though every time he beats him.
'Great,' grunts Pete, putting the whisky bottle on the table with a clunk and sitting down on the chair, 'chess again.'
'If you'd rather play something else…'
'Nope, I'm learning your strategy, boy, I'm getting better. Won't be long before I beat you, you just wait and see!'
Knives smiles, both at being called a 'boy' and at the suggestion Pete will ever beat him. It is impossible; he is of an inferior species.
He takes up the seat opposite Pete and makes the first move.
He's playing white, as he always does.
'You want some whisky?' Pete asks, proffering the bottle and a small glass.
Knives considers, 'alright,' he says, feeling somewhat magnanimous, 'but only a small amount, I dislike the stuff.'
Pete nods and pours him a tiny amount of whisky into his empty glass, barely enough to coat the bottom. He pours a more generous amount into his own shot glass.
Knives sips it, privately wishing is was red wine instead and winces at the taste. It's not quite as bad as he recalls, it is drinkable but hardly pleasurable. The alcohol sears his tongue and throat; he can feel it slipping down into his belly, soaking his breath, he wonders, not for the first time, how his brother can drink the stuff.
Pete takes a sip of his own glass and moves a black pawn in retaliation. The game begins.
A few hours later and Knives finally has his opponent in check mate. Pete sighs and knocks over the black king, admitting defeat.
'Damn,' he sighs, 'I'll beat you yet, but it's sure hard. You're one hell of a player.'
'Must be something to do with being insane,' replies Knives, he has had two tiny glasses of whisky, not enough to get him drunk but surely enough to make him a little tipsy, to loosen up his tongue. He has not developed a strong tolerance for alcohol.
Neither has Pete, it seems, as he is in a similar state as Knives, though to be fair he has imbibed quite a bit more.
'Ah, I don't recon your crazy no more,' says Pete with a dismissive hand gesture.
'Implying that you once did think I was insane?' Knives retorts, pouncing on the statement.
'Heh, I suppose I did once,' laughs Pete, 'most people did once, what with you being kept in here and there being sounds of screaming comin' out now and then. Yeah, once I thought you were crazy, then I looked into it a bit, thought about it and changed my mind, got a better perspective. Vash taught me that.'
'He spouted off philosophy at you too, then?' asks Knives bitterly, 'my brother has a way of doing that, a way of creeping into peoples hearts…'
'Hardly!' laughs Pete, 'tell you the truth, and I don't mean no disrespect, but when I first met him I hated his guts!'
'Really?' asks Knives, feeling surprised, curious, happy and over all, intrigued.
'Hell yeah,' continues Pete, 'see, when he first came to the Plant, when I first saw him, I thought to myself: this guy; no, this kid; is a complete goof, an idiot, he's gonna be fired within a week, if he don't bring the Plant down around us first. I mean, he seemed completely incompetent.'
'Yes,' mutters Knives, 'he has a way of doing that.'
'Right; and I don't handle incompetence well. See… look, this may sound a little silly to you, so you're just gonna have to take my word for it, but in my experience every plant is like a lady.'
Knives' ears pricked up at this, he found himself watching Pete intently, listening to his every word, fascinated.
'Or like a person, leastways,' continues Pete, oblivious to the heightened attention of his audience, 'probably goes back to that story about there being creatures inside 'em. Now, I ain't exactly sure that's entirely true, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was. You've gotta know how to take care of them. For example, the Plant I worked at down at January, she was a fighter; you gotta be firm with her, but fair. Gotta know when she's givin' you all she got, or when she's just sulkin' over something, then you gotta coax the energy outta her. The plant here, on the other hand, pheeeeww! She's a delicate little thing, you gotta keep her happy or she'll throw a temper tantrum, then you'll get energy spikes all over the place. She needs a gentle, calm hand does our Angelica.'
'Angelica?' echoes Knives, unbelievingly.
'Yeah, Angelica, after Angel's Rest. The Plant I worked on back in January was called Jane. Anyway, as I was sayin', I saw Vash and I thought that the goofball wouldn't last a week, didn't look like he had any idea how to treat a Plant properly, how to take things seriously. Now, at the time I was workin' the late shifts, whilst he was doin' the day shifts, so I didn't get to see him at work. But imagine how surprised I was when I learned how well he was doin'! There were talk of him bein' promoted to foreman. I gotta say; I was mad. I was kinda hopin' for that job, see, and the fact he was doin' so much better, was so much younger, well… I have to say, I was getting jealous.'
Pete takes another sip of his whisky then continues, 'I had a hint he might be abusin' the system, you know? 'Cos one way of gettin' Plants to work better is by adjusting the amount of hydrogen in the bulb. It's a long story 'bout how it works, but basically you don't put enough in an' it kinda… I dunno, give them a shock. They work better for a while but tend to break down later. Ain't too good for them.'
'Like beating a slave,' suggests Knives, his voice low and grim, 'using pain to make them work harder.'
'Never really thought of it like that,' admits Pete, 'but yeah, I guess it is. Anyways, I weren't happy. This all comes to a head a few months ago, down at the bar. I'd had a bit to drink, I gotta say, I ain't normally a violent man, dead set against it I am, but that night I guess it all just came to a head. Vash was with his buddies and they were just goin' on about how well the Plant was doin' since he came along and… well… I guess I kinda lost my temper.'
'Lost your temper?' echoes Knives, prompting him to continue.
Pete blushes and rubs the back of his neck, 'yeah,' he says, 'I started a brawl. Hit him around a bit, broke a beer glass round his head. He didn't fight back much, and he was pretty beat up by the end of it. Not that I think he's a wimp, mind you, he moved too well for that. Anyway, when the other guys finally broke us apart I was expectin' him to be real mad. But he weren't. He was just sad, I guess. He says to me, 'Pete, why did you go and do this, I don't mean you any harm.' So I says about my suspicions, 'bout I how I recon he's been mistreatin' ol' Angelica, and he acts all shocked. 'Well,' he says, 'I ain't gonna hit you, and I'm not gonna press charges with the sheriff, but I want you to come down to the plant with me tomorrow and, if I'm doing something wrong, you show me how to do it.' So, with that, they kick me outta the bar and I go him, tail between my legs as it were.'
As Pete talks Knives' face grows grimmer and grimmer. He remembers the night, all those days ago, when Vash came home injured and in the company of another human. It must have been after this incident. So, Pete has hurt Vash, this human has hurt his brother. Knives feels the blood rush to his face, his hands clench upon the table. He wants to leap forward, to throttle this disgusting peace of trash in front of him, to destroy it utterly for harming his brother. How dare it lay a finger upon him! It is no better than Steve, for all the pretences it puts on. And to think he was beginning to trust, even like it!
It takes every ounce of self control Knives has to prevent him from killing the spider, but he manages it, manages to sit tight. He wants to hear the rest of the story first, wants to know exactly what other crimes Pete has committed.
Pete, for his part, seems oblivious to the fury on Knives' face, he's probably too caught up in retelling the tale, 'next day I go back to the Plant, durin' the day shift, to see Vash. I was gonna apologise for bein' so violent last night, 'cos there ain't no real excuse for that, granted. I was also gonna take him up on his offer, tell him what he was doin' wrong, make sure the idiot wasn't messin' up too badly. Damn, was I in for a shock! I remember, clear as day, seein' him work on ol' Angelica. He weren't goofing off or being impatient or anything, fact is I ain't never seen an y one more gentle of a Plant. He really did treat her like a lady, he even talked to her, kept all the levels just right, made sure she had what she wanted, everything! I ain't never seen no body as tender to a Plant, and it paid off too. I'll tell you this, Knives, that day your brother showed me there was much more to him than there seemed. And that was the lesson he taught me, though I don't know if he knows it. As I've said, I tells it as I sees it, I don't sugar coat nothin'. But that day, you're brother showed me that what I sees ain't always right and so I gotta make sure to look twice before tellin' it, if you follow my meaning… That answer your question? Knives? Knives? You OK?'
Knives is silent, he sits staring at his hands, and the aura of rage has fizzled out into a corona of pure shock.
Eventually, quietly, he speaks, 'tell me… what do you think of me? What do you see?'
Pete seems off put by this question, he takes a careful sip of his whisky before answering, 'hard to say,' he replies at last, 'you keep yourself to yourself, I don't recon you're bein' entirely open, that's for sure, so I won't make any judgements. You seem alright, a bit angry, a bit closed minded, but… yeah, you ain't a bad sort, I suppose. I know there's somethin' going on between you and Vash, but I ain't gonna ask no questions. Me and Vash have become good friends since that fight in the bar, and I like to think I've become friends with you too, so I ain't gonna risk breaking either of those friendships by having to make choices. I'm also pretty sure something's bothering you, that you're not sure what to make of me, or anyone else for that matter, but that ain't really my problem. I just show you who I am, be nice, and let you work that out for yourself. I don't like to force my opinions on no one, so long as they don't force their opinions on me.'
For a moment Knives is tempted to ask if he's been talking to Vash, if the two of them have been sneakily planning this out, but he has a feeling they haven't, that this is genuine.
How could it be? That a human could look beyond the obvious, be so flawed and yet so… so right? How can a human, who has hurt another creature, take back his judgement? How could this happen? Is he wrong? Is he right? If there is redemption for Pete? Is there redemption for him? Does he need redemption or was he right in the first place?
These questions buzz round his head, confusing him, worrying him, making him doubt some of the foundations of his reasoning. Like Pete, he's always told it as he's seen it, but what if he's seen it wrong?
He doesn't know the answer to these questions, but he is sure of one thing. Pete is different; he is the closest thing he has ever had to a friend. If nothing else he is a fascinating subject. Yes, Pete is special and his relationship, his life, should not be thrown away needlessly. He will spare the human, despite what he has done to Vash, if only to study him further.
Besides, he needs something to get his mind away from the questions which are buzzing round his head.
'Another game?' asks Knives, gesturing to the board.
'Of chess? Nah,' Pete replies, pouring himself another glass of whisky, 'but I wouldn't say no to a game of drafts. I might actually beat you in that!'
…………………………………………………………………………………………..
Wow… that was a long one… I hope it worked and Pete isn't becoming too annoying.
The Reader replies are going to be a little shorter because they're so many of them, I hope you can forgive me. Also, I might respond to some comments on my other story, Chess. Keep your eye out!
Reader Replies:
TheDreamsoftheDead: Oh, I did think it was good (in as much as I think any of my work is good,) I just thought I could use it to get a couple of extra reviews, I was going to post it no matter what, the only question was when. Sadly, I don't watch Teen Titans, but I have seen much of Cowboy Bebop, so I might read that when it comes along (depending how many end-of-series spoilers it holds. I'm glad you liked Pete, I'm hoping is a reasonable guy and that the info about him here will provoke some fun reactions.
Angelstryke: I'm glad this worked out, it could so easily have been a Gary Stu, I thought Knives should swear a little, he's not perfect, and I didn't want to make him good at everything. Heh, poor Vash, he's been taken for one hell of a spin, right? Thanks for the apple info, I looked it up and it's very fascinating. There's this cool site called The Fortunate Fall which has all this philosophical stuff about Trigun too… I liked that very much. Anyway, I'm using the apples more now! Please review AND keep updating that story of yours, you're not the only one on a cliff hanger, you know!
Aoi: Hum… something is keeping Knives there, that's for sure. Who won the game? Probably Knives, though if it was cards then Pete might have stood a chance…
Communist Penguin: Thanks for backing me up and the Wolfwood/Knives thing, they have very similar philosophies, but Knives takes his to the extreme, more on that another time though. I'm trying to keep Knives' change gradual, though there will be a few leaps and bounds to come. I hope it continues getting interesting!
ATO: Cheers! Hey, any review is a good review! Loved the humour fic, it made me giggle and I recommend everyone go read it, if only so you can gawp in disbelief at the screen for a few moments.
Ron the Future Weasel: I'm so happy that Pete's a hit, I think he's pretty good. I'm not sure I'd get along all too well with him personally, a bit too blunt for my taste, but I think Knives might kind of respect that. I don't picture Knives as being the worlds best cook, not a bad cook, but not brilliant. Did the secrets revealed here live up to your expectations? ehEWWhy is everyone here feeling sorry for Vash? Shouldn't he be happy Knives is changing? Or do we just love any excuse to torment out Blond haired Hero? Well… Ok, yeah, we do. :shrug: Oh, and if you could review those other stories you've read of mine, I'd be very, very grateful! I'm always eager to hear what people think!
Terrible T: WOW! Thanks for reviewing all those chapters, you're wonderful, you know that? Thanks for the shrubbery, I'll look after it. I do think Knives cares for Vash, deep down but matters are somewhat… complex, as shall be shown later. Here's a plot bunny for you, how about Knives' daughter marrying Millie's son. Imagine the chaos! Gah, blank Vash is so scary and sad, it just isn't right four our sentimental goofball to be that expressionless. Good point on the ignorance/fear thing, and yes, pictures would be nice but I can't draw for spit, so sorry that's going to have to be up to someone else. You're right about the weapon thing, it's more just a basic safety thing, just to take away temptation rather than ability a little. I'm happy someone spotted the symbolism of the stew, well done! Have a co… no, have some stew! As for the card game… personally I don't think a shirtless Knives would be entirely a bad thing… Well done for catching up, I'm aiming to post every two to four days, though it will depend on the situation, please keep posing and I hope your muses get batter! I really appreciate all these reviews!
TeaRoses: Happy Passover! Whee! I've got you addicted! I'm glad someone agrees with me about the girls, I love them but including them too much would just turn this story into another M/V/M/K fic, not really what I'm after. And thanks very much for the complement, I'm so happy I've managed to get you interested in looking at this facet of Trigun, it makes me very proud.
In reply to Blu and other authors seeking to use areas of my work: If you want to use any similar metaphors, ideas, and so forth you've seen here, please feel free. I would, however, be grateful if you could tell me, just so I can have a warm, fuzzy feeling, but don't worry too much about it, no one can claim ownership of a concept, not really. OC on the other hand, are a different matter. If you want to use one of my OC's, such as Pete, then feel free but A: contact me first telling me what story he/she's going to be in and B: give me credit in said story. Other than that, go ahead. Finally, word for word plagerism, however, is never acceptable. Not that any of you would do that, but I'm just saying anyway.
Thanks, sorry but I just wanted to get that out. And thanks to all of you who reviewed Chess.
Next Time: Knives is giving it a second chance! He's going out on the town again and, for the first time ever, is allowing someone else to cut his hair… but will it all end in tears?