Disclaimer: Trigun is sadly enough not mine, or there would have been way more episodes!
Chapter 50: Knives' POV
When our group had finished discussing the plans for the future, the girls had excused themselves and headed outside together, taking the files with them. He had just shook his head, not sure what to think of the way they worked together. He had a twin and they didn't even work that well together, so how did two non-telepathic humans pull it off? Shaking his head he glances at Vash asking him about it. His frustrating twin just shrugs before saying something about wanting to play with some children. Again he shakes his head as his twin wanders outside. After a moments consideration, he goes upstairs to his room and collects up the saddle bag with money in it, he is sure that temper will know here shortly how much they will need.
Throwing the saddle bag over his shoulder, he heads back down stairs and out the door. A quick glance around the town directs him to the sheriff's office where the girls had gone. Sending a quick message to his twin, he enters the sheriff's office and takes a spot behind blue-eyes to the left a little. The sheriff seems startled by his direct stare, but temper ignores him and continues to speak for a moment. Eventually, the sheriff gives a shake of his head before answering her.
"Well that piece of property is fifty thousand double dollars because of how big it is and the fact that there is water under it according to the tests." He eventually comments.
She nods once, turning to look at him, he is startled when he notices her eyes focusing in a look that reminds him of the time she had mentally yelled at him.
Yes? He inquires, linking their minds.
Do you two have a last name? she replies.
For a moment he does not answer, then he gives a single mental nods, responding, Saverem, it was Rem's last name, since the both of us do refer to her as the mother-figure of our youths it is the closest thing we have to a last name.
She smiles at him, turning back towards the sheriff. "Sheriff Douglas Sandoval, this is my to be brother-in-law Knives Millions Saverem."
The sheriff smiles at him, a bit uneasy, "It's nice to meet you, Miss Stryfe here was just telling me which property your group had decided on. It will be difficult to get water, we were never able to break through the bedrock but if you can, it appears to have a good size water table."
He nods at the spider, not saying anything to him but remarking to temper, "You left the money at the inn, I figured I would bring it over so it could be dealt with today."
A smirk curves her lips, while blue-eyes puts a hand over her mouth to contain a giggle. "Thank you Knives. The polite sheriff had just told me it was fifty thousand double dollars."
Again he nods, setting the saddle bag down on the small table she had used for paper work, he quickly counts out the money and passes it to her. "Here you go," he tells her aloud before switching to telepathy, you realize I heard him right?
She nods, "Thank you, of course." Counting it, she carefully lays it out on the table and waits patiently for the sheriff to do his own count before making out the paper work.
All four names or just you two? She asks him.
He thinks about it for a moment before replying, All four, how did you know I would hear you?
You haven't broken the link yet, I can feel the difference between when linked and not since getting used to the earth sense it has made it clearer. She answers him.
Once the sheriff counts the money out for the second time, he walks into the back of room and through a door, taking the money with him. He returns a few minutes later with a set of paperwork, sitting down at his desk he fills it out. Sure enough he inquires as to the names that belong on it and she lists all four of their names, starting with his and ending with hers. This startles the sheriff but besides giving her a funny look he says nothing. His mind is questioning why they would pick a place like this if they have enough money to just pay for something out of the way, then he seems to recall something blue-eyes had said and mentally shakes his head as he finishes up. Once all the papers are filled out, temper carefully checks them before setting them down and pulling something out of an inner pocket on her cloak.
Handing the envelop to the sheriff, she takes a stamp and ink pad out, and carefully marks the corner of the deed before handing it back.
"You're a notary?" he inquires giving her a inquisitive look.
Temper smiles at him replying, "No, I am a train and licensed lawyer who is also licensed to notarize documents, it was useful for both of my jobs as a lawyer and an insurance representative."
"Well I'll be, it would be awful useful if you would be able to review some documents here? I can pay you, though not a lot, the notary only comes through once a year and that means the paperwork piles up." the sheriff tells her as he hands back the envelope.
"When we get back into town in a couple of days I will stop by to talk about it. Their family is sending a crew to build a house for us, so don't be surprised if you see light and motion out on the property." She tells him before bidding him farewell and turning to leave with a copy of the title in her hand.
Both girls turn to look at him and smile, "Ready?" blue-eyes inquires as she looks up with him.
He nods, amused at how easily temper acts like she is in charge. Hefting the saddle bag back over his should he follows the two girls out of the building thinking about the fact that he had not realized she was a lawyer, he bet that his brother had not realized it either.
Break the connection or say what you're thinking, he hears her comment, amusement lacing her tone. You're not the only person who knows how to act like their in charge, I just prefer to act timid most the time, it means everyone underestimates me.
You were right when you said we are a lot alike, you treated him in almost the same fashion I would have only a hair more polite. He responds before breaking the link between them. The last impression he got was of her laughing. As he heads back to the inn, he reflects on the fact that she introduced him as her to be in-law and the way she had handled that sheriff.
Milly's POV
After we leave the sheriff's office, she tugs on her friends arm, motioning towards the other direction from the brothers. She wants to have a private word with her best friend about Mr. Knives. Nodding, her friend walks with her after smiling at Vash as he plays with the communities collection of children.
"Something wrong Milly?" Meryl asks when they reach the bench at the end of town and sits down looking at her as she sits next to her shorter friend.
"Did you know Mr. Knives has wings?" she just about whispers, not sure if she should be saying it aloud but needing to talk with her about it.
A serious look crosses her face as she considers it for a moment before she nods once. "I sort of ignored the memories that were not directly related to the situations we have been dealing with, Merra dropped over one-hundred years worth of memories from two different people into my head so I kind of knew but not exactly." She replies softly, "Why is there a problem?"
Shaking her head vigorously, she blushes, mumbling, "No, no problem, I thought that they were beautiful."
Her short friend gives her a half hug, chuckling softly. "It's okay to be attracted to the guy, he's good looking."
Startled she jumps a little bit at that. "Are you serious? I thought you like Mr. Vash?"
Giving a shake of her head, Meryl answers, "I do, however Milly you cannot deny that both of them are well built and graceful. I prefer Vash's golden tones to Knives white-gold, that doesn't mean I don't realize that he is good looking. Nick was good looking too, but in a different way."
"Oh," she mutters, not sure what else to say. She had not thought about it in that way. That's why she had wanted to talk to Meryl about it.
"Just remember what I said, no rushing and trust yourself. Do you need to talk about it?" her friend asks.
She shakes her head no, smiling at her. "No, I just get so worried at times that I am doing the wrong thing."
Standing up Meryl grins at her, "I doubt that Milly, you're one of the most level headed people I know. You might view the world differently than me, but I think it is the perfect way for you. Come on, let's get back to the inn, I have some more paperwork I want to get ready before it is time for us to go. Plus, I am sure that the guys are going to want us to visit the plant with them. At least, I am pretty sure that they will."
She nods, standing up and humming, as they start walking down the street she stops as she feels the fluttering in her stomach again. Things might not be what she expected, but they are far better than they could be.
Meryl's POV
When we had gotten back to the inn-hotel, she had went up to her room and collected her pad of paper and pen before going outside to the edge of the community to sit in the sand. Focusing on the lessons in earth sense that Kikyo had given her, she reaches with her mind into the ground, using it as a bases to call for Kikyo in hopes that she will hear her. There are several questions she is sure the older plant can assist her with and she wants to be well prepared for what they are going to find in the Seeds community.
Hello? She sends out using the earth connection.
The planet itself responds warmly, sending her an affection greeting and images of different places.
Interesting way to catch my attention, I would ask why didn't you have Knives connect us, but I would bet that you wish to have this conversation in private. She hears before she is able to answer the planet.
Sending warmth to the planet, she focuses on the link now established between herself and the queen of the plants. I would like to ask you for some information if possible. I will understand if you cannot or do not know.
The impression of chuckling fills her mind, before Kikyo answers, What do you need to know?
Everything you know about the Seeds village Hope and those that live there. I have Vash's memories of them, but those are scattered and not really coherent to me, the one thing I know is they hate Knives. She replies.
For a few minutes there is silence, finally, Kikyo starts speaking, using a combination of images and words to tell her about the set up of the community, how it is run, and how to deal with those within it. She also gives her advice on every person within the community. When she is done doing that, Kikyo connects her to the three plants that power the Seeds community, allowing her a chance to speak with each of them as well. By time she is done she is well aware of Lakiesha, Enedina, and Ayako's views on those within the community and everything they know. By the time Kikyo bids her good night, she has filled several pages with short hand notes, happy that she had learned long before to write even when not focusing.
Blinking, she is startled to see Vash crouching in front of her with a worried look on his face. "Are you alright?" he inquires touching his hand gently to her cheek.
She smiles at him, trying for reassuring but sure she merely looks tired. "I'm alright, I was practicing my earth sensing. Then I decided to talk with Kikyo and that's really draining, because I am really tired now."
Nodding, he slips an arm underneath her as he scoops her up. He gives her a minute to grab her pad of paper and pen before standing and walking back to the hotel-inn. She drifts until they get back at which point she asks him to stop downstairs so they can get dinner, she is sure she'll feel better once she has had a chance to eat.
Vash's POV
When he had gotten done playing with the kids, he had looked around for his brother and the girls. Knives and tall girl were sitting on the bench by the town fountain while his short girl was nowhere in sight. He is just about to get concerned about it when he notices a white form against the sandy brown of the desert a little bit outside of town. Smiling to himself he goes to see what she is doing and nearly freaks out when he cannot get her to respond.
Thankfully, she comes out of the trance she was in. Even after she tells him what she was doing he is concern because she looks almost as tired as he had been earlier. Carefully picking her up, he carries her back to the hotel-inn they are staying at. He had just reached the door, when it seems to open of its own violation, glancing behind him, he spots his brother giving him a questioning look. He flashes his grin at him, before going in at which point she insists on sitting down and getting dinner.
They had just taken seats when Knives and tall girl come in as well.
"Are you alright Meryl?" tall girl asks her sleepy friend, concerned about her.
She smiles at her, handing her the pad of paper and pen, "I'm fine, just tired, can you go put these in the room for me? I need to review them in a little bit."
Grinning, the tall girl takes the items and bounds off, before returning a few minutes later to take her normal seat to Meryl's left, shaking his head, Knives sits down beside tall girl, while he sits beside his short girl. Dinner goes smoothly, each quietly discussing what they would like to do with the house and property. He can tell that Meryl is taking mental notes despite being tired but she seems to come back to wakefulness with every bite she takes.
During the lulls in the conversation he considers the day, all in all, everything had been good and not a single moment of violence had occurred, how more perfect could it be?