PSL for arkfall

[goldenglasses]

[Vash was getting use to his life in the city. Some of it has been pretty bad, but for the most part he really can't complain. He always had enough to eat. He had stopped pouring sand out of his clothing. Could have all the water and shower for however long he wanted. No one had tried to shoot him in months. The people here even didn't care about his scars. In fact some people really liked them!

He was currently without a dominate, but he didn't mind. A small grace period to find another one and he wasn't in a rush. Which is why he was taking a moment to enjoy a bit of people watching in the Down. Munching on a donut and enjoying the day.

The only problem was in times like these his mind tends to wander to thoughts of home. Worry starts to settle in. Hoping that his friends were alright without him. Things certainly looking good when he left. Of course, there wasn't much he could do for them here so he tries not to think too much about it.

Besides, this donut was really tasty. Right now he just wanted to sit and enjoy them. Nothing bad could happen on this day, right?]

Comments

[arkfall]

[Knives eventually lets that laughter fade into a soft chuckle.]

You don't want me with you.

You want some version of me that was fooled by lesser beings and twisted by false optimism. You want a child who will look into a future with hope while the people who were supposed to protect him kept his sister in jars.

Please, stop fooling yourself, Vash.

[goldenglasses]

She was trying to protect us! [Somewhere far away from his current feelings he'll look back and think how he should have known better. Should have not let the conversation move onto such a sore topic.

That is when Vash can look back with hindsight. Right now his emotions are too raw. The life he had been trying to build for himself here is being pulled out from under him. He's been teased with both horrid and hopeful information of the future. After all that this felt not like picking at a scar that could never fully heal. This felt like it was being ripped open.]

She thought she was protecting our happiness by not telling us! They made a mistake! She was trying to do better! It's not like you don't make mistakes! They're not perfect and we're not perfect! No one is! I'm not the one who's fooling myself, Knives. You are.

[Vash should also know better by now not to talk back to a dominant in public in this city. His angry outburst is starting to attract attention now.]

[arkfall]

[At the stares around them Knives almost has the ability to stop himself, to end the conversation and insist they talk later if Vash wants to try and prove his point, but this wound - Rem - is one that Knives can't help but pick out. A century and a half worth of such focused hatred can't simply disappear overnight.

At least when he speaks it's with a lower voice now, bitter words hissed through clenched teeth.]

No. She wasn't trying to protect us, you fucking moron. She was using us. She was using us to get rid of her own guilt over what she had let happen to Tesla. She filled our heads with talk of how great it would be when we lived among humans and then hid us away the second other humans were around. She was going to keep hiding us once we were on the new planet too. Why can't you see how fucked up that was?

Why don't you realize that the whole time we were with her she was brainwashing us into becoming lesser beings? And the worst part is that she got to you. She succeeded because you let her do that to you, and every day I hate her more for taking you away from me.

[goldenglasses]

She didn't take me away from you Knives. You pushed me away. [Vash's love, a bit like Knives's hatred, for Rem has blinded him to the people staring at them. Or maybe he had gotten use to being stared at while running around as the biggest bounty on his head. Either way he continues on and isn't willing to let this go. At least not yet.]

And she was being cautious! Wanting to make sure people got to know us first for who we are instead of what we are! And it could have been great! It could have been just like she said! If you hadn't destroyed it al!

[arkfall]

You are a fool for thinking that and she was too.

[goldenglasses]

No, Knives. You were the fool.

[arkfall]

[They are at the point where before Knives would have lashed out violently and this would have turned into a fight, but he doesn't even seem to try. That might be because he doesn't have the power to do so, or because he simply doesn't want to. He could still throw a punch, if he really needed to, but the thought of raising his hand against Vash doesn't even seem to come to mind anymore.]

That might be, but at least I never pretended to be one of them.

[goldenglasses]

What's wrong with that? [He really doesn't see a problem with that.] I don't want special treatment. I want people to care about me for who I am. Let them know me and then I'll tell them what I am. [Maybe.]

[arkfall]

You shouldn't have to hide among them. You deserve more.

[goldenglasses]

I have to, Knives! I have to because of you! If you hadn't terrorized them then maybe I wouldn't need to hide. [Deep down he knows that's not fair. Meryl had gotten to know who he was and she had been scared to find out what he was. He saw the way she would occasionally flinch around him now. Knives had also never been here and still he hid the truth.]

[arkfall]

And thank you so much Vash for proving my point about how it will be better for you if I'm dead.

[goldenglasses]

Don't twist my words around. I didn't say that. I was saying my life would be easier if you didn't go around killing everyone. That doesn't mean I want you dead. Or would be better off if you were.

[Although it is enough to get Vash to pay more attention to where they are and what they were doing. A submissive arguing with a dominant in public is not a good look. He wouldn't be surprised to find that one of them will have some sort of fine for this is they don't get moving.

He scoffs and turns back to walk to their new home again.] I don't want you dead, alright? I don't. I mean it.

[arkfall]

[Knives lets it drop there because replying with 'no, you just want everything about me changed' seems petty and just a way to prolong the argument when they really shouldn't do this in public.

Instead, he focuses on getting back to the apartment. He doesn't say much on the trip, mostly he just pays attention to the layout of the city and how things look around them.]

[goldenglasses]

[Vash also doesn't argue further. After all, now that he was contracted, any fines he got would go to Knives. Not only would he be forced to be sure they're paid, but he'd see what Vash had been up to.

And in the case of letting a submissive back talk at him? It may actually be Knives who gets into trouble. Really it would be for the best of both of them for him not to stir up more trouble.

So they'll arrive home in silence.] I'm guessing you don't care what room I take?

[arkfall]

Do what you think is best. I think I need a shower.

[To wash away the city and the people, you see.]

[goldenglasses]

[Vash will choose the bedroom closest to the kitchen for himself. Feeling like he might want to have a bunch of comfort food over the next few months.

He puts most of his stuff in the bedroom but the plants he puts in the sunniest parts of the apartment. Including the healthiest looking one in the other bedroom. A little bit of a peace offering for him even if he's not completely sure he brother will see it that way.

He's not near the door when the envelope is pushed through the letter box so Vash doesn't notice it right away.]

[arkfall]

[Knives is in the shower for a while. He cleans pretty thoroughly, but it is also a place for him to clear his head and try to process what he's experienced so far.

All of this had happened just in one day. His emotions keep violently swinging back and forth. He feels like he's on a teeter-totter that keeps flinging him between wanting to hug his brother or smack him.

There's still his hate burning deep inside of him, but the thought of acting on it fully exhausts him. He wants to cease to be again, and yet he can't quite bring himself to do anything about it.

Everything in his head feels like it's swarming. He lacks the sense of purpose he has had for the last one hundred and fifty years.

When he finally does get out of the bathroom, he's trying his black hair with a towel when he crosses into the living room to see what Vash is doing.

He doesn't seem to think it's weird to walk around mostly naked as he recovers from the heat of the water.]

[goldenglasses]

[Vash is currently playing with the air conditioning and heating unit. What he would have given for a heating unit during the winter months here.

He doesn't seem to be bother by his brother walking around practically naked. Wolfwood hadn't been much better when they shared hotel rooms and Duplicity had dulled it even more.]

This thing even has a timer! [Okay. He might be in love with this thing. Where was it in the last hundred years of wandering an endless desert?!] You can set it so the place is nice and cold when you come in from outside on a hot day! Or toasty warm! [The thing beeps as Vash continues to play with the settings. The fans moving as he commands them.] Oh! Or you can set one room hot and one cold!

[arkfall]

Huh.

Imagine having one back home.

[He didn't mind the planet's hostile temperatures, but he knew how popular a unit like that would be to the people on No Man's Land.

He glances around the room and notices the paper before moving to go pick it up.]

We got mail?

[goldenglasses]

I'd would have paid extra for any hotel that had this back home easily.

Did we? [He hadn't noticed.] Probably a welcome letter about orientation that eventually happens. Every time the city gets new people we have to go. [Vash is clearly unconcerned as he sets the air conditioning unit back to its original settings.] You'll probably get a text message about it soon too.

[arkfall]

[Knives groans and then tosses the letter on the coffee table. Not really interested in reading anything to do with what this place thinks of as orientation.]

Are you hungry? [He asks, heading to the kitchen. It had been a while since the sandwich, and the donuts had seemed more like a snack than a meal.]

[goldenglasses]

Yeah, I could eat. [A response Knives will get use to hearing all the time when it comes to food. Vash moves to join his brother in the kitchen. Also ignoring the letter for the moment as there was food to be consumed.] Do you have a craving for anything?

[arkfall]

No.

[He says simply as he looks through the cupboards and the fridge.]

My ability to do this stuff is pretty limited.

[And he doesn't admit that often.]

[goldenglasses]

[Vash joins him in checking the cupboard.] How hungry are you? I could make us some pasta. [He's going on the assumption that Knives can't boil water anymore.]

[arkfall]

All right. You make us pasta then.

[After a moment.] We're going to have to do the shopping and other... things. Aren't we? [Things like washing dishes and cleaning up the house and ugh things are a lot easier when you have people to boss around.]