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[ sometime after this conversation ends, vash is turning his phone off, and tucking it away inside the pocket of the frumpy white sweater he's wearing. closing his eyes, he quietly reaches out for that faintly musical connection he's getting used to having back in his head.

...And perhaps he tugs on it a bit too suddenly, a bit too tightly, because all at once he's aware that Kni knows he had reached for it--causing the sound to become discordant, for just a moment. Like he'd slammed a hand down, accidentally, against a couple of keys on a piano when just trying to put his hand against them.

He'll pluck up an umbrella, and head to the back of the cottage where he knows Kni is sitting, watching the rain, reading one of the books he'd had in the house for some light reading. Some big fat tome on the insects of Earth that he'd borrowed from the library days before Kni showed up.

Without waiting for an invitation, he's gonna fold the umbrella up, put it aside, and sit down next to kni, leaning back on those pillows--grabbing the younger twin up to yank him into his arms. ]

'cmmere.

You're gonna' catch a cold if you stay out here all day.

[well, he had been reading until vash had, less-than gently, rung for his attention. the touch upon their connection felt uncertain and rusty, as if it'd really been a long time since vash last reached out for his brother.

kni isn't sure how to parse that just yet, and so he sets aside those thoughts to pick through later. the book sits closed just off his lap as he's already looking towards the door when vash finally shows up. the downpour fills the quiet between them, kni watching vash with a muted curiosity, until his brother joins him on the bench.

he's just about to speak when he's beaten to the punch and, instead, a noise of surprise leaves him instead of the question he'd been ready to fire off at vash.]

Ugh! [even if it is vash, he isn't used to being handled so easily like this. he huffs, trying to situate himself in his brother's arms with an unamused look shot his way.] I'm not. [he raises one of his arms and lets the excess fabric of his sleeve (vash's sleeve, his hoodie, borrowed until further notice) wag in vash's face.] Don't worry about pointless things. I don't like how it looks on you.

[ he'll get used to handling the connection again, one day. It's been a long time since he's had a reason to call out to it--even had it in the first place, so who could really blame him?

kni probably.

Vash screws his face up, sticking his bottom lip out churlishly at the other as his face is gently poffed at with his own sweater's sleeve--and he leans his face in to bite at the hidden fingers with no real strength behind the act. ]

It ain't pointless. I remember how I felt when I first got here. I got tired really fast, 'cause I lacked a lot of real connection with my strength for the first few weeks. What if you could catch a cold, huh?

I'm not allowed to worry about my big brother?

[ he's doing his best to sound teasing, amused, but.

It's hard to hide the fact that his smile isn't quite reaching his eyes; his eyes having a degree of sadness to them. ]

Just 'cmmere for a bit.

[he bats at vash's face again in retaliation for the nipping. bad brother!]

That won't happen because I'm different. [even if he does feel that uncomfortable disconnect between himself and his gate, it... it's fine. it's fine.] I'll be fine.

[kni frowns. vash was so many things now, and so many of those things were still a mystery to him. coming to terms with the gaping differences between them, something that felt wholly unnatural, was difficult, but he would persevere. just like he always had, always would.

the disconnect between them was a hurdle, but nothing in this world or the next could sever the connection they had together.

he gives a withering sigh and relaxes against vash, head resting against his chest.]

You're upset.

[ there was a gaping difference--it was hard to ignore, even vash would agree--but. The one thing that wasn't there was that slow-boiled animosity. that gap that came between them due to their harshly different views hadn't formed yet, it was just a crack that he'd hope he could slowly soothe over this time, so he didn't have to lose this.
The camaraderie, the feeling of having someone know you better than anyone.

Vash lays his chin atop Kni's head as he pulls the other into his arms again, the others' head resting against his heart where it steadily beats; a low rumbling sigh escaping him as he raises his real hand up to rub the corners of his eyes, as if that would stop the light flood of tears that's already started down his face. ]

Happens to me more often than not, lately.

I'm just a little sad, you know?

[ he's not lying to the other--he promised he wouldn't lie, after all. ]

I've missed having you around, yanno.
I almost forgot what it sounded like.

[as big as vash is now, at least his heart beats the same familiar rhythm. kni closes his eyes and listens.]

I guess you don't ever grow out of being a crybaby, huh?

[but crying is a weakness vash is allowed to have, he thinks. kni opens his eyes again and tries to tilt his head up when he feels the little splatter of a tear dropping on his cheek.]

Well, I'm not going to leave you. [it's a promise only he can make, right here in the right now. if he was being honest with himself, kni was hesitating in asking the questions he knows vash is waiting for him to ask. soon, but maybe not right now. not when vash was already so sad it made his chest hurt.

he reaches up, his sleeve sliding back over his arm so he can gently pap at vash's cheek.]

It's a good thing I'm here, then. I'll make sure you never forget.

[ the song slowly loses its discordant tune the longer they sit together. like remembering what keys he's supposed to be hitting, his heartbeat hasn't changed, even if a lot more of him very much did the last 150 years. ]

Hey, I'm not a crybaby. It's normal to cry when you're feeling a lot, you little...

[ which is to say, yes, he's still a crybaby after all these years. which might be a good thing, depending on who you ask.

he probably can't handle the Hard Questions right now, so it was very good of Kni to be holding back for now.
His arms wind a little tighter around the other. ]

Gonna' be hard to forget if you're gonna' follow me around like a duckling, huh.

[ he grins. ]

We need to bring you clothes shopping.

Yeah, and you feel a lot. Like, all the time.

[he states it simply because it was true. it was easier to handle when vash was his age, kni able to reach over and wipe away the tears with promises that everything would be okay. he could make do on those promises, he already had.

but now vash was older and stronger than him, and it left kni in the uncomfortable and unfamiliar position of being the one handled and cared for. he felt out of his element.]

Hey. [he lightly pulls at vash's tear-streaked cheek, lips pulled up in a frown as he levels vash with a mildly insulted look.] I'm not a duckling, I'm your brother. We're supposed to be together.

[their song gradually finds harmony, guided by nai as he takes vash by the hand along the notes of their instinctual lullaby. where his brother faltered, kni would pick up the slack.]

While I do like your sweaters... I would like to have some clothes that fit me. [he wiggles his fingers beneath the sleeve fabric.]

What's wrong with feelin' a lot, huh? I can feel a lotta other things, too, like happiness and love. Nothing wrong with it at all.

[ he doesn't stop the other from wiping away the tears from his face, though. Maybe he needs the little bit of a gentle touch after just dealing with a deeply painful conversation suggesting that were it not for the fact that Kni had shown up as a kid, he'd already likely be dead by the hands of those who were in this city to protect it.

that they'd still be willing to--

He scrunches his nose up as he's pulled on, making an 'aaa, aaaa!' noise as he feigns being in pain from the action. letting himself get yanked around as if they're the same size, as if Kni has absolutely any power over him.

It's so easy to fall back into place as the harmony evens out, as it goes from being a mixed mess of pleasant, but mis-matching sounds into a careful, thoughtful melody.

Kni was always better with musical instruments than he was. ]

We can get you some of your own sweaters, if you want. You-sized ones, so they don't go down past your knees.

Your old clothes should be clean and dry now, so you can wear that suit of yours--and keep the hoodie, if you want, don't gimme that face.

While we find you some of your own stuff.

Sound good?

What sort of things make you happy now?

[vash had changed so much, it seemed, that it was only natural to want to know exactly the kind of person his brother had grown up into. kni knew everything, had known everything to know about his twin, but now he was left playing catch-up.

his face softens, letting himself smile a little at his brother. he releases vash's cheek to finish wiping away the mess he'd made of himself with the end of his sleeve. satisfied, mostly, he lets his arm drop back down.]

Yeah, I suppose.

[shopping for clothes sounded pretty novel, but...]

Are we going into the city?

Hmm.

[ what sort of things make him happy? there's a lot of things, but most of them, he wonders, if Kni will laugh at them. ]

Flowers make me happy. Eating sweet, sugary things. Learning new things about Earth, experiencing new things in the city.
My friends--like Libra, Dante, Wolfwood; Rose, Zulius, and Rren... Takame, Jun and Mikleo, too.

[ he has to laugh a little to himself. ] They're not all human, but they come by sometimes to make sure I'm not getting too lonely out here. You'll meet them all, eventually.

[ his hand moves down to card through Kni's hair again, thoughtfully. ]

We are.
There are a few ways of getting out there, even while it rains.
We can ride Brad, if you want. Or we can walk...

Or... [ vash grins. ]

[it isn't a laugh, so much as derisive snorts at a few things on his brother's list.

but there were things he shared, too. he thinks if he's going to be here, he'd like to learn what he can about the planet that created them, in another universe. it sounds like fun, if he disregards everything else that made his chest tight with looming anxiety. the magnitude of his own actions beating against his ribs like a caged bird.]

Libra, Rose, and... [he wrinkles his nose at wolfwood's name, still left with an unpleasant taste.] Do you get lonely? This place is... it's nice.

[something close to paradise. kni tilts his head up to peer at vash, cheek resting against his chest.]

... Or? Or what?

[ there's a topic there that neither of them have wanted to breach, yet. A knowledge that they both held--knowing what Kni had did before he'd arrived to the city. And what with how old Vash is, Kni would absolutely be aware that vash knew what you did, buddy.

But the topic is far from his mind as he curls up on that little cushion-covered bench outside, his hand on the side of Kni's head as he decides for the time being that moving isn't the best idea. ]

I do. Sometimes Libra or Wolfwood aren't around for a while, and I find the quiet starts to get to me. Even with the animals around, or the sound of the frogs in the river...
I like talking to people. Telling stories, or even doing chores in the garden.
I was alone for a long time in the desert, I like not having to be so alone, here.

[ he chuckles again, the sound tittering around his chest as he slowly grins. ]

Or, we could fly.

[a conversation for another day, then. preferably one where his brother didn't come find him on the verge of tears.

his brother's heart beats a steady cadence against his cheek as he listens. between that and the droning rain with vash holding him close, kni could relax like this. they were safe for now.]

You have a hundred and fifty years worth of stories to tell me, you know. [he wants to know, for so many reasons. his brows pinch together, eyes downcast. the desert, something kni had only gotten a small taste of, between the waves of hysterical adrenaline that seized him wholly. alone in the desert, his brother had been alone.

kni steps around the obvious question, in favor of stating a fact.]

You aren't alone anymore. Even when others leave, I'll be with you.

[he makes it a promise to himself.

kni's head jerks up to stare wide-eyed at vash.] Fly? No- [incredulous, eyes narrowing.] Wait, fly how? And with what?

[ another day, when there might not be someone in earshot. Where they can discuss it--argue about it--come to terms with it, on their own. For now, it's obvious that being in Kni's company has at least calmed the older plant down, enough that the melody between them has returned to something soft and normal. ]

I have lots of stories to tell you. Some amazing, some sad. It'll take me a long time, you know. [ some he'll leave out. For obvious reasons. he still doesn't want to discuss his arm, right now. ]

...And I know, Kni. We're gonna' outlive most of the people I named. Except for maybe Mikleo. [ the water spirit will probably outlive everyone, truth be told. ] So I'll be relying on you to keep me company, okay?

[ please don't do anything that'll make that hard. ]

[ but now it's time to grin. ]

I don't have a flying machine or anything like that.
But I can fly.
I'm not super fast, but...

...Looks like the rain is letting up a little. So we could probably give it a shot.

Do you trust me?

Edited (/) 2023-07-08 05:34 (UTC)

That's fine. I want to hear about everything. [the good, the bad, and the ugly.

mikleo. he wonders what kind of person they are - really he wonders about all of the people his brother has chosen to consider friends, what their intentions could be. ] You can always rely on me, Vash.

[even when it's hard, incredibly so, kni had chosen his path knowing it would be windingly long. being here now didn't change that.

kni glances from vash towards the rain, now a lighter drizzle casting the gardens in a soft mist.]

I- Well, yes I trust you- [if it weren't for the goofy grin his brother was giving him, kni would be a little miffed.]

Everything, huh. You gonna' be able to sit still for that long.

[ said with a smirk--as if Kni had ever been the one to get impatient or bored with anything when learning was involved. He can't help but to grin a little--maybe a bit sadly--when Kni says You can always rely on me.

Ah, that sentence hit a bit harder than he thought it would have.

It's fine.

He curls a little forward, as the other struggles with the irritated words that come next. Clearly he'd almost hit a nerve--grazed it, but when had Vash really ever meant any of the somewhat mean things he said? He's only ever teased the kid, even when their ages were matching, so...

As he sits there, on their little outdoor couch in the lightly misting rain, a shift happens. Visible patches of skin starting to turn white as feathers start to shift and lift up and out of his skin--plantlike, waxy and veined, but yet, soft like feathers, all the same. ]

I'm not the most fancy flier in the world, but I've been practicing.

Better than you can.

[returning vash's smirk with a smaller one of his own, smug in knowing he's right. he'd sit as still as possible for as long as necessary if it meant proving someone wrong.

his annoyance lifts, already gone and forgotten in favor of watching with widening eyes as the feathers begin to sprout from his brother, shyly unfurling. kni's heart hammers inside his chest, his own feelings of surprised elation translating better over the melodic song humming between them. kni brushes his fingers over the ones decorating vash's cheek, eyes darting around his brother's hunched figure, taking stock of the little changes.]

How pretty, Vash... [his small smile creases the corners of his eyes, delicate as he rubs one of the feathers between his thumb and index fingers. the texture familiar in a way he only knows from seeing their sisters with thick, curved glass between them. he imagines this is what they might feel like, with fewer feathers and more tendrils.]

You can really fly with these?

[ it's not worth arguing about because Kni was right--even as an 150 year old adult, he absolutely has NO time to sit around and focus on anything. he gets bored so fast unless he's fixated on something and that hasn't changed, one bit.

There's something more important to think about right now; and that's the look on Kni's face as those feathers start lifting out of his skin. Little wings, smaller than one's hand lifting off his arms, his neck, while he shifts to sit up a little--a bigger pair clearly lifting up out from his back. through his clothing, honestly, which was the oddest part of all. ]

I always thought they looked pretty monsterous. [ he laughs a bit, trying not to think about that. Twitching a few of the longer, more fern-like feathers as he tips his head to the side. ]

I can.
Not very fast or high, but it's enough to get around.
I didn't fly you home last time because it was raining a bit too hard. I worried the rain would have made it difficult.

But if the rain lets up...

[ he turns his head, to where the clouds are starting to get a few flickers of blue sky between them. ] I could carry you to town, easy.

They remind me of our sisters. [how could anything so familiar be anything close to monstrous? kni's pride as a plant kept such doubt from infecting his thoughts, but vash had always been different. he wonders if he'd had these worries during their time as children, or if the century separating them had an effect as well.

kni is gentle as he admires the feathery tendrils between his fingertips, eyes flickering to behind vash as he watches the larger wings unfurl.

like an angel. maybe rem-

kni looks up at vash with a small smile.]

I'd like that. Do you think I'll be able to fly one day, too?

Our sisters did have things kind of like this, didn't they? [ while their own memories of what the non-independent plants looked like were different--they had one big thing in common: that they had an angelic quality to them; unmistakably.

Just like how Rem had once called he and Kni her 'pair of twin angels.' ]

Oh, for sure. You've always had better control over your gate and all that than I have, remember? I couldn't do anything when our ages were closer together.

I only recently figured out how to do this sort of thing.

[ he's promised not to lie--and therefore, he won't. the wings were new, he'd only recently gotten then back on NoMan'sLand, and then they re-appeared here. ]

It's a better idea to fly anyway. You still don't have shoes. That'll be our first stop.

Then it won't take me long to catch back up with you, hm?

[whenever he can reconnect with his gate, grasp hold of the power he knows is his birthright. it was wrong, going about the days without that familiar thrum of energy beneath his skin, in his blood. a vital part of him missing, his pride as a plant shaken.

he'd make things right again, sooner or later. it was all about patience, lest shaking fingers miscalculate over the holographic keypads. excitement or fear or both that sent thousands and thousands to their deaths, but not all. his mistake.

kni hums, lifting one of his legs up to wiggle his foot near vash's head. rare childish mannerisms only ever brought out in the safety and comfort of his brother's presence.] What if I like not wearing shoes? Or maybe I can ride on your shoulders everywhere.

You'll catch up so fast it'll be dizzying. Go easy on me and the others, okay? This world is full of magic and delightfully weird things, so you don't have to hide what you are from the other Libra users if you don't want to.

[ it's... something even he is still getting used to, after all.

he's worried kni might use his powers for the wrong things, but instead of scolding him before it happened, he'll... hold his breath and hope that by the time his powers do come back, he'll know to be gentle with others by then. ]

You can ride my shoulders all you want for now, but. You know how fast we grow. One day you're gonna' wake up, just as big as me, and then what! I can't go around carrying you then, too!

[the idea of telling others what he is doesn't sit well right now, rem's warnings still loud and clear. not when he was powerless against whatever reactions may come from such an admission. it was easier to err on the side of caution, even in a place where dragons sat under the awning and fantastical creature-persons went about through the city like it was all so very normal.

a case by case basis would be the most logical answer.]

I'll think about it. [and then adding,] If this place isn't permanent, I'd like to experience everything I can. [he looks out towards the gardens, hands resting over vash's arm. the feathers tickle his palm.]

Then I'll just carry you, obviously. Once I'm big enough, it should be easy.

[ that's pretty much how HE felt about it, too. He wasn't sure how long they'd be here--and if they were destined to be sent back at any time. Until that came... he'd like to enjoy everything.

that included having the chance to restart his relationship with his brother; and maybe this time, they wouldn't have views at such devastating odds that all there was to kill one another or control one another to have things their way.

He shifts where he's sitting, letting the feathers furl out a bit more from behind him, all but creating a second canopy of plant-like feathers around them. ]

Carry ME? We'll be nearly the same size, and yet you'll go out of your way to lug me aroun--
Wait, is this some joke about my age? This better not be you calling me old--!

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