Chapter Text
Sometimes when everyone is busy working, or doing whatever Vash does in his free time, Knives will walk around the house. He’ll look at the different patterns in the wood, bored of analyzing his own room after a while. He likes to trace his fingers in between the grooves of the railing going downstairs. He’ll sit at the table by himself and listen to all the humans working like little ants in their colony.
His shirt feels strange on him today, it’s something old that Vash had thrown at him last night. It has a graphic of a bottle of beer on it and a word that he assumes in the company that makes it. Why his brother would have this, is unbeknownst to him. The pants are a vastly different color from his top, but since he doesn’t plan to go outside today it’s not really a problem.
He sips some coffee that he was able to make for himself after listening and waiting for Meryl to walk out the front steps. The heat of the mug warms his hands, the same way you did his face. He sighs, wishing that you didn’t consume the amount of thoughts that you really do in his mind. Knives has had a lot of time to think about a lot of things after all the time he’s been alive. He used to be more focused on planning on terraforming the planet and freeing his sisters from their bondage. This kind of thinking let him bask in his anger, leaving him constantly on edge.
But these thoughts, no, they weren't like him. He didn’t feel agitated or filled with bloodlust after thinking about you. Nonetheless the feeling was all consuming. His head felt light and his chest heavy, he wonders if you dance around images of him inside your head as well. Something about being alone lets him better concentrate on these happier scenarios, occasionally he’ll crack a small smile to himself. Oh, how he’s strayed so far from the man he was a couple decades ago.
The clicking noise of the front door knob being unlocked alerts him and snaps him out of his trance. He sits up straighter and stares at the tall woman who just entered. Milly had her usual working outfit on, overalls and her hard hat. She waved to him and ran into the living room to grab something that Knives couldn’t be bothered to care about and ran out again.
He plays with a loose thread that has untangled itself from the cuff of his shirt. He’ll have to ask someone to repair this for him, he never used to have this problem from his suits so he’s unsure of how to fix it. Along with missing his suit, he sorely misses his gun. He admits that he got so used to holding the heavy handle in his hand that anything else feels weird. But since he’s starting a new life here, he guesses there won’t be any need for shooting people.
He hopes that you have some way of protecting yourself from bandits. It must be very easy to break into your place. To take any money you want, or even yourself from the establishment. He didn’t see any firearms in the single small room at all. Your hands lack the callouses that most people need to withstand the work and effort that living on this dustball requires. Maybe you have a hidden dagger under your apron, he hopes that’s the case, but it seems unlikely. How have you survived out here this long?
He decides to go back to his room and try to get his mind off of you. Most of his days consist of sleeping until his body demands more nutrients and he’s forced to face the potential dangers of bumping into Meryl, Milly, or the worst of all, his brother. Vash is always happy to see Knives out of his den and participating in usual house work. Even if that so-called house work is just using up food and dishes, leaving more chores for the people that don’t go to bed at two thirty in the afternoon.
On the other side of town, you’re preparing some bread to be baked. You had left it out all night with a warm cloth over it, so it will rise faster. Bread is something that sells fairly quickly and in repentance everyday, so it’s imperative that you have it. The silky flour sticks to your fingertips as you begin to shape the bread that's out of its bowl. The bonnet you’re wearing to keep your hair out of your face and the food is starting to feel more uncomfortable than most days.
Wearing multiple layers of clothes and working near a hot oven isn’t the best job when you live in a desert.
You’ve been sneezing a lot lately which is strange since you first assumed it must be a cold, but the lack of a runny nose or any other symptoms makes you doubt that. Another lady working with you teased that someone must be thinking and talking about you a lot lately. You shook some water at her after washing your hands.
You lean against the brick oven, watching the bread carefully so that it doesn’t burn. You have some cupcakes that need frosting, but you haven’t gotten your shipment of cream today for the icing, so there isn’t really anything you can do for a while. Eventually your thoughts drift to Vash’s weird brother who came into the store a couple of days ago.
He had a much more serious personality, and didn’t look too keen on being there in the first place. However his mood seemed to relax a bit after talking with you, but then you must’ve done something wrong, because he immediately froze up after you laughed at his remark against Vash. His fair complexion turned into a deep shade of what you would call raspberry jam. He also started sweating a lot, which worried you, since heat strokes were very common around here.
When you asked his twin what was wrong he mentioned that Knives really didn’t go out of the house much and that he could get really shy around people. You feel bad about maybe being a bit too forward with him. If you ever see him again you’ll have to remember to be softer with him, maybe you’ll offer him a free donut. Moving to a new town must be quite scary and lonely, when you first moved here you missed your family dearly. You can’t imagine what it must be like for him if he already has anxiety in general.
Some customers walk in so you go to greet them and take their orders. You’re delighted to hear that the couple you’re speaking to is getting married. You take notes on the kind of wedding cake they want and you can’t help but drift off into your own fantasy. The men in this town are alright, but no one has really caught your eye yet. You aren’t old by any means but you’re not getting any younger either. Marriage feels so far off, but also just out of reach from you.
You give the both of them an estimate on the price, and once both parties agree you go in the back to alert everyone that you’ll need to order some more shipments of white fondant in the next few weeks. There isn’t a lot to celebrate in No Man’s Land so you’re sure that most if not all the village will be invited. Maybe you’ll ever meet someone new there from one of the bigger cities. You toy around with that notion for a while until you realize the bread is done baking.
Outside of the bakery, and your knowledge, is Vash the Stampede. He has his back pressed against the wall trying to sneakily spy on what you’re doing. He’s hoping that he can pick up something that could aid him in getting his brother to make a move on you. Granted, Vash himself has never really been a lady killer, but he’s a lot further than knives in the socialization department.
He tries pressing his ear against the wall to see if you’re talking to anyone, but it seems like everything is quiet in that kitchen of yours. He knows there are other employees who work here as well, perhaps he could ask them to see if they have anything worth knowing about you. It would be a bit suspicious, but he’d do almost anything by now to keep Knives from destroying the planet. He’s lucky he was able to find his weak point, so all it’s going to take now is some meddling on his part.
In the corner of his eye he spots something bright red and flowing. The image of his coat comes back to him and he wonders if it’s still laying in the grass where he had shot Knives. Getting rid of it felt like the correct option in the moment, letting go of the grasp he had so tightly wrapped around Rem, and moving on with the future under his terms. He likes to think that this was the correct thing to do, that there was no other way he could’ve gone about this. He sure hopes he’s right.
He hears the back door of the bakery open so he quickly jumps up onto the roof so as to not get caught. Next to him is the cat from before, staring at him with wide eyes and a blank expression. He goes to pet him, when he notices he has something in his mouth. The cat has a small piece of meat that he must’ve stolen from the butcher.
“You get back here damn cat!”
Vash gets hit swiftly in the head with a broom, causing him to fall off the roof of the bakery. The man chasing the cat doesn’t stop though and continues to try to get back what he stole. It’s kind of pointless really, however. The meat has already been through dirty alleyways and cat’s teeth. The cat tries to run away, and uses Vash’s lap to boost his next jump onto the pipes overhead. He swiftly dodges a piece of scrap metal thrown at him, before scampering into some other corner. Vash rubs his face, trying to soothe the burn that the broom’s bristles have left him. Even when he’s trying to do something nice for people there's always some other commotion following behind.
He wonders if Knives is doing anything right now, he’s usually so cooped up in his room. He’s tried to invite him out to go somewhere, anywhere, besides staying in the house. He really did think he was making progress with him that one day, but he guesses that your presence must’ve scared him off. Maybe knives would be more compelled to go back to the bakery if he asked. They’ve once again ran out of sweets in the house, so it’s about time they should head back there anyways.
He asked meryl what he should do about his brother as well, but she told him that getting involved will only make things worse. He can remember her voice in the back of his head, scolding him for wanting to spy on you. ‘If they wanna get together they will! There’s no need trying to force things yourself’ He supposes she’s right, but that’s still not going to stop him from trying!
Meryl is out running errands now. She’s had a lot more to do since both twins have been living with her and Milly. If she thought Vash was a handful to deal with, then combined brothers is even worse. He’s all the trouble that the green eyed twin already brings but none of the heart warming energy. However she can’t really kick him out of the house, because that would make Vash sad.
She also wishes that he would do more chores around the house. It’s a lot of work and money trying to sustain a home of four people and she and Milly can’t do all the work by themselves. Vash isn’t much of a help either. He does try sometimes, but he ends up causing more mischief then benefits in the end.
Currently she’s trying to total the water bills. It’s an expensive resource there, and now that there’s another person who needs to bathe it’s gone up quite a bit in the month. Knives seems to enjoy water a little too much for its scarcity. She knows he’s been surrounded by plants for such a long time, so maybe he’s used to the luxury of bathing everyday, but it’s getting unaffordable.
They’re fortunate that Milly does enough work around town for the people to be a little more lenient on their expenses. She also has to go out after this to buy more food since the brothers can’t even manage doing that last week. Milly’s monthly supply of pudding is becoming a little out of budget, since wolfwood died she’s been binging herself in more of them every so often. Their journey could be considered successful, but it didn’t come without sacrifice.
This place is good for them though, it’s mainly out of harm’s way and people are much nicer here than some other cities they’ve visited. They should feel blessed that they’ve found a small haven here. She can’t think too long about it, however because the man at the bank calls her in to discuss the water situation.
After some very long excruciating hours later she’s finally released from the hot bank and back into the buzzing streets. Her pockets may be a bit shallower than before, but at least she’s gotten that out of her head. She starts her journey to the butchers for dinner, but when she comes in, the place is empty. There isn’t even anyone behind the counter either.
She decides she doesn’t have the time to wait outside for the owner to come back so she continues browsing the meat selection. There are some nice slices of thomas that will taste good after being smoked.
“I'm sorry mam! This damn cat was keeping me busy all day”
The man rushes in sweaty and agitated, she almost feels a bit bad for whatever he had going on prior. She picks out her cuts and he wraps them up in some paper. She hands him the double dollars and makes her way out the door. As she opens it, however, a small cat runs out and the butcher comes running after it too. She watches them disappear around a corner and decides to not pursue it today.
There is a nice glow on the outlines of buildings around her, the day is winding down now, which means she’ll have to head back home after this. She’s surprised she hasn’t run into any of Vash’s shenanigans today, but assumes there is enough daylight for that to still be a possibility. Instead of heading right back to the house immediately though, she takes another route so she and Milly can walk home together.
Knives is still sitting in his room, but instead of sleeping he decided to stay up long enough to watch the suns lower in the sky. A warm orange hue bleeds into everything the light touches. It’s a nice view, and he thinks about how much nicer it must look if he was outside to experience it. His cheek is now pressed against the cool glass of the window, he struggles with balancing integrating into this new place, but also not rushing himself into it too fast.
He draws shapes in the fog that is created from his breath. A few circles and triangles later, he finally lays back down. All of his wounds healed quite nicely, but sometimes he gets sad looking at the scars that now litter his skin. He knows his brother has much more than him, he doesn’t understand how he’s unbothered by the sight of them every time he changes. The knocking of someone at the door tells him that someone must’ve forgotten their keys again so he trudges downstairs to go answer.
Finally you’re nearing the end of the work day. You wash your hands, brushing off any caked flour stuck in small crevices in your hand. You put your apron back on the coat hanger before you leave. Before locking the door, you remember to grab a loaf of bread, a small gift you plan to give to the new neighbor in town.
Some of the other girls are waiting for you so you can walk home together, but you tell them that you’re going to be taking a different route today. Maybe it’s a little selfish of you, but you think you want to keep Knives to yourself, even if it’s just for today. You remember the way to Vash’s place when he had skipped out randomly for a period of time on his normal donut schedule. Meryl told you that he was out on some dangerous mission of his, so you let it go pretty quickly. Strange to think that not too soon after Knives appeared…
While Vash doesn’t carry a watch with him, he does keep his sunglasses on, usually. His darkening vision is enough for him to know that night is growing nearer, and so is the end of your shift. Waiting in the alleyway near your bakery will all be worth it once he’s able to hear your end of the day conversation with your co-workers. He doesn’t have time to worry about the strange stares he gets from passersby who wonder why there is a weird tall man standing still for hours on end.
Finally the sound of your voice can be heard a short distance away and is getting closer. Vash tries to comprehend what you’re saying but can only pick up a few words. To his surprise it looks like you’re already ahead of him in terms of project ‘ getting Knives a girlfriend’ . Something along the lines of “Knives”, “shy”, “bread”, and “house”. He wonders what's going on until he notices you aren’t going in the direction of your home. You’re going in the direction of his home.
Oh no.
This is really bad, before he left for the morning he passed by Knives in the bathroom, and his outfit was atrocious. He didn’t really expect for Knives to go anywhere besides the other rooms in the house, so he didn’t think to dress him up nicer. What are you going to say when you show up and he’s wearing something unholy to the human eye?
He has to race back to help his brother change outfits before you come. He decides to take a detour, so he doesn’t accidentally cross paths with you, and end up delaying both himself and you. Another part of him worries about what Knives might be doing when you visit. Meeting him after a fourteen hour nap might not be a pleasant sight either. He jumps from building to building pretty fast, guess running from the gung-ho guns for this long has paid off finally.
There is some shouting going on below him so he looks down to see the butcher chasing around the cat again. He sighs, thanking whatever god there is that he caught up in that again. However he relaxes too soon, because the cat’s claws sink into his leg a moment after. He tries to shake it off, but the cat runs up his leg instead. There is a cat on Vash’s face now, but he doesn’t have the time to spend on this. He just has to continue running home to save his brother from embarrassment.
However there is also a very large angry man chasing the cat on his face. Being used as a getaway car was not Vash’s ideal occupation, but unless he can find the time to pry the kitty off his face, he’s stuck in the front seat. If he wants to avoid getting hit with the thick rectangular blade, then he’ll just have to keep sprinting.
He’s so close to reaching his house, it’s a little isolated away from the rest of the buildings. The bit of privacy makes it a nice difference from the usual busy inns he used to stay in. Finally the front porch starts to come into view, he has to warn Knives and prepare him for your presence. But in some cruel change of fate, the door is already open and Knives is holding the bread you planned to give him.
When Knives answered the door you didn’t expect to see him in a beer company shirt and green sweatpants. His hair was tousled and a little unkempt, it was slightly more fluffy on one side which makes you assume that he was sleeping. He looked so serious and put together when he was in the bakery that this change was a bit surprising to you. Not that you were actually complaining though. The shorter sleeves of his shirt showed off the impressive muscle build of his arms.
You didn't even notice you haven’t said anything until his hands are on the bread that you’re holding out and he gives you a questioning look.
“Oh sorry! Hi! I wanted to give you something since we didn’t get the best chance to talk at the bakery, and your brother said you’re a bit shy. This town is really nice, I promise!”
Knives is taken aback at your presence in the doorway. You’re the last person he expected to be behind the door, and the last person he wants to see right now. He looks like a mess. He was shuffling around in his bed the whole day, the clothes Vash gave him are nothing like anything he would personally choose, and despite spending most of his time sleeping there are dark rings sitting under his eyes. But he has to remind himself to reply this time when you say something to him.
“I, um, thank you! This place has been… nice”
“Oh! I’m glad you feel that way! It took me forever to get used to everything here, but if you’re enjoying everything so far then you’ll have no issue fitting in”
Knives had once read a book that Rem had lent him. It was something that she called a romance novel. The story was compelling enough to keep his interest to the end and he’s glad he kept reading. The ending consisted of a scene of the two love interests reuniting and holding hands with a sunset behind them. Knives didn’t know what a sunset was back then, but he knew it was something that he wanted to experience himself too. Rem teased him for liking such a cheesy book, but offered to lend him some more if he wanted to read them.
If Knives had to describe the scene before him, he would say it’s something straight out of a romance novel. The sun behind you shot rays that surround your silhouette, he’s never seen a human in this kind of light. Well, he’s never really seen any humans in the light, he used to spend most of his time in the depths of some ship. The blooming feeling in his chest is back, filling his body with the warmth from before.
Unfortunately it wilted very quickly after he noticed his brother rolling around in the sand with a cat on his face. Both you and Knives stare at the squabble he got himself in, and were even more shocked to see the local butcher join in. You didn't know if he was trying to fight the cat or Vash, but either way all three parties are having a tough time.
“Is this a bad time?”
Knives stares at you, unsure of what to say. He doesn’t want to subject you to whatever is happening in the front yard, but he doesn’t want to shoo you away either.
“We’re actually setting up for dinner, if you’d like to join us?”
Meryl and Milly are walking back together, both with their hands full of groceries. For once in his life he is thankful for their appearance. You turn your attention to them instead of his brother and accept their offer. Knives ends up getting stuck with door duty, as everyone walks in, including Vash whose face is full of scratches. You thank him as you head in, starting another bloom of pink on his face.
He really hopes that he’ll be able to survive dinner tonight, but with you there? Unlikely.