Work Text:
The heat was almost sweltering that day. The suns beating down onto the twins as they worked around the small home. Vash sighs, wiping the dust off his brow as he crouched over broken flooring.
“Hey, Knives can you get that for me?” Vash points at the boards just across the porch while turning to look at his brother with a sheepish look. Knives clicks his tongue with a snort, but still makes way to the boards as his brother hammers away.
Knives holds the board out with a hum “Here.”
“Hey, thanks!” Vash grins as he takes the board from Knives.
Knives rolls his eyes a bit as Vash places the board on the empty space. His eyes narrow a bit as he watches his brother hammer down the board, securing it.
“All done!” Vash flashes a grin as he tests his weight on the newly replaced porch floor. Knives squints at the floor with a slight scowl. Vash furrows his brows, wondering whats on his brothers mind.
“Is something wrong with-“
“Should have fallen through it.”
Vash squawks as he looks at Knives, who has a slight smile painted on his lips. “Oh well. Maybe next time if I think of it hard enough.” Knives shrugs before turning around and walking back into the house. “What? Hey, you can’t just say that to me, meanie!” Vash pounts as he chases his brother into the house.
“You can’t just wish inconveniences to your brother!” Vash says as he pokes and pinches at Knives to annoy him. Knives frowns and swats away Vash’s hand only for him to grin and keep poking him. “Stop that.” Vash stops for a moment to put a hand on his chin as if he was thinking about it only for a smile to spread on his lips as he responds “Hmm…nah!” Knives hisses when Vash pinches him harder.
Knives tries to walk away from his brother quickly, only for Vash to keep up with him with a smile. He frowns for a moment before he sees the kitchen table in the corner of his eyes. He narrows his eyes before he darts to the other side, keeping a distance between him and Vash.
Vash blinks at him in surprise before he squints at Knives. He walks closer to try and pinch his brother again only for Knives to shuffle away around the table. He tried the other way only for his brother to shuffle away again.
It goes on for a while before it transformed to them running around the table. Knives running from Vash and Vash chasing Knives.
“You’re so annoying!” Knives shouts as both he and Vash run around the table.
“YoU’rE sO ANnOYiNg!” Vash mocks with a shit eating grin as his arm is outstretched to try and grab his brother.
Suddenly both of them stop running, Knives glaring at Vash who’s standing on the opposite side of the table. Vash only responds with a mischievous grin. “Come on, I’m not thaaaat annoying!” Knives hisses in response while glaring at him “Yes you are!”
“Nuh uh.”
“Yuh hu.”
“NUH UH!”
“YUH HU!”
The two go back and forth for a while before Vash squints at Knives who squints back at him. They’re silent for a moment before Vash launches himself over the table. Knives lets out a screech as he quickly backs away before turning and running away. “Come back here!” Vash shouts as he stumbles after his brother.
“No! Stay away from me!” Knives glances behind him, seeing Vash hot on his tail. “Aww, why? Whats wrong with wanting to spend time with my brother?” Knives growls before slipping inside a room and slamming the door on Vash, laughing when Vash yelps. “Ow! Why’d you do that!” Vash pushes at the door, trying to open it as Knives holds it closed.
Knives snorts as his shoulder presses against the door. “You deserved that, moron!” Suddenly, it goes quiet and the doorknob stops shaking. Knives furrows his brows in confusion as he presses his ear against the door. “Vash?” He cracks the door open a bit, only for it to get thrown open and a weight landing on him.
He grunts before growling when he feels a hand pinch his shoulder. “I told you to stop it!” His hands push at Vash’s hands and face as they both tumble around the floor. Vash is giggling as Knives hisses and claws at him. “Get off me!” Just as he was pushing Vash’s arm away, he feels pressure on his wrist. He screeches when Vash’s teeth dig into his arm.
“Stop biting, you’re being annoying!” Knives says as he pulls his arm away, kicking his knee into Vash’s stomach. “Omph- Hey!” They both glare at each other before it turned into an even rougher tumble. Scratching and hissing at each other before Vash was put into a headlock, Knives other hand digging the nails into his scalp.
Vash screeches as his hands claw at Knives arms. “Ow! Ow! Ow! Okay, I got it, I’ll stop!” Knives growls in response before dropping his brother onto the floor. “Ow! I said I would stop!” Vash whines as he gets up.
Knives lets out a huff in response as he tries to smoothen out his clothes. In the corner of his eye he spots a movement. He glances up only to see his reflection in a mirror. His brows furrow as he stares at the mirror, eyeing his black hair with a frown. He watches his brother shuffle next to him, looking at the mirror with a smile.
“Black hair looks good on us.”
Knives narrows his eyes with a snort at Vash’s words. His eyes glance around the room before realizing this is his brothers room. His eyes land on a picture on the desk. Its a photo of both him and Vash…along with Rem. He lips part slightly as he remembers something.
“…its our birthday.” He mumbles.
Vash hums in response, his eyes following Knives as he also looks at the photo. Vash smiles almost sadly as he nods “Yeah. It is.”
They’re both silent for a moment. Vash swallows thickly as he furrows his brows. “I…uh…I guess this is the first birthday we’ve had together in a long time?” Knives nods hesitantly. “Yeah…” Vash lets out a breath before he walks over to a drawer, opening it and shuffling around it for a bit. He pulls something out before quickly hiding it behind him when he turns back to Knives.
“Follow me real quick, will you?” Vash looks at his brother with a closed eye smile before shuffling toward the door. Knives squints at him suspiciously before following him.
Vash leads him back into the kitchen, ushering his brother to sit down. He shuffles back into the kitchen, rummaging around as Knives looks at him in confusion. “What are you doing?” Vash only shoots back a grin. “You’ll see!” Knives hums at him suspiciously before rolling his eyes and looking around for something to grab his attention.
“Ta-da!” Knives jolts slightly when a plate is put in front of him and he scowls when he sees it. “I’m not eating that.” Vash pounts, putting down a box of matches as he drags a chair next to Knives. “Just a little bite wont hurt!”
Knives eyes the cupcake with distaste, looking at it with disgust evident in his face. Vash hums as he unfurls his hand, and Knives furrows his brows. Sitting in the middle of Vash’s palm are two candles. Vash smiles as he sticks the two candles onto the cupcake.
Knives watched as Vash takes out a match and strike it, lighting the two candles. “There! Now it’s officially our birthday celebration!” Knives stares at him in disbelief, a strange emotion twisting itself around in his chest. He’s not too sure what it is as he stares at the lit candles. “…why?” He asks, almost meekly.
Vash looks taken aback at the question. He looks at the candles with a sad smile. “Because I was hoping we could celebrate together again. Like we did when we were younger.” Knives clenched his fists in his lap, his face furrowing with mixed emotions.
“I got them a couple of days ago when I remember it was our birthday today! Although I really wasn’t sure if it would be appropriate…heh” Vash chuckles sheepishly as he smiles as his brother. “We should probably blow out the candles before they melt into the cupcake, that would probably taste bad!” Vash gives a dopey smile as he looks at the flickering flames excitedly.
“I…I guess.” Knives purses his lips for a moment and nods. A grin creeps its way onto Vash’s face as his leg bounces eagerly “Happy birthday to us!” Knives hesitates for a moment before his lips crack into a small smile. “Happy birthday to us.”
The two of them close their eyes, making a wish before taking a breath and finally blowing out the candles.
When Knives opens his eyes, a certain dampness on his face is apparent. He reaches his hand to his cheek in slight confusion. “Knives are you…crying?” Vash looks at his brother in surprise before a worried expression washes over it. He reaches out, his hand gently grasping Knives shoulder. “Knives?”
Knives grumbles as he brushes off Vash’s hand. His hands quickly wiping away at his eyes. “I’m…I’m not crying.” As he says that, more tears pour from his eyes. Vash looks at him gently before his arm goes around Knives, pulling him into a hug. He feels his brother tense up before trembling hands wrap around him, holding onto him tightly.
Knives cries silently, Vash noted. That slightly scared Vash, but at the same time he’s just happy that they can be this close again. He closes his eyes, feeling his own tears build up.
As Vash feels the tears roll down his face, he can’t help but say “Happy birthday, Knives.” As he smiles and laughs through his tears and sniffles.
Knives lets out a shakey breath as he shifts slightly, chuckling slightly “…Happy birthday, Vash.” a small smile makes its way to his lips as they both sit there in contentment.