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"Look at this!" Vash yelled far too loudly and waved something in front of Knives face.
"I can't tell what it is if you keep moving it."
Vash thrust the paper into Knives hands, "Look. Meryl and Milly are inviting us Roller Skating." Vash had been keeping pen pals with the two when he wasn't hanging out with them physically. Knives didn't fully understand it, but it made Vash happy. It was nice to see Vash smile.
Knives looked closely at the letter. "This is inviting you to go roller skating with them. My name is not on here."
"Come on. It would be good for you to get out of the house. Have some fun!"
Knives groaned. He did not want to go out and fraternize with random humans. He could manage Meryl. She was quiet and kept to herself. Milly was just like having another Vash around which was barely tolerable and somewhat endearing. Random humans though? Knives had principles to uphold! He had a line he wouldn't cross! "You can't make me."
"Please?" Vash gave Knives really big eyes. "Come on, Kni."
Knives sighed really hard. It was hard to say no to that face. "Fine. I can't promise I will enjoy it."
"Yay! Thank you Knives! I'm sure you'll have a good time."
~~~
So. Knives was here. He wasn't even sure he remembered what Roller Skating was, but miraculously neither of them were wanted by the government and nobody gave them weird looks. It did help that Knives convinced Vash not to wear his signature coat this time to keep a lower profile.
Vash held the money and paid for them to get some shoes. The shoes were questionable. They smelled weird. Also they had wheels on the bottom. Knives noticed his were in a different configuration to Vash's.
"Why are yours all in a line?"
"Oh, it makes you go faster. Come on, over here, I'll explain more when we're putting them on."
Knives did not like the idea of putting these shoes on his feet. They had a weird texture, somehow moist tough and crackly at the same time. He had promised to be a good sport and was really regretting it. Vash explained he'd got Knives the easier version of the roller skates. He seemed very at ease, like he'd done this before. He probably had. Knives did get prickly at Vash helping him lace up the boots, but his help unfortunately couldn't be avoided. Knives hated the texture of the laces so much he barely even wanted to touch them, let alone tug and tie them together.
"Vash!"
Knives barely had the time to register the voice before Milly nearly crashed into Vash, pulling him into a hug.
"Milly, what if you hurt Vash?" Knives savior! Meryl always had some good sense. She was carrying her own pair of roller skates like Vash's, and a pair that was definitely for Milly that was like Knives.
"He's fine. Aren't you Vash?"
"Yep! Always happy to see you Milly. You too Meryl!" Vash gave a big smile and thumbs up as Milly let go of Vash and went to put on her skates.
Meryl sat next to Knives as Milly and Vash talked to each other. "Those two get along like a house on fire."
"You can say that again. I can handle Vash but it's like there's suddenly two of him."
Meryl nodded. "Yeah. I love Milly but having two of them around is a lot. At least I've had more time to get used to it. How did you get Vash to lose the jacket?"
"I told him I wouldn't come if he wore it. I didn't want to get chased out or get looks you know?"
Meryl nodded, "Even with the bounty gone, people are still jumpy around him." She finished tying her shoes. "You ever done this before?"
"No."
"Well, lucky for you, those two should be fine, and I did roller derby in high school."
Knives blinked. "What's roller derby?"
"I did this competitively for a few years. I can give you pointers and help you out, give you something other than the wall to grab onto."
Knives did trust Meryl more than any other live human. That did not mean that he wanted to touch one. He tolerated his brother's affection at best. "I think the wall will be sufficient." Knives tried to get up and his feet flew forward forcing him back to a seating position.
Meryl snorted though it was clear she was trying not to laugh at him. "It's a little tricky, get your feet a little further under you next time." Meryl got up and turned to a stop not far away. She made it look so easy.
Knives grumbled and managed to get up. He started to step, he was sure there was some way to propel himself like how Meryl did. He couldn't quite fathom it and his steps were loud and thumping as he followed Meryl to the rink. Milly and Vash were preoccupied with each other.
"Okay, Knives. You want to point your feet out and shift your weight from one leg to another."
Easy for Meryl to say. She was more graceful on the roller skates than she was on her own two feet. Hell, she was skating backwards as Knives gripped the wall for dear life. His feet were not doing whatever he was supposed to be doing.
"Permission to touch? It might help to get you more in the right position. I'll go right behind you."
Knives grumbled and nodded. "Fine. You can touch."
Meryl maneuvered herself behind him and fixed his posture, made him stand a little more upright. She was all over his back and waist. It was uncomfortable, but from his position he could see her feet more clearly. "Focus on shifting your weight from one foot to another. When you're ready, you can point your toes more out. That's how you propel yourself."
What she was saying did work. It was ridiculous, but somehow those motions propelled Knives forward.
"There you go!" Meryl let go of Knives. "I'm going to do a few laps real quick, you be safe."
With that Meryl sped off, gaining speed like nothing Knives had ever seen. She was really good. Knives also noticed Vash and Milly talking to each other on the other sides of the rink, skating much slower but still in control. Why was everyone so much better at this than Knives? Staring ahead, he realized he didn't really know how to stop and crashed into the wall at the far end. At least it didn't hurt too much.
Getting up was hard, but he managed to get up before Meryl came to his rescue and almost got through the corner before she slid up to him. "Hey, you took that hit like a champ. You can do this, Knives."
"I can't believe everyone is better than me."
"Everyone else has skated a few times before. You'll get there, well, maybe not as good as me, but as good as Vash and Milly pretty quickly."
"You do this often?"
"We've done this a few times. We-" her voice trailed off. "It's- It's been awhile." Her eyes drooped too.
Knives knew better than to pry into that. "I'll be better than you humans soon."
She snorted, "Sure you will, Millions Accidents. You'll get better, but not in one afternoon."
Knives wasn't quite good enough to catch up to Vash and Milly. He tripped over his feet and caught himself often enough. He was getting faster and didn't crash into another wall from not being able to turn. After a few laps he was feeling really good about himself.
A small child who was skating far faster and better than Knives darted in front of him, in an effort to stop, Knives pushed his skates together like he's seen Meryl do. Vash would give him an earful if he crashed into a kid, no matter how much it was not Knives' fault.
Wrong move.
Knives was next aware of his face hurting immensely. No problem. He was a plant he could just… Fuck. He didn't have powers anymore. This hurt a lot. Knives clutched his chin and curled up on the floor. He was the great Millions Knives. He wasn't going to bleed out on a roller skating rink right? That would be a horrible way to go for anyone, but especially someone as strong as him.
There were hands touching him and he wanted to bite them but the tears welling up in his eyes were too much. He couldn't really fight it. There was a buzzing in his ears. Something was happening. Knives was standing and being moved off the rink. Of course. They needed to take the body off the rink, even though he was still here. Knives could feel his whole body shaking and he wanted to throw up. Hands were pushing away his hands from his chin. No!
There was a hand wiping away his tears and Knives saw Vash in front of him with Meryl and Milly on the sides. "You need to move your hands so I can stop the bleeding."
Knives let out a sob and removed his hands just in time to roll on his side and vomit a grand total of nothing onto the floor. It left him gasping and far too much blood falling off his face.
"It's gonna need stitches. Kni, I'm gonna have Meryl hold your head still because I know you can't stay still when I stitch you up."
Stitches? He felt Meryl hold him. She looked apologetic. He hated the feeling of people touching him and there were hands everywhere. His face. His legs. His arms. Vash was right though, as the needle went in he flinched as much as Meryl let him, which was very little goven what had to have been her grip on his face. Her fingertips were jammed into his cheekbones and nearly covering his sight. Meryl was saying something. He wasn't sure. It hurt. Everything hurt so much. It was never going to stop hurting. He was the great Millions Knives, defeated by a mere child at a fun activity. So much for trying to not hurt anyone. Look where it got Knives! Being held down and getting stitches!
"There." Knives felt the sting of antiseptic on his chin before the hands on his face disappeared. "All done! You should take a break though." Knives nodded. After all that, he did not want to get back on the roller skates anyways. His feet were light. Oh, someone already pulled the skates off him.
Milly showed up with Knives shoes he arrived in. "Here, I know it's not much."
Knives accepting the shoes with a grumble. "Thanks, I guess. It's your guys fault I'm here." That was the closest to kind Knives was going to get tonight.
Milly went back out skating, but Meryl and Vash stayed behind. "I'm sorry, I just, you're always in the house. I thought it would be nice to get you out of it for a day."
Knives didn't respond to that. Vash could stew in his guilt for a little while.
"I should have paid more attention to you. You were just doing so well, I thought you were fine."
Of course Meryl would say that. She was perfect at this. She skated more naturally than walking.
"You know, it wasn't my first time, but I did wreck myself like that once. I was skating home after my practice and I broke my wrist. I had to go to a hospital and get someone to call my parents when I was there. I was stuck in a cast for 6 weeks." Meryl laughed a bit telling the story.
"You got hurt?" That was hard to imagine with how good she was.
"Yeah. I got back to it once I was cleared by the doctor. My wrist still makes a clicking sound when I bend it, see." Meryl demonstrated and while it was faint, Knives could hear it clicking. She seemed far more stoked about the story than she should have. She was severely injured for awhile.
"I see."
"Yeah, you know these things happen sometimes. I hope you had fun."
Knives did have fun. Not that he would admit it. "It was alright, at least until I fell."
Meryl and Vash exchanged a look. Knives wasn't sure what passed between them but Vash went back out on the floor leaving Knives with Meryl.
"So…" Knives started.
"Yeah?"
"You just gonna stay here and not have any fun?"
"I had some fun. You deserve company while the two idiots catch up."
Knives nodded and looked out at them just in time to watch Vash crash into a wall and then turn around and be fine. He and Milly did look like they were having fun. "You don't have to, you know. I don't need company."
"Well you're getting it anyways."
Knives rolled his eyes and watched Vash and Milly more intently. They looked like they were having so much fun together. Meryl was quiet for awhile.
"You seem to be happier."
"If I have to be around I want to enjoy myself." Knives wasn't really enjoying himself most of the time, but acting more annoyed than he actually felt was very useful.
"Good. I was worried Vash wouldn't rub off on you."
Knives grumbled and rolled his eyes. "What's your point?"
"I'm not sure."
"You've thought so much about this, huh?" Knives raised an eyebrow at Meryl.
"Oh cut me some slack. It's not like I don't remember you trying to kill all of humanity not even a year ago."
"I don't regret it. My sisters deserve to be free."
"Your actions killed so many of them."
"Do we have to talk about this now?"
Meryl went silent for a moment. "I guess, I just don't get it. Why you did something so destructive."
"Now's not the time for this." Knives paused. "At the house sometime, I can tell you. Not here, not with so many Humans around."
Meryl nodded. "I can live with that."
"You better not write an article about it, I know you and Milly are making that show about Vash. I don't want any part in it."
"I would never!" Meryl waved her hand in front of her face. "You're a private man, I respect your wishes. This is for my personal curiosity."
"Sure."
Vash rolled up next to them. "Alright, you go have fun. I'll keep my brother occupied for awhile."
Meryl got up and started her rolling around really fast. Now alone, Milly was going a bit faster around too. The kid that tripped up Knives was nowhere to be seen.
"Nice job running into the wall."
Vash started to turn red, "Hey! You did the same thing."
"Sure sure Mr. Know it all."
~~~
The walk home was difficult for Knives and even worse for Vash. He complained most of the way home about how much his legs hurt, the poor princess.
"It's your fault."
"You think I don't know that?" He whined.
"I will make you your food like always. You will be fine."
"Thank you."
It was incredible that Knives lost to his Brother. Still, nobody he'd rather be beaten by than Vash. If he hadn't, none of this would have happened. Knives never would have met Meryl. That was a blessing in itself.