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"Hey, Meryl. Look at them." Wolfwood pointed at Vash and Knives who were both laughing.
"What is it?" She raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, what is it Wolfwood?" Vash looked up.
"You both have the same smile."
"Oh my gosh he's right." Meryl gave her own smile looking at them as Vash and Knives were equally stumped.
"What's wrong with my smile?" Vash looked so sad.
"Nothing's wrong with it. They're just being weird about it for nothing." Knives rolled his eyes. "You lot are insufferable. I am going back inside."
"No wait, Knives please." Vash grabbed his hand, "We need to go on the road trip together."
"Do you want someone to get stabbed?"
"It'll be fun. Plus you can't summon your weapons anymore."
"I am fully capable of buying my own weapons."
"Nuh uh! You don't have any money!"
Knives crossed his arms and turned away, irritated that Vash was correct and he didn't have an argument set up to win this time.
"Anyways we do need to get going if we're going to make it to our hotel on time. I mean we even managed to reserve a big room for all of us this time. Come on!" Meryl started dragging Wolfwood and Vash with her to the car.
Knives grumbled but did follow, getting into the backseat and leaning against the door to keep himself as far away from touching the others as possible. He did like Vash but Knives did have limits to how much physical contact he could handle.
Vash and Wolfwood were cuddled up on the other side of the backseat and Meryl was taking the first shift driving. Between the five of them, only Meryl, and Wolfwood could reliably drive. Milly could drive but mixed up directions when receiving them so often it was hard to rely on her. As for Vash, he just couldn't drive and Knives had never bothered to learn. It hadn't even been relevant until now. He always had someone to drive him around, not to mention that Legato had learned so when he didn't want word getting around Legato could take Knives places.
Meryl was a good driver. It took awhile but Knives could feel himself unclenching as she drove. That was good at least. He didn't have to be on edge the entire time. At some point Milly passed a bag of chips to Vash and Wolfwood who started eating them. Some were offered to Knives but he denied them. Sure, he may not have most of his powers anymore, but that didn't mean he needed to eat. He was still just fine without it. Knives was being dragged along this trip against his will, he was going to retain some dignity.
The sounds of chewing irritated him greatly, but he had to live with it. His human companions needed to eat. Knives stared out the window. He could see a worm jumping out of the sand before falling back in it. He wondered how Zazie was doing. The last time he had seen them, they had tried to kill him. That was awhile ago now. Who knows how long until he would see them again. Maybe never, after all, Zazie chose their hosts at their own disposal. They could chose to not show up again until Knives was dead. That was an interesting thought. Knives found he didn't really care one way or another if he ever saw that bugger again.
Knives turned as Vash started to snore. Wolfwood had moved his hand over Vash somewhat protectively as Vash slept. Knives knew they were close, but that was new. Strange affection to see. Knives had done that for Vash once. Back when they first made it onto the planet and were stuck together at the hip. Even before then, on the ship, the two had frequently snuggled together and fallen asleep on each other. Knives went back to staring out the window. It hut less than seeing how the distance between himself and Vash had grown. Vash could have his stupid humans. In the end the only person who could match his lifespan was himself, Vash and Knives would get close like than again one day. He had waited over a 150 years, he could wait another 80 for these humans to die.
The car stopped and Knives realized they were in a town and it was time to refuel. Meryl shooed everyone out of the car. Apparently it was just a pit stop for some food and snacks before their actual hotel town a few hours away.
Knives followed the group a little behind them. Vash and Milly were joking now while Wolfwood and Meryl analyzed the food options and debated them together.
"Milly likes spicy food, she'd probably enjoy these." Meryl was showing a bag to Wolfwood.
"Those are horrifying. Vash would probably try to eat them for fun and then hurt himself."
Meryl snorted, "Yeah I could see him doing that. Maybe not then."
Knives had no opinion on food. He didn't understand what Milly and Vash were talking about either. In theory it was english. In reality it didn't sound like any language Knives had ever heard spoken. He knew a little Spanish and French thanks to the ship, but this was entirely new. Some sort of Jargon that Vash had picked up from the locals and Knives just hadn't.
"Knives, what kind of snacks do you like?" Meryl pulled Knives into her conversation.
"I don't eat."
"Well, you look like you're starving yourself. You should try learning to eat more."
Knives rolled his eyes but did walk over enough to see what her and Wolfwood had picked up.
"These are easy if you're learning to eat." Wolfwood showed a bag of, were those potato chips? "Easy on the stomach and not strongly flavored. There's other things but this is a decent place to start."
Knives crinkled his nose. "You can't convince me to eat. I don't need to, it's a waste of your money."
"Wolfwood's right. Those are a good place to start. You have no meat on your bones Knives. You're going to get knocked over by a strong wind if you keep this up."
Knives rolled his eyes. "I'm not going to eat. I don;t care and it's expensive. Do you want to waste your money on me?"
"Yes." Both of them said at the same time.
Knives grumbled but he clearly couldn't fight these two on this. Whatever. They couldn't force him to eat if he didn't want to. No matter how 'easy on the stomach' it was. Sure, he had noticed he was paler than everyone else and that his cheeks had gotten more sullen since his hair turned fully black, but he didn't feel hungry. He never felt hungry, and he wasn't dying. At least not anymore than his hair suggested.
There were suggestions on where to go for lunch and everyone settled on a little sandwich place. Knives didn't want to order anything and finally just settled on getting a side to look like he was busy with. He took the same type of chips Wolfwood had mentioned earlier. Someone was going to like them even if Knives himself didn't eat them.
Milly and Vash both got spicy sauce on theirs and Milly seemed very pleased with it. She was smiling and holding up a conversation. Vash on the other hand was quietly sobbing into his sandwich even as he ate more. His entire face was bright red and yet he didn't stop. The dedication was impressive, yet stupid nonetheless. Knives sat with his empty chip bag.
Wolfwood nudged him. "Do you like it?"
"I don't want to eat them." The texture of the chip in his fingers was bad enough. Knives barely wanted to hold it, let alone put it in his mouth. His skin felt strange and parched against it.
"Just try one. You don't have any experience to say if you like it or not."
Knives rolled his eyes.
"You know, if you don;t eat, I promise there will be a bird that will lift your frail body up and you'll die early."
Knives didn't want to eat, but the visual of the world dropping away and nobody being able to do anything about it was worse. "Fine." Knives lifted the chip to his mouth and placed it on his tongue. It wasn't as bad as he'd thought. Knives chewed it experimentally. The crunch was quite satisfying. Knives could feel a short rumble as he swallowed it. Strange, but not all that unpleasant.
"You like it huh?" Wolfwood had the smuggest look on his face and Knives instantly put his hand on Wolfwood's face.
"Fuck. You."
Wolfwood licked Knives hand and he yanked it away. "Gross! What are you, a child?"
Wolfwood looked even more smug. "Chronologically? Probably."
Knives was finding himself speechless more often than ever before. He did not like that very much. Not like there was anything he could do about it though. Maybe he should consider more options for conversations in the future.
Meryl and Milly were being far too sweet and nice to each other for Knives' liking. They were so whipped for each other. The overlay of everyone's chewing, Vash's sobs into his sandwich and Meryl and Milly constantly complimenting each other was all getting too much for him.
"I'm heading outside for a bit. I will be back." Knives stood up and left. Maybe he should eat more. Then he'd have an excuse to be using the bathroom if he ever needed to step out of a situation. There may be benefits to eating. It wasn't until he was outside he realized he brought the small chip bag with him. Knives walked around the corner and leaned against the building. It was quieter out here. There were still people sounds but it was easier to ignore than everything in there. He took another exploratory taste of potato chip. Not bad.
"Hey, hot stuff. You make a habit of hanging out by yourself~?"
Knives shot a look of disgust towards the woman. "Make your living with someone else. I have no desire to be with-" Knives stopped himself before he said humans. He was undercover after all. "With a woman."
"I have male coworkers if that strikes your fancy darling~"
"No thank you. I'm going to go now." Knives turned and walked away. That's right. He can still just leave. Nobody was entitled to his time or energy. It was like when he had power except he couldn't threaten to kill the people who irritated him.
Knives wandered back to the shop once he no longer felt like running into the desert and abandoning everyone. He had eaten a few more of the chips. They were strange but were also starting to grow on him. Knives did not want to make a habit of eating, but maybe on occasion he could eat something to blend in better as a human.
Vash was the first one to notice and gave Knives a big smile. That one Wolfwood had said they shared. Knives noticed that it was a little too wide, it showed off his teeth - the teeth they both shared. Slightly too pointy and probably unsettling to humans unused to it.
"Nice to see you back, Kni." Vash's eyes were only a little red rimmed now and his sandwich was gone, In fact, everyone but Knives had finished their food. Probably time to move on to the next town then. Whatever town was going to have their rooms.
"You're done eating. We leaving soon?"
Meryl got up, "That's the plan. We want to make it to our hotel before nightfall."
Everyone else made their way up. This time Wolfwood was driving with Vash in the passenger seat and Milly and Meryl in the back with Knives. Meryl was sitting in the middle which Knives found a relief. She didn't talk too much. He could tolerate her better than any other human. Did she trust him? That was a stretch, but she wasn't as wary as Wolfwood and was much lower energy than Milly who seemed to blindly trust most people. She was far too much like Vash. It was impressive a woman that soft could survive in this world. Then again, just like Vash she was strong, and unlike Vash she was willing to kill. That gun she kept on herself proved she was as formidable a warrior as she had to have been to survive the encounters with Vash that she did. Knives could respect that, even if he didn't want to spend too much time talking to her if he could help it.
For the most part Meryl and Milly left him alone, letting Knives stare out the window and think about life. Sometimes he would put a chip in his mouth and just let it disintegrate slowly before swallowing. It was making his mouth full of saliva, something he was not very familiar with. A new sensation he didn't completely hate.
The air held onto moisture, moss dripped down onto the floor, and Knives could feel his body heat leeching into the cold stone. It was a strange place. He wore no clothes, but that never bothered Knives. He found the air hard to breathe, like the moisture it contained was trying to stick his lungs together.
Knives came upon a pool with people in it. Looking in he could see Legato soaking in the pool, relaxing as he appeared to have a conversation with Rem.
"Speak of the devil! Master Knives, it's good to see you." Legato seemed far more carefree than he had ever been around Knives in reality. His smile reflected the one Knives had now recognized in Vash, meaning the kid had inherited it from himself.
"It's good to see you too." Knives turned to the woman, "Rem." He nodded to her. Everything had fallen apart because of her but… maybe, just maybe, that was for the best. He stepped into the water and it was neither warm nor cold. It simply was.
"Master Knives-"
"Knives, time to wake up."
Knives jolted up with a big breath of air. Meryl's hand gripped his shoulder. She had to have been calling his name. When had he falling asleep? When had Knives even last slept? he hadn't felt particularly tired at all. Why now did he fall asleep?
"I'm up." Knives brushed off Meryl's hand from his shoulder and got out of the car. His legs were wobbly, strange but made sense given the long trip. He could give watch while everyone else slept. That would be fine enough. Everyone may not trust him but Knives wasn't going to sleep in a room with a bunch of people he didn't trust.
Knives and Vash were left outside while everyone else went in to discuss room reservations.
"You don't normally sleep."
"I don't." What did Vash mean by bringing this up.
"You're getting more human. Do you think you'll join us for dinner?"
Those two thought seemed completely disjointed and yet Knives knew what Vash meant by that. "I'm not. I will stay in the room. There's too many people out, especially drunks this time of night."
Vash nodded. "I forget sometimes you're not used to people like I am. You need to be socialized more."
Knives rolled his eyes. "I like being alone. The fewer humans around the better."
"Sure." Vash looked like he had more to say, but there was nothing. It was strange being cut off from their sisters and Vash. Normally this close they could communicate with just their thoughts, not anymore. No more words or feelings to push onto the other, only words fro them now. Like humans. Like they were lesser beings than before.
Knives had been a god. He had all the power he wanted at his fingertips. That was gone now. He missed Legato, but had the kid always had that smile, or did he project it onto his memory? Memories were fickle things, subject to change every time you remembered them. Who would know the real answer? Knives had rarely seen Legato smile, and it was only with the two of them in the same room, he didn't do it with others. The kid had been obsessed with Knives and it was useful. Just useful. Knives didn't want to think about how much he had come to love that kid.
Knives looked up to see the door open. "Oh, they got the keys."
"We're on the second floor." Meryl tossed a key to Vash who played hot potato before managing to catch it.
The way it ended up, Knives walked next to Wolfwood this time. "You like the chips?"
"They were edible. Like I said earlier."
"Some of us will have leftovers tonight, you should try different food. You can't just live off of chips."
"Must I impose a limit of one new food a day?" Knives lifted an eyebrow.
"I'm just sayin' you shouldn't be a picky eater."
"I don't even need to eat."
The two of them entered the room. Knives noticed Milly enjoying laying on the bed. The place had air conditioning, that was rare. Outside of his compound, Knives wasn't aware there was anywhere outside of the major cities with air conditioning.
"You're skin and bones, Hundred Spoons. You need to get into the habit of eating."
Knives did not need to get into the habit of eating, but this was an argument he clearly could not win. He wasn't going to waste anymore time on this and instead looked at the rooming arrangement. There were two large beds on the side, good for Meryl and Milly. Knives figured Vash and Wolfwood would share the bed closest to the entrance, but was there a place for Knives to stay? He didn't need a bed of course, but something to lay on would be nice after sitting all day.
There was a couch. Knives could lay on a couch. The other discussed where they wanted to eat and Knives stayed out of it. The room was so quiet. His ears had a ringing in them that hadn't been there for a long time. Today was too loud and much. Having a few hours to himself while everyone else ate was desperately needed.
Thankfully they let Knives stay in the room alone, trusting him not to run off or snoop through their things. Knives was smarter than to do either of those things. He should pick up a hobby, one that would let people leave him alone for long periods of time, but what could he even do? Piano's weren't exactly very portable, and Knives had no interest in stringed instruments, not to mention that the sound would bother others at night. What else could he do?
Knives went through what amenities the hotel provided in the room. Soaps for the humans to wash themselves. A coffee machine with coffee and little sugar packets. There were cabinets with nothing in them, at least until he found a bible. It had been so long since he'd laid his hands on any book, let alone this one. Rem had it, said he could read it if he wanted to. He hadn't understood it much at the time, but still used what little he did to his advantage. Maybe he could try again. Was the bible commonplace or just something random in this one?
Knives could hear his companions outside the door. At bare minimum Milly was drunk, her voice loud and yet it went on and on about nothing much. Knives quickly replaced the bible before he could be found holding it. He didn't feel like talking about it.
They did bring back a few leftovers, but Knives was not interested in trying anything new. The others focused on going to sleep and Knives stripped down to just his pants. He waited until the others fell asleep before daring to pick up the bible again.
Genesis. The beginning. The start. The first thousand years of the earth according to this book. Rem had believed in it, though she hadn't tried to push it onto them, it was still clear in her thoughts. What had it meant to her? Why did she care about what this book had to say?
Knives became engrossed in parsing the Bible, trying to glean what Rem liked from it. He got through Genesis before Wolfwood started to stir and he put it back.
He turned around to see Wolfwood staring at him. There were no words spoken, but it was clear that Knives would be asked about this at a more reasonable hour as Wolfwood used the bathroom and stepped outside to smoke. Knives didn't have to join Wolfwood outside, but he chose to. He'd rather get the questions out before everyone else was up than after.
"What do you want?" Wolfwood passed a withering glance towards Knives.
"You have questions, I may have answers."
"What's with reading the bible? Was your own addition to it not enough?"
"I didn't make that. I'm sure Vash told you about how Rem believed in it." Knives leaned on the railing and stared out. In the distance, thousands of baby worms made a green glow in the sky.
"He doesn't talk about her. I know she raised you both, but that's all."
Strange. Vash had always been her favorite. Those two were almost as inseparable as Knives and Vash had been. "She gave Vash his philosophy. Thou shalt not kill, do unto others and you would have done unto you. You know." Knives paused as Wolfwood let out an awfully long cloud of smoke. "She never tried to push Christianity onto us. She believed, sure, but she wanted us to form our own opinions. She didn't talk about it much, though she owned her own bible she would flip through sometimes when she thought she was alone." What more was there to say? "She cared a lot about Vash. She loved both of us but she favored him, and he hung onto her until the fall." Knives kept his voice level. He didn't care. It didn't matter. Not anymore. It was in the past.
"Hm. Okay." Wolfwood held out an unlit cigarette and Knives declined. "She sounds like a decent mother."
Knives had no response to that. He was thinking about Legato more. He hadn't appreciated him as much as he should have. That boy did so much for him. Sure, he was obsessive and strange but he was also under Knives' care in the first place. Knives had done nothing to help it, if anything the obsession was useful so Knives allowed it to stay. Even if it caused some issues it still overall went fine. Something was welling up deep within Knives and he chose to push it down. There was nothing. He had no regrets. Knives was okay.
Their lunch decision that day was a place that even Meryl and Wolfwood didn't appear to be too happy about. Vash of course had no issue and neither did Meryl, even as he ate spicy food that looked like it could kill someone. Milly of course had hardly any issue. Vash cried his way through the food and still claimed he was enjoying it. Meryl and Wolfwood had elected to buy a few more snacks and got Worm jerky. Knives reluctantly tried it and was surprised. It had a bit of kick unlike the chips. It was also very chewy making it satisfying to chew on a long piece while watching the scenery go past. Not bad.
Things were going great until the afternoon where Vash abruptly opened the door while Wolfwood was driving, and rolled out of the car. When Wolfwood slammed on the breaks and they got back to him they found Vash puking out everything and heaving on the sand. They had to stop for awhile. Knives helped Meryl put on a canopy to at least keep the sun off everyone while Vash struggled to move too much without vomiting again.
Food poisoning.
Milly was fine somehow but she always seemed to be okay. Vash though, there was nothing more Knives could do to help out his brother. That was what he got for eating questionable spicy food of course. Once he emptied his stomach. They started to drive again slowly while Vash heaved into a bag. There wasn't much in the bag but it was still rough to see Vash suffering so much.
At the next hotel they got two rooms. Vash was stuck in the bathroom in the room he shared with Knives and Wolfwood so Wolfwood went into the girls room to shower while Knives held watch to make sure nothing got much more horribly wrong. Vash did stop throwing up, but his entire system was flushing out the other end now which was also terrible.
Wolfwood brought in some crackers and told Vash they were available whenever he next felt up to eating.
They were stuck in that town the entire next day and night. It was rough. Vash was in pain and there wasn't much they could do. The third morning though, Vash was finally out of the bathroom and tentatively eating a singular cracker and drinking water. Good. The next stretch of their trip was going to be a few nights in the desert and they needed to stock up on supplies. Knives was once again left with Vash as the girls and Wolfwood prepared for the trip. There wasn't much needed of Knives, but he didn't want Vash to ask any questions if he saw Knives pick up the bible he had also found in this hotel. Maybe it was common here. That could be something to do. Knives did need a hobby.
"Why do you eat food if it hurts you? It makes no sense."
"I don't normally get food poisoning." Vash looked like he was about to pout. He was never going to grow up. Holding onto those childish ideals, and hurting himself with spicy food, and pouting like a kid. Over a century and Vash refused to mature.
"You eat spicy food that makes you cry."
"It's good! I think it tastes good."
"When you're sobbing into your food? It's good?"
"Yeah." Vash smiled. "It's strange to most people, I know, but I like it. I struggle to cry otherwise, and it helps me feel better if I can force myself to cry with the food."
That was… strangely mature of Vash. "Alright."
Vash drank some water and ate a cracker. "I am starting to feel better too. Not too sick anymore."
"Good. Seeing you jump out of the car was crazy."
"I couldn't throw up in Meryl's car, she'd kill me for that." And Vash was back to pouting. Knives couldn't expect too much of him.
"Alright, Vash."
The humans came back and everyone loaded up into the car. Knives was getting more used to sitting in the car by Meryl now that it was their third day of being in the car together and the fourth day of traveling. He was finally starting to feel himself unclench a little in the car. Not too much of course, but a little nonetheless.
There was still little talking to him which left Knives to his thoughts. Legato was starting to plague him more and more, and the effort to hide whatever was lurking beneath the surface was getting harder and harder to ignore. It had been weeks since Vash and Knives had their last big fight. Months since Knives had last seen Legato alive.
Also there was that dream. Rem and Legato in a wet cave pool talking to each other. What was with that? Did it have meaning? Scientifically, some dreams had meaning linked to what you were thinking about, and some were just meaningless thought salad of random concept being thrown together. Some dreams let you relive what you were doing in the day. This dream was likely the first one, but it was still strange. Not to mention that Knives rarely slept at all, let alone dreampt. He knew it couldn't really have a deeper meaning. Knives still pondered it.
Legato had a scar on his neck, it had faded over the years but the boy had picked at it while it healed until it was always going to be a visible mark on his neck. Knives was never sure if that had been intentional or not. Did the boy forever want a reminder of how Knives had nearly killed him? Or did he simply scratch an itch until the scar was stuck there? Knives was unsure. He hadn't known Legato very well, for all the time that he spent with the boy, Knives knew very little about his inner thoughts and motivations. He was obedient and obsessed with Knives and that had been enough to predict the boy. Knives now wished he knew more about Legato. He had named the boy and he had followed and Legato had deserved more than that.
Knives face hit the window hard as the car swerved. "Worm!" Wolfwood called out as they dodged and picked up speed. It was a massive worm. Knives hadn't seen one that big in years. Could this be Zazie's doing? Knives didn't see them, but that didn't mean that they weren't out there, bothering everyone. The worm didn't follow them, so it might have been Zazie. Maybe they didn't want to bring Knives wrath right now, or maybe they simply wanted to scare everything. Knives had never understood them either. Maybe he should put an effort into knowing Vash's companions since by default they were now his companions too.
The rest of the day was uneventful and they camped out in the desert. It was cold once the sun went down, really cold. Knives wasn't too bothered, neither was Vash. There were many merits to not being human. The humans all bundled up and leaned against each other for warmth. Then Knives noticed Vash was part of it too. He had always acted more human than Knives ever had. Still, now Knives was excluded even more than normal.
Knives kept an eye out, walking around their camp and watching for worms. There were a few in the distance but nothing close. Nothing to worry and wake the others for. The stars were pretty. There weren't as many as there were in space, but nothing could counter the number of stars they could see off the planet. That was a memory that Knives brought up often enough. Looking at the stars when he was supposed to be asleep. All the lights were off and he had climbed into the cockpit to stare out the window. Thousands of stars and even more galaxies with their fuzzy pinpricks of light. It was all so big. He had felt awfully small in that moment. It was beautiful.
The next night Knives did the same, but he made the mistake of thinking of Legato again. Of how the boy had looked right before he died. Knives should have done more to take care of the boy, He should have done something, anything more. It was his fault the boy survived, and he had taken the boy with him. He had raised the boy and did nothing to help or support him in the way he should have been. Sure he was human, but they shared a common goal. If anyone could even rival Knives hatred of humanity t was Legato after all. Legato should still be here. Knives couldn't blame Vash either. Legato had given him no choice but to kill him. And it was all Knives' fault that this happened.
Whatever it was welling up in Knives broke the surface and he doubled over, a huge, ugly sob leaving his mouth. It was almost unreal feeling himself cry. Knives couldn't stop sobbing and yet all he could think about was how ridiculous it was, how the sand was strangely round and uniform in color. What had the dessert been before it had been sandy with the occasional sandstone rock face? What were the tectonics like? How did the sand worms survive with no visible vegetation or a water cycle? These were all highly technical and had nothing to do with the fact Knives was crying on his hands and knees away from the camp his brother and everyone else had made over Legato.
If Legato had been there, he'd keep everyone else away while Knives cried. He would let Knives take it out on his body however Knives desired to take it out in that moment. He would have done so much and now he was gone and it was all because Knives had taken the boy's tasks for granted and let him run around nearly getting himself killed. Knives had changed so much and if he had met Legato now, he could have helped the boy become more adjusted. That was never int he cards for him though. As long as he had Legato he was angry and too shattered to help anyone else. It was only now that he could even mourn the boy. If Knives had won, he never would have mourned Legato;s loss. He never would have realized how much the boy meant to him.
For the first time, Knives realized he regretted what he had done. He was justified, but maybe he should have done things differently. Done things softer. Forced the humans hand a different way. Knives could figure out the specifics later. Vash's morals were too strict, but maybe he could stop the plants exploitation other ways. Find a way to make humans self sufficient without modifying their bodies. He could do that. They were reliant on plants now, but what about agriculture? This planet had an atmosphere. It could hold water. They could change it. It could take centuries, but Knives had the time humans didn't.
Knives wiped his eyes and nose. He would learn from this loss. He could achieve his dreams. Knives could save the plants.
Nobody awoke, nobody noticed Knives tears or he renewed spirit. He accepted the jerky Vash offered him as they were getting close to town. He did like it actually. He even drank a little water. He did need a bit of that He hadn't realized he was thirsty until he started to drink it. Strange. Maybe Knives was getting more human than he thought.
Knives accepted this with more grace than he had expected to be able to that that news with. He was even allowed into the reception when they got their room. They managed to get one large room for cheaper than 2 smaller ones. Knives even got his own bed to lay down on.
While the humans took turns taking a shower, Knives changed into some clothes that weren't covered in sand and helped with the cleaning duties. It was repetitive, difficult work, pushing the clothes along and making sure they got soap. It prevented Knives from thinking too much, especially when he was focused on trying to hear what everyone else had to say. Trying to figure out things about them that he could use later.
"Hey Dozen's clothes. How's the cleaning going?" Wolfwood called out to Knives.
He paused back a snort. "That's not funny. It's going fine."
"If it's not funny why'd you get that face Vash gets when he's suppressing a laugh?"
"I'm not suppressing a laugh. I chose to be called Millions Knives, thank you."
Knives got up. He finished the last one and everything was now clean and slightly wet. Nothing that the night and wearing them during the heat couldn't fix.
Knives was hit straight in the face with a pillow. "What?"
"I challenge you to a pillow fight. Prove your honor." It was ridiculous to hear, especially from Wolfwood.
Knives was not going to back down from a challenge. Especially not from him. Knives picked up the pillow from the floor and threw it as hard as he could at Wolfwood barely missing him. Milly and Vash soon joined in too, Vash falling to the ground as he got whacked in the back of the head with a pillow. Knives too soon found himself struggling to keep his footing as Milly and Wolfwood pelted the two of them with pillows.
"No more, please." Knives held his hands up in defeat.
Vash could not stop laughing, even as he was hit with pillows over and over again. "Mercy! Milly, please. Mercy. You win!"
Hearing those words Milly finally stopped, but Wolfwood got one more good hit at Knives side before he paused.
"You guys seem to be having fun." Meryl stepped out of the bathroom, skin flushed and red from hot water and Knives realized he had never seen her with that little clothing on before. He didn't really care but it was an interesting thing to notice.
"Meryl!" The rest of Knives companions were happy to see her. She was the last one to shower too. Knives wasn't planning on it. He never smelled and his skin didn't feel grimy. No real reason for him to wash himself.
"Let's make a pillow fort instead of hitting each other until we pass out. How's that?"
The other two agree so KNives decided to help. It was weird. KNives wsan't even sure he wanted to be part of it. It seemed cramped and strnage unlike when he was a kid. Meryl was smart about getting blankets wrapped around furtinture but there wasn't much to go off of in the first place. The four of his companions managed to shove themselves into the small fort and Knives was alone again. Just like the night before when everyone had snuggled together and KNives had walked around outside.
Knives may have initially rejected humanity, but now he was too far alienated from them to belong there anymore. Vash belonged because he chose to. Knives however, he was far too prickly and socially inadeqate to participate. He didn't want to squeeze himself in there and be surrounded by all their hot bodies. They were going to cover him in sweat and who knows what else. Knives could not think of many things he'd want to do less, actually.
"You going to join us?" Vash offered his hand to Knives.
"No thank you. You have fun."
Knives sat on his bed and sighed as they went back to focusing on each other. Maybe one day he would be less isolated from everyone else. That wouldn't happen in just a few days though. Knives still needed a hobby. At least he had his goal to work towards. That was something to do. He did need a new plan to achieve Plant freedom. He had time to work on that while everyone else was occupied in their pillow fort.
Maybe this road trip wouldn't be too bad.