[ When Vash feels some of the weight shifted onto him... He straightens up in order to support that weight, even though he gives Wolfwood's shoulder one little jostle before doing so—a small "you're being a little shit but I'm not going to reprimand you" jostle. ]
They can be, but this is your special reward, remember? If you want noodles, then you'll get noodles.
[ Don't just settle for fried rice even though fried rice is delicious, too.
They make it to the closest outpost, not too far from the town... Where they can clearly see the moons and the stars, also worms. ]
[ FRIED RICE DELICIOUS, sometimes a bit of a handful to make. Always a good Sunday lunch to have. ]
Fine. Your offer.
[ He'll let off after that and the jostle, sliding his weight off of Vash and trailing his hand back over his shoulders, down his arm -- back near his hand to retake it.
Wolfwood looks at worms. Wowie. ]
Seein' bigger and bigger worms every week.
[ Who is feeding you fellas. He glances up at the skies afterwards. The UG was nice in its own special ways, but if he had to choose one thing to not miss, it was the constant smell of gasoline and asphalt. Arid and dusty though it may be, when the air is good, it's crisp here. The fifth moon still shines bright despite her little booboo. ]
[ Much handhold. Vash gently takes Wolfwood's hand, cherishing it like it's a precious treasure which is funny considering how large, rugged, and calloused this hand is. Slowly, he leads him to a bench that's conveniently here.
They can just take in nature that's untouched by mankind. It's desert. Worms. Stars. And the multiple moons. Vash is fixated on the fifth moon and the hole, finding his shoulders become heavy, but becomes distracted by topic and looks at the worm cloud.
Look at all of them glow in the night!! Their version of northern lights. ]
Even with some poaching, the worm population is pretty healthy.
[ You love this brute and his hands. Unfortunately for you.
It's fine, natural disasters happen frequently and nature always heals. Rocks don't really heal but moons are known for being cratered and all that. ]
We ain't makin' a dent in that, Zazie told me plenty.
[ Zazie was a freak and he didn't like them any better than the rest of the Gung-ho Guns, but Zazie at least didn't have an actual desire or will to actively cause harm to humanity. Typically. They're the native to humanity's encroaching alien. He watches a big one swim through the sand as easily as though it were water, the spikes peeking over the particles, wondering if that little shit is still alive somehow (he was not there to see Zazie last-minute possess some random guy and contact Vash and Livio). ]
You know, I think they appeared before me. Just out of nowhere showed up and gave me the coin, then left.
[ Vash... Only really got to see Zazie when his self-defense mechanism kicked in, so it's a little fuzzy for him. It was just. A lot of guns? Guns pointed at each other between people in that fortress, then he remembers a burst of pain and passing out. If it weren't for Elendira nailing him in the arm, he could have decimated that town, too.
That was some time ago and the memory has him squeeze Wolfwood's hand, just a little bit. Listless, his gaze is back on the fifth moon. ]
I never got to tell you that I was able to control my powers...
[ 'After you passed.' Quietly, something he's hesitant to talk about. It is the prime factor of what makes him a monster, after all. ]
...Gave it up, huh? Guess the worms got scared about sidin' with Knives.
[ Zazie's little teenage boy disguise... that was then abandoned for some lady and then some other guy they I guess found at a dance club or something. They were always clear about their stance, though -- not exactly hating humanity, or finding them particularly below them like most of the group. Total neutrality and survival. Wolfwood didn't like that freak any more than the others, but he hated them less than some.
He's quiet as his hand is squeezed. He knows it's sensitive, of course. He felt the raw fear and oppressive power in the air in Colnago, the Hornfreak's warning words. He's nothing in comparison, not even with everything he has. He can't ignore the swell in his throat even at just the memories, but he squeezes back. ]
[ Which is better than the first thought that came to mind. It's full of self-criticism, guilt. The second thought is a bit better, simply gratitude, but he believes in what he said more than both impulses. It feels right... And Wolfwood is here to stay—he wants him to stay. Trust, faith, and acceptance.
There's a playful little rattle of this joined hands as he scoots closer to Wolfwood on this decrepit bench. ]
... When I was fashioning my power in a way I could control it, I hoped you were watching.
[ That Wolfwood was proud of him. It's a silly thing to feel, Vash thinks, especially when this isn't the same Wolfwood.
[ He's frankly fought too hard to change his mind at this point. Vash isn't human, and that will never stop being at least a little terrifying to him, but so the same whenever he remembers those traits about himself. It's been made far too clear to him that Vash would never hurt him, and frankly, Wolfwood would let him regardless. At the least, might depend on his mood, really. ]
I was.
[ Kind of a lie, kind of not. He watched Vash practice a different kind of power in the UG, which he did certainly see, and also yell at him a lot about. It's not the same as angel's feathers around his body like guarding wings, but what else is he to say -- that he didn't? If he was there to find out if Heaven or Hell were real, he would've liked to try to see how the journey closed.
Wolfwood glances sidelong at him on the bench, Punisher rested across the backrest. He isn't really sure how to ask though, black hair and what he'd been told haunting him, unsure if even small uses would eat away at however much there is of Vash's reserves. ]
[ Stop being gay in a self-destructive way, homosexual. The answer Wolfwood says that, Vash's expression instantly flickers to confusion. It goes against the timeline logic, but the more Vash thinks about and the more absurd and funny it is. He supposes he did try in the Underground, even though he was uncomfortable with it.
Tilting his head, his lips quibble into deciding to frown or smile in bewilderment. He thinks it's funny, yet comforting... Sweet. And he just leans into Wolfwood with a little bonk of his head. ]
Still worried about me? [ Hehehe. ] All's good, I promise! Is there something I have to do or say to get you to believe me?
[ It's not about self-destructiveness!! Usually. As long as his mental perception doesn't get back into that mindset again, which fortunately does feel like it'll be rarer now that they're out of hot water. Unfortunately he trusts Vash with his whole stupid life and soul.
Stop just because he lets Vash have most of his honestly doesn't mean he's not going to white lie or mince words occasionally, he's nicer than he comes off. More realist than Vash, but not above this. ]
With the way you sigh, knowingly, right before you walk right into an argument where there's obviously a loaded gun? Yeah.
[ That has nothing to do with the topic, but he's deflecting by making it general. He is suffering (lite) thinking about how in the end, he's still Vash's babysitter somewhat, but for himself now. ]
[ Vash is just here, snuggling with Wolfwood's arm, thinking he's very adorable despite his appearance. He pouts a little, eyebrows knitted into a childish scowl as his cheek stays firmly pressed against the point of Wolfwood's shoulder. ]
How is that relevant?
[ He's alive, isn't he? And he believed he would have been able to dodge any bullet they shot at him. Okay. Maybe he could have gotten shot once, but not more than that. The Gung-Ho Guns were the closest to giving him real trouble. Even then, they wouldn't be able to stand as his equal. They were still scary though, walking death wishes in their own right. In the end, not as scary as him! One of the two biggest death wishes in No Man's Land! Or... Was.
...
How is he supposed to show him? This is "I want you to want to exist" conversation all over again. Vash wracks his soupy brain for something, squinting once he lands on something. ]
... I'd place your hand over my heart, but my grate would be in the way.
[ You win some you lose some. Wolfwood knows this dumbass water bottle would take a bullet for a civilian. ]
It was about you talkin' about your powers.
[ He knows the idiot's alive, and although he's still tentative, he's taking Vash's word for it that he's still healthy, that his black hair doesn't mean he's now frail and death encroaches. He wouldn't lie to Wolfwood like that, not after making him promise to find him -- in a sense, live for him. He reaches over and prods Vash in the chest where the grate is. ]
It's about here, isn't it. Feel it diggin' into me sometimes. [ METAL. Funnier thinking his default outfit is weird almost skintight leather when he's got all these bolts and stuff in him. ] Your heart's closer to center than that, isn't it?
[ Unless plant physiology is like 'my heart is in fact behind my jailed nipple'. He looks at Vash like. Is it?? ]
[ He's just wearing a slightly oversized dress shirt, so it's very easy to feel the grate past the linen cotton blend. It's metal! It's clingy clangy metal! ANd it is funny... Being made up of mostly metal, he layers up with an undersuit under a bulletproof trench coat.
How does he survive, I don't know. But he does. As Wolfwood keeps prodding, Vash looks down and simply watches. ]
It is, but the grate does take up a good portion of my chest and edges the area, so...
[ Wolfwood may find a pulse if he presses here and there, beating at a normal rate. ]
[ What is it even protecting anyway, he really has that thing just because. Wolfwood gives up the prodding around early anyway, slouching and letting his weight sag back onto Vash instead with his head leaning a bit on top of the other's. ]
There's other things than a pulse to go by. And it ain't the only place you can feel one.
[ The wrist, the neck, even if he put his ear to Vash's back instead of his front. It doesn't have to be from the front. ]
Those places would be awkward to demonstrate with—[ Considering their position and how Vash's hands being occupied with holding Wolfwood's and clinging to his arm.
But he instantly shuts up when Wolfwood rests his head a bit on his. Quietly, he squares up to make sure he can support him. ]
I wasn't sayin' I was gonna go and do it, I was just making a point.
[ Having your wounds doesn't mean you don't still have a heartbeat, etc. He just grunts a little as he feels Vash adjust a little bit, a small response of acknowledgment. ]
[ Suddenly, he's nervous. Why is he nervous?! He knows Wolfwood was scared of him before—he knew most humans would be. Even members of his colony family found him freaky. None of that escaped him, but they accepted him, anyway... Sometimes, he wondered why, but also indulged in their kindness.
SO WHY IS HE NERVOUS. CALM DOWN. Maybe he wouldn't be as nervous if there wasn't the smallest fear that love will be taken away... And Wolfwood's in particular is a different kind of love. He reassures himself that it won't change. ]
You don't need to ask if you don't want to. It's fine.
[ He makes another grumbled noise of acknowledgment, even if he's internally like so why'd you make it sound like you could still do stuff? Is his nervousness palpable. Either in aura or physical tension. He's right here he'd be able to tell.
Either way, he's slightly annoyed at the rapid backtracking. Wolfwood rarely, if ever, does anything outside of his comfort zone (since his entire life is already basically outside his comfort zone, why add to it), so he wouldn't be asking if he wasn't A, committed to trying to learn everything he can proper after so many months of avoidance and lying, and B, if he wasn't at least a little curious.
He just socks Vash in the thigh, grinding his knuckles into the meat of it. Lightly. ]
I don't ask questions that I don't want to hear answers to.
[ He didn't imply that!! He just wanted to touch on it because... It had been a topic that he avoided for so long, likewise Wolfwood had to leave it untouched. Those plant powers are gone now, but he still wanted to tell Wolfwood what he was able to do—that he progressed. Made it his own.
I'm sure that Wolfwood can tell there's tension, even if it's contained, though it unwinds with the punch to his thigh. After he winds up tighter from surprise and lets out a yelp, of course. ]
Plants draw in energy... That's how they procure resources. In comparison, I expel and neutralize energy—think black hole? [ Wait. That's scary. ] But! When I still had power and could control it, I learned how to decrease the scale and hone precision. When some bandits were getting rowdy in the city while we were preparing to tackle the ark, I swallowed up one of the guns.
[ He's unsure if this is... Cool, but at least it isn't destructive like Wolfwood has seen! ]
[ That's sad. It's kind of a complicated feeling, somewhere there between not wanting to see out of fear of the unknown, and having wanted to see in a way that's better, understand those feathers that are burned into his memory somewhat like a halo. He doesn't know shit fuck all enough about black holes go understand this other analogy. ]
Where'd it go?
[ You swallowed up a GUN?? How does that work. He's just here still leaned against Vash, his fist also still on his thigh though no longer with pressure. ]
[ He's been just looking at the horizon. Unfortunately when he feels Vash stiffen again, his expression automatically shifts to being closed and hard to read, just an automatic response and defense just in case, but he doesn't move off. ]
...
[ That's wild. Wacky, even. His eyes glance down to where he was bullying Vash's thigh earlier, trying to comprehend this a little, but it's the same as usual. It's out of his scope, far beyond him. But he can be certain of just one thing, and that thing is that if anyone was going to have that sort of power, thank God that it was Vash. ]
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They can be, but this is your special reward, remember? If you want noodles, then you'll get noodles.
[ Don't just settle for fried rice even though fried rice is delicious, too.
They make it to the closest outpost, not too far from the town... Where they can clearly see the moons and the stars, also worms. ]
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Fine. Your offer.
[ He'll let off after that and the jostle, sliding his weight off of Vash and trailing his hand back over his shoulders, down his arm -- back near his hand to retake it.
Wolfwood looks at worms. Wowie. ]
Seein' bigger and bigger worms every week.
[ Who is feeding you fellas. He glances up at the skies afterwards. The UG was nice in its own special ways, but if he had to choose one thing to not miss, it was the constant smell of gasoline and asphalt. Arid and dusty though it may be, when the air is good, it's crisp here. The fifth moon still shines bright despite her little booboo. ]
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They can just take in nature that's untouched by mankind. It's desert. Worms. Stars. And the multiple moons. Vash is fixated on the fifth moon and the hole, finding his shoulders become heavy, but becomes distracted by topic and looks at the worm cloud.
Look at all of them glow in the night!! Their version of northern lights. ]
Even with some poaching, the worm population is pretty healthy.
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It's fine, natural disasters happen frequently and nature always heals. Rocks don't really heal but moons are known for being cratered and all that. ]
We ain't makin' a dent in that, Zazie told me plenty.
[ Zazie was a freak and he didn't like them any better than the rest of the Gung-ho Guns, but Zazie at least didn't have an actual desire or will to actively cause harm to humanity. Typically. They're the native to humanity's encroaching alien. He watches a big one swim through the sand as easily as though it were water, the spikes peeking over the particles, wondering if that little shit is still alive somehow (he was not there to see Zazie last-minute possess some random guy and contact Vash and Livio). ]
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[ Vash... Only really got to see Zazie when his self-defense mechanism kicked in, so it's a little fuzzy for him. It was just. A lot of guns? Guns pointed at each other between people in that fortress, then he remembers a burst of pain and passing out. If it weren't for Elendira nailing him in the arm, he could have decimated that town, too.
That was some time ago and the memory has him squeeze Wolfwood's hand, just a little bit. Listless, his gaze is back on the fifth moon. ]
I never got to tell you that I was able to control my powers...
[ 'After you passed.' Quietly, something he's hesitant to talk about. It is the prime factor of what makes him a monster, after all. ]
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[ Zazie's little teenage boy disguise... that was then abandoned for some lady and then some other guy they I guess found at a dance club or something. They were always clear about their stance, though -- not exactly hating humanity, or finding them particularly below them like most of the group. Total neutrality and survival. Wolfwood didn't like that freak any more than the others, but he hated them less than some.
He's quiet as his hand is squeezed. He knows it's sensitive, of course. He felt the raw fear and oppressive power in the air in Colnago, the Hornfreak's warning words. He's nothing in comparison, not even with everything he has. He can't ignore the swell in his throat even at just the memories, but he squeezes back. ]
I ain't changin' my mind.
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[ Which is better than the first thought that came to mind. It's full of self-criticism, guilt. The second thought is a bit better, simply gratitude, but he believes in what he said more than both impulses. It feels right... And Wolfwood is here to stay—he wants him to stay. Trust, faith, and acceptance.
There's a playful little rattle of this joined hands as he scoots closer to Wolfwood on this decrepit bench. ]
... When I was fashioning my power in a way I could control it, I hoped you were watching.
[ That Wolfwood was proud of him. It's a silly thing to feel, Vash thinks, especially when this isn't the same Wolfwood.
He shares, anyway. ]
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I was.
[ Kind of a lie, kind of not. He watched Vash practice a different kind of power in the UG, which he did certainly see, and also yell at him a lot about. It's not the same as angel's feathers around his body like guarding wings, but what else is he to say -- that he didn't? If he was there to find out if Heaven or Hell were real, he would've liked to try to see how the journey closed.
Wolfwood glances sidelong at him on the bench, Punisher rested across the backrest. He isn't really sure how to ask though, black hair and what he'd been told haunting him, unsure if even small uses would eat away at however much there is of Vash's reserves. ]
All lookin' good?
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Tilting his head, his lips quibble into deciding to frown or smile in bewilderment. He thinks it's funny, yet comforting... Sweet. And he just leans into Wolfwood with a little bonk of his head. ]
Still worried about me? [ Hehehe. ] All's good, I promise! Is there something I have to do or say to get you to believe me?
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Stop just because he lets Vash have most of his honestly doesn't mean he's not going to white lie or mince words occasionally, he's nicer than he comes off. More realist than Vash, but not above this. ]
With the way you sigh, knowingly, right before you walk right into an argument where there's obviously a loaded gun? Yeah.
[ That has nothing to do with the topic, but he's deflecting by making it general. He is suffering (lite) thinking about how in the end, he's still Vash's babysitter somewhat, but for himself now. ]
They say seein' is believin'.
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How is that relevant?
[ He's alive, isn't he? And he believed he would have been able to dodge any bullet they shot at him. Okay. Maybe he could have gotten shot once, but not more than that. The Gung-Ho Guns were the closest to giving him real trouble. Even then, they wouldn't be able to stand as his equal. They were still scary though, walking death wishes in their own right. In the end, not as scary as him! One of the two biggest death wishes in No Man's Land! Or... Was.
...
How is he supposed to show him? This is "I want you to want to exist" conversation all over again. Vash wracks his soupy brain for something, squinting once he lands on something. ]
... I'd place your hand over my heart, but my grate would be in the way.
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It was about you talkin' about your powers.
[ He knows the idiot's alive, and although he's still tentative, he's taking Vash's word for it that he's still healthy, that his black hair doesn't mean he's now frail and death encroaches. He wouldn't lie to Wolfwood like that, not after making him promise to find him -- in a sense, live for him. He reaches over and prods Vash in the chest where the grate is. ]
It's about here, isn't it. Feel it diggin' into me sometimes. [ METAL. Funnier thinking his default outfit is weird almost skintight leather when he's got all these bolts and stuff in him. ] Your heart's closer to center than that, isn't it?
[ Unless plant physiology is like 'my heart is in fact behind my jailed nipple'. He looks at Vash like. Is it?? ]
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How does he survive, I don't know. But he does. As Wolfwood keeps prodding, Vash looks down and simply watches. ]
It is, but the grate does take up a good portion of my chest and edges the area, so...
[ Wolfwood may find a pulse if he presses here and there, beating at a normal rate. ]
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There's other things than a pulse to go by. And it ain't the only place you can feel one.
[ The wrist, the neck, even if he put his ear to Vash's back instead of his front. It doesn't have to be from the front. ]
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But he instantly shuts up when Wolfwood rests his head a bit on his. Quietly, he squares up to make sure he can support him. ]
... Point is I'm okay.
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[ Having your wounds doesn't mean you don't still have a heartbeat, etc. He just grunts a little as he feels Vash adjust a little bit, a small response of acknowledgment. ]
So what kinda stuff can you do?
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[ Suddenly, he's nervous. Why is he nervous?! He knows Wolfwood was scared of him before—he knew most humans would be. Even members of his colony family found him freaky. None of that escaped him, but they accepted him, anyway... Sometimes, he wondered why, but also indulged in their kindness.
SO WHY IS HE NERVOUS. CALM DOWN. Maybe he wouldn't be as nervous if there wasn't the smallest fear that love will be taken away... And Wolfwood's in particular is a different kind of love. He reassures himself that it won't change. ]
You don't need to ask if you don't want to. It's fine.
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Either way, he's slightly annoyed at the rapid backtracking. Wolfwood rarely, if ever, does anything outside of his comfort zone (since his entire life is already basically outside his comfort zone, why add to it), so he wouldn't be asking if he wasn't A, committed to trying to learn everything he can proper after so many months of avoidance and lying, and B, if he wasn't at least a little curious.
He just socks Vash in the thigh, grinding his knuckles into the meat of it. Lightly. ]
I don't ask questions that I don't want to hear answers to.
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I'm sure that Wolfwood can tell there's tension, even if it's contained, though it unwinds with the punch to his thigh. After he winds up tighter from surprise and lets out a yelp, of course. ]
Plants draw in energy... That's how they procure resources. In comparison, I expel and neutralize energy—think black hole? [ Wait. That's scary. ] But! When I still had power and could control it, I learned how to decrease the scale and hone precision. When some bandits were getting rowdy in the city while we were preparing to tackle the ark, I swallowed up one of the guns.
[ He's unsure if this is... Cool, but at least it isn't destructive like Wolfwood has seen! ]
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Where'd it go?
[ You swallowed up a GUN?? How does that work. He's just here still leaned against Vash, his fist also still on his thigh though no longer with pressure. ]
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... Out of existence...?
[ His eyes shift to try to see Wolfwood's expression, even though he would be able to feel if Wolfwood were to add distance between them. ]
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...
[ That's wild. Wacky, even. His eyes glance down to where he was bullying Vash's thigh earlier, trying to comprehend this a little, but it's the same as usual. It's out of his scope, far beyond him. But he can be certain of just one thing, and that thing is that if anyone was going to have that sort of power, thank God that it was Vash. ]
Crazy.
[ Innit. That's pretty objectively true. Gun... reduced to atoms... ]
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... Without a warning, he reaches up to pinch his nose. ]
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What?!
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[ Pinch pinch. ]
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