asipofbride | IC INBOX [kaisou]

[kni blinks at the offered hand, stiff with uncertainty. if it was vash he'd take it without hesitation, but wolfwood's hands are not his brother's. he can't trust the touch of someone who hated him, even if the reasons were sound enough. reasons kni couldn't argue against if the situations were reversed. that was how he had to look at it if he didn't want the rat's nest of unidentifiable emotions to start tightening around his chest.

in the time it takes for him to stare at wolfwood's hand, when he looks up the giant cross is gone. eyes wide,] Um-

[kni closes his mouth with a snap, quickly deciding against asking. in the end he doesn't take the offer of help and carefully climbs into the side car on his own.]

[ it's the first of many miscommunications, tallied up on an invisible board by an unkind, sardonically amused god.

Wolfwood's mouth twists as he takes Kni's hesitation, his refusal, as a rejection born out of disgust, of displeasure, unable or unwilling to give Kni that much benefit of the doubt. he makes a noise and lowers his hand to the handlebar of his bike, waiting for Kni to be settled in the sidecar as he fishes around in the under seat storage for a moment, pulling out a spare pair of sunglasses and tossing them into the sidecar, trying not to look too stung and mean about Kni's dismissal. ]

Put those on and buckle up. We're gonna hafta stop for gas, and then we'll go to the store.

[it's easier to stay silent, thoughts wrapped up tight and neat without any risk of discovery. vash wasn't here to understand him in their way, leaving kni alone in his own head.

he barely catches the glasses that wolfwood tosses to him, just as he finishes buckling himself in. they looked more a second pair of the ones he had on now, opening the arms to slide on his face. they slide down his nose, a smidge too big for his small face, but he's not going to say anything about that.]

... Okay. [the world is tinted dark, already gloomy from the weather. he pushes up the glasses by the bridge, a futile effort.]

[ look, if Kni wanted bugs in his eyes at forty miles per hour, Kni could have bugs in his eyes at forty miles per hour, but Wolfwood would be... nice. Enough. he reaches down to turn his bike on once he hears the click of the safety belt, sitting back as Angelica purrs to life.

Kni looks ridiculous with the glasses sliding down his nose, and Wolfwood grins. just a little. petty, spiteful man that he is. he gives a wave towards the collection of buttons and knobs in front of Kni, and then he's getting his hands back on Angelica, giving her just enough gas to get her turning. ]

If you wanna find a radio station, help yourself. Spikey gets huffy if I do it while I'm driving.

[kni could swear he sees fangs in that sly grin wolfwood flashes at him, but instead of bucking back with a look of his own, kni focuses that bubble of irritation at the controls in front of him. he reaches out and taps an index finger over the buttons, but pauses.]

'Spikey'?

[surely wolfwood didn't mean his brother. what a stupid nickname, if it was. he gives a small huff, clicking on the radio to toggle through the channels until he lands on one playing vivaldi and decides to stick with that.]

[ in fact, they are fangs and you can thank Bill Conrad for that. dickhead. Wolfwood starts to wheel his girl around, blinking when a sound of incredulity comes from his side, eyes flicking askance to give Kni another look and another beginning of a grin. ]

Spikey. Also Blondie, Needlenoggin', dumbass, and angel if Dante's feeling nice.

[ it is a collection of stupid nicknames, because your brother is stupid, Kni, and that's the quality of work he deserves. Wolfwood blinks at the song that comes humming up over his part of the radio, giving Kni one last look--a 'really', without the word, and then he just shakes his head and starts to pick up the pace, and hey. he'll even pull her out easy and slow instead of hitting the juice and making the pipes rattle like he does with big brother--and then they're on their way up the rural road, chasing through miles of woodland towards the dotted lights of civilization on the horizon as the world wakes up for the day, shoddily paved road giving way to something with a little more finish after twenty minutes, Vivaldi stringing their way as Wolfwood guides them down street after street. ]

[he already has so much to thank conrad for, what was one more thing to add to that list?

kni frowns at the list of nicknames, not because they sounded like elementary insults flung between kids, but by just how many wolfwood had for his brother.]

He likes being called 'angel'?

[a name rem had given them, once upon a time. but kni does a very good job at keeping those memories and the thoughts that conjure them, far, far away.

whatever look wolfwood gives him for his taste in music, kni deftly ignores in favor of watching the scenery. admittedly, it was a little enjoyable riding like this. it beat walking into the city. he looks off to the side, woodlands moving past them in a blur and effortlessly merging into plain fields of green, made even more striking by the abundance of rain.

the last time he'd been in the city had been for that convention of costumed people, but now as the blinking lights and towering buildings steadily grew closer, he felt a pinch of unease. he could agree that the humans who lived here had nothing to do with the suffering back home, but that didn't magically erase the apprehension that cropped up at the thought of spending time around the mixed crowds. he wondered how vash had faired in the beginning, if he had struggled at first, too. maybe not.]

[ Conrad only ever did what Knives wanted; why wouldn't he thank him?

Wolfwood has nicknames for everybody. using people's actual names is for people who can successfully form meaningful connections with other human beings, aka, not Nicholas D. Wolfwood. ]

Sure seems to. Then again, Dante's got this way of talkin' that makes everything feel like a compliment if you aren't careful.

[ as Kni probably experienced at the edge of the river in his soaked hoodie with misery in his guts. there's quiet for a while as the scenery speeds by, the good, green world beautiful and blurred as they race through until it's replaced with the speckled colors of a city of stone and steel. Wolfwood moves them through streets and cars and people until he finally pulls into a gas station, cutting the engine and swinging his leg over so that he can stand up and consider.

usually Vash would go inside to pay for gas and grab snacks, but Kni is... not as socially apt as his brother. at all. ]

So, you wanna watch the bike, or you wanna do the pay run?

Mhm.

[it was becoming increasingly obvious to kni that vash was a beacon for strange and increasingly bizarre individuals, dante included. out in the world, it, unfortunately, made some lick of sense that others would flock to his brother's warm smile and goofy laughter. like moths to a flame that wouldn't burn away their wings no matter how close they came.

another new experience to add to the list: a gas station. kni wrinkles his nose as the smell of gasoline strikes him, straightening when he sees wolfwood move off the bike.

the choices were grim, but he knows which one he'd prefer.]

I'll stay here. [a beat, then] ... and watch the bike. [he didn't know what entailed a pay run and if he was going to learn how to do something new (with a probable chance of failure) he'd rather it be with vash.]

[ Vash is a gentle fire, a beacon of love and peace in the universe that glimmers with a soft, tender hope that everything's gonna be okay if it's allowed to be. Wolfwood hates how easy it feels to believe Vash, to buy into the crap he spouts... and yet here he is.

taking Kni on a grocery run, and not a run out to the deep woods so no one could find the body. Wolfwood gives a nod as Kni makes the obvious decision, getting up with a little stretch as he circles around the bike. ]

If anyone tries to kidnap you, bite them. What kind of drink do you want? Water, juice, soda, flavored water, coffee?

[ it'd be unkind to do the snack run and not offer Kni at least... some modicum of snacks. fluids at least. Plants liked drinks, right? ]

[kni is watching the gas meter tick, leaning forward cheek in hand with an elbow propped against his knee. his eyes flicker to wolfwood, one brow raising. he would think wolfwood would be glad if someone snatched him up here, less to bring back to the cottage.

he gives a small shrug and goes back to watching the numbers slowly inch up.]

Water is fine. [he's never tried... any of those other options, and he'd rather not pick something only to try it and hate it. what a waste of food and money.] ... Just water.

[they probably don't have apple juice, anyway.]

[ of course they have apple juice

what kind of backwoods-ass gas station doesn't have apple juice

Wolfwood gives a shrug at Kni's response and then off he goes to pay for his gas and peruse the store, grabbing a small collection of treats on his way out. on one hand, it would be nice to just release Kni to the world and let him be their problem, and on the other hand, Vash would be so, so sad, so.

the undertake returns with his little white bag and goes about putting the nozzle of the gas pump back where it goes, letting Angelica roll forward into a parking space as he turns towards Kni to better distribute their goods. he's got a bag of plain beef jerky, a bag of pretzels, a three pack of some sweet vanilla confectionery that Vash would've already eaten two and a half of

and a fruit cup, cold to the touch when Wolfwood passes it over to Kni as he fishes out his lemon-flavored water and offers the plain water to Kni. ]

[well, if he had known maybe he'd have changed his request to apple juice.

next time.

kni blinks at the fruit cup now bleeding condensation on his fingers. something he didn't ask for, but was given anyway. he turns it around to peer at the layered sliced fruit, before looking at wolfwood to take the water bottle.]

Is this fruit? [he recognizes some of them from what he's seen in the gardens, but some are a mystery without the outside rind to go off of. he very carefully pops the top off, making sure none of the pieces fall out to pluck a grape out. the water bottle sits between his knees as he chews the fruit slowly.

it isn't as good as what they have in the gardens, but it must not be too bad if he's picking up another to pop into his mouth. idly, he remembers that he forgo breakfast and now with the taste of food on his tongue his stomach is reminding him that, yes, he's a little hungry.

he pauses, staring down into the fruit cup.] ... Thanks.

[ this is the good human planet
they have apple juice here

he cracks open his own bottle of water to get a good drink of lemon-flavored water, humming as he pulls open the package of pretzels, glancing down at Kni when he speaks again. ] Yep. It's not as good as fresh from the cottage, but it's cold an' sweet. We're pickin' up a cooler today so we might be able to store some of our own, but this'll do in a pinch.

[ ... and then Kni thanks him and Wolfwood? doesn't know what to do with that? staring at Kni from behind his sunglasses for a minute, before unfreezing his body to give a casual shrug. ]

Hey. No big deal. [ he's gonna stuff pretzels into his mouth so he doesn't have to talk anymore. ]

Will the cooler just be for fruit?

[he closes the cup's lid after eating exactly three (3) grapes and sets the container down between his feet on the floor. he'd nibble on the contents throughout the day, not wanting to waste food given to him, even if it felt like too much. kni decides whatever he can't finish, he'll feed to fritter and the other animals back home.

kni misses the way wolfwood looks at him for his thanks, focused instead on running a finger over the dewy condensation gathering on the water bottle. so far their outing wasn't so bad, nothing notable happening yet which he might consider a success for vash's sake. the amount of rain coupled with the july summer heat had made the air humid and sticky and riding like this was a pleasant balm, the wind temporarily cooling the heat flush coloring his usually pale face.

the crinkle of plastic has kni looking over to see wolfwood eating something he's never seen before. he tilts his head and squints to try and read the lettering on the side of the bag.]

Nah, I think Blondie had designs on a keepin' a couple of things we don't usually have at hand at the cottage since we're not on a power layout an' Rabbit's a jerk. Eggs, milk, ice cream, beer, meat. Maybe we'll luck out an' the next weird thing to happen to somebody at the cottage'll be ice powers.

[ LITTLE DOES WOLFWOOD KNOW.

part of him wants to get a little huffy at Kni not eating his food offering ravenously, but. Vash had begged patience. Kni had never needed to eat before, so the hungry sensation was new and strange to him. Wolfwood couldn't relate--but he could give out grace for cheap, he supposed. for now.

he notices Kni noticing what's in his hand, and he once again, extends the olive branch. it's a little cleaner this time, because Wolfwood is less raw, less angry than he was before--when Kni and Knives were the same man, as opposed to now, where Kni is the shadow of what he could be, but not there. not yet.

grace for cheap.

he holds the bag out after a moment. ]

It's a pretzel. This kind is dough 'til it's baked crunchy and covered in a bit of salt. Try one.

It sounds like a lot that will need to be kept cold. Do you really eat that much?

[and then, after realizing he's sitting in the only place where anything could be stored, a second question comes to mind.] If we're bringing a cooler back, where will it go?

[on his lap? he hopes not.

he straightens on impulse when wolfwood lowers the bag for him and hesitates. after a moment of inward contemplation, kni reaches out to carefully pull out a single pretzel and uses his other hand to snap it in half, leaving the other half in the bag. if he didn't like it, it was better not to waste an entire piece.

he brings the broken half up to sniff first, then taking a small bite. the texture was fine and, as wolfwood said, crunchy as he chewed slowly. the flecks of salt were a nice surprise when they hit his tongue and matched well with the dark taste of baked yeast. too much would have ruined it. he takes another small bite, staring off towards the road as his mind calculated the new map of textures and tastes.]

It's not bad. [there were a few things he liked to eat so far; apples, sliced bread lightly toasted, that omurice he had once with vash, some of the fruits he came across in the gardens, and now pretzels.]

Generally, us lesser beings like to have multiple meals in a day, so, yeah--especially 'cause this place ain't hurting for food. Hell, you walk outside the cottage and we're trippin' over food. It's just in the ground.

[ he gives a cheeky little grin--almost more of a baring of teeth, but there's no threat implied... even if Wolfwood does have slightly larger than usual lookin' canines, thank you, genetic experimentation. ] I got a place to put big stuff, no worries. That sidecar is big enough to hold Vash an' my gun, though, so you wouldn't be that put out.

[ granted, Vash was usually squished next to the Cross Punisher, and now that he had the option of having the gun be stored in Wolfwood's weird new brain closet, he usually whined until that was the route they took, but one digresses. he watches as Kni portions out a bit of pretzel, lowkey appreciative that the kid doesn't waste food even though he's still not keen on the whole eating thing. Wolfwood pops the rest of the pretzel in his mouth and crunches. ]

An' these are the simple ones. There's ones with extra flavor, or cheese inside of them, or you can get stuff to dip them in--hell, Vash an' me found these one pretzels which were like, four times the size of these little guys, but they were soft and chewy instead. It's wild what they get up to on this planet.

[ god Wolfwood loves food. ]

[kni gives a soft, contemplative hum, watching wolfwood with a slight turn of his head. big teeth and a sharp grin, he is reminded of the wolf in those old fairy tales. cautionary stories with questionable morals, but kni doesn't see anything to learn from here. wolfwood wouldn't bite him here, but that didn't mean kni was eager to push his hand closer either.]

That's normally how gardens work.

[his time on no man's land was brief, but kni can gather exactly what kind of life wolfwood and the descendants of his actions have led. it was the kind of life vash had led too, more years spent in the desert and heat than in the protected coverings of the artificial gardens they had grown up under. kni finishes the pretzel half, forefinger and thumb brushing together to rid the feeling of little crumbs sticking to skin.

also, what did he mean by space? was that where he'd put that giant cross when kni wasn't looking?]

It seems like a lot of work to decide on what to eat. [his attention is caught by a car pulling in nearby to use one of the gas pumps.] Doesn't it get tiring?

Yeah, we don't have gardens when I'm from, kiddo. It's all shops an' stalls from plant-made ingredients.

[ he doesn't want to put too fine of a point on it, and it doesn't cut as deep as he could, but it was what it was, wasn't it. he crunches through another pretzel, not realizing that he'd turned towards Kni as he tended to turn toward's Vash, one foot up on the side of the sidecar as he munches.

and yeah. his space. yanno. where he puts stuff.

he can't explain it either. it just is. ]

It can be. It's nice to have a lot of options. [ Wolfwood's eyes, out of habit, will flick to the car, and once nobody gets out of it with guns, knives, or ill intent, will return to Kni. ] As someone who's eaten bugs raw an' not had enough money to afford more than one slice of Tomas-loaf for three days, I refuse to get tired of the luxury of eatin'.

[plant-made.

of course that's what sticks out, a splinter just under the skin. but it isn't a conversation or argument he wants to have right now, questions that he'd rather not ask wolfwood. the state of his sisters scattered across a barren planet...

this was almost comfortable, if he wasn't expecting something to happen. a string of tension he can't quite shake that takes the form of him fidgeting with the plastic-paper wrapped around the water bottle.

he can't seem to look away from the people coming out of the car, prey watching the predatory move. he only blinks away, suddenly realizing his quickening heart when they go inside the station store.

wait.]

Tomas meat? Isn't Brad a tomas?

[ it's not a pretty picture for anybody to consider. even Wolfwood's had to wonder what humanity did, to come to the point where they chose another creature's pain for their own purposes--why Plants were a better option than the electricity plants, or the water treatment facilities.

their ability to generate matter was helpful, but... it makes Wolfwood's teeth itch, at the back. he shakes his head and finishes up his pretzels, letting that internal interrogation settle in the sand for a while as a penny drops for Kni.

he blinks over at the kid, tilting his head a little. ]

Yeah. Some tomases are for riding, some are for meat. We probably won't ever eat Brad, but he's there in a pinch.

[oh that has his entire attention. coupled with an extremely horrified look being fixed at wolfwood, eyes wide and mouth hanging open. the color draining from his already pale face.

please say sike.]

We- probably? [he's had meat once or twice since, but the realization hadn't hit him until now.] I- I don't want to eat Brad!

[ oh that's a

that's a bad feeling to feel

he and Kni aren't friends but he doesn't particularly want to upset the little monster, especially given that he's trying to give him the full benefit of the doubt and, y'know, give him a chance to be better this time. ]

There's plenty of other sources of meat on this world. We don't have to eat Brad unless something apocalyptic happens, and that's--mostly a joke.

[ awkward ]

It's a bad joke.

[and one that hits harder than it should. killing and eating creatures with thoughts and feelings turns his stomach. he looks down at his lap, expression twisted into something close to frustration.

if brad was an option for eating "if something apocalyptic happens" did that mean the same for the other animals living in the gardens?

he'd rather starve himself.]

I won't do it.

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