Wisdom

Morning crept over the horizon like a thief, leaning into the ground spiderlike. She watched out the window, hands holding a steaming mug, clad in warm pajamas and slippers, with her sweater on top. Were she to go outside, the air would cloud her breath.

The sky was always so lovely. It could be all the colors in the world rolled into a quilt over the earth, a stained glass heaven.

He came from behind, but did not startle her. Each of his footsteps were quiet, softened by socks. He stood a bit away from her, close enough so that he could see out the window, but far enough away to leave her her personal space.

She granted herself another moment of respite, before turning and facing him, trying to smile brightly.

He smiled slightly back, looking at her, straight at her, only her. “Good morning.”

“Good morning, Vash-san,” she replied, calmer than she had been for a while. “Would you like some coffee?”

“If it isn’t too much trouble.”

She moved to the stove where the percolator perched, a gleam of silver in the duskiness of the room. Procuring a mug from the cupboard, she poured the dark liquid into it, then set it back down gently. Assuredly the other two would want some later. No use letting it get cold.

She handed it to him, and he accepted graciously, smiling, his eyes aqua points, bright, warm.

Somehow the silence between the two as she rejoined him at the window to watch the sky was comforting. Beside how many people could she stand and feel soothed by the lack of words rather than have a desperate need to fill the void with sound?

She could hear his soft breath behind her, reassuring. There was something intrinsically safe in the breathing of a loved one. He sipped the coffee a few times, and she could almost imagine she could feel the air from his lips, warm, on the back of her neck. Silly fantasies, but everyone needs to indulge once in a while, she reminded herself. The sky was growing brighter, slowly, painstakingly climbing away from darkness.

It was after a long moment that she spoke. “Vash-san.”

“Yes?” It was strange, hearing his voice come from over her shoulder, gentle.

Another moment of warming quiet. She turned slowly so that she could look at him. Next to him she felt so small, so insignificant… Yet still he stayed.

Her voice was quiet when she spoke again. “The plants… why do the plants help people? Is it because they have no free will?”

He watched her for a moment, the darkness of the room casting shadows on his face. His expression did not flicker even for a moment. “No.” Slowly, gently, he reached out a hand, touching her cheek lightly. “It’s because we want to help people.”

She had the horrible sensation that she was about to wake up. This couldn’t be real. It was too close to what she wanted.

He smiled slightly at her surprise, almost ruefully, and looked like he was about to say something.

“Meryl! Are you in the kitchen?”

Ah. Yes. It was too good to last.

She pulled away from him, giving him an apologetic smile, then moved toward the hallway. “Did you want something, Knives-san?”

There was a click of the door and she turned. Vash was gone.

No, she told herself firmly. She would not resent Knives for his interruption. Of course he would be up early. Today was the day she had promised to take him into town.

He was standing in the doorway, leaning against the frame, his tall form clothed in some of Vash’s nicer clothes. He was not standing awkwardly at all, but with his arms folded comfortably across his chest. It was hard to believe that this wasn’t his brother standing there, but the expression on his face, frozen, made it clear that it was Knives.

If he had any lingering weaknesses, he certainly wasn’t showing it. She smiled uncertainly at him.

“I want to eat, and then I want to go to town,” he said firmly, demandingly, his eyes never leaving her.

She gave him a somewhat dark look.

He was annoyed. “Please.”

“All right,” she said, turning and going back into the kitchen. “What do you want to eat?”

He followed her, arms still folded, and seated himself regally in the rickety chair nearest the stove. “Eggs and coffee and toast.”

“Please.”

“Please,” he muttered obediently.

She felt like she was training a puppy, and was wondering why he was letting her get away with that. Quickly she grabbed a few eggs and cracked them into a pan she procured from the cabinets. The coffee was still warm so while the eggs cooked, she got a cup and poured him some, handing it to him.

“Thank you,” he replied as he took it.

It seemed as if he really wanted to go into town, for he was on what she would consider his best behavior. She was uneasy at the concept that Vash had actually gone to work instead of coming with them, but she would have to trust his judgment. If Knives decided to kill her along with the town today… well, then at least she wouldn’t have to decide between staying with Vash or leaving with Milly.

“What do you want to do in town today?” she asked him, trying to make conversation in the chilly gloom of the morning air. Surprisingly, he was amenable to this.

“I want to see it. And to purchase some clothes of my own. And to buy my brother doughnuts.”

She hid a smile. That was sweet! He really did love his twin, despite everything. But… what a poor choice it had been to show his feelings by killing everyone else around his brother.

It sort of reminded her of a story that she had heard once about a man who had loved a girl so much and was jealous of anyone that she saw other than him that he eventually killed her. Would that have been next? Would Knives have killed his brother simply to possess him?

It was a distinct possibility.

“Knives-san,” she started, wondering if she should continue at all.

He glanced up at her, his eyes, as they always did, seeing her more as a thing than a person. “Yes?”

“About your brother…” She paused, unsure where to go, a frown creasing her face. But the eggs were ready, so she scooped them out onto a plate and set them in front of him, then started his toast. He began on the eggs.

It was a minute until the toast was done. She placed that in front of him as well and then sat across from him. “I don’t understand why you wanted to hurt your brother.”

There. It was out.

He continued eating, without even breaking pace. She sat, staring at her hands, feeling not only like a fool, but uncomfortable to the point of nervousness. She was praying this wasn’t a prelude to any destructive tendencies to which he was so prone.

His fork clinked onto his plate, finished with the food, and he raised his eyes. “I did not seek to hurt him at all. I sought to show him the truth.”

She frowned faintly, then looked up at him. “That humans are evil?”

“Evil does not play a part in it. It is simply the truth that humans are parasites and destroy whatever world they live on. They deliberately hurt each other out of greed. I wanted my brother to understand that he sought to live among people that should have died instead of polluting everything. They were weak, pitiful, and disgusting. We are pure, powerful.” He paused, returning his gaze to her instead of the past. “I loved him very much. I did not want him to be hurt.”

Her eyes were blazing. “Didn’t you realize he cared for all those people that you killed?”

“Of course I did.”

“Then why?” Her voice was growing a bit more shrill and she tried to calm herself down.

“Because I wanted him to return to me. To agree to make this place our own paradise.”

She took a deep breath, calming herself. “Killing off the competition.”

“In essence, I suppose. Though it never should have been that way.”

She looked away, breaking eye contact. “Didn’t you think he’d be more scarred by your actions than anything we humans could have done to him?”

“Of course not. He has always known I love him.”

It was so frank, so honest, so truthful. Wasn’t there any compassion in this man? She sighed softly, wondering what sin she had committed in a past life to have been stuck with him. “I don’t understand you at all, Knives-san.”

He smiled slightly. It was strange – neither maniacal or angry, just a smile, almost helpless. “Neither do I understand you, Meryl.”

It was in this subdued, frustrated manner, that their trip into town began.