chlorokyll | inbox (duocaeli)

[ Vash grits his teeth when Nai starts to laugh, a low sound of irritation escaping him. He'd tried to talk to Nai when he'd first arrived, but they'd ended up going in circles. It seems like all they ever do is come back to the same point, no matter where they start. This isn't about showing Meryl anything except how to be afraid, because it's all Nai knows how to do.

If Nai paid her any real attention at all, though, he'd understand that he was wasting his time. Vash doesn't watch her move, but he can hear her get up despite her fear. Most people would have just kept running, and Vash wouldn't blame them at all, but Meryl has stuck by him from the moment they met, and apparently she doesn't plan to stop now. He's not surprised that Nai has decided to be cruel to her in particular. Unlike him, she's trusting despite her fear. ]

It'll be fine, Meryl. He's right. This place isn't real. Anyone who dies will just come back, even us. So... It'll be okay.

[ Vash shifts his grip, moving almost too quickly for anyone but Nai to perceive. There's a soft click. Silence.

The bullets from his gun rain to the ground. Vash snaps the barrel back into place and shoves the gun back into his holster. ]

You're the one who wants to make a point here, not me. You do it. If it doesn't mean anything, it doesn't matter if it's me instead of you, or them.

You don't know that for certain, do you? That we'll come back. Or that we won't lose something in the process.

[ Whether it's a level of power or a piece of equipment or perhaps even something more precious. Knives doesn't know, which means Vash likely can't be certain either. Hence why he'd wanted to test it out in the first place, as knowledge doesn't come without making sacrifices.

A fact that Conrad had understood all too well.

When Vash makes a show of expelling the bullets from his gun, Knives can't hold back on a long sigh. And his brother calls him the dramatic one.

But it seems that he's called Knives' bluff here. He's almost certain that if he cut Vash down there would be no real consequence. He would come to in the other world, perhaps, or simply start back in the town square some short distance away. And yet...

His arms fall back to his sides. ]

Of course it matters. [ Because it's Vash. ] You're not like them. Regardless of how desperately you'd like to believe you are. [ His gaze shifts to the wooden stand where he knows the girl is hiding. ] You much you want them to believe you are.

[ meryl listens to them talk, continuing to peek out to gauge the situation. vash's words essentially reiterate what knives had said earlier — that death means nothing here — and yet they're far more believable than his. the assertions that it'll be okay help, even if it's still hard to reconcile in her mind. death is death. it's difficult to think of it as anything other than something final, something that ends, and so even if logically she can believe vash, it's a lot harder to put into practice. she's still scared, the images of what knives did to him swimming in her mind endlessly.

she's quiet as a mouse behind that stand until vash empties his gun, holsters it, and then she can't help the soft: ] Vash... [ that escapes — hardly audible but stained with nervousness at the action.

and then they're continuing, meryl wondering whether she should stop this somehow, if she can, when vash offers himself up, but then knives is gazing at her hiding place and talking about how vash isn't like "them", and... she's not stupid. she knows there's something fundamentally different about vash. she knows vaguely what he is, what he's capable of, and what can happen to him. but that doesn't change the way she looks at him in the slightest — he's vash. he's a person, whether human or plant or whatever. she doesn't look at him as a species, or a typhoon, or anything else — just as himself.

and who he is at his emotional core is exactly what makes her want to follow him and believe in him.

so, meryl stands now, still mostly obscured by the wooden stand due to her height compared to the small street stall, and takes a half step out into visibility — still hidden enough to retreat behind it should things go south, but out in the open enough to try and assert herself, in knives' line of sight. the images of that room, with conrad, continue to bombard her, along with the feelings she held in there — the need to protect vash from this man. ]

N-No one has to prove anything here! [ about the whole dying thing. no one kill anyone, please. she balls her hands into fists now. ] It doesn't matter who Vash is "like". That doesn't change who he is.

[ typhoon, stampede, plant, independent, human. none of that matters to her when it comes to him. one last image of his face when he was in that pool, of the way he looked so devoid of himself, flashes for her, and she can't help herself: ] So just... leave him alone!

[ bravery, thy name is meryl. she was brave then and she can be brave now. for vash. ]

[ Vash grits his teeth. He doesn't have an answer for Nai. Whatever it is that he might have to lose in the process of dying and coming back - or not coming back - he's ready to lose it, if it means that Nai backs down and Meryl and anyone else who might be lingering nearby stays out of danger.

He flinches when Nai drops his hands, expecting a physical blow that never comes. What he gets is what he's accustomed to, now. Before the incident at Jeneora Rock, he hadn't spoken to Nai in over 150 years, and now it seems like they're only capable of having one argument, over and over. Vash's hands ball into fists at his sides. He's about to say - that doesn't make it alright to kill them for an experiment.

Meryl's voice cuts through first. Vash stares at her for a moment, standing tall despite the tremor of fear in her voice. Of all the things he might have said to Nai, this wasn't one of them - in truth, it had seemed cruel to even hope that it wouldn't matter to Meryl what he was, once she saw the real extent of it. He wouldn't blame her for turning away, like so many others had before her. It's stranger still to have someone rush to his defense over something like this. He feels something constrict in his chest for a brief moment - something bright and fierce and selfish and guilty that he can't even begin to name - before he turns back to Nai.

His brother's attention is focused entirely on Meryl. Vash can read the intent in every tense line of his body as he begins to stalk toward her.

Vash runs, closing the remaining ground between himself an Nai well before he can reach the wooden stand. He jumps, throwing all of his weight and momentum behind it. Even without his full strength, tackling Nai is like tackling a brick wall, and Vash is almost surprised that the two of them actually go down in a tangle of limbs. ]

Meryl - rope! [ That's all he manages to shout, so hopefully she can find something good enough to keep Nai restrained, even temporarily. If Vash can just pin him down -- ]

[ If the girl had known what was good for her, she would have stayed hidden. She would have stayed silent until Knives had his chat with his brother. Instead she stands to her diminutive height and dares to lecture him.

He turns his gaze on her, eyes widening with white-hot outrage. ]

Don't you dare claim to know him better than I do, you—

[ He advances on her, ready to finish what he started, but Vash is on him in an instant. Knives flings an arm out with the intention of halting the run at him, but he doesn't have the full force of his Gate, and Vash is a scrappier fighter than him in most ways. He's flung to the ground, flat on his back, and there it is again. Humans over him, every time, every way, every scenario. It doesn't matter. It never seems to. ]

Vash—

[ As his brother tries to pin him Knives fights back tooth and claw, scrabbling to seize Vash's forearms and try to shove him off. He rears one knee back and shoves it up toward Vash's gut, resulting in a clumsy brawl between them.

To think he's been reduced to this... ]

[ her breath catches in her throat in that moment when he begins coming at her — she was somewhat prepared for this sort of thing happening, mentally, but it feels like a train coming full-force at her when it actually happens. that feeling passes quick, when vash moves to tackle him to the ground, and her expression instead turns to some form of panic as she watches. ]

V-Vash!

[ rope?? he needs rope?? okay, okay, rope, rope. meryl begins spinning where she's at, jumping in place from the adrenaline, frantically looking everywhere in the vicinity to find some rope for vash to use. tiny little string holding up a sign? no, this is knives. can't use that. some random person's necklace? also no. quick, meryl. ]

Aaah, rope! Come on, rope!

[ where's!! the!! rope!!

it's after a few moments of that (what feels like an absolute eternity to her) that she spots some coiled rope held upon some sort of adventuring NPC's waist, and without even a second thought, she rushes toward it, yanks it off, and runs toward where vash and his brother are fighting, getting as close as she safely can. ]

Vash! I got it! What do you need?!

[ if he tells her to throw it to him, she will without hesitation. if he needs her help in getting him tied, she'll do that too. whatever he needs. ]

[ Vash takes the knee to his gut with a grunt, but he's pushed through worse pain in less dire circumstances and he swallows the wave of pain and nausea and gets in close enough to elbow Nai right in the face if he can.

He does his best to scrabble forward so he's practically sitting on Nai's chest and finally gets enough leverage to push his arms down above his head, burying Nai's arm blades in the dirt while Vash leans his weight against Nai's arms to keep them on the ground. He locks his legs around Nai's torso, already anticipating his brother trying to buck him off now that he can no longer reach him with kicks.

Meryl speaks up just then and Vash nods. Though he can't look away long enough to see exactly where she is, he can tell from her voice well enough. He doesn't know how he's going to get the rope around Nai exactly, but he's going to figure it out. ]

Toss it here - don't get too close! [ Just because Nai isn't trying that hard to ram one of his arm blades directly into Vash doesn't mean that he would hesitate to do it to Meryl. Vash tightens his grip on Nai's arms enough to bruise and bares his teeth. ] Just log off, Nai!

[ The fluidity and efficiency of Vash's movements are impressive, the way that he's able to use his lesser bulk to pin Knives down and keep him there. Under other circumstances, perhaps Knives would have even been pleased to see it. However, his main thought is that if Vash had taken all the time he devoted to learning how to fight like this and instead put it toward understanding how to control his Gate, perhaps things would have been different.

Or perhaps not, because he still would have needed Vash's willingness to go along with his plan, and that's never been forthcoming.

As Vash expected, Knives does try to buck him off, his pelvis lifting as he thrashes and fights. The entire situation is undignified and he wouldn't particularly care if he was fighting for something of import, but ultimately his terrorizing of the girl had been little more than a whim.

Just log off, Nai!

He lets out a low laugh at that, one that quickly grows into something more bombastic, bellowing straight from his chest. ]

You think that will be enough to be rid of me, Vash?!

[ And there's something about the idea of being tied down and restrained by his own brother, the one person who should know how much that would bother him, that settles it. All it takes it a thought about logging out and exiting the game, and he's gone, the space beneath Vash vacated.

Unfortunately, that doesn't mean he's truly gone. A few moments later a loud banging starts at Vash's room's door in Domus Hosus, with Knives yelling for him to open up. ]

O-Okay!

[ just as meryl manages to toss the rope, knives disappears from existence, and the rope leaves her hand to fly right toward vash — whether he manages to catch it in all this ruckus is on him.

because meryl is very confused herself now, and for a split second she can't help but stare at the vacated space under vash, a baffled yet surprised look on her face as she takes a half step back, before she turns to look around them. did he just... teleport or something else wild? she's still not used to this whole game world thing, seeing as she hasn't actually logged off it herself yet. ]

H-Hold on a second, where'd he go?!

[ she's searching their surroundings, spinning in place with urgency as the adrenaline from the situation hasn't died down at all for her — they're still very much in danger, in her mind. ]

[ Vash is working so hard to keep Nai in place, that his sudden absence nearly overbalances him. The rope, which would have been easy for him to catch in his previous position, instead sort of lands on his head and drapes over his shoulder. He's just there on all fours blinking for a moment before all of the tension leaves his body with one long exhale and he sits back on his heels. ]

It's okay, it's okay! [ Vash shuffles over to her a little awkwardly and holds out his hands, offering to take hers if it will help her calm down. ] He's gone for now, but we don't have long. Are you okay? You just got here, didn't you?

[ He really hopes that his microphone isn't picking up Nai's full volume yelling right outside his door. In the real world, Vash mutes his the mic so he can yell back: ] Have you had a snack in the last few hours, Nai? We talked about this!

[ Shifting one's attention between online and offline is something that takes a good deal of concentration, given how immersive it is to be online. It's not so different from how it feels to be within the dimension of another's Gate in that way.

So Knives is almost surprised to receive any response from Vash. It's only to ask him if he's eaten something. Knives scowls at that, because the last thing he's interested in doing right now is eating. He doesn't feel particularly hungry either, the full limitations of this world having not quite sunk in just yet. ]

That has nothing to do with this. Just what were you planning to do after you tied me up, brother?

[ Would he have turned him into the authorities?

Either way, his banging on the door continues, but in a more concentrated way, as if he's focusing it on the lock. ]

[ meanwhile, in the online world, meryl has no idea what's going on or what vash is experiencing. what a time. ]

Y-Yeah, I just— [ got here, but— ] W-Wait, what do you mean, we "don't have long"?! [ that sounds so ominous, vash. and considering she doesn't even know where knives has gone to, that only makes her more freaked out.

where is he and when is he coming back??

she takes vash's hands, but instead of using them for any sort of calming measure, she starts tugging on them. ]

Then— we need to get out of here, don't we?! Come on!

[ Vash nearly overbalances again, flailing a little bit as Meryl half-drags him. ] Meryl -- wait wait!

[ He finally tugs her back and sits back on his heels, holding her hands in his, though his own grip is plenty loose enough for her to shake him off easily. ]

Please, listen. I know it's confusing and disorienting, but this world isn't real. If you take a second to calm down, you'll remember. Just trust me. [ He hopes she'll remember, anyway. Vash glances over his shoulder, even in the game, at something unseen. He turns back to her with a tight smile. ] Everything is fine.

[ Everything is not fine. Vash mutes his mic again and yells: ] I don't know -- timeout? I didn't think that far ahead!

[ Wait he. Didn't actually mean to say that to Nai. ]

[ Even if Knives can't make out every word, he can tell that Vash is speaking with that girl, still. That he's trying to explain things and calm her down. His attention is divided and the fact that he isn't giving Knives every bit of said attention has him even more frustrated.

... Timeout? What are they, children?

He could break down the door if he really wanted. He could slice it open with his knives, even. And he considers doing so. ]

Maybe you should put a little more thought into your actions, then, brother.

[ However, he's not going to try and have a conversation with someone who's only half-listening to him, so with that he leaves the door and returns to his own room to log back in. That will take at least a little bit of time, though. ]

[ she doesn't shake him off, but she does listen, brows furrowed as the panic in her recedes but doesn't quite go away. ]

I'll remember? [ what on earth is that supposed to mean?? how is she supposed to remember something she's never experienced before?

but there he is, telling her to trust him, and that's one thing she can't stop herself from doing. she sighs in the next moment, muttering a defeated 'fine' before she focuses on that while vash does... whatever it is he's doing. her face is twisted into a pout, something impatient and frustrated, but vague memories surface in her mind not long into her attempt to remember them.

and boy do they catch her off guard. her eyes widen, her jaw slackens a bit in shock, and then she's back to overreacting to things. ]

I-I think I remember... Wait, how do I remember...? [ something... something... other life she's led here, oh no, this is overwhelming. her voice is going high pitched and shaky. ] V-Vaaaaash, what's going on?!

[ shaking his hands up and down with hers like that's going to do anything. she knows vaguely what's going on but none of this is making any sense. ]

[ There aren't all that many people he could ask to trust him with any confidence, especially for something as strange as this, but he's grateful that Meryl is one of the few. ]

Do you remember how to log out? I need you to do that now. When you do, just stay where you are, and I'll come and find you. I promise, okay? I'll explain everything when you're safe. [ He's talking so fast his words nearly run together.

He's heard Nai walk away from his door, but Vash knows better than to be relieved -- knowing Nai, things are only going to get worse. ]

[ she's doing her best to take in everything he's saying to her, despite his quickness, but she understands enough.

nodding, her concern clear. ]

R-Right, okay. I think I remember. [ she lets go of his hands, straightening her back. ] You'd better, Vash.

[ she doesn't sound annoyed or angry, but rather like she's fully counting on him here.

there's a tired sigh, still sounding a bit rushed by the situation. ] I'll be waiting for you then, so don't drag your feet, got it? [ she realizes she kind of hates letting him out of her sight, but... ] And... be careful.

[ because the threat of nai is still looming, and she's scared, but she's trusting him, as she logs out and into her room at dodo house, a feeling of disorientation hitting her in the process. ]

inbox (duocaeli)

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