[ His brother looks upset at the suggestion -- more so than Vash would have expected. If he were small too, he'd break his brother's bad mood with a joke, or a hug, or a punch, or all three in some order or another. But like this, with him so old and his brother still so very young, he can't help but see it: they're not who they used to be to one another. They're not equals anymore, two halves of a whole. They're a mismatched set, pretending to be a pair.

That ball of grief in his chest threatens to rise up again, but Vash just smiles all the more broadly and lets the pain pass over him. ]

I didn't mean it like that. [ They have to find a new way to relate, then, or he has to find a new way. Too bad he wouldn't have the first clue how to go about that on his best day, which today is most decidedly not. ] It is a long way, and it is urgent, but you're more important than anything else. If you want to walk, then we'll walk. I'm just glad to have the company.