[There was a moment when his vision swam, rage still bubbling up in his chest, memories still flickering like dying lights behind his eyes that he would realize had been from the Vash in front of him and not the Vash he'd been clinging to, once things had started to settle. But right now, everything was swirling, roiling emotion, the need to make it stop, to put an end to it, to make the man who'd caused so much pain get a taste of his own medicine for once in his fucking life.
But then Vash was trying to reason with him, blocking his gun, and he couldn't shoot him, not Vash, his fingers loosening their grip instinctively until the gun almost sagged in his grip. How could he want him to stop? How could he still, after everything he'd been put through, want Knives to be safe??? Was that a mercy he'd ever been offered in return??? Did he honstly think for an instant that his brother would do the same for him???
But no, this was Vash. And Vash, despite every single bit of abuse that had ever been thrown his way, would of course refuse to look at it that way. It made him want to scream, and to be honest, it wouldn't have been the first time if he did, because it was the same damn argument they'd had countless times before!
The moment was enough for Nai to slip his focus, though, and enough that when the kid ran off into the desert, he didn't redirect his aim, didn't take the shot, but instead looked more startled than anything. His thoughts were already beginning to settle back into themselves, leaving a massive migraine throbbing behind his eyes, but he was himself, again, in fits and starts, and for a few breaths, he honestly expected the Vash beside him to reach over and yank him around by his hair for having aimed a gun at the kid in the first place.
It wasn't until he heard the ragged gasp that he began to realize something else entirely had begun to go wrong around him. The sight of gleaming white feathers against bright red had become so normal to him that he didn't notice them at first as they fell to the street beside him, and he was so dazed that the wet, squelching rip didn't register, either. But then one of them drifted close enough that it brushed his hand as it fell, spiking through a fleeting shock of foreign emotion - pain, horror, self-loathing, rip it out, rip it out!!! - and he flinched away, looking over in surprise to find Vash pulling entire handfulls of himself apart.]
Vash, oh God, what the fuck??? [His gun was tossed aside as he lunged to his knees, reaching out to grab his wrists before the sight fully sank in and he jerked back. The feathers, it was the feathers! He'd thought they were purely a...a defensive mechanism, a part of who he truly was that he kept hidden so he wouldn't frighten people, but they were more than that! He didn't want to grab for him, making that connection again when his fingers grasped onto more of them and just start the whole cycle over again, but he couldn't let him continue!] He's gonna tear himself to shreds!
[He only took a moment longer to reach out, grabbing the coiled tails of Vash's coat, before he was moving forward again and using them as a buffer between his hands and the feathers that were still attached as he grabbed him by the wrists and wrestled to pull his hands off of himself. He knew if he really wanted to, Vash was strong enough that he could fight him off, but it wasn't like he was going to just sit back and watch him mutilate himself, either! He had to at least try!]
Vash, no, stop! Stop, sweetheart, it's alright, you're alright!
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But then Vash was trying to reason with him, blocking his gun, and he couldn't shoot him, not Vash, his fingers loosening their grip instinctively until the gun almost sagged in his grip. How could he want him to stop? How could he still, after everything he'd been put through, want Knives to be safe??? Was that a mercy he'd ever been offered in return??? Did he honstly think for an instant that his brother would do the same for him???
But no, this was Vash. And Vash, despite every single bit of abuse that had ever been thrown his way, would of course refuse to look at it that way. It made him want to scream, and to be honest, it wouldn't have been the first time if he did, because it was the same damn argument they'd had countless times before!
The moment was enough for Nai to slip his focus, though, and enough that when the kid ran off into the desert, he didn't redirect his aim, didn't take the shot, but instead looked more startled than anything. His thoughts were already beginning to settle back into themselves, leaving a massive migraine throbbing behind his eyes, but he was himself, again, in fits and starts, and for a few breaths, he honestly expected the Vash beside him to reach over and yank him around by his hair for having aimed a gun at the kid in the first place.
It wasn't until he heard the ragged gasp that he began to realize something else entirely had begun to go wrong around him. The sight of gleaming white feathers against bright red had become so normal to him that he didn't notice them at first as they fell to the street beside him, and he was so dazed that the wet, squelching rip didn't register, either. But then one of them drifted close enough that it brushed his hand as it fell, spiking through a fleeting shock of foreign emotion - pain, horror, self-loathing, rip it out, rip it out!!! - and he flinched away, looking over in surprise to find Vash pulling entire handfulls of himself apart.]
Vash, oh God, what the fuck??? [His gun was tossed aside as he lunged to his knees, reaching out to grab his wrists before the sight fully sank in and he jerked back. The feathers, it was the feathers! He'd thought they were purely a...a defensive mechanism, a part of who he truly was that he kept hidden so he wouldn't frighten people, but they were more than that! He didn't want to grab for him, making that connection again when his fingers grasped onto more of them and just start the whole cycle over again, but he couldn't let him continue!] He's gonna tear himself to shreds!
[He only took a moment longer to reach out, grabbing the coiled tails of Vash's coat, before he was moving forward again and using them as a buffer between his hands and the feathers that were still attached as he grabbed him by the wrists and wrestled to pull his hands off of himself. He knew if he really wanted to, Vash was strong enough that he could fight him off, but it wasn't like he was going to just sit back and watch him mutilate himself, either! He had to at least try!]
Vash, no, stop! Stop, sweetheart, it's alright, you're alright!