nomans_land | Somewhere between July and December

Somewhere between July and December

1.
[ It wasn't the fastest car he'd ever driven, but it made better time than the old man's shitty station wagon had, and it was definitely faster than walking across the desert. None of the maps he'd found tucked under the seat had Hopeland on them, which was worrisome as all hell, but on one of the maps there was an orphanage marked, just off of a city called December.

The ghost he'd talked to on that mountaintop had told him he'd die in December, but that ghost had also ruined his last cigarette, so fuck that guy. If he died, he died, but first, he was going to make sure Miss Melanie and the kids were okay.

The sedan hums its way across the desert, kicking up a dust cloud that can be seen for miles. ]

2.
[ With a shudder and a hard jolt, the car comes screeching to a halt, the dash going dead as the engine seizes up. Wolfwood swears, punches the dash, then swears again when the solid dash nearly breaks his hand for his trouble. He'd managed to get the car hotwired, but apparently cars in this messed up version of Noman's were more different from the ones he knew than he'd realized. Is it out of oil? Out of charge? Not like he can do anything about it, whatever the problem.

Please ignore the man in black, standing next to a very dead car in the middle of absolute nowhere and screaming at the sky. It's therapeutic profanity, and it really is helping. ]

3.
[ Sunburned and exhausted, Wolfwood crests the hill and finally, there before him, sees the building that his map identifies as the December Orphanage. Even from a distance it's clear that the chaos that's affected the rest of the planet hit here, too -- there's clear bullet holes in at least one side of the building, walls that have collapsed, and the whole place seems as deserted as everywhere else he's been.

But he's here now, so he might as well have a look around.

He really wishes he still had his Punisher, though. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Yeah.

[ Or maybe there isn't a plant -- they'll see soon enough, once they're around this bend. Maybe the place runs on wind power, with a turbine, or maybe this world also uses geothermal and there's a big steam boiler in the basement, waiting like a bomb for them to come find it. The car runs on batteries but Wolfwood can't imagine how a whole factory could -- they'd need constant deliveries of fresh ones, and all the way out here, with how secret the place is supposed to be, that doesn't seem feasible. But who knows what the cult of the angels got up to in this world? They weren't nearly as well known here as in his world, that's for sure, so maybe they were able to operate underneath everyone's radar. ]

I kinda hope it's not plant powered, actually. [ He shrugs at Livio. The problem with knowing plants are alive, you know? ] Can't blow it up, if so.

[ Not without extracting a plant -- or plants? -- in their bulbs, and they don't have the equipment for that. There's no way a plant would fit in the car. ]

[thankfully (????) Livio doesn't know anything about alternative power-- stuck in labs and hideouts and facilities that are just plant power or power he genuinely doesn't know about. he only knew so many secrets (like 2) and all those were connected by Chapel.]

Also true...and she could be hurt. And then Vash-- [he trails off.]

[ Wolfwood rolls his eyes at that, and makes sure that Livio can see him doing it. ]

What, he'd be sad? [ Sorry Livio, but this Wolfwood really just doesn't care about the feelings of the various Stampedes. He's more interested in the logistics of demolishing the facility ahead than in how Vash would feel about it. ] He's sad all the time, how's that change anything?

[Livio frowns-- not appreciating it. Vash and Wolfwood are both very important to him, okay? he worries.]

I think he might actually physically feel it if something happens.

All th'way out here?

[ Is that even possible? Just how sensitive to things affecting bulb plants are the twins? The Eye just taught him plant worship, not anything practical like their range of perception. ]

You like that guy, huh?

Not sure-- he doesn't really talk about it. Or tell me anything.

[and that's one frustrating thing, but we won't go there.

he pauses]

Well, he saved my life. He really shouldn't have.

[ He tries to save everyone's life, he almost says, but bites the comment back just in time. No reason to be cruel to Livio like that. ]

Yeah? I'm glad he did. [ They were in a fight together and Vash stopped him from getting shot, probably. Although, doesn't it take a lot more than that to kill this guy now? ] That must have been a hell of a fight.

It was...it was real bad. He saw in me-- I dunno what he did.

[he saw the promise of a dead man, that's what he saw]

He's got a soft spot for crybabies.

[ It's said with a teasing grin, because really, that's the closest Wolfwood can get to outright saying of course he tried to save you, idiot, you're a good guy. Vash tries to save everyone, and he's got an especial soft spot for people who try to kill him, apparently. No matter how bad that fight was, no matter how Livio here and Vash first met in their world, Vash would have been defending Livio from the first. ]

[a huff, a roll of his eyes. Livio knows he's joking...but he-- he still can't accept that he's worth it. he knows he isn't.]

I wasn't crying then.

[inside though, yeah]

I sure hope not!

[ He's not a kid! Only sad bastards like Vash the Stampede get to get away with crying as adults. The rest of the world learned long ago to suck it up and deal with life as it is.

But the fact that Livio's on the defensive and not giving him a whole ration of shit in return for his teasing doesn't sit well. Wolfwood rubs the back of his head, scratching new thoughts into his brain.

Okay then. ]

I'm not gonna ask, okay? You want to tell me what happened, I'm all ears, but it's your business, not mine.

[ Besides -- they're getting close. ]

[he hums. his guilt chokes him, even now, especially now with this familiar face earnest and sincere.

he knows everyone should blame him.]

I-- they got me out, finally. It was my fault, what happened to the owner of that Punisher you've got. But Vash still-- Nick still-- thought I deserved to live.

[ He freezes at that, foot in the air. You know, he didn't actually think Livio was gonan tell him? ]

Livio. [ He turns, eyes wide. He can't believe it. ] Fuck.

[ Do they have to fight in every universe? Was Livio sent by Legato here, too? At the thought of that blue-haired sociopath Wolfwood feels his blood pressure rising. He actually hopes that some version of Legato made it to this world, he thinks, his rage flashing white-hot. He really wants to watch that guy suffer.

Livio didn't deserve any of this. ]

Did you know what you were doing?

I don't know if I knew he was going to-- I didn't want to kill him. I didn't-- Master Chapel, he--

[his breath hitches-- he isn't a crybaby, but his shoulders shake. he shouldn't have opened his mouth, huh.]

We just wanted to fight, me and Razlo. I wanted Master to...

[ Master Chapel. At least the dead Wolfwood was able to get his revenge on that asshole. That's what Livio had said right when they'd met, right? That Wolfwood was dead, but that Chapel was dead first. ]

Easy, buddy. It's over, right?

[ He doesn't hesitate for a moment, dropping an arm around Livio's shoulders. Come on, crybaby, no tears on mission. It's okay. ]

Look, if yours was anything like me, then he'd been expecting to get knocked off like that for years. I'm just sorry it had to be you, sorry you have to carry that.

[this was supposed to be a mission, protecting people, checking on their loved ones, saving everyone-- but he feels like he's going to fall apart.

he can't do that.]

He should have just killed me. It ain't over.

[it doesn't feel like it]

All the good he could've done? Shit.

[ Sorry Livio. This isn't a hugging Wolfwood. He's a 'loving slap upside the head when you say stupid shit' Wolfwood. ]

What good would killing you have done, huh?

[ There's anger in his voice, but it's not for Livio. It's for this whole fucking situation. It's for Chapel, and Knives, and even the dead Wolfwood, for dying and leaving Livio alone like this. ]

What kind of good was a guy like that going to do? If you feel that strongly about it, then whatever good you think he'd have done is your job now, you get to carry that torch. But don't you ever say things would be better if you were dead. Not to me. Not ever.

[he flinches-- not hurt, just startled, flabbergasted--]

It-- it would've been-- it would've been justice. It would've worked out. Maybe not cancel it out-- it's a lot to carry. I don't know if...

[ Wolfwood grabs a fistful of Livio's shirt and hauls him in, face to face, because he needs to be sure the man's listening. He gets enough of this self-sacrificing shit from Stampede, he doesn't want to hear it from Livio! ]

I don't give a shit about justice.

[ It doesn't matter what he did -- he can't do a thing about it if he's dead. ]

Stop apologizing for being alive!

[and now rightly chastised, but still just in shock--]

But...You don't get it, I--

What exactly do you think you're gonna say that'll make me wish you were in that grave instead?

[ The hand holding Livio's shirt tightens in warning -- he's not playing around. ]

I...I don't know. I don't know, Nico.

[he utters, dully, slowly.]

[ Wolfwood's response to upsetting things is to yell at them and punch them until they stop being upsetting, but here's Livio, folding into himself with grief over having killed his friend.

Maybe a guy who uses Stampede's stupid loci needs Stampede's stupid coping mechanisms, too? ]

Oh god dammit.

[ He's still got Punisher draped over his back, which means this is a one-armed hug. It's really more like a modified headlock, but the intent is hug, at least?

Look, Wolfwood's not good at hugging. But the thought has to count for something, right? ]

[he doesn't utter a sound-- well, maybe a tiny 'oh', but Wolfwood's warm next to him, and this is. this is okay.]

...I didn't mean to. He--

[he always folds in on himself like a chair when it gets too much. and showing it is his nightmare-- so this is very much horrific]

I know.

[ This is the gentlest and kindest that Wolfwood gets. He tightens his hold on Livio, squeezing the huge guy who used to be his annoying little brother -- it's bad, but he's not alone anymore, okay? Livio's tough -- he can get through this.

After Livio died -- his Livio, in his world -- everyone was so focused on Vash being a plant that he'd been able to avoid the inevitable questions that otherwise would have followed, about who that masked guy was, and how Wolfwood knew him. About how he was feeling. He didn't want to talk about his fucking feelings, then or now. He wanted to push them down into the dark, pour a couple drinks on top of them, and get on with his life.

Livio's not like him, though, apparently. Crybaby always did have a big soft heart. ]

It's okay, buddy, I know.

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