[He gave a ragged sigh at those words, rubbing a hand down his face.
"Gonna take a wild guess and say that's not your normal Stampede-flavored guilt talkin'. Fuck. What'm I even gonna do with you?"
Because on one level, he knew Vash well enough to know that this? The things he didn't want to make him talk about so he could try and bring him down off of whatever precipice he was on right now? If they were as bad as all his talk and weird, stabby tendencies indicated? This would destroy him. He already lived with a death wish as it was. Killing him would be a mercy.
And that wasn't even touching on the talk of...kids. Because right now, he just couldn't.
But for all his talk in life, about sometimes killing being the best or only option, right now? That was out of his hands. And he didn't know if it made him a coward or a hypocrite, that now that he was staring a version of the man in the face who was finally begging him to do it? Part of him was glad he couldn't.
Still...sitting out here under the desert suns wasn't going to solve any of it.
He sighed to himself, flopping onto his side with a dramatic little huff. He had a feeling they might be out here for a while, the way this guy was talking.
He arranged himself in a somewhat awkward little curl around his head, putting him close enough that he could continue brushing his fingers through his hair and talk without having to expend the energy to talk loudly enough to be heard. Whispering would probably be less grating on the sorry assholes broken mind, anyway.]
This isn't your home. People are alive here, even a version of me. I promise, you're not alone, and people will want to help. [Maybe not the Wolfwood who was still kicking around, no. He was dealing with enough of his own idiot self, and he doubted he'd be willing to kill the guy, either, if all that guilt he'd been ranting about was any indication. But Vash might be able to help. He was a little wary of bringing Rem into the picture, though, until they knew how this one would react. He did not need to add his mother's blood to his hands.]
And if it makes you feel any better, all those people you killed are alright. Take it from someone who knows this side of things. I've been stickin' around longer than I'm supposed to, and pokin' people on your side has been an interesting little side hobby, lately, but once you're gone, things get a whole lot easier. I wasn't lyin' when I said they moved on. People are waitin' for you in Paradise.
[Whatever that was. But he didn't need to tell the man he'd never seen what waited for people at the end of that light. Little white lies, or lies by ommission, certainly weren't the worst thing he'd ever done.]
Either way, I can't do what you're askin' me to do, Vash. Even if I agreed to do it, it's outta my hands. I can barely even touch you like this. So you're gonna need to get up, unless you wanna see how long it takes for one of you t'shrivel away in the suns. And I know for a fact that you can go for months without food and water without dyin'.
[Unless the little vacation Knives had made for Vash on that Ark had included a complimentary meal plan. He doubted it. The man had been wasting away when he'd finally gotten off of his ass and broken him out of there.]
no subject
"Gonna take a wild guess and say that's not your normal Stampede-flavored guilt talkin'. Fuck. What'm I even gonna do with you?"
Because on one level, he knew Vash well enough to know that this? The things he didn't want to make him talk about so he could try and bring him down off of whatever precipice he was on right now? If they were as bad as all his talk and weird, stabby tendencies indicated? This would destroy him. He already lived with a death wish as it was. Killing him would be a mercy.
And that wasn't even touching on the talk of...kids. Because right now, he just couldn't.
But for all his talk in life, about sometimes killing being the best or only option, right now? That was out of his hands. And he didn't know if it made him a coward or a hypocrite, that now that he was staring a version of the man in the face who was finally begging him to do it? Part of him was glad he couldn't.
Still...sitting out here under the desert suns wasn't going to solve any of it.
He sighed to himself, flopping onto his side with a dramatic little huff. He had a feeling they might be out here for a while, the way this guy was talking.
He arranged himself in a somewhat awkward little curl around his head, putting him close enough that he could continue brushing his fingers through his hair and talk without having to expend the energy to talk loudly enough to be heard. Whispering would probably be less grating on the sorry assholes broken mind, anyway.]
This isn't your home. People are alive here, even a version of me. I promise, you're not alone, and people will want to help. [Maybe not the Wolfwood who was still kicking around, no. He was dealing with enough of his own idiot self, and he doubted he'd be willing to kill the guy, either, if all that guilt he'd been ranting about was any indication. But Vash might be able to help. He was a little wary of bringing Rem into the picture, though, until they knew how this one would react. He did not need to add his mother's blood to his hands.]
And if it makes you feel any better, all those people you killed are alright. Take it from someone who knows this side of things. I've been stickin' around longer than I'm supposed to, and pokin' people on your side has been an interesting little side hobby, lately, but once you're gone, things get a whole lot easier. I wasn't lyin' when I said they moved on. People are waitin' for you in Paradise.
[Whatever that was. But he didn't need to tell the man he'd never seen what waited for people at the end of that light. Little white lies, or lies by ommission, certainly weren't the worst thing he'd ever done.]
Either way, I can't do what you're askin' me to do, Vash. Even if I agreed to do it, it's outta my hands. I can barely even touch you like this. So you're gonna need to get up, unless you wanna see how long it takes for one of you t'shrivel away in the suns. And I know for a fact that you can go for months without food and water without dyin'.
[Unless the little vacation Knives had made for Vash on that Ark had included a complimentary meal plan. He doubted it. The man had been wasting away when he'd finally gotten off of his ass and broken him out of there.]