He almost went to argue that it would still hurt him to have to live out there, he knows how sensitive they are, how they internalize everything even more than they let people realize, which was already a lot as it was. But then his mouth closed before any words could leave, and he was quiet for a moment, listening to them talk, to Needle-Noggin explain further, and in the end, he was left with a conflicted set of emotions.
He doesn't want to see them hurting, or putting themselves through more pain just to get the chance to have a family. They deserve a chance at a happy life without having to live under the shadow of one of the darkest days in their lives. But if there are more of them that keep showing up there, enough that they're having to build an entire house to fit everyone, then maybe she's exactly where she needs to be to find her boys. And frankly, if there was one thing that was going to set Wolfwood off faster than the shit he'd been through recently, the monumental weight and baggage of the concept of family was it.
It was such wonderful news, such a blessing for the two of them - the apparently growing army of them - to finally have a family again. The thought of them finally being able to be happy with people they loved, their mother, made him so happy for them, and he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.
But it was also a concept that, for Nicholas himself, was...complicated. He wouldn't fit in with that, would he? He was going to be so awkward, he didn't know how to be...family. And no, they weren't his family, but if Vash was there, he wanted to be there, too.
Shit. Now that he thought about it...meeting him mom was going to be so. Weird. He was not the type of person you brought home to your parents. He was the opposite of that.
He refused to let those sort of thoughts come out, though, the last thing they needed was to worry about his worries about how well he'd fit into everything, when for the first time in maybe their entire lives, it sounded like things might be looking up for them. So instead, he did his best to just focus on the situation at hand, the fact that they had found Nai, and apparently a Vash his age, too? So the brothers were going to both get to grow up properly, instead of enduring the awful shit that they had been through and that had started them on this nightmarish course of events.
"I'm glad you guys were able to find 'im, I really am. I really fucked it up the other day, and it's my fault he was even out there to begin with." He shook his head, and for all the anger he'd shown towards Nai before he'd gone running off into the desert, there was none of it on his face now, only a complicated sort of guilt. "I-...The past few of days have...given me a lot to think about. A lot. But...I think maybe it's better if I save that for when we get back."
His hand tightened in Vash's coat and he tugged it gently, not insistent but simply letting him know he was speaking directly to him, though the way he turned that guilty look up at him and caught his eye could have probably made that obvious enough.
"There are...some things I...need to say. Things I should have said before. But it's not a great time to get into it, all the way out here." So please stay, please hear him out. Even if that part of him that wanted to expect the worst possible outcome for everything told him it was still more than he deserved.
And then a sudden thought had him letting out a wheezing little gasp. You'll have to excuse him for not having thought to mention it earlier; it's early, he's not a morning person, and they'd been dealing with a lot of things already that day.
"We found another one! Another you! Another kid, even! He was-...chained to some kind of wreckage in the middle of a little abandoned town, surviving on catching worms and...staring at his own missing arm." Which made him give Needle-Noggin a very particular look, as if to ask "Sound familiar?" Because he deeply suspected that the kid they'd found lined up with the flash of memories he'd seen days earlier. "We were gonna bring 'im to you, but he went missing, too! We were gonna look for him after comin' to look for you and Nico in Octovern."
His brow furrowed then, at Vash mentioning heading back to Rem's and not being needed in Octovern. So he'd already had enough time to find what answers he needed, then? That...actually made something that had tensed up in his chest begin to release, and it almost looked like he wilted some, where he stood.
"So you've already gotten a look around, then, huh? How's it looking in there?"
no subject
He doesn't want to see them hurting, or putting themselves through more pain just to get the chance to have a family. They deserve a chance at a happy life without having to live under the shadow of one of the darkest days in their lives. But if there are more of them that keep showing up there, enough that they're having to build an entire house to fit everyone, then maybe she's exactly where she needs to be to find her boys. And frankly, if there was one thing that was going to set Wolfwood off faster than the shit he'd been through recently, the monumental weight and baggage of the concept of family was it.
It was such wonderful news, such a blessing for the two of them - the apparently growing army of them - to finally have a family again. The thought of them finally being able to be happy with people they loved, their mother, made him so happy for them, and he couldn't help the smile that spread across his face.
But it was also a concept that, for Nicholas himself, was...complicated. He wouldn't fit in with that, would he? He was going to be so awkward, he didn't know how to be...family. And no, they weren't his family, but if Vash was there, he wanted to be there, too.
Shit. Now that he thought about it...meeting him mom was going to be so. Weird. He was not the type of person you brought home to your parents. He was the opposite of that.
He refused to let those sort of thoughts come out, though, the last thing they needed was to worry about his worries about how well he'd fit into everything, when for the first time in maybe their entire lives, it sounded like things might be looking up for them. So instead, he did his best to just focus on the situation at hand, the fact that they had found Nai, and apparently a Vash his age, too? So the brothers were going to both get to grow up properly, instead of enduring the awful shit that they had been through and that had started them on this nightmarish course of events.
"I'm glad you guys were able to find 'im, I really am. I really fucked it up the other day, and it's my fault he was even out there to begin with." He shook his head, and for all the anger he'd shown towards Nai before he'd gone running off into the desert, there was none of it on his face now, only a complicated sort of guilt. "I-...The past few of days have...given me a lot to think about. A lot. But...I think maybe it's better if I save that for when we get back."
His hand tightened in Vash's coat and he tugged it gently, not insistent but simply letting him know he was speaking directly to him, though the way he turned that guilty look up at him and caught his eye could have probably made that obvious enough.
"There are...some things I...need to say. Things I should have said before. But it's not a great time to get into it, all the way out here." So please stay, please hear him out. Even if that part of him that wanted to expect the worst possible outcome for everything told him it was still more than he deserved.
And then a sudden thought had him letting out a wheezing little gasp. You'll have to excuse him for not having thought to mention it earlier; it's early, he's not a morning person, and they'd been dealing with a lot of things already that day.
"We found another one! Another you! Another kid, even! He was-...chained to some kind of wreckage in the middle of a little abandoned town, surviving on catching worms and...staring at his own missing arm." Which made him give Needle-Noggin a very particular look, as if to ask "Sound familiar?" Because he deeply suspected that the kid they'd found lined up with the flash of memories he'd seen days earlier. "We were gonna bring 'im to you, but he went missing, too! We were gonna look for him after comin' to look for you and Nico in Octovern."
His brow furrowed then, at Vash mentioning heading back to Rem's and not being needed in Octovern. So he'd already had enough time to find what answers he needed, then? That...actually made something that had tensed up in his chest begin to release, and it almost looked like he wilted some, where he stood.
"So you've already gotten a look around, then, huh? How's it looking in there?"