[The house has been a place of madness, the past few days, so many people worrying and anxious, trying to find little Nai, and it would have been a lie to say it wasn't bothering him, too. But he was less than useless as he was.
What good could he possibly do? He couldn't drive out to look for him, and he would only scare the kid if he did find him. And none of that meant that he was unaffected by it; quite the contrary, even knowing that the kid was the baby form of Millions Knives didn't stop him from worrying in his own way.
Which meant he'd been spending a lot more time outside, on the porch, pretending he didn't exist and doing his best to focus on the things he could do something about. Even if that something was just...watching.
This really sucked.
At the very least, when little Vash came out to pace in front of him across the porch, it gave him something to watch that wasn't endless expanses of featureless dunes. He wanted so much to reach out to him and tell him it was going to be ok. Cheer him up somehow, distract him from thoughts of his missing brother. At the same time, he'd heard enough murmurings about what the living Wolfwood had done, how much of a mess he'd made with the adult Blondie and an apparent incident involving Nai and guns, that he wasn't exactly sure his presence would be appreciated even if his state of existence was acceptable.
But then the kid perched himself next to his little nail cross, poking at it curiously and earning silently-raised eyebrows from behind him, before breaking down into soft little sniffles of distress. And fuck him if that didn't make Nick's memory-of-a-heart hurt in his chest. God, he'd always been a soft touch when it came to kids at the best of times. When they were hurting, he never failed to turn into the biggest pushover on the entire fucking planet.
But what could he do??? He would just scare him, he had no idea he was even here, and finding out he'd been here the entire time-...
...But then...Blondie had told him he was easy to sense, for people like them, hadn't he? He'd apparently never been as subtle and secret as he'd thought, which was something he still hadn't properly thought about if only because it would make him remember all his years following the old man without once reaching out to take some of the burdens off of his shoulders for fear of his reveal causing more pain.
He groaned to himself, looking up at the sky as if silently begging for an answer to a God he still wasn't sure he believed in - an afterlife? Sure. God? Who the fuck even knew? - and receiving just about as much of an answer as he expected. And the entire time, the poor kid - he was only like a year old or something, right? He's hardly even a kid, he's still a baby, and that made it infinitely worse! - sat there in front of him, sniffling and doing his best not to lose his shit because he was worried about his big brother, and it was just too much for him to handle.
So he stood, shuffling close and sitting next to him and resting his head on the railing of the porch so that he could look at the miserable expression on his little face, and fuck that made it worse. It was the exact same face he'd seen countless times before, screwed up in grief, just a hundred some-odd years younger, and he wanted to wrap him up in his arms and make everything ok.
He didn't know exactly what it was that they did to sense their siblings, or even him. How did you use a sense you didn't even have? But after a moment, he...reached out, anyway. Thinking at the boy, feeling a little dumb but hoping it would somehow work regardless.]
"Can you even hear me like this...? I really dont wanna startle you."
[He thought, over and over, as his hand gently reached out, so slowly, until he was resting it lightly against his back and letting the pressure of it gradually build until it was hopefully easy to understand. Please notice me, please notice me, I'm here, I don't want to scare you, it's ok, you're safe, I won't hurt you, please don't be afraid.
When he finally let his voice be heard on a level that living people could hear, it was soft, almost timid.]
It's gonna be ok. They'll find 'em. He's gonna be ok.
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What good could he possibly do? He couldn't drive out to look for him, and he would only scare the kid if he did find him. And none of that meant that he was unaffected by it; quite the contrary, even knowing that the kid was the baby form of Millions Knives didn't stop him from worrying in his own way.
Which meant he'd been spending a lot more time outside, on the porch, pretending he didn't exist and doing his best to focus on the things he could do something about. Even if that something was just...watching.
This really sucked.
At the very least, when little Vash came out to pace in front of him across the porch, it gave him something to watch that wasn't endless expanses of featureless dunes. He wanted so much to reach out to him and tell him it was going to be ok. Cheer him up somehow, distract him from thoughts of his missing brother. At the same time, he'd heard enough murmurings about what the living Wolfwood had done, how much of a mess he'd made with the adult Blondie and an apparent incident involving Nai and guns, that he wasn't exactly sure his presence would be appreciated even if his state of existence was acceptable.
But then the kid perched himself next to his little nail cross, poking at it curiously and earning silently-raised eyebrows from behind him, before breaking down into soft little sniffles of distress. And fuck him if that didn't make Nick's memory-of-a-heart hurt in his chest. God, he'd always been a soft touch when it came to kids at the best of times. When they were hurting, he never failed to turn into the biggest pushover on the entire fucking planet.
But what could he do??? He would just scare him, he had no idea he was even here, and finding out he'd been here the entire time-...
...But then...Blondie had told him he was easy to sense, for people like them, hadn't he? He'd apparently never been as subtle and secret as he'd thought, which was something he still hadn't properly thought about if only because it would make him remember all his years following the old man without once reaching out to take some of the burdens off of his shoulders for fear of his reveal causing more pain.
He groaned to himself, looking up at the sky as if silently begging for an answer to a God he still wasn't sure he believed in - an afterlife? Sure. God? Who the fuck even knew? - and receiving just about as much of an answer as he expected. And the entire time, the poor kid - he was only like a year old or something, right? He's hardly even a kid, he's still a baby, and that made it infinitely worse! - sat there in front of him, sniffling and doing his best not to lose his shit because he was worried about his big brother, and it was just too much for him to handle.
So he stood, shuffling close and sitting next to him and resting his head on the railing of the porch so that he could look at the miserable expression on his little face, and fuck that made it worse. It was the exact same face he'd seen countless times before, screwed up in grief, just a hundred some-odd years younger, and he wanted to wrap him up in his arms and make everything ok.
He didn't know exactly what it was that they did to sense their siblings, or even him. How did you use a sense you didn't even have? But after a moment, he...reached out, anyway. Thinking at the boy, feeling a little dumb but hoping it would somehow work regardless.]
"Can you even hear me like this...? I really dont wanna startle you."
[He thought, over and over, as his hand gently reached out, so slowly, until he was resting it lightly against his back and letting the pressure of it gradually build until it was hopefully easy to understand. Please notice me, please notice me, I'm here, I don't want to scare you, it's ok, you're safe, I won't hurt you, please don't be afraid.
When he finally let his voice be heard on a level that living people could hear, it was soft, almost timid.]
It's gonna be ok. They'll find 'em. He's gonna be ok.