Thread by @stygian_stars

There's a flash. Then a bang.

For seconds or centuries, Vash is hurled violently through the entirety of space & time.

Dimension after realm after reality. He's tossed through them all until he ends up in one in which Knives is crouched over him.

Holding a gun to his head.

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AU: swapped roles & alternate timelines
#plantcest #KV

Inspired by this beautiful artwork:

All credits to @miichiyochin for the original concept

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"Why the 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 are you here?" He's growling. "You've already destroyed this town - why the 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬 are you back?"

Vash stares up at him, completely lost.

"N... ai?" He mumbles. "N-," he peers up at him bleary-eyed. Confused; struggling to think past the vertigo; to make

sense of the 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴, the shades, the 𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘰𝘴 & boots-

He frowns. "...Who-?" He whispers, disoriented by it all. "What is-," he starts, lifting his head to look around. "Where is t-?"

Knives jams the gun's barrel deeper into his forehead. "I do 𝘯𝘰𝘵," he shoves

him back down into the dirt, "have the 𝘱𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦," he hisses, "for your bullshit today, Vash."

"Either fight me-," he cocks his gun. "Or fuck off-."

"Wait-!" Vash gasps. "Nai, wait-!" He throws up his hands. "I-." He freezes.

He'd flinched.

Knives. He'd just 𝘧𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘥.

He isn't breathing, now that Vash looks; isn't moving either. Like he's afraid - 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 afraid.

He hangs there, frozen - a deer caught in headlights - eyes wild & dilated; fixed to his left - like he's waiting for something to

happen; for something to come at him - some inevitable attack.

When nothing of the sort happens, he quickly unlatches the safety.

"What - no black holes in my face today?" He cocks a brow. "Must be a Friday." His trigger finger twitches. "Or you just feelin' sentimental today?"

"Please," Vash whispers, eyes warming. "Nai, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦." His breath hitches - grows shaky.

"I just -," the tears are falling before he can stop them. "Can... can we just-...," he stutters. "Can we talk-?"

"𝘛𝘢𝘭𝘬?" Knives wrinkles his nose. "The 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬?" He frowns.

"Since when do 𝘺𝘰𝘶 talk shit out?"

"I-," Vash shakes his head. "I don't-," - it's too much.

It's 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. The dizziness. The confusion. The unease & senselessness of it all. It's 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨.

"I don't know what's happening-," he starts to panic; starts

breathing hard & fast.

"I don't-," he hyperventilates. "Who-," he looks up at the stranger with his brother's face. "Who are you...?" His voice cracks.

Knives blinks.

"Are you-," he goes cross-eyed, looking up at the gun. "Are you real?" He whispers. "Is any of this real?

Have I-," he gasps, "am I... am I 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥-?"

Slowly, Knives frowns.

"Is that what this is? Death?"

"... 𝘝𝘢-?"

"I can't-!" Vash gasps. "Not yet!" He thrashes furiously, trying to get free. "Nick will get in trouble if he doesn't take me to JuLai! Nai will kill him-," he

scrabbles at the ground. "I can't die yet-! I can't-!"

"Hey, 𝘩𝘦𝘺." Knives drives him back into the sand - anchors him there with his gun. "The fuck are you talkin' about, 'Nai will kill him'?" He scowls. "I'm right here-."

"Not 𝘺𝘰𝘶!" Vash yells at him.

"Nai!" He exclaims. "𝘔𝘺 Nai!"

The man above him squints. For a moment, he seems lost. "The fuck do you mean '𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳-." - And then he isn't.

All at once, something seems to click. Cautious confusion morphs into blatant horror.

He stares down at Vash wide-eyed now, in

disbelief. "No." He mutters to himself, pulling the gun away. "No." - Vash flinches when his other hand claps into the ground beside his head.

He turns to glance at it. Then looks back up - finds Knives coming down over him, leaning in closer. Closer. Even closer.

"Wai-," he cycles his feet into the ground, trying to push away. "Wait, w-."

"Stop. 𝘚𝘵𝘰𝘱-." Knives snatches at his wrist just as it's coming up to push into his shoulder. "Stop it." He snaps.

Vash flinches again.

"I just ...," he squirms as Knives closes the distance

between them. "Just let me-."

"What're you doing-," Vash moves what he can; whatever this man doesn't have pinned down - his ankle, his wrist, his neck - "Nai, what're you- what're you doing-?" He shakes his head - tries to turn away. "What're you..."

He stills.

Knives brings the tips of their noses together first - slow. Careful. Then, their foreheads.

He glances up.
The instant their eyes meet - blue on blue - he burns to life.

Those angular tracts of energy - the ethereal circuits beneath his skin - they power up.

They fill with light - with starshine - as they trace up the sides of his cheeks & through his eyes.

Vash feels himself reacting; feels the warmth washing through him, through the same geometric paths.

He lights up.

Every last circuit - down to the ones in his toes - they

light up.

He 𝘨𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘴.

Brighter than he has in a long time - in 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘪𝘢.

𝘓𝘪𝘧𝘦 flows into him. A steady stream of memories & experiences - much like his own. But also very much 𝘯𝘰𝘵.

The Great Fall flashes before his eyes - all the same fire & death; the

same catastrophic destruction. Except it's 𝘩𝘪𝘮 who smiles down upon it - proud.

It's 𝘩𝘪𝘮 ominously humming 𝘕𝘢𝘪𝘪𝘪𝘪; 𝘩𝘪𝘮 with blood spattered across his face; 𝘩𝘪𝘮 eagerly ripping out the throats of the men who'd worked their sisters to death years later.

It's 𝘩𝘪𝘮.

𝘏𝘦'𝘴 the one behind it all.
And Knives-

Knives is the one on his knees. The one with the tears running down his face. Desperate. The one begging - pleading - 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦, 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘗𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 &

𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘮𝘦; the one standing between Vash & mankind - yelling, arguing, fighting:

𝘕𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦'𝘴 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮-!

𝘉𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘷𝘦𝘥 - it's his own voice, laughing -

𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳? 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 - 𝘵𝘰𝘰 𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘱𝘪𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢-.

𝙑𝙖𝙨𝙝!

𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘕𝘢𝘪! 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮, 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵

𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 ...? - and there it ends; echoing back into nothingness - receding with the warmth flowing out of Vash's circuits.

Slowly, he opens his eyes.

𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, he realizes as he stares up into icy blue, 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦.

The life he'd lived

- the life he'd 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 through in this odd universe. The life Vash had lived in his own time. His own space.

It's, "Nai…," he whispers.

"Oh ...," the manic glint in his brother's eyes has softened; 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 about him has softened.

"Oh, 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 ...," he murmurs so gently now it breaks Vash's heart. "... You don't-," he draws a rough thumb over his cheek, beneath his eye; brushes away a tear.

"You don't belong here."

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He keeps checking on him - Knives. Keeps apologizing - "Didn't mean to freak you out that badly-," he yells over his bike's engine as they traverse starlit dunes. "M' sorry, angel."

"It's just Vash- 𝘮𝘺 Vash," he says later,

when they've stopped to refuel at some deserted

gas station. "He's uh-," he lifts his cigarette & takes a drag. Looks down. Scuffs at the ground, stalling. Taps the ash off his cigarette, still stalling. Smokes through as much of it as he can before the gas pump clicks.

"He isn't ...," he finally mutters as he's hooking it

back onto the tank, "... the greatest."

Got too excited and couldn't wait to share this before I finished so TBC ASAP 😛

"He's-," he quiets when he turns up to find Vash's arm outstretched - fingers frozen just inches from his face.

He blinks at them. Glances up. "V-?"

"Sorry-!" Vash burns up to the very tips of his ears. "I- u-um-," he quickly pulls back, flustered. "I just–," he goes to

stuff his hand in his pocket. "I wanted–," he starts laughing nervously. "Never mind-."

He jumps when Knives snatches at him - at his wrist, before he can shove it away.

"Wai-!" He lurches forward when he's yanked back in. "Wait, don't-!" He gasps. "I just– I-!"

"𝘐'𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮."

Vash stills.

"I'm not your Nai." Knives reminds him, quiet.

And Vash stares at him a moment before looking away, guilty.

"It's-."

He turns back when he feels a soft warmth settling into his palm now; flushes an even hotter red when he sees Knives

guiding his palm over the apple of his cheek.

"It's okay." He intertwines their fingers together there. "It's 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺." He repeats. "You don't have to ask," he squeezes his hand. "Do whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want." He tilts into Vash's palm.

"... Don't be so afraid of me."

"I'd never …," something like hurt flickers through his eyes. "I would never hurt you, Vash." He murmurs. "𝘕𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳."

"I-," Vash's throat goes tight. His breath shakes as he forces it through. "I-," he tries to say what he wants to say -

𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. 𝘐 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸. But the words never make it past his lips.

So he does the next best thing - he moves; lifts his other hand.

His prosthetic, equipped to the teeth with all of Brad's precious equilibrising systems, shouldn't - by any means - shake;

shouldn't tremble. But it does as he raises it - hesitant - to his brother's other cheek.

It slips against his skin - glassy blue against an even glassier tan; sparks a reaction. Twin circuits transiently light up beneath his tentative touch.

Vash traces them - the glowing

lines - as they ripple out from his fingertips; little fractal rings of light pulsing in tandem with his heart; with Knives' heart.

He smiles absently, watching them - counting. Ends up getting so caught up in the task, he doesn't notice his brother's fingers closing around his

waist until he's being jerked forward across the hot leather of the motorbike seat.

He startles. "N-!" Electricity shoots through him again, from all their points of contact. Warm. Thrilling.

He shivers.

"See?"

He turns up; finds his brother grinning down at him as the tips

of their noses touch.

Mischief curls through that smile of his - agonizingly nostalgic.

Vash stares at it, heart in his throat - pounding; tears at bay. He leans in closer - presses his fingers to Knives' lips; slowly traces the smile.

"I'm safe." They murmur into his touch.

"I won't hurt you."

The hands on his waist turn into arms that wrap around his sides; all-encompassing. Familiar. So wonderfully familiar.

"Never 𝘺𝘰𝘶, angel."

The emotions run over at that. Fondness, guilt, love, & excitement. Vash's next exhale comes out all chopped up as

they overwhelm him.

“... I know,” he finally manages to whisper back. “I'm... I'm sorry - I know, Nai." He scoots closer. Hugs his brother tighter.

The energy beneath their skin starts resonating again - buzzing to life at the proximity.

Their bodies revel in this - this closeness. This intimacy. This near-oneness; their very 𝘤𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 & souls 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 in it. They always have. It's their original form - the way they were supposed to be.

They know it. Nature itself knows it; the way the gas station lights

begin flickering around them - strobing to the rhythm of their resonance.

"My Nai would never hurt me either. He just …,” Vash closes his eyes as their surroundings flare each time they breathe in & dim each time they breathe out. “… He…"

"Casually beats the shit out of you

for no good reaso-."

"𝘎𝘦𝘵𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘴." Vash says over him.

He opens his eyes. Looks up. "... He's never once tried to hurt me on purpose."

Knives makes a face. His eyes flick wordlessly to the prosthetic arm.

"That was for 𝘮𝘦." Vash sighs. "You should've seen that in my memories - I fucked up."

"𝘛𝘤𝘩."

"He cut my arm off to protect me."

"He cut your arm off because he couldn't control his fucking 𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘦." Knives snarls.

"I would've died if he hadn't." Vash tilts against

him. "... He was a 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥, Nai." He murmurs, placating. "He did the best he could-."

"𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘤𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘳."

"Yeah?" Vash catches his eyes. "And your version of me isn't?" He cocks a brow. " 'Humans need to be saved from their own stupidity,' was it-?"

"It isn't like that -," Knives immediately jumps to his defense. "He means well - he 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴." He insists. "His brain's just …," he glances away, sheepish. "... A little broken."

He sighs when Vash gives him a singularly skeptical look for that.

"... I'm working on it, okay?" He mutters. "Cut me some slack, angel."

TBC ASAP 😛