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ARACHNOPHOBIA	By : Lances Category: +S to Z > Trigun Views: 4859 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 8
- 9
- 10
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the places in this story. They belong to Yashuhiro Nightow.

--

ARACHNOPHOBIA

pathological fear or loathing of spiders

Chapter 9: Misconduct Penalty

--

The
night was cold and dark �just like nights had always been in the deep, barren
wilderness of Planet Gunsmoke. However, the
bottomless darkness was broken in the distant horizon where the lights of Warrens
City
were shimmering with pallid lustre. The city was like a jewel in the middle of
absolute nothingness, beautiful and alluring. And now it would perhaps even
remain so, what with Knives' evil schemes botched �or at least temporarily
postponed.

Smiling
to himself, Vash bent his head and buried his nose in his brother's hair. He
inhaled the familiar, comforting scent of his twin and felt strangely
comfortable with the world.

Knives
was soundly asleep. The medicine he'd been forced to take earlier that day had made him zone out quickly and decidedly like a broken plant. His head was
resting on Vash's shoulder, and he was eliciting
soft, quiet snores as he was breathing. Vash grinned; Knives would have been mortified
to know.

Vash
stretched his back and allowed his thoughts drift towards the future. What kind
of future was there waiting for them? Wolfwood had always wished to live long
enough to see the Eden.
The perfect place where the green valleys would wipe out the sandy deserts,
where the rivers would flow with sparkling water instead of blood.

A place where there would be rivers, in the first place.

Vash
had no idea if the Eden
would ever come, but it sure sounded wonderful. Even Knives wished
to see the coming of the paradise. Although, this far, Knives had clearly
expressed his very own ideas as to what kind of a place his Eden
would be like, and it had nothing to do with rivers and lush valleys. Instead,
it had everything to do with spiders and butterflies, and the eternal conflict
between them. Would Knives ever see reason?

Vash
felt an unpleasant weight of responsibility land on his shoulders. He had
pondered it before, and he pondered it now: why were they here? Two humanoid
plants, living among the mortals? There had to be a purpose for that. Rem probably would have known that purpose. After all, she was
the one who originally let them live.

However,
Vash thought he knew the answers already. He just didn't want to think about
them, since his brother was what he was, and since the world was such an
unresponsive, cruel place. But still, the stabbing vein
underneath his left temple didn't stop torturing him until he let his mind open
up to the one thought that scared him the most: that they were meant to
create the Eden.
He and Knives. The two perfect, immortal beings with powers to control the
plants. Maybe Vash was meant to be the new Adam, and Knives was meant to be
Eve.

Vash
closed his eyes. He was too tired to think, anymore.

"Seems
we'll reach Warrens
City
soon." Meryl's voice carried through the roaring
of the car's motor, tired and weak. She had wrapped Milly's
green cloak around her shoulders, and yet she was shivering. The night was
truly cold. "And about the time, too. We've been travelling already
nineteen hours, without any proper stop. My back is hurting, and I'm freezing."

Vash
looked at her fondly, pulled her close and rubbed her back with his prosthetic
hand. "I'll have you drink hot thomas milk when
we reach the town. Try not to get a fever."

"It's
not like I can decide whether to get it or not!" Meryl sulked.
"But I'll take your offer about that thomas
milk."

Their
conversation was interrupted by a vicious coughing fit from the sleeping Knives.

"You'd
better make sure he won't get the fever," Meryl pointed out.
"He isn't yet completely healed and his resistance is down. A cold or a
fever could prove surprisingly dangerous to him at this point. Even lethal."

"What?"
Vash went pale. "Is that true?"

Meryl
shrugged, the corner of her mouth turning upwards. "Well, I can't really
say since he's not exactly human, but I would be careful about it
nonetheless. You might never know."

Knives
coughed again, and this time he woke up with the trembling and pain. Vash
instantly pulled him closer, offering him the shelter of his arms. "Are
you cold?"

Knives'
voice was raspy. "What does it look like, you idiot?"

"Would
you like to have my sweater?"

"I
would, but then you would be freezing." Knives pushed away from his
brother and glared at him. "Don't treat me like a six-year-old little
girl. I can take care of myself. I'm perfectly fine."

"Of
course you are. I was just worried, that's all."

"You're
always worried about something, aren't you, Vash?" Knives snapped, and
pulled away from his brother's touch. "Stop being like that. You will grow
old, despite the fact that you never should."

"But..."

"Just
shut up, stupid. Let me be."

"Fine!
Be that way."

"Thank
you, I will!"

"I
don't understand. You were raised by Rem, just like
me. How could you possibly turn out this awful?"

"Yeah,
go figure."

Knives
rolled his eyes and snuggled against Vash's side,
trying to find a comfortable position. Meryl indicated with a pointed look what
he thought about Knives' stubborn attitude before closing her eyes. Vash let
out a silent moan �he vaguely realised he had a massive head-ache coming �and
traced his fingers through Knives' hair.

'You
better not get sick.'

'Vashu dearest. If there's any chance I'm going to be sick,
it's because of your revolting habit of fussing over me all the time. I don't
need your pampering, do you hear me?'

Vash
shook his head, feeling slightly insulted, and turned his attention to the
glowing horizon again. Fine. If Knives didn't want his care anymore, he
sure as hell wouldn't force it on him.

'Yeah.'
Vash gritted his teeth. 'Yeah, I hear you, Knives.
No more pampering.'

--

--

They
reached Warrens
City
just before dawn. The driver dropped them off by the town's round square before
disappearing with the night's last shadows back into the desert. The travellers
were all more or less exhausted, and the first thing on their mind was to find
someplace to rest.

Meryl
noticed the familiar caf� where she had been enjoying banana sundaes with Milly
on their last visit to the town. It had been months ago �almost a year ago,
actually- and they hadn't even known Wolfwood back then. Come to think of it,
they hadn't even been sure that their Vash the Stampede was really the
Vash the Stampede, back then. Again, Meryl felt like she hadn't quite grasped
the time as it had slithered by.

Feeling
slightly nauseated, she picked up her bag and strode forwards. "Come on,
let's ask there. I happen to know they keep a few guest rooms for occasional
tourists. I heard some townspeople recommend the place, last time we were here."

Twenty
minutes (and one heated argument between Knives and Meryl) later, the
travellers were finally able to settle in for the rest of the night. Knives,
resting heavily against his brother as Vash assisted him up the stairs, had not
readily agreed to sleep in the attic of some stupid old coffee-house.
Besides the fact that the place was outright derelict according to Knives'
superior standards, the owners were also unusually ugly for spiders.

Vash
had hit him over the head with his prosthetic arm, and Knives had grudgingly
taken another kind of approach on the matter.

They
were given two rooms; one for the insurance girls, the other for the twins.
Knives found their room even more horrible than what he had originally
anticipated, but one glance at Vash made him shut his mouth about it. It seemed
his brother could be very angry when he was tired. Besides, Knives' quarrel
with Meryl awhile ago hadn't exactly lifted anyone else's spirits but Knives'
own.

"We'll
meet Frank Marlon tomorrow. Make sure to improve your manners by then."

Vash
spoke with harshness Knives had not heard in his brother's tone of voice
before. It made him feel rather apprehensive and he didn't like it one bit; he
hadn't felt like this since the happenings of Lost July, when Vash had nearly
shot him dead. But this was no July, so why? Why was Vash giving him the cold
shoulder again?

"I'm
going to get a shower. You do what you want, meanwhile, as far as you don't
kill anyone."

Vash
threw Knives uncaringly onto the double bed before stalking out of the room and
into the bathroom. Confused, Knives sat on the bed and tried to ignore the dull
aching of his wounds. He bent down to open the fastenings of his boots and
kicked them off. His right calf �the one that was still wrapped in thick
bandages �was feeling particularly sensitive after being forced into tight
footwear and Knives was certain his toes were slightly purplish in hue.

He
buried his face in his hands and groaned.

In
the bathroom, the toilet was flushed and the water taps of the shower began
running. Knives perked up and instantly thought about his brother's naked body.
Two seconds afterwards, he cursed his own idiocy. Why was he feeling this way
about his own brother? At first he had found the strange attraction a fun game
to play, but now it was beginning to gain more serious features -a fairly
alarming discovery, now that he really thought about it. Vash's
current, distant behaviour was affecting him more than what he wanted to admit.

Knives
glanced behind him, out of the window that was framed with ugly marshmallow red
curtains. The sky beyond was still very dark, despite there was a thin line of
orange light in the distance. Knives fastened his gaze on that orange streak,
knowing that the two suns were still lingering somewhere out there though he couldn't
see them right now. The two beautiful twin suns... the silhouettes of
himself and his brother. Although at the moment, Vash's
sun seemed to be shining a tad more brightly than his.

Feeling
somewhat depressed, Knives began to shake off his jacket. He grimaced with pain
as his wounds were disturbed, but didn't let out a sound. He was tired of being
weak and defenceless. He was tired of being considered subdued, when in fact he
was just momentarily enchained.

"Your
turn to use the loo." Vash emerged from the bathroom, a white towel
wrapped around his hips. "You'll find my razor and a new toothbrush on the
shelf over the sink."

Knives
knew he was staring, but he couldn't turn his eyes away. Especially after Vash
unceremoniously flung the towel off and began to dry his hair with it. Knives
coughed, feeling suddenly hot under the collar. He exerted all his strength in
order to stand up on his own, before Vash would notice his reddened cheeks and
realise the true reason behind them.

Vash glared at him with irritation, but didn't say anything.

"I
suppose we're going to get some sleep before we head out this morning?"
Knives asked as he slowly edged towards the bathroom.

"You were sleeping the entire way here. I don't see any reason why we shouldn't
meet Marlon as early as possible."

"The
insurance girls?" Knives suggested. "They're tired, I'm sure."

"Yeah,
well they aren't coming with us." Vash pulled on a pair of black pyjama trousers
and a soft-looking shirt. "However, if you insist, I might allow us a few
hours rest. I'm not too keen on going out too early, myself, since I�m sure
Frank won�t wake up until the suns have completely arisen. Besides, the bed
looks inviting."

For
the first time, Knives realised they were going to have to share a bed -again.
It was a fact that simultaneously cheered him up and made him feel slightly
terrified. He was accustomed to Vash's presence
during the past two weeks, but they hadn't shared a bed since their first few
nights in the hospital. The doctors had namely delivered Vash an own mattress
to sleep on fairly quickly. Somehow they hadn't appreciated the idea of two
gorgeous men sleeping together in the same bunk.

Shivering
at the myriad of wild thoughts running through his tired mind, Knives slipped
into the bathroom and made his necessary activities. When he returned, there
was a huge mug of warm thomas milk waiting for him.
Vash replied his questioning glare with a snort. "I ordered it for Meryl,
but she was already asleep."

Knives,
still insulted about his brother's reserved behaviour, tossed his head.
"Well, I don't want it."

"Who
said it was for you?" Vash shrugged, and grabbed the mug. "I merely
waited until it had cooled enough so that it could be enjoyed."

"Uh-huh.
Right."

"Say,
Knives, what are you expecting from me?" Vash asked, standing up and
pacing about the room. "What do you think I'm going to do with you,
eventually?"

"I
don't know."

"Well,
you should. That's why I'm going to tell you." Vash sipped the thomas milk. "I thought about my options just now when
I was showering, and I�ve finally reached a conclusion.�

�And
what, if I may ask, is your conclusion?� Knives sneered.

�I'm
going to bring you back to the Plant Ship. And then I'm going to imprison you
inside one of the plant bulbs.� Vash looked at him with hard eyes. �After that,
you'll be just like one of our sisters; alive, but unable to manipulate the
world. Unable to destroy the world."

Knives
paled. "You can't be serious, Vash! That's the most disgusting and
sadistic thing I have ever heard anyone say!"

"Come
now. You deserve no freedom, unless you can use it with excellence and justice.
We have been granted great power in our birth, and with that power we should also
accept great responsibility." Vash's aqua-green
eyes were gleaming with frost.

Knives
laughed. �Responsibility?�

"Yeah.
Responsibility. And let�s face it: you don�t have it. You don�t take any
responsibility of this world, of these humans. You're just a monster, Knives.�
Vash turned his back on his brother. �Nothing but a freaking monster."

A
freezing stab of pain went through Knives' heart. Nothing could have insulted
him more than Vash calling him that! Vash was beginning to sound just
like Steve. Sure Vash hadn't forgotten what had happened to him,
had he?

Knives
balled his fists, shaking all over.

However,
instead of attacking his brother either physically or mentally, Knives broke
down and began to cry.

--

--

...To
Be Continued�
- 8
- 9
- 10
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ARACHNOPHOBIA