goldenglasses | [Voice]

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[Voice]

[Vash has been putting this off. Someone he doesn’t trust, taking him, and poking at him leaves a bad taste in his mouth; but with Knives here…]

[Filtered to John // 100% Unhackable]

I need to speak to you.

[Filtered to Wolfwood and Meryl // 100% Unhackable]

Where are you? I need to talk to you.

[Filtered to Knives // 100% Unhackable]

…

[Yeah? What were you going to say to him? Behave while I’m gone?]

[End Filter]

[After business has been taken care of and he’s talked to those he needed to, Vash heads out into the forest aiming for a river. It’s long past time to intensify his training with the spirits. For those who have gotten to know happy and laid back Vash - this is not him. He’s taking this training with Sona very serious right now and isn’t very chatty. His glasses are on.]

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[he indulges it, for a second-- absently remarking] Could be. You did imply that Rem was not your biological mother.

[But even if it belongs to a younger mind, Ginko's memory has always been sharp, out of sheer necessity. And his impulse to pry is at about the same levels.

This is different, too. Because it's already clear that Knives' appearance is going to change things. And not everyone will be content with half an explanation why. So he turns-]

But you're the one who said you were a Plant.

...and you seemed the kind of kid to grow into lying. Not out of it.

I didn't lie about what I was. No one asked and it's not that important what I am, right? [As that's how Vash is. You have to ask the right question. He's also at least hoping what he's learned here in Luceti, that what he is doesn't matter, because back home it did.] I just didn't want people to think they had to treat me differently because of what I was.

That wasn't the lie I was talking about. [a long, green-eyed stare will just let that settle in, for a moment.]

And in this place? Why would anyone treat you differently? I don't really think that's what it is-- even if it is the case in your own world.

[a deep inhale, and exhale-- sidetracked briefly from his own line of questioning. Firmly, but without judgment in the tone]

I think that withholding information from people is the way you carry things. Because people can't be held responsible for something they don't know anything about. [his glance flicks to the side] Because worry is a weight, too.

And if no one knows the details, all the more reason for you to hold yourself solely responsible.

[No one besides Wolfwood has looked past all of Vash's misdirections and barriers to strike so close to the truth. For a second all he can do is stare in surprised. Don't suppose you'll break the mood by asking him to confess in a mini confessional would you?]

[Sorry, Vash ~~Ginko's canon was seinen from the start~~. But at least, after a moment, the strangely fixed blue-green gaze shifts away from him.]

[He's been observing you for a long time, you know. What you said to Xion, that made Sanji so angry. What he heard about the draft battles. Not to mention what anyone can hear, on the journal pages. The same insistence over and over and--

So instead of pressing forward-- a quiet mutter] -- it's like what they ask the gods to do.

Gods?

[quietly, watching this river and thinking of another one]

The role of a mountain god in my world-- is to be the heart, connected by the nerves to every living thing that makes it up. The insects, the trees-- fishes, birds, plants. Animals large and small. The rivers and the weather.

The god feels and experiences every part of this; living and dying [a slight pause, before he repeats her words, exactly] in ways that cannot be taught.

[The implication is clear.

And it reminds him of you.]

[Legato had called him a Superior Being and it had always left a bad taste in his mouth. When he catches the implication he quickly shakes his head.] I could never do anything like that. It must be very difficult to be a God.

[quietly]... I've met more than one mountain-master, in my travels.

One of them was a human girl. Just fourteen years old...

[superior and inferior don't apply to his world or his worldview. Everything is just... life.]

What she had to do doesn't sound so different from what you've been doing already. [but in the end she...]

Her life must be very hard.

But I'm no- [WAIT! Hold up!] She had? [WHY DO YOU NOT HAVE HAPPY STORIES?!]

[This is a particularly bittersweet memory, and a brush too close to-- well.

He shakes his head.] Gods are chosen at birth-- they can be any creature. It's rare that a human is chosen... [The Rule was wrong, she never should have been--

he shifts back from the memory] Because the influence of human heart never quite fades away, even under the sound of so many living voices.

She died, didn't she?

[-- there's a slight pang, and his eyelids close.]

[I can't let you take my place, Ginko. This is between me-- and the mountain.

I'm not going to die, I just... ]

No. She didn't die.

[I just won't be me, anymore.]

[Vash is actually surprised. Your stories don't have happy endings after all. Then again, he doesn't know the ending yet.] She didn't?

[very softly, speaking with respect]

No.

[I'll be flowing, between life and the mountain-- inside the Rule; inside the Promise.]

She (http://pics.livejournal.com/one_green_eye/pic/000747fz) was even able to live like a normal human girl, for a little while.

Edited 2011-01-24 05:37 (UTC)

That's good, it can't be easy to be a God. [To be honest, he can't even begin to comprehend what it must take. Despite you seeming to think he's a bit like that.]

Not for us. [he rarely uses the inclusive pronoun, but he does now; encompassing all human souls]

...but you know, most people would say the same thing about running around with a gun trying to keep everyone they meet from dying.

[the ship was to colonize. And Wolfwood describes a colonized world. That much time he can hypothesize.]

-- For more than a lifetime.

[Vash lets out a shy chuckle, mostly because he has to do that rare thing of pretending to praise himsef.] You'd be surprise how well a gun works if you're careful with it. Most of the time it doesn't even have to be loaded and it can stop fights.

Well, not counting Luceti, I think we all only really have one lifetime. [Is he misunderstanding? Or just pretending to be clueless?] We're all just doing what we can with the time we have, don't you think?

That does seem the best way to use one... [Ginko's had a brush too close with much less precise guns, himself]

[and he listens, without remarking. Because it's true enough.

a moment later, with a quiet smile-] Yeah, I do. [tips his head back.]

It really is, do you have any idea how much bullets coast? I'd much rather get a stack of pancakes. With extra syrup! [That's it. Moving farther away from the inital question.]

[soundless chuckle] Hn. That sounds more like you.

[but sorry, you're only going to get so far. He's quiet, almost long enough to give the impression he's through digging-- even adjusts the tight-pulling leather strap of his box. But then states evenly, like he's reviewing the attributes of some newfound mushi-]

So you and Knives are Plants. Different, but not so different from humans. [glance] In heart, more than anything, maybe.

And somehow he came to hate humans, enough to kill all of them; while for some reason you seem to love them... enough to die for just about any one. Human or no.

... and now this story is going to keep playing out, inside of this small bubble of life.

[Oh, good! Maybe it's done and he can get out of here. Just turn this way sloooooooooooowly. Quiet, no sudden movements, and he can-]

[So you and Knives- Crap.]

I guess it is. [If you were hoping he'd explain something; we're sorry, but you didn't phrase it in the form of a question.]

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