network & log | un: kni

[ornamentals]

WHO: kni & you!
WHERE: network & around the city
WHEN: july 1st
WHAT: kni enters the scene and gets lost almost immediately.
WARNINGS: possible talk of mass murder / genocide, generally bratty behavior, etc.

[ action - the city ]

[nai wakes up to the sound of rain, although he doesn't recognize it for what it is. the droning noise could almost be considered pleasant, compared to the absolute nightmare he was finally pulling himself from-

or not. he sits up from the cafe table he'd been slumped over, his cheek still red from having laid it against the laminate surface for too long. he stares blearily out of the cafe window he was seated beside, brows pulling together as he frowns. the rain captures his attention as he slowly comes to, before all at once the gravity of his situation hits him with full force.

kni jumps up from the table so fast he nearly knocks over the chair, only realizing belatedly that he was holding something. an oddly shaped device and a... book? he decides he'll flip through it later as he rushes for the doors, nearly jumping out of his skin when someone - tall, human - opens the door from the other side. he only gives them a sparing glare before he pushes past them to run outside. right into the rain.

his heart racing, kni stands there. staring up at the sky, the feeling of rain soaking his hair and clothes is so new, he doesn't know what to process first. with his new items clutched to his chest, kni's gaze moves from the storm clouds above to looking around and noticing, with dawning horror, that he was surrounded by humans. this wasn't the desert planet they crashed into, either.

from one nightmare into another, kni picks a direction and starts walking.]

[ text - un: KNI ]

this technology is so old and the interface for this application is ugly.

whoever designed this should be ashamed.

i am looking for someone. is the directory in this device accurate?

Comments

[doubledollar]

[ ...a dream.
a dream, huh.
there's another downswing in his stomach, and he... he's getting an idea of what he's dealing with here.
for knives to be talking like this
it doesn't feel like his brother that he knows now
with all his high-and-mighty, better-than-thou showcasing.

it sounds like his brother
who was always at his side
sitting with him listening to rem's stories
smiling and laughing
reading books together -- ]

...I see.
I'm from a planet
like that, too.

[playtag]

Oh.

[Oh right.]

[She doesn't apologize right out, not with that sharp reaction, but she doesn't immediately hold it against him either. As he pointed out, not everyone likes being watched. (Most don't, actually, but she gets some leniency from being a kid.) Plus he's about her size, so not as imposing as an angry adult.]

[As for her humanity... well, Eve isn't really sure whether she counts as human or not. She'd like if she did, though.]

[She does answer, oddly neutral despite his tone.]

That outfit. [Unusual clothes for around here, but also...] ...Is it water proof?

[ornamentals]

[it doesn't make sense. vash shouldn't have made any friends here, if he was the same as kni. if they had arrived at the same time, he could see vash trying to warm up to the locals, but something wasn't adding up here.]

i don't know what you're talking about.

[and why should he care about other people? all that mattered was vash.]

no. no way.

i don't trust you.

[ornamentals]

does it have a name?

[asipofbride]

[ if only Wolfwood were a stronger man, he could've stayed around watch Kni learn the grim realities of age math and isekai nonsense.

unfortunately, he can't promise he's not going to try and murder a helpless manchild, so. he needs to keep his nose out of it. ]

you know exactly what i'm talking about but i don't care if you play dumb. [ is he talking about the original crash? the later-days cult? who knows. it's probably the cult thing, though; vash keeps the first thing under pretty tight wraps. sometimes it's fun to be cryptically mean to a brat just to make them really itchy under their skin. ]

cool, whatever. maybe he won't find you and i'll get to stay in my house. try not to get hit by a truck.

[doubledollar]

the humans who survived on it after the great fall named it 'No Man's Land.'

[ornamentals]

you're insane. you don't even know me.

[he can't, but there's an uncomfortable feeling in his chest that says otherwise. he feels himself being pushed into a corner.]

give me his address and i'll find him on my own.

[asipofbride]

god, there's nothing i wish for more than having never met you, but unfuckingfortunately for me, we're acquainted enough for you to be a huge second degree thorn in my side

if he had an address i'd give it to you, but since you can't read, he's moving and actively looking for you so it's real hard to say where he is especially when you don't know shit about this city

[ feels weird to be small and trapped, doesn't it. ]

[ornamentals]

[the humans who survived

the great fall

no way. no way, no way-]

that's a dumb name. gunsmoke would be better.

[pulled from the westerns he loved to watch, much to vash's annoyance.]

[doubledollar]

[ he's nudging this conversation along
inch by inch
getting all the information he can

Gunsmoke
he
wants to laugh. ]

Kni, where are you.
I'm looking for you.

This city is pretty big, yanno.

[ornamentals]

[there's a long pause between vash's text and kni's next response.]

is it really you?

how do i know it's really you?

[doubledollar]

Yeah. It's me.

Our birthday is coming up. July 21st.

Should I get you a piano...?

[poisontippedcure]

[Rose almost opens her mouth, and then she does something completely uncharacteristic for her. She stops talking. Vash seemed upset when he left work today, and he isn't the type to let things get to him, usually. Pair that with how similar this stranger looks, and well...she's actually thinking for once.]

Nobody important. One of my coworkers, is all.

[And then she gets her bearings back! Here's the sassy cat.]

But more importantly, what are you doing out in the rain like this? You could get sick.

[ornamentals]

[kni fixes her with a 'are you serious' look, eyes narrowed.]

Does it look waterproof?

[from the way he's soaked completely, that would probably be a no. he sniffs, pushing back some water-logged hair from his face.]

I don't have anything else to wear.

[ornamentals]

[he doesn't like it at all.]

how is that possible? i'd remember someone as annoyingly stupid as you seem to be.

[never mind the amount of people he knows can be counted on one hand, now even less than that.

but maybe this ******* is right about this one thing... if he's going to find vash he needs to know where he's at right now. a bit hard when just looking up at the towering buildings gives him vertigo. his head hasn't stopped spinning since he left the cafe.]

don't ever come near me.
or else.

[ornamentals]

[another long pause between responses. his hands are shaking, gripping the phone as he stares at the screen. something about vash didn't seem right, but -

kni would like it to be true.

instead of another text back, kni sends his location. at least it pays to be a tech-savvy little spacefarer. he's found himself at the park, sitting out in the grass even as the sky continues to pour down. the green is so bright and vibrant through the haze of rain, kni can't seem to look away. the ship's garden had never looked like this.]

cw: mild child experimentation mention

[asipofbride]

[ and maybe if Wolfwood weren't feeling the way he does about Kni's whole deal, he might've stopped and thought about it, might've been able to dredge up some slice of empathy and moved from there

but then again Kni is the reason that Wolfwood's whole-ass brother is dead and would've been the reason for more of Wolfwood's fellow orphans being ripped apart and put back together however Conrad thought best, so. ]

your brother might explain it. he might not. ain't my job to make it make sense.

unfortunately for the both of us, we'll probably end up living together, but not for right now.

continue to not get hit by a truck. vash'd probably be sad. probably.

[ornamentals]

[kni frowns, definitely not buying that dismissive answer.]

I don't get sick. [he was a plant and plants didn't get sick in that way, so he knows he'll be fine.

he should be fine. although, he feels strange in ways he can't quite put into words, he needs to prioritize right now. weird feelings can wait until after he's found vash or answers or - or anything.]

Why should it matter to you? We don't know each other.

[ornamentals]

i'll sooner rip my own teeth out than live in the same space with you.

[he has a thousand and one questions burning the back of his throat, but he doesn't want to ask this person. the uneasiness he feels staring at wolfwood's messages stirs up a nausea he's never felt before.]

shut up. don't talk like you know him.

[doubledollar]

[ he and kni have always been good with technology.
when the response comes--and it's just a little map marker that leads him to Blue Fish Park--he lets out a shaky sound and
never in his life has he ran so fast
he should have checked the park first
he knew he should have checked the park first

he's going to show up with an umbrella in his hand

but he didn't even bother to open it up, his hair is all down and floppy and over his head
looking a little silly as he shows up wearing a dumb bartender's outfit
with an apron and all.

When he enters the park, he doesn't know where he is--visually--but it's like that high-pitched tone when an old TV turns on
there's a ping in his brain, a connection that he hasn't felt
in months
maybe even years
a connection with another plant, a sense that kin is nearby.

He can feel his heartbeat running into his throat as he tears through the park

....as his eyes fall upon a tiny little frame
his expression going from panicked, to relieved
to confused, to...

he doesn't even know what emotion he's feeling

as he slowly moves to stand
just at Nai's side

the rain pattering overhead as he finally opens up that umbrella
to hold it over his little

Little

brother's head. ]

[asipofbride]

ain't you ever thought about how weird it is that Plants have teeth.

[ it is very unkind of Wolfwood to use Vash's late night ponderings against him, but really, Kni can do a flying skip-jump off a short pier with ten points from the Italian judge. ]

i know him real, real well, kiddo. unfortunate for you. ask him about love and peace sometime.

[poisontippedcure]

Well yes, but I am one of the healers in Kaisou. Should you get sick, I might be the one who has to deal with it.

[She probably won't be, but still!]

Besides, just because I can breathe underwater at home doesn't mean I can breathe underwater here. There are some abilities this place takes from us.

text: un: trienemybest

[droptheious]

THAT'S a matter of debate. For some of us, the technology here is WAY beyond what we have available where we came from.

Usually, yeah. Who're you looking for?

[ornamentals]

[after sending the last message, kni sets his phone down on his lap and waits. it should be the other way around, he thinks. he'd never been the type to wait on others, always the leader with vash following right behind him. that was how it should be, but right now...

he can feel their connection hum as vash grew closer to his dropped location. kni can't explain it, only knows it by feeling and primal instinct.

the string connecting them tightens around his heart and kni knows if he looks away from the fixed point he's staring into the grass, then he'll see him there.

in the end, he looks up instinctively when the umbrella slides overhead. kni stares into the face of his little

big

brother, only the sound of rain pelting the umbrella plastic filling the silence between them. until kni breaks it.]

... Vash?

[playtag]

[Who's rude now, huh?]

[Eve gives the soaked garments a brief look over, then back at the other kid's face.]

Then you are new.

[At least she's assuming. What misfortune to find yourself in a new city in this weather. Only the clothes on your back.]

...

One moment.

[Placing the groceries under her feet, she unzips her overcoat and shucks it off, one arm at a time. It's a little awkward while holding the umbrella, but she manages. Once done, Eve holds the rain coat out towards the other kid, offering it.]

Here. Would this help?