kaisou | SeeD 11 - small steps

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SeeD 11 - small steps

WHO: Vash + Kni, for now
WHERE: Kaisou + Stardew Stable Gate
WHEN: Mid-September
WHAT: Vash picks up Kni after school, gonna go get chickens to cheer him up
WARNINGS: None for now, will update if needed.

[ It ... really didn't come to any sort of surprise to Vash that he's been called to Kni's school at least three times this week. He knew, with absolute clarity, that it would take a long time for Kni to get used to this. The idea of getting along with others 'his age', that learning how to cope with socializing wasn't going to be something he got used to over a weekend.

He'd pleaded Kni's case to his teachers a few times now, and gave them the simple option: when he starts to get too much to handle, please call me--I'll come take care of it.

Today wasn't a day he got called in to take Kni home early or to talk to him during lunch--so Vash is? Kind of proud of the kid for making it a whole day without any (that he knows of) huge interactions they need to discuss.

He doesn't know about the note that's hiding in the pocket of Kni's overalls as he waits outside--all seven goddamn feet of Vash the Stampede--wearing his hair up in a ponytail, and a floppy hoodie that fortunately didn't get too small for him when he shot up a bit in height.

When he sees Kni slowly moseying out of the school after the bell, vash will do as Vash does--wave at him like a crazy person and run over to scoop the kid up into his arms.

Sorry buddy, you're getting a hug from your big brother. ]

Made it the whole day today, huh??

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It does feel nice. Nicest thing in the world, in my opinion.

[ he adds the addendum of opinion because, of course, that's how it is. it's his opinion--and maybe Kni will never agree, but he can try.

Vash pauses for a moment to run his card along a little blue machine, where it spits out a pair of tickets. He hands one to Kni. ]

Yep. Apparently this train has a stop in another world. Alberto told me about it.

It's called Stardew, or... something.
When we're there, one day passes in ten minutes over here. You can spend weeks in this place without even a day passing here, back home.

[ interesting, isn't it?

He's gonna offer a hand to Kni. ]

....It'll be my first time riding a train, too.

Hm.

[another difference between them, but one that he knows has always been there since the very beginning. his nose is already wrinkling with fleeting disapproval. vash's opinion is right.

he takes the ticket vash hands to him, skimming over the writing as he turns it over.]

How does that even work? [he sniffs, brushing his thumb along the perforated edges.] But, it is pretty convenient. I wonder if you can age faster over there...

[kni lifts his attention from the ticket to vash's offered hand and takes it without hesitation.]

If you're nervous, you don't need to be. [obviously because kni was not nervous, at all.]

I'm not sure how it works--something like crossing through a gate, kind of like the Pokemon one?
I'm kind of looking forward to it myself.

[ but it's... something to consider, isn't it? ]

You know, with relativity? Yeah, I suppose. You could spend years in this gate and come back to the normal 'Earth' much older than when you left, with barely any time having passed.

[ kind of scary, honestly? he's gonna squeeze kni's hand. giving him a wobbly smile. ]

You're going with me.
'couse I have no reason to be nervous.

[kni blanches a little at the mention of the pokemon gate, remembering how disorienting that arrival experience was for him. he'd learned to be far more careful using that television after that incident.]

Maybe we can find something new to plant in the gardens while we're there.

[sure, vash could grow them flowers not already growing in the gardens, but kni liked the feeling of helping something grow himself.

he smiles.] Maybe I should stay over there for a while until I finally grow a few feet taller. [being the shortest person at the cottage blows, okay. even eve is taller than him!

that wobbly smile has kni leaning into vash, brushing their cheeks together.]

Not like at the beach, right? [irrational fears that feel real enough to make their connection stutter with that nervous energy.] I didn't [read: couldn't] finish the lunch you packed me today, so let's eat the rest on the way there.

[because food usually makes vash feel better, right?]

Hey, I'm always for looking for new plants to grow. Maybe Pumpkins--pumpkins would be fun, right?

[ time to turn the convo away from the pokemon gate--that'd been an Experience, for certain.

He's gonna turn his head back and fourth a little as their cheeks are squished together, giving the kid a friendly jostle with a grin on his face as he passes through the terminal--pausing to deposit both train tickets into the turnstile before heading towards where the train would soon be arriving. ]

Haha, you'd stay that long over there? I mean it wouldn't be TERRIBLY long, comparitively, sure, but. I'd be so looonely, even if you were gone for a whole day!!!

[ hehehh ]

I'd have to stay with you. This is nothing like the beach.

[ ...and then look at him, breaking out into a wide smile. Kni ... really is a sweet kid. Knowing how to keep vash's attention off stress--and onto something he likes. ]

I would be honoured to help you finish your lunch.

I want to grow really big pumpkins. Lily would like that.

[you know, lily his pumpkin-shaped pokemon.

cheeks squished and nuzzled, kni stifles a laugh at the feeling of vash's stubble scratching his face.] You forgot to shave today. [kni has decided he will never grow facial hair, ever.]

If you're that lonely, then I guess I'll have to stop going to school. [HE WISHES... unless 👀]

Vash. [another stifled giggle, poking at vash's stubbly cheek with a finger.] You made it for me, so it makes more sense that I'd be the honored one.

[ lily loves a lot of things in the garden but he can already imagine the pumpkin ghost, hiding among the new pumpkin patch and he has to laugh, honestly. A harsh little chuckle escaping him. He looks down as Kni accuses him of being scratchy. ]

Oh, I guess, I did. I was just excited to come and see you, that's all. Haheheh.
I've been letting my hair get long lately, too... [ he reaches to touch it--the blonde covering up almost all the black parts now--but then he stops, and reaches and POKES Kni's nose. ]

Hmmm.

Then you can be honored. We'll eat together, then. [ he's absolutely not entertaining the idea of no school for you, kni!!!! but hey, he's gonna point at the row of chairs in the train. ]

Wanna pick seats?

[his face scrunches at being so rudely poked, wrinkling his nose with a disgruntled look that bleeds away a moment later.]

You always pack way too much food.

[his appetite was still small, although he'd finally graduated from his extremely simple diet of his two safe foods: apples and sliced bread. the lunches vash packed were always picked over, leaving more than enough for leftovers for the next day or for whoever clears out his lunch box when he returns home.

vash could entertain the idea a little...

kni looks over the rows, before pointing to two seats by the window. blissfully, the train doesn't seem too crowded, leaving plenty of rows empty in between the few passengers already seated.] There.

[ maybe he should thank others trying to coax him into eating things too--or maybe he should thank Alberto for bulldozing some of those things for him. Whichever it was... he was happy for it. Even if Kni always brought home leftovers. He'll nod his head and start scurrying over to where the two empty window seats are, getting kni to sit comfortably before flopping next to him with a bright grin. ]

Aw man. I don't pack too much--I pack you the same amount as Eve, you know! [ she always finishes her food!! but she's also not just getting used to eating, either, so he won't tease him for not eating as much as she does. ]

So.
While we pick at your lunch and ride the train... let's have a little chat. Today's trip is brought to you by... being a good kid this week. So, have you any guesses to what sort of prize I'm gonna' give you?

Eve eats way more than I do.

[it isn't meant to be insulting, just a stated fact. everyone eats more than he does, and while his palate has expanded exponentially over the past few months (blessed alberto for introducing kni to pasta and so much more--) his stomach was still small. he couldn't imagine finishing the lunches vash packed him without feeling ill.

he moves his backpack to sit on his lap as they both settle into the seats, hands resting over the carefully kept-clean canvas fabric. his lunch is the heaviest thing in his bag, all the textbooks provided by the school he left in his desk. not much point in carrying around books for homework far below his learning level.

whatever good mood he'd been cultivating since vash picked him up from school immediately drops into ice. kni has never been good at lying, even when little lies would probably keep him out of trouble longer, but especially now and especially with vash...]

Oh.

[he's terribly obvious in his tells, the note in his pocket suddenly burning a hole against his chest. kni looks out the window, watching the people still on the platform and wishing for any kind of distraction from where this conversation is heading.] Is it a chicken?

[ kni is very good at lying. and vash is very good at wearing his rose-coloured glasses. he believes the best in everyone--and this includes kni who, as far as he knows, has nothing going on right now.

He'll reach into Kni's bag to pluck out the lunchbox, opening it up with a hum in his voice. ]

Can't put anything past you, can I.
I guess maybe it was an easy guess, given what Wolfwood and I have been building at the farm.

But yep, you guessed it! Chickens. You can pick out three and we'll bring them home for you.

Better think up some good names for them.

Hmmm...

[the note grows heavier in his pocket as he listens, looking from the window to watch vash crack into his leftovers. just as he said, a good chunk was left untouched still. kni had picked at bits, and the only part of his lunch completely missing were the apple slices vash had cut to look like rabbits.

he could have eaten more, but after what had happened during lunch period he'd forgotten all about being hungry. as he looks down into his lunch, kni frowns.]

Vash.

[steeling himself in the same way one would before ripping off a band-aid, kni reaches into his front pocket and pulls out the envelope addressed to mr. savarem in polite cursive. kni goes back to looking out the window, expression pinched.]

This is for you.

[he doesn't know what it says, but he can only assume the worst, and it's obvious from his tense posture and the erratic notes punctuating their melody. inside the envelope is a letter, written in the same soft cursive that addressed vash on the envelope.

school was difficult, to put it mildly, for kni. he could be agreeable with the teachers, if they looked past his simmering, "I know more than you" attitude, but it was with the other kids he stumbled over. some days were better than others, interactions that felt somewhat successful in not being terribly, painfully, uncomfortable, and other days ended with vash being called in to play cleanup on his behalf. today had started well enough, until lunch hit and his pitiful "no incidents at school" streak ended. what a surprise.

kni didn't plan on involving himself, but when he looked up from picking at his food to see a group of kids he recognized, one of which he "accidentally" gave a black eye to on his second day at school, cornering someone smaller, well...

unknown to kni at that time, the teacher had been a witness to what happened. kni coming up to the group and inciting a tense standoff where kni had been "a little too threatening, but his heart seemed to be in the right place" before the little group dispersed themselves knowing from experience kni would absolutely back up his threat with a clenched fist. there's some concern written in the letter, but overall praise for what she felt was "improvement" on kni's end when faced with stress at school. baby steps in the right direction, at least?]

[ vash has one of the plain homemade fruit jam finger sandwiches in his mouth by the time Kni finally hands him a letter. Vash looks... confused, his head slowly tilted as he flipped it over in his hands.
Giving Kni one final, questioning look--as if to give him a chance to explain himself--before he settles in to read it.

He's not quite as quick a reader as Kni is. So he does take his time with it--especially given the teacher decided writing in cursive was the best idea, here. Archaic, dumb way of writing, in vash's opinion.

He quietly folds it over when he finishes, giving Kni a look--and hey, Kni, look at that, it isn't. A disappointed look?

If anything, it's almost amused. Playful. ...Happy?
While it was an incident, yes, it was... proof that Kni was improving. Even the teacher thought so. And Honestly, Vash was... proud, in a way. He's gonna raise a hand and mess up Kni's hair. ]

Back on Noman's Land. Sometimes I'd come across a group of no-goods who'd be using their strength and guns to oppress weaker people, to take their hard-earned gains, or to hurt them.
To make them stop, I'd challenge them to duels where I'd beat them soundly without killing them. But beating them hard enough that the next time they saw me, they'd just run away.

[ he looks down at kni, with a small, crooked smile. ]

Sometimes a reputation and confidence is all you need to protect yourself--or those who are weaker than you. Without the need to have to show your strength a second time. That's pretty cool of you.

[some of his anxiety might have eased just a little if he'd been able to read the note ahead of giving it over to vash. so, as he waits for vash to finish reading in silence, half watching the scenery passing them by and half watching vash's reflection in the window glass. he could appear as cool and collected as possible, but there was no hiding the anxious vibrations across their song.

he doesn't know what he expected when vash finishes, but regardless the almost happy look on his brother's face has kni turning to look back at him. just as vash messes his hair up again, kni doesn't even bother trying to push his hand away.

looking down at the momentarily forgotten lunch sitting between them as he listens, kni's brows crease together. that's pretty cool of you.]

It helps if... I imagine what you would do, in that situation. [everyone liked vash, a shining beacon of familiar warmth that had so many gravitating towards him. maybe if kni emulated even a little of that, even through gritted teeth, he'd find his own success in this large and overbearing world.] But, it doesn't always work.

[ the look on his face transforms in a journey, within a moment. A look of concern, a look of awe--then a look of almost pure, dumb delight as he resists, so much, to grab Kni up in a hug and swing him around.

'I imagine what you would do'. Those words fill his heart and he... really laughs. He really does start to laugh. ]

You really thought like that?

[ he belives him, of course he does--he just. Has to hear it again. ]

I knew you had it in you.

Three chickens. You can pick out three today.

[it's embarrassing how he can feel his face heat at vash's praise and sincerity, thick emotion swelling up inside his chest like a balloon. there are days his uncertainty is crippling - was this right, was this okay? should he have said this or done that instead? all he knows is this: he has to do better for vash and for his vash.

it's scary, but for moments like this, when he can make vash smile and his melody sing, then the payoff is worth it.

kni smiles, trying not to show just how happy it makes him to hear vash say that.]

It's not a big deal.

[and to prove he's entirely cool and not at all buzzing with relief and a little bubble of pride, he reaches between them to pick up a finger sandwich and takes a bite out of half of it.]

Will they let us bring chickens back on the train?

It's a huge deal! Like, for real. I can tell you were worried, but this is ... your teacher's still worried about you, sure, but this shows some real growth and I'm proud of you.

So it's a big deal. I'm gonna' make something special for dinner tonight.

[ as in, something Kni liked, not something Vash liked. Sorry, cottage crew. ]

And don't worry about that. We're gonna be buying the chickens while they're small--teeny tiny. [ he makes a gesture with his hand!! ]

Old enough to be away from momma, but small enough to carry in a carrier. I asked Alberto all sorts of questions about it, see!

[ he looks proud. ]

The lady at the chicken. Farm? Will sell us a little carrier to bring them home in.

I wasn't worried.

[the denial is weak at best, but the tension he'd been carrying since they first left school grounds was finally draining away. the troubles he faced at that school would still be there tomorrow, and the day after that, but for now... everything was okay.

maybe he was getting... better. maybe he really could improve in a way that would make vash happy.

he holds the other (bitten) half of his sandwich out for vash to take and eat.]

Okay, that's acceptable. [he doesn't know what he'd feel if the babies were taken away too early, if they'd miss their mother.] I want them to be happy with us.

You were totally worried. [ he knows, now, the kid must have been holding the letter anxiously ever since he came to get him at school--and the reason it'd taken him so long to hand it over was because of the praise vash had offered this whole time. He was worried Vash would take it all back upon opening the letter, huh?

It didn't, though--and had the opposite effect. The worries he had since Kni first arrived... maybe it would be okay, after all. Slowly, day by day... ]

Look how happy the pets we have already at the cottage are. I'm sure we're gonna' have the perkiest set of chickens in Kaisou. I'd bet my arm on it.

[ wiggling his fake fingers at him, he'll lean back and look out the window--they're heading towards a tunnel, and a voice over the intercom rings out that they'll soon be arriving in Stardew Valley.

The voice was... odd, and most of the other passengers don't even seem to hear it, much less get their things ready to get off the train. ...Interesting.

He'll gather up their few things, and into the overly verdant new Gate they go--the only passengers to get off, it looks like, too--the scent of bright flowers greeting them as they exit.

...it might take a little bit of asking directions and looking around the bustling little city that's several years in the past technology-wise to find the farm that sells chickens, but...

Eventually they arrive, and Vash is gonna' sit on the fence; having paid the nice red haired lady for three baby chicks. Now... ]

You can pick any three. Wanna shuffle in and see which ones suit your fancy?

[a city stuck in the past, but that's part of its charm. it captivates kni's attention as the train rolls into the station, only half paying attention to the overhead speaker as the conductor makes their announcements. his attention is on what's beyond the windows, drawn towards watching the people as they move about their lives happy and unaware.

kni follows after vash as they disembark together, sticking close as he always does when they leave the safe boundaries of their home. his head turning this way and that as he takes everything, this world settled in a pocket out of space and time and given life through forces kni still doesn't fully understand yet.

he holds vash's hand almost the entire time, taking note of how the people here dress and the smell of farm animals that carry over on the breezes that sway the trees. it isn't so terribly loud here, no never ending static of voices and noises of cars and electricity all joining together to make his ears ring. vash figures out the directions for the farm, kni watching how his brother interacts with the strangers here. it's always the same wherever they go.

the farm is huge, or at least it's far bigger than what kni had in mind. the lady who owns it is nice, matching vash in how vibrant her smile is when she leads them to the chicken pen. they're given a carrying box before she leaves them to it, and now-

kni stands at the fence with vash, looking over the little flock of baby chicks shuffling around the pen.]

Right.

[it's important he picks carefully. while he can't explain how or why, he can feel the subtle emotions of a few dozen chicks and tries to let that guide him as he walks out into the flock. most of the chicks scatter away from him at first, but when he crouches down to hold his hand out, a few start to approach again, curious.]

[ interacting with others is just easy--he's had literally a hundred years of practice, so it was one of the things he was best at in this world...!

He's comfortable now, sitting on the fence as he watches the dozens of little chicks. Blue, yellow, black, brown... there were dozens of them mingling with the older chickens in the huge coop, and its HONESTLY taking everything Vash has not to go sit in the middle of the hay with kni.

This was Kni's reward--his present, so he wants the other to enjoy it to his fullest. The kid looks overjoyed whenever animals are involved, after all. ]

They're cute. They're cute, right?

Too bad we don't have the room to take them all home.

They are cute...

[way cute, even if he mumbles it back in agreement. he's taking this 'choose three' task very seriously; it's important that the three he picks will be happy living together. a shame he can't tell which ones are siblings...

the first one that approaches his open hand is a little blue chick, curiously chirping as it inspects him. something tells kni that it'd be okay to pick it up and so he does, careful to scoop the little creature up with both palms. he's even more careful to step over the other chicks as he makes his way back to vash where the carrier sits open and empty.]

What about this one?

[he holds his palms holding the blunette chick out for vash to see. it sits comfortably and chirps up at them while tilting its head to peer at them both.]

[ hey, it's a serious task. While Vash may not be AS meticulous as Kni is with this task--he still wouldn't be so silly as to just grab the first three that got close to him, either.

The little chick that Kni chose seems completely chill with being picked up, even if it peeps a little in surprise at suddenly being carried--its little beady eyes looking up at its captor with a blank look--

as Vash leans in to brush two fingers gently across it's tiny head. ]

...What a unique color. Here I thought only bluebirds had that sort of plumage. Do you think it'll grow into a big blue chicken?

[kni watches the little creature chirp and fluff itself as vash strokes its head.]

It'd be nice if it keeps its coloring, but I think it's fine if it changes into something else, too. Maybe it'll surprise us.

[how big can a chicken get, anyway? carefully, he kneels down to set the chick in the carrier, the first of three. it peeps again, examining its new (temporary) space with some talon scratches and curious pecking. feeling that it's okay for now, kni straightens up again and brushes some of the dirt off his knees.]

Okay, two more.

[silently tasking vash with keeping watch over the first chick, kni darts off towards the flock again. he steps carefully around the chicks that zigzag around him before disappearing behind one of the barrels of hay scattered around the enclosure. when he comes back out around the other side, he's carrying something in his palms again.

two chicks this time, now visible as he returns to vash's side. one blonde and one black, both equally fluffy as the blue one still patiently waiting in the carrier. kni shows vash just as he had the first.]

I found them sitting together like this. I think they're siblings.

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