[Knives has to take a moment to comprehend what he's being told. He scarcely remembers who 'Dolph' is -- had only put a name to the face via the network, and he'd been half-delirious from pain when the man had brought him to that hill -- but it suddenly makes sense why he'd spoken as if he knows Vash well.
It's less swallowing his pride, and more a spiteful act of jealousy, that has him take Vash's arm.]
Always letting them lead you astray. [Though maybe that's unfair to Dolph, so he amends:] Or perhaps you do it to yourself. Even he had the sense to name this place a cage.
[It's doubly bitter for him, when Vash had given such a grand display of wanting to remain at the side of the humans in their own world, now seeming to have abandoned that sentiment. Once again, he's proving himself the weak little brother, constantly pulled around by forces he doesn't understand, too soft-hearted to defend himself from it.]
[ Vash doesn't react to the grip on his arm other than to make sure to try and hold them both steady as they march down the hill. He's concentrating on watching where his feet are landing -- his brother's too for that matter, so for a moment he's silent. It doesn't take over long before he's responding. ]
Dolph's way more practical than I am, but he still hears what I have to say. Maybe it's part of why we get along so well.
[ He's not so sure he agrees with calling it a cage, though he's understood why some might see it that way. Dolph's far from the only person who views this world that way. ]
We don't always see everything the same, and that's okay.
[He feels foolish, to have to lean on Vash for a task even this simple, but at least they're able to move at a steady pace. His pride's taken enough knocks lately that he's able to acknowledge that much.]
If he has nothing else to live for, what alternative would a man have but to indulge such daydreams? In that sense, he has little choice but to listen to you.
[Few would make the choice Knives wishes to, he figures. Humans are too cowardly.]
He could always walk away. I wouldn't stop him because it would be his choice.
[ Regardless of how tense this conversation (or any conversation between the two of them) seems to be, Vash continues on until they actually FINALLY reach the docks. He picks a bench that is off to itself on one of the secondary piers, and he sits down, opening up the tacklebox he's been carrying to fiddle with the bits inside. ]
[His choice. Like they both don't know better than most how much a guilty conscience can chain someone to another, but Knives opts to keep that thought to himself.
Once they reach the docks, he frowns and sits next to him. He still doesn't see the appeal to this, but there's also a strange familiarity to it, from memories he'd thought long since buried.]
[ It's probably best that they drop that particular line of conversation. It's already planted seeds of doubt in the back of Vash's mind, and is quickly wearing down his patience. The demand to teach his brother how to fish is much more palatable. ]
It's not difficult. [ He digs around for a minute and then pulls out a couple of hooks. ]
Tie this to your line on the fishing rod.
[ Once he's got the knot done on his own hook he pulls out the little jar of live bait. Worms (the normal kind) squirm around in the bottom of the jar, completely unaware. ]
[Knives fastens the hook to the line, even if it feels entirely unnatural to rely on a human tool like this instead of his own blades. Everything about his existence lately feels unnatural; he'll just have to try to treat this as a distraction instead of a reminder.]
Then you attach the worms as bait?
[He'd read about how it was done in the old world, even if he'd never seen it firsthand himself.]
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It's less swallowing his pride, and more a spiteful act of jealousy, that has him take Vash's arm.]
Always letting them lead you astray. [Though maybe that's unfair to Dolph, so he amends:] Or perhaps you do it to yourself. Even he had the sense to name this place a cage.
[It's doubly bitter for him, when Vash had given such a grand display of wanting to remain at the side of the humans in their own world, now seeming to have abandoned that sentiment. Once again, he's proving himself the weak little brother, constantly pulled around by forces he doesn't understand, too soft-hearted to defend himself from it.]
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Dolph's way more practical than I am, but he still hears what I have to say. Maybe it's part of why we get along so well.
[ He's not so sure he agrees with calling it a cage, though he's understood why some might see it that way. Dolph's far from the only person who views this world that way. ]
We don't always see everything the same, and that's okay.
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If he has nothing else to live for, what alternative would a man have but to indulge such daydreams? In that sense, he has little choice but to listen to you.
[Few would make the choice Knives wishes to, he figures. Humans are too cowardly.]
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[ Regardless of how tense this conversation (or any conversation between the two of them) seems to be, Vash continues on until they actually FINALLY reach the docks. He picks a bench that is off to itself on one of the secondary piers, and he sits down, opening up the tacklebox he's been carrying to fiddle with the bits inside. ]
Do you want to give it a try or watch me first?
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Once they reach the docks, he frowns and sits next to him. He still doesn't see the appeal to this, but there's also a strange familiarity to it, from memories he'd thought long since buried.]
Teach me. How difficult can it be?
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It's not difficult. [ He digs around for a minute and then pulls out a couple of hooks. ]
Tie this to your line on the fishing rod.
[ Once he's got the knot done on his own hook he pulls out the little jar of live bait. Worms (the normal kind) squirm around in the bottom of the jar, completely unaware. ]
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Then you attach the worms as bait?
[He'd read about how it was done in the old world, even if he'd never seen it firsthand himself.]