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[willing_sheath]

[A standard pre-recorded message starts:]

Your call has been forwarded to an automatic voice message system. [There are a few long moments of dead silence before someone draws a breath speaks in a stiff, uncomfortable tone:] Himura Tomoe... [and another long few seconds of silence where she apparently didn't realize how to stop the recording.] is not available. At the tone, please record your message. When you have finished recording, you may hang up or press one for more options. To leave a callback number, press five.

[BEEP]



[ooc; for action spam to be counted as log activity feel free to comment to my annual log under the appropriate month]

Comments

[aprettysight]

[in a breathed sigh] Oh. Oh, thank God.

...I don't. I'm sorry, but I don't. Oh my goodness, I don't know what to do.

[willing_sheath]

You don't need to apologize. All things considered I feel it is asking too much of you right now. If he is new, and he strikes me as such, he will not be aware of what has happened.

If it is a matter of funds I can easily work more hours or likely get help from Tinya or Vash. If he pushes the issue... do you think you would feel safe enough working alongside me? It is nothing you don't already do everyday--simple custodial work. But if not, that is still alright.

[aprettysight]

I--I must admit that I don't know what to do.

You shouldn't have to work more hours! You work hard enough! And Vash is a friend, but I'd feel uncomfortable asking him for assistance. He likely has his own affairs to keep in order. And I don't...know. I've never cleaned for someone other than family before.

[willing_sheath]

[She hums at that]

It would be less Vash... and more his brother. I am fairly sure... that Knives would be willing to help me... at this point... [and she wonders, not for the first time, if she should tell Constance of what happened to her... and wonders more if it would really make a difference.] In desperation I was considering asking him for a contract... but it is something I would look to as an absolute last resort. [She wasn't sure how Knives would take that. Vash would likely be furious with her even thinking of it, considering she was supposed to avoid him at all costs... when she was human. But Constance was where she paused. She highly doubted that Knives would be willing to take on what he would probably consider her pet human. And the entire point was to have the same Dominant...]

Ah, I assure you, it is the same as cleaning anything. We're simply paid to do it.

[aprettysight]

Oh. He mentioned having a brother to me, but...did not seem to want to discuss it beyond that and I didn't want to pry. [she'd be in no small amount of awe] I see. So you've met the brother and he is unkind? [Constance isn't sure she could handle unkind right now. not that she was ever particularly good at it before, but now? she feels like an exposed wound and even the slightest of brushes against it is painful]

I suppose that's not...terrible?

[willing_sheath]

Knives is unstable, and dangerous because of it. I have met him face to face twice and spoken over the network a number of times. We have been neutral with each other, and recent occurrences have endeared me to him... Enough that I might be comfortable risking my own safety with him, but not yours.


It really isn't.

(cw: suicidal ideation)

[aprettysight]

Oh--oh dear. To think of someone as kind as Vash with such a man for a brother! Would he...kill me? For keeps?

[a part of her longs for that, for an end to pain]

[willing_sheath]

There is no "for keeps" here... you know that as well as I do... [It's a shitty club to be in and they are both in it.]

But no... I don't think he would kill you. Not without some extreme outside influence. He is trying to change from what he was in their world, and I think he has made progress to that end--but that doesn't make him a nice person. He can be callous and uncaring, even purposefully hurtful. It is best for you to avoid him. I doubt you will ever even see him, but so you are aware, he looks exactly like Vash but his hair is black and cut shorter.

[aprettysight]

I--I suppose? [she can't help but think that life would have been so much easier for everyone if she'd stayed dead]

I suppose...that everyone deserves the chance to change their ways for the better. But [she flashes back to cousin Charles, sweet words covering a bitter heart] very few people are nice people. I'll do my best to avoid him. It's--there are very many people here. It shouldn't be difficult.

[willing_sheath]

[She certainly understands that sentiment...]

I do not think you will need to try very hard. He avoids people in general.

[aprettysight]

[sob, no wonder why Constance likes her so much]

Oh. That's good? For--for both him and for other people? Are you safe with him? I don't want you to be unsafe.

[willing_sheath]

Vash is always present. He will not let anything bad happen.

[One day she may test out being alone with Knives, but that day is a long way off at this point.]

[aprettysight]

Oh, good. He's so kind, isn't he?

[but she imagines she'd feel like a cornered mouse were she anywhere near his brother]

[willing_sheath]

He is the kindest person I have ever met. Too kind, really.

[Oh god, Knives would eat her alive...]

[aprettysight]

[wide-eyed] How can someone be too kind?

[because kind is what she always fell back on, kind to her Merricat, her Uncle Julian and.....cousin Charles. but cousin Charles had to die, he'd attacked her and he had to die. her Merricat was simply the vessel of his destruction]

[willing_sheath]

He cares for others to the point that he is self-destructive, never taking care of himself.

[Just ignore the fact that she does the same goddamn thing, just in a much more subtle way...]

His pacifism... He lets himself be injured so badly rather than striking out against his enemies...

...

Too kind...

[aprettysight]

Oh, dear...Do you think he'd like it if I brought him food? Or can he cook for himself?

[...also guilty as charged. she'd always been so busy taking care of Uncle Julian and her Merricat, she'd barely let herself imagine a life of her own]

Not even to defend himself?

[she sighs and looks down]

Yes.

[willing_sheath]

I'm sure he would, even if he can cook for himself.

It depends on the situation... if he thinks letting himself be beaten bloody is the simplest solution then he will... even if he could avoid it...

[Christ... just look at that public punishment...]

(cw: sexual assault)

[aprettysight]

I'll make a double-batch of spaghetti and homemade meatballs with tomato sauce and garlic bread, along with a tiramisu for dessert. That should be enough to keep him well-fed for a while.

But--he mustn't! He's so kind, he doesn't deserve such ill-treatment. Better it were me instead. [and she remembers the laughter, the taunts, the feel of the men's hands on her body as they passed her back and forth. but better her than her Merricat]

[willing_sheath]

I'm sure it will... [Actually that boy could probably eat all of that in one setting because he was a bit of a black hole where food was concerned...]

Better it were no one... [she corrects] He's too kind... and I wish there were more people like him...

[aprettysight]

Good, I'm glad. [she doesn't know yet the depths of Vash's unending appetite. best to let her think it will be enough, even for a little while]

Yes. Yes. No one would be better. [but she's too used to suffering on behalf of others] He is...entirely kind. I've never known someone who was entirely kind.