lucetilogs | Is that a bad dye job or are you dying?

Is that a bad dye job or are you dying?

Who: [Bad username or site: plantsactivist title=Knives @ livejournal.com] and [Bad username or site: endthem title=Legato @ livejournal.com]
What: A conversation.
When: February 1st.
Where: Ruins of the Lab
Summary: Legato goes to visit Knives after the experiment. Knives is having a bad hair day.
Rating: PG

Knives stood staring at the large tank in the lab, similar to the one he and Vash had found Tessla in so long ago. Several times he'd had the urge to smash this tank before him and let the water spill out like a gutted fish. But he refrained and let it be, using it as a reminder of his goals, not that he needed much of one, but in a place like Luceti, you could lose sight of what was important. When those you want to kill will just come back, you can grow soft by letting them live on.

But Tessla wasn't the only thing on his mind as he gazed at the tank's glass. In his reflection there was something different that he'd come to terms with over the past day. There was a streak of black in the hair at his temple and he'd been mulling it over for quite some time. He knew what it meant now, there was only one logical explanation. Just as human hair turned gray in the winter of their lives, Plant hair appeared to turn black. From that realization, he connected the dots.

His hair had turned black after the last use of his angel arm on the barrier. Therefore deductive reasoning told him that using his power would quicken this blackening of his hair. This decay. He could only assume that when all of it changed, he would die.

Now, what to do about it?

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As soon as he noticed that he'd been returned to his own body, once more lacking an arm as he should, he set out for the lab. The edgy gnaw that had crept its way into his mind this week was getting to him--being trapped in his master's body while Knives suffered the indignation of having his own form tampered with--and so he sought normalcy. It was all he wanted, all he'd cared about since the arrival of Knives, and so far it had only come in fleeting glimpses. He needed more of it. He needed to know that Knives was alright, needed to be put to work setting everything as it should be.

So, up to the hideout he trekked-- entering unannounced, not wanting to disturb his master as he looked for him.

Knives didn't hear Legato enter the lab, too engrossed in his thoughts. There was the matter of his shortened lifespan taking up his mind but also the information he'd discovered in the latest experiment. He intended to tell Legato which friends of Vash's to keep an eye on and to discover their network of connections, their weaknesses and their strengths. There was also the matter of what Legato discovered about those in Luceti who shared disdain for humanity. He ran a hand through his hair and took a seat in a chair somewhere behind him to go over the information he already had.

Once he found Knives--occupying the body he should be--he held back and waited. He took time to take in his master's apparent mood, the general atmosphere around him, before he announced himself. Just a quiet notification of his arrival.

"--Master."

Knives glanced at him and then back at the tank.

"You're back to your usual self, I see." He scoffed softly, "A human put in my form. Disgusting."

He stood again and wandered over to the tank, and considered destroying it for the sixth time that day. He put a hand on the glass. "Do you have anything useful to tell me?"

Edited 2011-02-04 08:15 (UTC)

Silently, he agreed with Knives' sentiment about him taking the Plant's form. Every moment spent that way had felt nothing but sickeningly sacrilegious.

"I've made several valuable contacts, as you'd instructed. Those that share our philosophies do exist, though they are reluctant to make easy alliances, due to the large majority of humans here. I am making progress in gaining their trust."

Knives doesn't respond for a couple moments, running his hand down the smooth glass. It would be so easy to shatter it with his blades, but... such a waste of energy that he apparently had a limit on. Then he moves away from it and turns to face Legato fully.

"How many?"

"Only a few, but they know of others. With each alliance, more will follow."

And then, he paused. He still didn't know what to think of the following matter, but at least making Knives aware of it seemed wise.

"It has also been brought to my attention that there is a powerful creature who protects the forest and hates humanity. It is apparently exceedingly difficult to become its ally, but I believe we have a chance at doing so."

He leaned against the glass and crossed his arms at that, taking a moment to consider it. "A creature who protects the forest."

That was something he could respect. "I'll approach it myself when the opportunity presents itself."

Such a being would need the respect of a face-to-face meeting to ally itself with anyone by the sound of it, and not a human messenger. He assumes that if Legato had a description or name of the creature, he would have reported it. Knives spent a lot of time in the forest and was certain he'd run into it at some point.

He did have other information concerning the creature and what he knew of it, but the thought sort of stilled and fell away the moment that Knives turned around-- Legato's attention honing in on a minute but very stark new detail. The streak of black at Knives' temple.

"Master--" He catches the concern-laced question before it can get very far however, remembering himself.

Knives glanced at Legato when he cut himself off. He didn't betray the curiosity that he was feeling in his expression, remaining stoic. After a second, he recognized Legato's tone to be concern. He very nearly snorted with annoyance, he didn't keep Legato around to fret over things. Of course, he didn't know for sure what Legato was concerned about, though he had ideas.

"What?" His tone was indifferent with an underlying testiness.

Edited 2011-02-05 08:14 (UTC)

Legato wavered for a moment.

Him expressing concern for the wellbeing of the all-powerful Plant was an abomination of a thought, but it was too late to take back his half-asked question now. With how many unfortunate 'surprises' he'd been confronted with lately, especially in the immediate wake of seeing Knives twisted into some lowly form, any unexplained change was difficult not to dwell on. So, keeping his voice even with his usual practiced measure, he continued.

"...Did something else happen?"

Knives narrowed his eyes, gathering that Legato meant something else as result of the malnosso's experiment. He took a moment to think about why Legato would ask such a thing and then he remembered. The only thing different about him since the last time he saw Legato in his usual form was his hair. And to think, he'd managed to be distracted from it for a moment. He chuckled a little as he ran a hand through his hair where it changed color.

"I assume, you mean this." He pushed off from leaning against the tank and walked closer to Legato, but more towards a window on the other side of the room, looking out of it instead to prevent himself from looking into his reflection in the tank again. He had another urge to smash it again... "The malnosso are not responsible for that."

He paused before glancing at Legato from the window. "Does it disturb you?"

He in no way cared about how it looked to Legato, but he sensed that Legato was feeling off-kilter and decided to see how far that went.

Edited 2011-02-05 08:48 (UTC)

His gaze didn't follow Knives across the room-- not until that question. And then, it was only a brief glance. He knew quite clearly that Knives was picking and toying with him. After all, it was something he himself had subjected others to countless times. Though unsettling, at least it was a familiar position.

"Yes." --said almost matter-of-factly.

He knew better than to lie.

Knives chuckled again and ran a pointer finger along the black stripe as he looked out the window again. He took his time in responding, appearing amused and unconcerned with Legato's answer. He had expected Legato to tell him the truth. It was obvious how the man felt about it. He didn't seem to like change very much, now did he? Then he hummed in thought to give off the impression that he knew the reason for the black in his hair.

"If that is all, then I'll move on to other matters." His tone was distracted.

Edited 2011-02-05 09:31 (UTC)

That certainly didn't reassure him at all, but there was nothing to do for it, presently. Another thing he would have to figure out on his own, so he bit back any further questions.

He ran a hand through his hair again and remained where he was, taking interest in the scene outside. "During the malnosso's ridiculous experiment, I collected names of some of Vash's friends."

He furrowed his brows slightly and wrinkled his nose at the memory of that week in Tessla's body and mingling with all of Vash's "good people."

"While all lives are important to him, Vash is broken when those close to him suffer."

Edited 2011-02-05 11:00 (UTC)

Legato's scattershot technique of tormenting Vash had been successful so far, but it was limited in its usefulness. Having specific targets for his slowly-forming alliance would greatly increase his options.

Still quite sore over the fact that they had dared to experiment on his master-- "I'm glad that being subjected to such a pitiful form turned out to at least be of some use."

Knives straightened and tensed at Legato's description of Tessla's form. If he were a more rational person, he'd have realized that he never told Legato who Tessla was, or that Tessla was in fact weak and small despite being a Plant. But instead, his gaze was filled with cold anger.

"Pitiful?" He paused and started to slowly walk towards Legato, his emotions overtook him and he momentarily forgot about his black hair as the angel arm activated. Large blades grew all along his arm and once he was within a foot of Legato, he stopped. If Legato were to look at that black streak again he would notice it was a tiny bit wider. He was trembling as he forced his angel arm to return to normal, preserving his resources.

"Ignorant fool of a human. That form was a symbol of all the reasons... I MUST EXTERMINATE MANKIND!" He grabbed on to the front of Legato's shirt when he raised his voice and pulled him harshly up and forward. No, it was a waste of energy to attack him with his angel arm. It was also incredibly barbaric to attack with fists. After a moment, he scoffed in disgust and released him roughly.

And this would be exactly why he'd felt so uncommonly unsettled the past few weeks. Legato's world doesn't change, it always makes sense, there is no room for error or doubt, no tolerance for anything but black and white... so when something like this happens, it cracks apart his understanding of everything.

Again, he'd walked right into some grave mistake that he had very little guess toward. He could only stare, unable to completely hide the utter bewilderment as Knives' arm opened up into expansive blades, all aiming toward him for some incomprehensible reason. He couldn't even apologize, or try to mend his mistake. He could only passively ride it out... until Knives finally let him go.

Knives managed to compose himself and closed his eyes, rolling his neck a little. When he opened them again, his eyes were cold with one hundred and fifty years' worth of his righteous need to condemn mankind for their crimes against Tessla and his sisters.

"Her name was Tessla." He says in a deadly calm voice. The reason he'd introduced himself with her name when he was in her body was to honor her memory. Her existence needed to be known, her story remembered, so humanity would know why they deserved to die. "She was a Plant murdered by human beings."

He cocked his head to the side in an eerie way, "Remember her name on the day you die with the rest of your species."

Legato absorbed the explanation as if he'd been starved for it. It was just one small piece of information, but it filled in so many cracks, bridging gaps in his understanding of his master's past and reasoning in a surprising rush. Of all things, this powerful bit of insight was not what he'd expected to hear right then.

And he was endlessly grateful for it.

When Knives finished with a morbid instruction, Legato couldn't help but wonder why Knives had phrased it as though he hadn't known that Legato had already died once for him, and wonder why he'd never explained Tessla before... but that hardly mattered, presently, in the light of this small but vital revelation's importance.

He bowed his head obediently, silently acknowledging the command and committing it to memory. At the end, there would be at least one human who knew something of Tessla, and he was honored to be that individual.

Knives looked at Legato for a moment longer after the man bowed his head. Any other time he would never have told Legato about Tessla. He'd never felt the need before. But this place... and that experiment that landed him in her form had changed things. The moment he saw her reflection staring back at him, it felt like the strings that attached him to the past strengthened and pushed him forward.

It was a clear sign that he wasn't doing enough, that his memory of her while it had always been strong had waned. He hadn't preserved her memory, hadn't fought hard enough to make sure she was given justice. He hoped all the humans who even just caught a glimpse of him in the village while in her body would remember her face when he made sure they died permanently.

And that brought him back to the present. He turned on his heel and took a few steps forward, facing away from Legato as though he didn't care to look at him any longer. "Sagara Sanosuke, Winry, and Mizuno Ami. Those are the names I collected last week." A pause as he walked over to a nearby table and picked up his journal and then opened it nonchalantly.

"It would also appear that before your arrival, Vash was not as cautious. I spoke with a woman named Nami. She and her comrade Sanji are both close friends of Vash from the look of their conversations in the past."

He flipped the pages casually, still not turning back to Legato. It had taken a lot of digging through past conversations on the network to discover this information and Nami's red hair had stuck out the most to him when he'd looked at the images on the page, especially since he'd already spoken to her. After Nami, Sanji was discovered and that was as far as he'd gotten thus far.

Edited 2011-02-06 08:38 (UTC)

He felt a little better now, with Knives' anger passed and something productive set before him. Not to mention that little treasured bit of insight, which he had tucked away to consider at great length later on.

The names were committed to memory, a mental note made to seek out further information on them later, to learn of their individual attributes that would turn them into the most effective weapons against Vash that they could be.

"What would you have me do with them?"

Knives was still looking at the journal casually, something to occupy his hands with, mostly. He made sure to keep the journal from broadcasting this conversation of course.

"Learn about their abilities and their connections." He said, "Six degrees of separation is fact rather than theory in such a small community."

Like a web of dominoes, more of Vash's connections should fall into their knowledge now that they had the names of just a few. Of course, subtle and precise placement of the dominoes was the only way to make them fall correctly. But he did not need to tell Legato to be subtle.

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