Assassinated

"My name is Zer0. Vault hunter and assassin, Crimson Raider too." (Multiverse/multiship indie Borderlands 2 Zer0 blog. Semi selective, open for para, banter, one-liners, etc. OC friendly.)

[nicholas-wolfwood]

numericalassassin​:

You know what? They’re just going to take hold of the back of his jacket and tug him in a not-Jack direction.

“Not doing this. Nope. Nu uh. Let us go find Vash.”

They will absolutely dump Nico in Vash’s lap and they can awkwardly flirt.

Squawks as he’s dragged away.

“Oh c’mon!!”

[numericalassassin]

"Your Vash has fishnets. Much more appealing I think, then that hobo chic."

Solve two problems with one move: keep Vash from getting taken advantage of in a hot outfit and keep Nico from getting taken advantage of by Jack. Problems solved.

[nicholas-wolfwood]

numericalassassin​:

“Stop flirting with Jack. Please for the love of god stop, just shoot him instead.”

“Oh. Is that his name?”

[numericalassassin]

You know what? They're just going to take hold of the back of his jacket and tug him in a not-Jack direction.

"Not doing this. Nope. Nu uh. Let us go find Vash."

They will absolutely dump Nico in Vash's lap and they can awkwardly flirt.

[numericalassassin]

Are they going to have to drag Nico away by his collar? They are, aren't they? This is what happens when they adopt kids with no sense of how to interact with other people.

[nicholas-wolfwood]

WHAT’D HE DO?!

[numericalassassin]

"Stop flirting with Jack. Please for the love of god stop, just shoot him instead."

[numericalassassin]

Are they going to have to drag Nico away by his collar? They are, aren't they? This is what happens when they adopt kids with no sense of how to interact with other people.

[nicholas-wolfwood]

numericalassassin​:

“And you think this helps?” Zer0 growls, low and angry. “You think blaming him is right? Did you feel better?”

“Cannot stand yourself, so you take it out on him. Do you feel better?”

“I’m blamin’ him ‘cuz it’s HIS FAULT! If he’d jus’ kept his fuckin’ head down, Vash wouldn’t of had to try an’ bail him out! He wouldn’t of gotten ripped apart! Livio AN’ him wouldn’t of left!” That anger had been simmering since his confrontation with the little undertaker, and he could feel it boiling over again.

“What I feel or he feels doesn’t matter if it’s only a matter of time ‘fore he HURTS SOMEONE AGAIN!”

[numericalassassin]

Zer0 just stares at him silently for several moments, just watching the rage and hurt play across his face. They don't need to be in his head to know what he's feeling, it's written so clearly, spoken so loudly.

"Vash is a moron, he brought all that on himself. You know that damn well. Angry at yourself, for not having been right there. None of that was him." They sigh, unable to keep all the anger going when everyone around them were all hurting so much.

"Nicholas. You are wrong."

[nicholas-wolfwood]

@numericalassassin​

“Like you did?” Don’t think Zer0 doesn’t know how you think, Nick.

“He has not done half, the things that you did to Vash. How long was he trapped?” Cruel. Cruel and hurtful and correct. “You did all that too. You are just blaming the boy, for the man’s mistakes.”

“Exactly like I did.” It was already on his mind, Zer0. You know him well. “He ain’t done them YET, but the little monster’s already ahead of schedule, an’ behind in development. I wasn’t as bad as him since I was thirteen, I KNOW what he’s like, an’ it’s DANGEROUS!”

“I think all this shit jus’ proves that.”

[numericalassassin]

"And you think this helps?" Zer0 growls, low and angry. "You think blaming him is right? Did you feel better?"

"Cannot stand yourself, so you take it out on him. Do you feel better?"

[nicholas-wolfwood]

"That," the assassin hisses. "Was simply cruel, cruel and pointless and you know. You know that damn well."

"And? Kid's done enough damage as it is. He doesn't need to do more."

[numericalassassin]

"Like you did?" Don't think Zer0 doesn't know how you think, Nick.

"He has not done half, the things that you did to Vash. How long was he trapped?" Cruel. Cruel and hurtful and correct. "You did all that too. You are just blaming the boy, for the man's mistakes."

[numericalassassin]

As much as they would like to, Zer0 couldn't hang around the Ark bothering Knives and filling his quarters with paper flowers all the time. With things relatively stable they'd taken advantage of the lull to use the Vault and go back to Promethea to check in on Rhys and Atlas and everything else they'd left behind to run around in the sand and suns.

They'd only been gone for a few weeks catching up and resupplying while they could so they didn't drain Rook's supplies. They might have picked up a few extra knives and daggers to see if they could prod Knives into using them instead of his powers and a walking gun for Rayen. Why not.

Only by the time they got back it seemed like they shouldn't have left at all. They'd gone back to the Ark first, slipping in more or less under the radar like usual, only to be hit with the most confusing and painful jumble of emotions they'd ever gotten from Knives in the whole time they'd been blunt forcing their way into his vicinity. Zer0 actually staggers against a wall and has to stand still and breathe for a moment.

He's practically screaming anguish, drowning in his own confusion and a new self-loathing that hadn't been nearly this intense before. Zer0 isn't even sure he can hear them at all over the cacophony of his own emotions but they try anyway, throwing out their presence as blatantly as they can as they steady themself enough to run down the halls toward him.

Something happened, something powerful enough to knock Knives' unsteady foundation out from under him entirely. Zer0 had been chipping away at it in the hopes of easing him toward a different direction but whatever had happened had crumbled him entirely. They curse themself for having left at all. Why weren't they hear to help!?

Its only when they realize he's in the Plant chamber that they slow and their mental presence becomes a gentler touch, a request. They won't leave him alone in there; their mental voice is strong enough to reach from outside but they'd rather be there next to him where he can't lock them out and hide.

If he doesn't want them there, maybe his sister will let them in anyway.

@insilentruin

[numericalassassin]

The world is a very strange place from the perspective of someone about a foot tall. If they were any less of a badass they might be worried about being stepped on, or worse eaten.

They should probably find someone taller to perch on until this spell wears off...

[numericalassassin]

Ordinarily Zer0 would want to attempt to keep Nico from getting into more trouble, but as they're currently about a foot tall they decide its much wiser to stay far away. He'll be fine in a few hours. Probably.

[numericalassassin]

@redjaybird "Err..... help?" Wow they've got a squeaky little voice and everything.

[numericalassassin]

M!A: It's a small world after all! You are doll-sized until the mun is ready to end it

As soon as they see the grey-face they're bolting, no thanks, nope they hate you guys-!

Its not fast enough of course. There's a poof and a small cloud of dust as a suddenly much, much smaller assassin hits the ground face first.

"I hate you," they grumble, pushing themself back up. "So much."

[insilentruin]

@numericalassassin || From XXX

| 🗡️ | The sharing of emotions was not something Knives was used to—having cut it off from himself as best as he was able at a young age. Hating the way humans’ emotions played on his mind. Zer0 he could not block out, not like the humans. It was close enough in feeling to his siblings that he …. Didn’t mind it much, however. But it made him feel vulnerable, and Zer0 would pick up on that if he wasn’t careful.

The sadness and Zer0’s words gave him a pang of longing in sympathy for Zer0’s missing having that emotional connection with others. After having had his own power torn from him, and losing the voices of his sisters that had always been there, he understood TOO well how that felt…. And He had only lost that for a few days…

“Something nicer….” He tried to hold in the bitterness in response to that, self-loathing and the reminder of things he does or does not deserve played on his mind in a flash but the emotional ‘bleh’ that was Zer0’s reaction to Legato’s blind and sometimes sickening devotion pushed it aside for a moment, and Knives fought down a laugh.

“I find I like you. I would not have stuck around, if I despised you.”

Those words, as simple as they were, unmoored him from reality for a moment. Who did they think HE was, that they thought him worthy of ‘liking’? True that things had been…. Changing… But many people still made it clear he was unforgivable for the things he’s done. It made him wonder, once more, who he was, and who was he becoming, now that he had experienced this grand disillusionment?

“I’m not sure I know how to respond to such sentiments properly, I’m afraid,” he muttered, looking away, and feeling far too vulnerable to the assassin’s ability to feel his uncertainty. He had never been good at controlling his own outflow of emotion. It never mattered before. Perhaps that was an oversight, but not one that he could fix now.

[numericalassassin]

They wait as Knives processes, 'listening' to the flash of his emotions far more closely then they listen to his words. He can't hide as much when he's feeling as when he speaks and its with no small amount of satisfaction that they know they're one of a very very few who can hear him so clearly. At least they made him nearly laugh. That bubble of humor is rare enough to make them want to grab it and put it in a box to keep it safe.

"I think that you do, you have just forgotten how. Maybe this will help." The assassin sets aside their knife and sharpening stone, standing and stretching for a moment. Maybe what Knives needed was not to spend so much time lost in his own head and instead he needed a distraction.

He'd never given an indication of disagreeing with their original statement after all.

Zer0 doesn't give him a chance to make any move or retreat into himself or anything else like that, just strides over to his big louging chair and swings a leg over to settle straddling Knives' lap. Now they're all coy amusement and confidence, humor and challenge as they plant their hands on either side of his head and lean in with a purr rumbling deep in their chest.

"Stop thinking so much. Sure a response will arrive, if you relax some." Could they get stabbed for this? Absolutely. Did they think he would? Probably not. It would hurt him just as much if not more then them anyway.

"Maybe I just want, the most dangerous man here. What a boast that is." Its a tease, a playful taunt, not a word ringing true in the way its spoken. The fact that he's dangerous is attractive but most certainly not the only reason Zer0 likes him.

[insilentruin]

"I'd totally fuck you."

Would you fuck the Knife? || Accepting at your own risk

@numericalassassin

| 🗡️ | Just a little surprised, though possibly, he shouldn’t be.

“Is that a fact? I would be… interested to hear what you want from me of all people. Surely there are… others that are more appealing to you.”

[numericalassassin]

Amusement flits between them as Zer0 occupies themself by sharpening every knife in their extensive collection, the assassin leaned back and relaxed despite the company they're keeping.

"I would not lie here," they hum. "You would catch me far too quick. Terrible liar." They sit up to regard him from behind the helmet, an odd mix of fondness and sadness replacing the amusement they were projecting. "But you can hear me, and I can hear you right back. I miss that dearly. And then besides that, you deserve something nicer. Something less fawning." There's a flicker of a picture; blue hair and white coat and ugh to go along with it.

"I find I like you. I would not have stuck around, if I despised you."

[numericalassassin]

✨💛 This is the Amazing Person Award! 🏆Once you are given this award you are supposed to paste it in the ask of eight different people, who, in your opinion, deserve it. If you break the chain nothing will happen, but it is sweet to know someone thinks you're amazing inside and out 💛

<333333

[numericalassassin]

Flop attacks

They grunt a little at his sudden weight, but just shift their stance to accommodate.

"Hey there lovely~"

[numericalassassin]

“Little too warm there. How are you not roasting hot, I know I sure am.” At least they liked the heat, kept them wanting to move around despite the lack of water. If it was cold that would be another story.

“I think it feels great. And if you’re that hot, you can take off the ‘all black’ look that you’re going for. They say it attracts light and heat, you know?”

[numericalassassin]

"That is true enough." Not that they were likely to take any of it off any time soon. Not with anyone else around, especially a stranger.

"Ought to get a cloak. would block some of the sunlight, reduce the heat some." They're mostly talking to themself, even as they address the strange person soaking up the sun.