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Interesting Supper It was not like pulling teeth. It was much more difficult. She sat with him all day, and when Vash and Milly came home, he would go to his brother, and she and Milly would make supper and chat in the kitchen. It was refreshing to be around the girl, the complete opposite of Knives. She wondered sometimes if they somehow came in contact whether they would explode like matter and anti-matter. Either that, or he'd be intrigued by this example of a pure human, so foreign to him. She had marked the calendar eleven times since he had spoken to her about humans, twelve since he had awoken, and seventeen since she had started caring for him. Twenty since she had written the letter. And twenty-one since she had told him she loved him. Certainly her report had arrived at the Society in December by now. She anticipated the reply any day now, although not with much hope. "Sempai, the soup," Milly prompted, looking worriedly at her elder. There was something in those blue eyes that she would never understand, could never understand. Meryl blinked, then turned to the soup she was supposed to have been watching and stirred it, barely saving it from boiling over. "Thanks, Milly." Another stir, then another. Again. Again. A pattern. "Sempai, what's wrong?" Milly had busied herself with chopping onions, a task she knew well Meryl hated. The dark-haired girl was grateful that she didn't have to meet her eyes. "I'm just wondering what the Society will say in reply to my report." She paused, stirring again, silent. "What do you think it will say?" asked the younger girl. A long void. "I think it will tell us to come back to December." Milly glanced at her, a hint of a smile in her eyes. "And you think Vash-san won't come with us if we have to?" The world felt fuzzy, blurry. How would she know? She hardly knew anything about him for sure except that he loved his brother. "He has no reason to come with us. He has a place to live and a way to earn money here." She scooped up a handful of chopped onions from Milly and dropped them into the soup. Milly responded with a thoughtful yet noncommittal noise that did not indicate her viewpoint at all. Meryl sighed quietly. It was silent another moment. "Sempai, there's a heaven, right?" Her voice was soft, betraying only a hint of the weariness she must have felt, both physically and emotionally. Meryl's voice was almost ferociously adamant. "Yes," she responded immediately, turning to meet Milly's eyes directly. "There is a heaven. There is definitely a heaven." The girl was a bit surprised at the intensity of the response, but smiled slightly and continued chopping onions. "You should get Vash-san. I'll set out the table." Meryl nodded, and started toward the bedroom that Knives occupied. And then jumped, startled by the two blond men standing in the hallway, one supporting the other. A sheepish grin popped onto Vash's face. "Um… we're going to try this tonight. He's been feeling better." She nodded slowly and retreated back into the kitchen, wondering vaguely whether she should give Knives any sharp utensils, but then decided to trust Vash's judgment. Milly looked up questioningly when she re-entered, but she just shook her head slightly and hurried to set out glasses of water for each of them. Milly understood when she saw four cups placed out. Dinner tasted better than usual. Vash had been right – ever since he had started working, they had easily been able to afford food. And she expected that she and Milly would get rather hefty checks with the reply to her report, as they hadn't been paid in a while. It wouldn't be worth it though. It was a strange meal. Knives was completely silent, with Milly and Meryl making nervous chatter and Vash acting a bit more bi-polar than usual. It was almost dull despite the manicness, but for the fringe of fear lacing everyone's words. No, it was tomorrow that things would get more interesting.
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