Inside Joke

It was a fairly sunny day, and Merle [the cat girl] was outside on the balcony, chasing a butterfly, until a glimpse or Van caught her eye. Two small dragons hauling a small two-person carriage pulled up at the castle entrance and let him out. At the entrance, Alan waited patiently.

"Good to see you've arrived on schedule," he smiled. Van nodded and took a good look at his surroundings, shielding his eyes with his hand.

"Yeah, sure feels great to be back home in Fanelia," he laughed. He had his servants remove his heavy cloak as they escorted him inside.

"Is Hitomi here too?" he asked Alan. Alan shook his head.

"No, not yet, I'm afraid. Something seems to be holding her up." They walked up to Van's bed chamber and looked out the window.

Alan cleared his throat and looked at him. "Did you miss her?" Van perked up and stared at him.

"What are you talking about?"

Alan laughed. "Oh come on, don't tell me you haven't thought about her the whole time you had left." Van growled and stormed off. In the hallway, he bumped into Merle.

"Eep!" she yelped. She got back up and dusted off her skirt.

"I'm sorry," Van apologized. Merle looked up at him and squealed loudly.

"Van!! You're back!!" She jumped on him and held him tightly. Just then, Hitomi arrived at the castle, running fast and panting hard. SHe found the two standing there and waited for Merle to settle down. Van noticed Hitomi and dropped Merle.

"Ow!" she whined. Hitomi and Van held eachother. She looked into his eyes.

"So ... how was it? Are you ready to fight the earth dragon?" Van laughed.

"Oh yes. I fought a lot of powerful creatures while I was gone." Hitomi smiled. Merle frowned and tried to win Van back.

"Oh dear, you must be hungry!" she interrupted. "May I make you something to eat??" Van accepted the kind offer and watched her skip away, on her way to the castle kitchen.

Later on, she requested that everyone come down to the dining hall for a special meal.

"Everyone," she demanded, "I would be very pleased if you would all join Van and I for this special meal, which I have prepared in honor of his return." Hitomi, Alan, and Van took their seats, but Van blushed and leaned over towards her.

"You do realize, don't you, that I was only gone for two days." Merle giggled and nodded and let him eat the warm meal.

A few hours later, he decided to take a nap. Hitomi and Merle played chess in another room while Alan read a book to himself by Van's bedside, when suddeny, Van was rudley awaken by a terribly upset stomache and ran straight for to the bathroom. Concerned, Alan followed him and waited outside. Merle and Hitomi got bored and left to check up on Van as well, but stopped when they heard him grunting in the bathroom where Alan was standing.

"I think he's vomiting," warned Alan. "He must have fallen ill somehow." Merle got worried and put her ear up against the door.

"Van, are you alright??" she cried. The only response she got was a loud grunt and a really loud splash sound. She looked at Alan, kind of disgusted, and asked him,

"Are you sure he's just vomiting?" He shrugged and listened with her. Hitomi joined them and also pressed her ear up against the door. They heard some juicy farty noises and more splashes... still accompanied by loud moans. Alan couldn't help but grin widley at the sounds coming from the bathroom. Merle started giggling, but Hitomi kept a straight, serious face. Then, she too realized what was going on and was overcome by uncontrollable laughter when she heard him let out another log. The giggling trio decided to spare him the embarrassment and left the hallway. [Laughing hysterically, however...]

That night, the girls were invited to stay the night since Alan wanted to have a late-night meeting anyway. In the dining hall, the four were seated once again listening to Alan held his discussion about what they would do when Van left for Earth.

"Are we all going to travel with you?" he asked. Van held his stomache and groaned.

"I don't care, do what you want."

Hitomi joined in. "I have to go with him, though." She glanced down at him, worried, but continued. "I have the magic pendant. It might help us and guide us."

Van shot up and bolted for the bathroom once again. The group watched him leave, then broke into laughter once again. Alan put his palms up against his mouth and blew really hard, making big, huge farting noises. Hitomi felt really immature, but blew on her arm, making the same kind of noise. Merle giggled a high-pitch giggle and made arm-pit fart-noises. They went on like little kids until they noticed Van watching them from the dining-hall doorway.

"What the hell are you guys doing?!" he demanded. They all froze and took their seats.

"Can we finish this stupid meeting, or what?!" They nodded, and bit their tongues, trying not to laugh again. Van stood up and made his proposal of plans for his departure. During the speech, though, Alan kept making constipated expressions on his face, making the girls want to giggle even more. Suddenly, while Van still spoke to them, Merle cracked up and fell out of her chair. She rolled around, holding her stomache, tears dripping out of her eyes.

"Oh my goodness!" she laughed.

Van shot a cold look at them. "What is so FUNNY?!" Hitomi bit her knuckle, and managed to control herself, but Alan just went nuts. He slapped his thigh and laughed out loud, unable to contain himself. Van grew very cranky and started yelling.

"I don't get it!! Some one tell me what is SO . DAMN . FUNNY!!"

Hitomi let their laughter get the better of her, and soon, she too was laughing like a maniac, making Van extremely upset.

In defeat, Van exited the room with a loud *huff* and let them have their stupid insdie joke. That night, he didn't even sleep in his caslte. He left for the forest and slept in a tall tree instead.

:: End ::