Vash sighed and looked down at his plate. "I can understand why you would think that," he said softly, "but it's not true. There are just sometimes circumstances beyond your control."

"Like unending waves of bounty hunters," pointed out Meryl. "Trust me, I know for a fact that Vash didn't cause most of the damage in his wake. Back at Bernadelli I even have the reports to prove it." She shot a dark look at her husband. "That's the problem with giving fair and accurate reports. Some people benefit."

He looked at her with a hurt expression on his face. "I never interfered with how you wrote your reports, fair or not." Then he winked. "Not like I cared; Bernadelli would never carry me as a client."

"They aren't stupid, unlike one pointy haired moron I had to trail around after."

He grinned and she smiled back.

Ace made gagging sounds from the end of the table. "Old people trying to be cute again," she whispered sotto voice to Alex. He smiled and nodded assent as the two broke off gazing into each other's eyes. A faint blush crept across Meryl's cheeks, and she picked up her fork and started to eat again, not meeting anyone's eye.

Knives silently finished eating and stood up. Vash, Meryl, Ace and Alex ignored him as he rinsed his plate and left for the living room. Anne and Mark followed their lead, but Anne couldn't suppress the inquisitive eyebrow.

"He's still not much for company," Vash mouthed.

Anne nodded and finished the last few bites on her plate. "I'll be back for thirds if there's any left," she said as she rose and left her plate on the table.

"Are you ok?" she asked softly as she walked into the living room. Knives was sitting on the couch again, arms crossed on his chest, eyes staring blankly at the far wall. He looked up at her as she entered, then back at the wall.

"I'm fine," he said shortly.

She sat down next to him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing is wrong."

"You seem… tense."

"I'm fine."

Anne stopped pushing, and instead sat a little more comfortably next to him. She mirrored his pose and stared at the far wall. They sat and listened to the subdued attempt at conversation in the kitchen for a few minutes, then Knives spoke.

"Is he really going to be staying here, too?"

"Yes."

They fell silent again.

"Did you miss me?" she asked softly.

He didn't respond. After another minute she stood and went back into the kitchen. She smiled at the inquisitive looks shot her way as she dished up more pasta. "He's still sulking," she said softly.

"So, Alex, what are your hobbies?" she asked before placing a bite in her mouth.

He looked a bit surprised to be addressed. "Nothing much, really. Reading. Trying to figure stuff out. Macramé. Pickling vegetables. And paper airplanes, for the most part."

Anne swallowed. "Pickling vegetables?"

He shrugged. "It's fun. Not as much work as actually growing things, but with an equally edible result at the end. Most of the time."

Vash stifled a laugh.

"What?" she asked as Alex blushed.

"Oh, he just tried to pickle strawberries once. He learned why you don't pickle fruits."

Anne laughed. "To some people, that's obvious."

"It was an experiment," he protested, his blush spreading farther down his face.

Ace chuckled as she stood and put her plate in the sink. "Thanks for dinner, Meryl," she said as she left for the living room. She said something to Knives, and he replied, but both spoke too softly to be overheard.

Anne sighed and idly imagined running away again. Then her eyes opened wide and she sat up straight in her chair as she remembered something. "Oh, crap!" she said as she quickly stood and cleared her plate. "I'm late for practice!"

Mark snickered. "You're always late for practice."

"But we have a date on Wednesday. I have to go!"

She ran into the bedroom, barely noticing Ace and Knives on the couch.

"A… date?" asked Meryl of a still-chuckling Mark.

"She's in a band."

"Really? What type?"

"Blues. She sings and plays bass."

"Really! And they have a concert in a couple days?"

"It's stretching things to call it a concert. They are just getting to play at a bar downtown. They really aren't anything spectacular."

"But that's so exciting. I mean, playing in a band… I would never have thought that she would do something like that."

He shrugged as she ran back in the room.

"Hey guys, sorry I've got to run, but I'll be back in a couple hours. Make yourselves comfortable, Mark come on, let's go!" she said as she grabbed him by the arm and dragged him out of the kitchen.

"But.. I'm not done eating," he protested.

"Tough. Bye guys," she said with an aborted wave to Ace and Knives. "Oh, wait. I need a key."

Ace pulled one out of her pocket, and Anne snatched it off her hand. "Thanks. See you!"

And then she was gone.