Just another cute role-play session that kinda relates to the first chapter.  Enjoy. ^_^

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No PUDDING?!

~Insurance Girls

"..Where...in the world..is it..??" Milly said in an unusually frustrated voice as she rooted around in her suitcase. For some reason, the snack's she'd bought in the last town was nowhere to be found. Frowning, she bent down to look under the bed of the room. Perhaps it had fallen? Nope. Still no cans of multi-flavored pudding.

"..It's GOT to be here somewhere..!" Standing up, she looked around the room with a more than serious face. What if Meryl was trying to get her off that pudding obsession again? She could have very well hid it inside that little pink suitcase of hers...Hmmm... Of course, since her partner wasn't in the room at the moment, she could freely root around and hopefully find what she was looking for… Meryl wouldn't mind; if she never found out that is.

Aw what the heck, Meryl was probably out after Vash. She could get in in a few minutes... and she'd HAVE to understand: Milly was hungry.. ;-; In a matter of moments, she was digging diligently but slowly into Meryl's rolling suitcase.


Upon returning to the inn where they were currently staying, Meryl Stryfe held a paper bag in her arms filled with certain groceries for their stay. And yes, unfortunately for Milly, she would be caught. And so the short insurance girl took out her key to the room and inserted it into the keyhole, fiddling with it to get it open because of her arms holding the paper bag. "Ahh~~"

 "...?" Upon hearing that noise, the hair on the back of neck stood on end as her eyes widened. ;-;!! Now randomly stuffing things back in, she was having trouble closing it...

*Click* The door was unlocked-- and so Meryl turned the doorknob and opened the door all the way as it almost slammed into the wall as it was swung. For a moment, she didn't even notice Milly, because she wanted to get the bag out of her arms; and to the table she walked releasing a sigh as she placed the bag onto the table. "Here we go-- our weekly groceries." Noticing Milly not giving her normal 'HELLO MERYL!' greetings, she frowned and turned around to her partner; freezing as she stared at her, blinking those gray eyes. She observed a moment and finally asked... "Uh, Milly? What're you doing?"

Well, would you look at that! She'd finally zipped that darn latch closed and was standing rather conspicuously aside of her bed, smiling very nervously..."..Oh nothing at all Meryl, I was just waiting here until you got back. Eheheheh...that's all...nothing else.." ^-^; ..Buuuut..her bag was noticeably messed with since it was all bulky looking now. Milly was hoping she wouldn't notice.

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"Whaaaat!? What do you mean?! How can you just "Run out" of the ONLY THING YOU SELL HERE? You've got to be kidding me!" Currently, Vash was throwing a somewhat controlled temper tantrum at the counter of his NEW favorite restaurant. How can one place just run out of food? Impossible.

"Sorry sir. But I cannot help you."

The surly, non-clown cashier then closed the window at the front, effectively severing Vash from his donuts. "That's... not... fair..." Turning around so his back was to the wall, he gradually slunk down onto the floor with gleaming, glittering eyes. "Not... fair at all..."

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Raising a thin eyebrow at her tall partner, Meryl grew suspicious of Milly's actions and nervousness. Yes, she did notice it. Blinking a few times, she took a good look around the room-- it looked like the girl was hiding something... and then noticed her pink suitcase a little 'puffier' than it was. Frowning at it, she turned her gaze to look back up to the taller of the insurance girls, placing her hands upon her petite hips. "Milly, you're acting strange-- what did you do?... and why does my suitcase look like it's been searched through..?" Walking over to her dear suitcase, she unzipped it, looking inside.

"...Searched through? Now where would you get an idea like that..? Eeeheheh..." She raised a hand to the back of her head, smiling profusely. "I wasn't looking through your suitcase for pudding.." It was too late when she realized her mistake. o_o; "Oops.."

Looking up from her suitcase, Meryl frowned at her dear partner; her dear air headed partner, and raised her right hand to slap her own forehead, letting her hand slide down her face. "What in the world...?-- Milly, you looked in my suitcase for pudding?" Meryl's eyes closed as she slouched; a hopeless look crossed her features as she thought this over. "You really are obsessed, aren't you? Why would you think *I* have PUDDING?"

"..Well.." She gathered that ever-innocent look on her face as she poked her index fingers together. "...There was that one time when you took mine away, even when I tried to tell you that I didn't know that money I used to buy it with was all we had left...so I thought maybe you took it again. I can't find my pudding anywhere!" ;_;

Sighing out softly, Meryl managed to straighten up again. "Well Milly, that was when we were broke; we're not this time. I wouldn't take your pudding without you knowing -- " Look what they were talking about. Pudding. A serious discussion between two grown-ups about... pudding. Shaking her head from left to right quickly, Meryl managed to slap herself lightly and blow the subject off by tending to the groceries she brought home. "Pudding... hah!"

Although to Meryl it may seem like such a tiny thing to lose something so 'insignificant', to Milly it was as if someone had taken her arm off or something. "..But...but if you don't have it....that means..." Dun dun duuuuun... "THERE'S A PUDDING THIEF!" O

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"Sigh... Well, they can't run this place without donuts for long. I'm sure they'll be back eventually!"  He smiled, to basically no one since the place had been empty the whole time, and got to his feet, stretching both arms into the air. "Maybe the Insurance Girls held onto that bag of extras I gave them yesterday. Hmm... I think I'll... pay them a visit." A devious and cunning, and idiotic, smirk crossed his face as he left the clown place and crossed the street to the Rat and Fleabag Inn: Where Price Is Our Main Concern! That should have been the right hotel.

Without stopping to talk to the desk clerk, he whistled to himself and he trotted upstairs. Then he realized he had no idea which room is was.  "Uhh... well, this one has just as much a chance as any other..."  He knocked on room 001. No answer. 002. No answer. 003. Answered by an old, wet man with a towel around his face who was VERY irate. "Aahh! Sorry sir!"

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Upon taking the groceries out of the paper bag onto the table, Meryl heard Milly's yell, of course, and scoffed at it with a slight smirk to her lips. "Pudding thief? Come on, Milly, get real... who would want pudding so desperate enough to steal them from YOU... and who would know if your bag had any? Just face the fact that it was you who ate them so quickly, that's all." After her informative speech, Meryl balled up the empty bag and threw it out, looking over to the wide open door of their room. "Oops... forgot to close the door. Milly, could you get that?"

Milly's eyes minimized to small dots as she stared blankly at Meryl...Her thoughts were jumbled. She hadn't eaten her pudding... she'd bought 20 packs for crying out loud! It was MISSING!! But with a sigh and hanging of her head, she trudged over towards the door and pushed it shut with a small … door-closing noise.

After putting the groceries away, Meryl took a seat on one of the beds, releasing a sigh as she did so. She noticed how down Milly was about her PUDDING. Although it was ridiculous to her, it wasn't to her partner. "Ugh, I'm sorry about your pudding, Milly..... I'll.. make your favorite soup? Would you like that?" Look at her; she was talking to Milly like a little kid. Thankfully she didn't notice herself doing so.

Milly took a deep breath and turned around to reveal an alarming smile. Why was she acting so sad when all she had to do is buy more? And Meryl was being so nice about it...she couldn't just ignore that. "Actually Meryl, I would. Thank you.." She calmed down very quickly; taking a seat on her bed and not wiping that newly found smile off her face.

With Milly's approval, Meryl stood with a little smile on her lips, and walked back into the small kitchen, prepairing the yummy soup that Milly liked so much besides pudding. Thankfully she went to the store a little earlier; having the right ingredients to do so. If she didn't, Lord knows what kind of a mood Milly would be in. Meryl was surprised internally that Milly didn't fully flip out and go nuts about her disappeared pudding-- and she was also thankful that she didn't do so---- yet?

And all was well, for the time being. Of course as soon as Milly would go out in attempt to purchase new pudding, she would be devastated. Lets not think about that yet though. Concentrate on soup. Yes, soup. Nothing else but soup.

After putting everything that she needed into the soup, Meryl walked back into the 'bedroom' when it was two steps away having a thoughtful expression on her features. "Hm... have you seen Vash at all today, Milly?"

"..Have I seen Mr.Vash? No, come to think of it, I haven't." She looked towards the ceiling. "How strange. Maybe he's playing with those children again."

"Hmph-- I would bet on it. He is like a child anyway." Walking back into the kitchen, Meryl picked up a spoon and began to stir the infamous soup to even out the taste. "But still... can't believe such a goofball is actually Vash the Stampede.." Basically saying that to herself, Meryl leaned her small form on the kitchen counter and closed her eyes after placing the spoon down. She sighed out helplessly and crossed her arms, letting her mind wander with past events that have happened with the tall blonde man in red. "...."

"When I think about it, I'm really glad that Mr.Vash is who he is...I mean...if he were that man that we first met.." She was referring to Descartes, that freaking scary mohawk guy that was as ugly as he was menacing. "I know you feel the same way." She added with a laugh.

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Vash had knocked on every single door from 001 to 214... Now it was getting weird. He had opened the door on a woman only two feet tall, a CLOWN, a group of seven people in bondage clothing, and a man who for some reason wouldn't open the door all the way. Now, 215... This was the absolute LAST door he was going to knock on. *Knock knock*  "Oy... I didn't realize so many weirdoes hung out in such small towns..."
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Thin eyebrows downcast into that mean frown and once again that tough exterior showed its face upon Meryl. "Oh please. At least that big mohawk guy had a BRAIN. Unlike SOMEONE I know..." A knock was heard on their room door, and Meryl's eyes shot open. "Huh? Who could this be?" Curiosity took over the small insurance girl as she walked to the door, opening it. Oh.. look who it was! Irony had its freaky ways. Meryl looked up at him with a surprised expression on her face. "Mr. Vash." O_O

Putting a hand up as well as a smile, Milly gave a, "Heylo." n_n How funny it was. They had JUST started talking about him, and low and behold, there was the 'spiky-headed pea brain'. "Meryl is making soup; are you hungry?"

"AHHAAAA!! I FINALLY got the right room! Wow, you insurance girls would not BELIEVE all the shady characters lurking around in this hotel... I must have accidentally knocked on fifteen of their doors." He sniffed the air a bit, noticing that SOME kind of food was in the area. And well... it was more his appetite rather than his love for donuts which always got him. It's just that he preferred donuts to SATISFY that hunger.

"Funny you should ask... I was just down at the smiling clown place..." He stuck out his thumb and pointed backwards to illustrate. "And they said they're COMPLETEY out of donuts! Imagine!"

Milly gasped, jumping to her feet. "..Really?? Maybe there's a donut thief too! Just now when I checked, ALL of my pudding was gone!" She looked truly alarmed, as her hands clasped together and she took on that serious look again.

Meryl stepped back and allowed the 'spiky-headed pea brain' to walk in, holding the door open. Cringing at the word 'clown' Meryl closed the door and rolled her eyes at the two airheads in the room now, crossing her arms. "What is wrong with you two?? Maybe you just aren't looking right -- there are no pudding and donut thieves!" Huffing, the short insurance girl made her way back over to the soup, picking up the spoon once again and stirring it.

"Wow... What a strange coincidence. I bet Smiley has something to do with this..." He stood and pondered that for a minute, and then started laughing hysterically as he recalled that hilarious clown's antics.  "Ha ha ha! Well, even if he is, which is a crazy idea, I'd forgive him in a heartbeat if he did that water flower trick again... Hee hee..."  It was almost as if Vash and Milly were in a contest to see who could say the STUPIDEST thing... Tied at the moment!

"..Smiley, huh?" The tall insurance girl put a hand to her chin, looking very serious and deep in thought. "Now we've got a lead! Maybe I can get that transmitter working again and we can track him down!" Ohhh..but she forgooooot.. The clown has to EAT the locator in order for her to follow...

After stirring the soup and turning off the gas, Meryl closed her eyes and frowned at Vash's words; trying to get the images of clowns out of her mind. "I'd really appreciate it if you didn't mention that freak again, Mr. Vash, thank you very much." With that, the short insurance girl went for the cabinets, trying to reach the bowls inside like a little midget. x__x;

Without pausing in the middle of his talking, Vash stepped to the left and grabbed a large serving bowl from the top cabinet, which he practically didn't even have to reach for, and set it down on the counter. "Why would you want to track him down? He's hilarious! Give the poor guy a chance..."  Using a hand/tongue combination, he made the best kind of clown face he could mimic. Hope Meryl wasn't looking.

Wavering off the idea of catching the 'clown thief' for a moment, Milly stepped over and easily took several bowls out and handed them to Meryl with a helpful smile. Maybe she had her mind on pudding and donut stealers, but she was never too 'out of it' to not realize when help was needed.

Unfortunately for Vash, Meryl did see that mimic, and her hand met his face in a matter of seconds. Upon receiving the bowls from Milly, Meryl set them down on the table, walking back over to the counter to pour the soup into the large serving bowl. After that, she picked up the heavy thing and managed to place it onto the table. Afterwards, she retrieved a few spoons including one large one to scoop out some into their bowls. Putting everything in place upon the table, Meryl sat down into one of the seats silently with closed eyes. "...."

Having missed the episode with the evil possessed clowns, Milly sat down in a seat aside of Meryl, and asked curiously, "..Meryl, is there something wrong?" There was actually one thing she didn't know about Meryl; her fear of crazy, 40-year old men with painted faces wearing over-sized shoes and a fake red nose.

"Aahhh... ok, ok, I won't mention the clowns anymore..."  He rubbed the side of his face with his free hand and slipped over to the table, but he stood up behind the free seat instead of sitting down. "Oh, she didn't tell you? Ehh.. seems she's got some sort of clown-fear complex... Right, Insurance Girl?" Wink wink.

"No Milly, there's nothing wrong. I just don't like clowns, that's all." Meryl stood and dipped the large spoon into the serving bowl, taking one of the little bowls into her other hand, and poured some soup for Milly inside, placing it down in front of her partner first-- hey, it was her favorite soup. Afterwards, she did the same for Vash and herself; again totally denying that she had ANY fear of clowns whatsoever when she was obviously afraid.

"Ugh would you just sit down and eat, Mr. Vash? Don't be ridiculous." With that, she picked up her spoon and began to dig in. ~_~

"Oh..." she said quietly, and decided not to prod any further. When Meryl got that look on her face, she knew that now wasn't the best time to ask any more questions. So instead she began eating her soup as well.. Then turned to Vash. "..Do you know why Meryl is afraid of clowns, Miss Vash?" o.o This was spoken in a lower voice..