Ugh…brain dead…
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Wolfwood had taken his things with him as he left the corridor to go to the main deck and watch the twin suns setting over Mei City. He had left Fenella behind mainly because she insisted on finding somebody with the time.
'Honestly,' Fenella's voice echoed through his thoughts, 'hasn't anyone heard of a watch? Y'know, something that tells time. It's not always accurate, but most times it'll have to do.'
The priest reached the main deck and rested near the railing that faced the sand dunes that soon were to hide the suns. He took out a cigarette from a hidden pocket and lit it. As he inhaled his first smoke in over two days, Fenella quietly reached from behind him and took his cig. She held it away from Wolfwood as he attempted to grab for it and she took a couple of a breaths from it for herself. (A.N-I didn't know how to put that without sounding like a pothead or something…)
"Do you know how long I've waited for that smoke?" Wolfwood whimpered, watching as his cigarette being smoked by someone other than him.
"Do you know how long it's been since I last smoked? Three years ago and I had quit cold turkey, so don't even fuck with me on that." Fenella said, giving the priest his cigarette
"So why start now?"
"I'm nervous."
"Why is that? Is it because of your new, drastic haircut?"
"Hey, I didn't plan on that. Was it my fault that my hair managed to grow longer ever since those damn people took my picture?"
"Is that all you're worried about; your hair? It'll grow back in time."
"No, it's not that. It's the fact that I got captured. I had managed to put Vash, you, and the girls in trouble."
"That's nothing. The most you could've possibly have done to completely get us pissed was to get killed. And by the looks of it, you're still here…and what does that tell you?"
"Not to worry?" said Fenella, unsure of what the priest was talking about.
"Exactly, so don't." Wolfwood put his arm around Fenella and hugged her. She rested her head against his shoulder and indulged herself with his scent and warmth.
"Tell me," she said lastly, her voice being slightly muffled, "why did you kiss me the other day?"
"What?" asked Wolfwood, gently pushing Fenella away.
"I want to know why you did that. You obviously knew that I have feelings for Vash, yet you still have the slight nerve to kiss me. I thought you were better than that."
Wolfwood stood unvoiced, desperately searching his mind for something to say to a friend that needed to know the truth. He let out a heavy sigh and hung his head.
"Would you hate me if I said that I still have feelings for you?" he said.
"Possibly, but not right now."
"Oh,"
Fenella looked over the side of the sand steamer as she noticed Mei City getting closer.
"Try not to think about that too much," she said, "Let's get to Mei first. Which should probably take us a few minutes." With that, Fenella walked off to wait for the stop in the City. She yelled back to Wolfwood for one last piece of information for the day, "Wolfwood, if I don't see you after the crowds have cleared, then I'll find a way to the insurance girls! See ya!"
Wolfwood nodded and stayed stationary in his spot, taking the last few puffs of his cigarette before the steamer came to a complete halt. With his Punisher in his hand and the sudden crowd of people surrounding him, the priest waited patiently for most everyone to get off the steamer before him. When it came his turn to leave, he looked over Mei and saw Fenella walking on the side of the street. His expression turned calm for an odd reason to him, Wolfwood realized what he was doing and he quickly shook his head, attempting to erase all the thoughts that had come to his mind.
'No, remember that she is not the same person anymore. She has Vash and I have Millie.' He thought to himself.
As the priest stepped off of the steamer, Fenella was already on her way to find Millie and Meryl. She desperately scanned the streets for any possible sign of either of them only to find nothing.
"How hard can it be to find somebody like them?" she whimpered, still walking wherever it was that her feet were carrying her.
"Meryl, can we get some pudding?" a woman said, her hand filled with bags.
"No, we can't. We need to get home as soon as possible." Another woman snapped.
"It's the insurance girls." Fenella said to herself, soon turning around and finding the girls turn a corner, "Wait!" she called, running after the two, "I need to find V--" she stopped short and tackled a woman who was standing near the corner at the same time, causing the woman to drop her bags and everything contained in it. Embarrassed, Fenella sat up and began to apologize for her hastiness.
"I am so sorry, I didn't see you." She said, "Please, let me go and catch up to these women I have to find."
"Hey, get off of her!" the other woman demanded. Fenella perked up and stared at the woman standing up.
"Meryl!" Fenella yelled, getting up and giving a big hug to the unsuspecting lady, "I'm so glad to see you!"
"Oh my goodness," the girl on the ground said, also standing and dusting herself off, "it's Fenella! We were so worried. Mr. Vash was so worried." Said Millie, hugging Fenella who was hugging Meryl.
"Speaking of Mr. Vash," said Fenella, squirming out of Millie's bear grip and bending down gathering the spilled contents of her bag, "where is he?"
"Oh, he's back at the house we're renting. All complements of the Bernardelli Insurance Company." Said Meryl.
"Really? Great! I guess I'll just follow y'all until we get there. Do you need any help for anything?" Fenella asked.
"Yeah, can you buy me some pudding? It's been so long since I've had any." Millie implied.
"Sure! I'll get on it as soon as I see Vash." Fenella replied, grinning at the thought.
"Alright, but before we do get home, you are going to help us with our bags." Meryl said, handing one of her bags to Fenella. She sighed as Millie also decided to give her a bag.
The walk to the rented house was really quick, it was just down the street. As they walked, Fenella told the girls how Wolfwood had helped her out of the jailhouse and why her hair was so short.
"So that's what she did? She just grabbed you and cut your hair?" Millie asked, "How barbaric."
"Isn't it though?" Fenella said, standing outside of the door of the rented house as Meryl unlocked it. When Meryl unlocked it, she led Millie and Fenella to the kitchen where they could put the bags down. As Fenella massaged her arms, Meryl brought out a few coffee mugs.
"Do you want anything to drink?" she asked, "I think Vash is asleep, so you should wait a while before you see him."
Fenella nodded and took a mug and handed it to Millie, she then took one for herself. All three of them got to talking after Meryl had prepared coffee for all three of them. When Fenella had reached the halfway point of her coffee, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in, it's open!" Meryl called, standing up to head over to the door in the next room.
'How can people be so secure in this city?' thought Fenella, as the door opened and a familiar shadow appeared.
"Mr. Wolfwood," said Meryl, "what are you doing here?"
Millie's eyes changed from sober to giddy. She listened intently while staring at her mug of coffee. Fenella was about to start a conversation with her, when the two of them had noticed an eerie silence from the front room.
"What do you think is happening?" Millie said, quietly.
In the living room, Meryl and Wolfwood had been silenced by Vash walking into the room with his spikes drooping and a tired look on his face.
"Did you get her out?" Vash asked Wolfwood. The priest nodded and set his Punisher against the wall, "Then, where is she?"
"She's in the kitchen with Millie." Meryl interrupted. Vash gave a weak smile to her and walked to the kitchen door. He opened it to see Fenella and Millie sitting at the table, talking and snacking on some chips. Fenella nearly choked on a chip at the sight of him.
"Good afternoon Mr. Vash" Millie said happily. Fenella and Vash said nothing, they just kept their words to themselves. After all, actions do speak louder than words. Vash stepped to Fenella and held her close. Meryl and Wolfwood had stepped into the kitchen and motioned Millie to step out with them. Once the three were gone, Vash sat down on a chair and took Fenella's hands into his own.
"I'm sorry that you had to go through so much," he said, reaching up to her face, "Hopefully Wolfwood told you why the girls had taken me here."
"Yeah, he did." Fenella bent down to kiss Vash, she pulled away and sat in his lap, "Although he didn't tell me how you were…how've ya been?"
"A little hungry, but I'll be fine."
"Don't these girls ever feed you?"
"Of course they fed me, they were constantly stuffing me like I was a piñata or something!" Vash exclaimed, "But I couldn't help it, it all tasted so good. Did you know that Millie's a really good cook?"
"No, I didn't." Fenella said, "If both of these women constantly gave you food, then how can you be hungry?"
"Nevermind that, will you have dinner with me?"
"I'd love to."
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Ugh, I felt as though that chapter would drag on for a while. Maybe I should give the couple a quiet night…nah…