Disclaimer: I don't own anything Trigun, so don't sue me please, thank you!

Tying Up Loose Ends

Chapter Twenty-Three

Adult Items

"And then I said 'Sorry sweetie, but I only take monetary tips.' The poor woman was so flustered at being found out she nearly ran out of there right after paying the bill, her husband dragged along by his necktie."

Laughter filled the kitchen as Wolfwood finished his story with an actual reenactment of said husband's exit at the hands of his embarrassed wife. As the laughter died down and conversation shifted elsewhere, Wolfwood plopped down in his seat and poured himself another drink. To his left sat a rather flushed and goofier-than-usual Milly and to his right a hiccupping Edy who couldn't seem to get her giggles under control. In front of him on the table sat the remains of the ridiculously huge dinner and more than a few empty bottles. Needless to say, the air at Edy's birthday celebration was more than jovial. Wolfwood wanted it to be that exactly as it was; he needed happy memories of his last time together with his friends because little happiness lay on the road before him.

"To the Birthday Girl!" Vash shouted suddenly, toasting Edy for the hundredth time since they'd started drinking, among other things worthy of praise such as Insurance Girls, dirty priests, liquor, and puppies. Roscoe actually added his deep voice in on the last one, some how knowing it was appropriate or would at least elicit almost debilitating mirth from the inebriated humans. Vash received in response to his most recent toast an enthusiastic echo, most of then too far along in their drinks to remember that they said this many times before.

Meryl remembered, but said nothing, enjoying the show put on by the others. She had spent the whole night with hardly a drop of alcohol in her but she still was having a wonderful time. It was good to see Edy looking so much better; it was amazing how quickly she rebounded from something so serious, but maybe that was they way plants were.

She had no clue that Edy's plant physiology was such a double edged sword, or that humanity played a role in her decreasing health. Meryl also couldn't guess why Knives seemed to still be so incapacitated from bullet wounds and a stroke had only barely put Edy back. Some people were fighters though, and Meryl tried to never be amazed by what the human mind was capable of.

Poking his head in from the front hall, Isaiah gave the group his best death glare; it was well past three in the morning and it didn't look like the party would break up any time soon. Edy, laughing, motioned for Isaiah to come on in and over to her. He reluctantly complied and she pulled him onto lap, much like she held him when he was smaller.

"Remember when you were little? You were always begging me to sit down just so you could sit on my lap; you said it must have been made for you because you fit so perfectly," Edy reminisced in her still very slow but much clearer speech, slurred from time to time because of both the liquor and the stroke's lingering affects. She wrapped her arms around her brother as he sat there stiffly, embarrassed beyond belief.

"Yeah, well, I'm too old for that now. And you're drunk," he muttered almost bitterly.

"An observant child," she laughed, "Still, you're too young to know this ultimate truth."

"Which is…" Isaiah asked with a sigh, knowing he wouldn't be allowed to leave until he did.

"You're never too old to snuggle!" she shouted, crushing him in a bear hug as he struggled to get away amid the laughter of the others. At last he broke free and scampered out of the kitchen, shooting back yet another attempt at a look-o'-doom before disappearing into another less occupied region of the house.

"Aw, you scared him away," Wolfwood said with a mock frown.

"Good, now we can continue in peace," Edy replied. "There's no chance he'll come down for yet another mortifying encounter with Big Sister."

Meryl laughed along with the others; it was good to see Edy looking so much better. Meryl no longer hated her, pity replacing that dark emotion in her heart. Still, she saw the way Vash looked at her, the way he acted around her… That wasn't just friendship, whether Edy or Vash were consciously aware of it or not.

We really shouldn't have given her that dress for her birthday, Meryl thought to herself.

While taking a break from a case one day, Milly and Meryl had stumbled upon a boutique in the tiny town where they were staying. Deciding it appeared to be worth a closer look, the girls entered and there found, at least what Milly thought to be, the perfect gift for Edy. Hanging on a dress form in the middle of the floor was a gorgeous, deep red dress. Wide straps tapered to meet a square neckline and the gauzy, layered skirt draped from the high waist to what would probably be around the calves. Milly swore it had been made specifically for Edy (Meryl never could fathom exactly why) and insisted it to be the woman's birthday gift from the both of them. Having no other ideas on what to get her, Meryl agreed. As it turned out, when they gave it to her and she tried it on, it really did seem to have been made specifically for her.

And damn it all, she looked good in it.

Meryl would just have to give up her girlish crush and move on. Not that she didn't stand as worthy competition against Edy. She just knew when to fight and when to throw in the towel. That didn't mean she would drop Vash as a friend and comrade, though; love doesn't last forever, you know.

Meryl had learned much patience since she first met Vash so long ago. She could wait.

Joining Milly in recapping one of their recent exploits, Meryl jumped back into the conversation. More bottles were brought out and more stories were told as the night wore on into the morning.

* * * * *

At long last the end to the evening arrived and everyone stumbled off to their respective beds. Edy had set up the cot in the hall once more and collapsed upon it, ready for sleep without even bothering with unnecessary things as undressing. Guilt crept through the sleepy haze as the realization that Knives had been ignored all night long dawned in her mind. Pushing herself up she slowly, methodically unlocked the door to the plant's room. She was only going to peek in and make sure he was sleeping soundly, but to Edy's surprise Knives was sitting up in bed, reading by the lamplight.

"Hey," she murmured, stepping into the room and shutting the door behind her, "I didn't know you'd still be up."

Knives let his gaze dart up to her and back to his book; at least, he planned it to be a quick inspection followed by an even quicker snub, but things don't always go as one plans. He wanted to give Edy the cold shoulder but he couldn't when she looked that attractive.

Stop it! I'm an asexual being with righteous genocidal tendencies! he chided himself.

Edy wasn't one for dresses, but since it had been a gift, she agreed to wear it that night, at Milly's urgings. The other chance of her wearing a dress anytime soon had dissipated when her friend Sarah called off the wedding; Edy had been relieved to hear this news for numerous reasons, although she wished the girl hadn't run off with her fiancee's brother and cut all ties with anyone from her old life, Edy included. People were so weird.

Under Knives' scrutinizing eyes discomfort grew in Edy; she felt like she stood before him naked, although that was hardly the case. The square neckline did hang low on the gentle curves of her bosom and the skirt gracefully slid down, accenting her wide hips, but it's hem rested five inches below her knees. The fishnet stockings (also part of the gift and something of a joke) that covered her legs and bare feet did little add to the skin showing. Black waves of hair hugged her jaw line now and tiny silver combs held her blonde bangs out of her face; a velvet ribbon choker of the same color as the dress wrapped itself snuggly around her long neck.

Furious at the fact he was staring, Knives practically threw his eyes back into his book. Internally he admonished his silly, "romantic" notions. Outwardly he spoke in a tone of icy poison.

"How could I not be awake still, with the racket downstairs. You certainly know how to have a wonderful, base time with alcohol and humans. That murderous human priest must have loved seeing your breasts on a platter in a dress like that. Disgusting."

Edy may have still been drunk but upon hearing this her thoughts sobered up a great deal. A deep flush swelled up said bosom, rolling up her features in a wave of embarrassed anger. Edy was furious, humiliated, and nearly speechless. Nearly.

"I have no idea what crawled up your ass and died these past few weeks, but you'd better get your bowels moving again before I block them permanently with your own testicles!"

Knives boiled at the remark even though he knew he deserved it.

"I'm not the one gallivanting about like a two double-dollar whore," retorted Knives. "Are you happy with that kind of attention! I bet you loved having Vash and the priest rake across your tender body with their eyes."

"Oh, I get it now," Edy snapped through gritted teeth, biting back a smirk, "you're jealous! Well, I guess that's a round-about way of complimenting me but you need to work on your manners, so I'll leave you to yourself for a while. Bastard…"

With that, Edy left. Knives should have been happy; he was being absolutely terrible to Edy, pushing her away quite effectively. Still, he felt pity at her labored speech and thoughts about the dress and the body inhabiting it plagued him. Self-loathing gnawed at him and he wanted to vomit.

Master of his emotions, untouchable, yeah right. Knives didn't know it yet but Edy had touched him and would do so again, only to rip his heart out.

* * * * *

Myshkin: I know Edy's recovery is quite swift, but I'm basing everything that happened to her on my real life experiences with my grandfather. It took six strokes, heart disease, seizures and complications from alcoholism to finally take him down at the age of 69 (he had his first gran mal seizure and stroke around the age of 32) and I honestly believe that he recovered so well and so fast from almost each stroke because of his ever positive and incredibly stubborn mind set. God bless you, Grandpa Menkhus. Never underestimate the power of the human mind. Never.

Anyways… (jumps off of soap box and wanders away, humming to herself)