Okay, this wasn't as soon up as I wanted it to be, mostly because FF.net was down (damn them all!) for a while. Things are actually happening! Yay! Not exactly degrading into pointless fluff yet. I only said that last time because I didn't know how I was going to be able to work in some of the turning points with both Knives' and Wosh's characters. But I got it sorta planned out now, so don't worry! (Though for you others, don't worry either because I'm planning on stuffing in some fluff and/or angst as well! Yaaaaay!)
(3 hours pass)
AAAAHG!! FF.net is still down!! How am I supposed to find out which reviewers to thank, and more importantly, how can I post this chapter?? Gaaaah!
(another hour later)
WAAAH! Why can't they have a more reliable server?!
(30 min later)
*Is slowly but surely going insane* It's my birthday, dammit! Gimme my fan fics!!
(2 more hours later)
Oh! It's finally up again!! Yaaay!
Thanks to:
AmoebaFive, KaikaNozomi, Kurokumo, SailorPenguinz, ZetaBee, Cayenne Pepper Powder, PuNkRoCkBuNnY182, WW, Shahrezad1, BaZ, nameless, Menchi-Pie, Molly-chan the Anime/game fan, Sforzando, Alucard, ladybugg, V. Keller, Kayla, Saiyan Butterfly, Nisshouken, Gorman99, Joey, and FallenStardust. (accounted for both of the past two chapters there)
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I was hurriedly trying to repeat every expletive I'd ever heard in my life in my mind as I attempted to pull on my pantyhose, eat a piece of toast, and scrub the remnants of paint from my cheek at once.
"Shit, shit, shit!" I repeated, bouncing around the apartment on one foot, searching for my boots, as I continued to pull on the pantyhose. Who the hell had invented pantyhose? What kind of perverse freak would want to inflict this torture on innocent people like me? Probably was a guy. I snorted as I finished putting them on and slipped on my boots, then stood up and straightened my skirt.
Okay, now if I hurried I might not be *too* late…
I arrived at the office just at the same time as Milly did (ensuring my complete lateness), and she greeted me cheerfully as I hurried into the office. There was no particular reaction when Milly walked in except for a few good-natured chuckles, but as I entered, the entire room went silent.
Feeling a blush steal over my cheeks, I slowly made my way to my desk, highly aware of the shocked whispers following my passing.
"Meryl…late for work?"
"Surely this is the beginning of the apocalypse…"
"What's that brown smear on her cheek…?"
"I wonder if something emotionally scarring happened to her when she was with Vash the Stampede…"
I felt the blush burn brighter and brighter.
Eventually, people began to lose interest in chattering about my strange tardiness and returned to their normal work.
I stared at the forms sitting on my desk that I was supposed to be filling out blankly. Now that the manic task of getting to work nearly on time was done, my mind was wandering back to the paintings of Vash…the imperfections. That something about all of them that made them seem…well, wrong. Like they were abominations. Like they weren't worthy of being in existence if lacked that one thing. They didn't do him justice, none of them.
I saw his face in my mind's eye, but I couldn't figure out what was missing.
It was one detail, one emotion, one touch, one nuance.
But I had no idea what it was.
I looked down and realized I had absently sketched a picture of Vash's face on the corner of the form, and I furthermore looked up and realized the Chief was standing directly behind me.
"This isn't art class, Ms. Stryfe," he said in a monotone, raising an eyebrow at me. "Come with me into my office."
I did so obediently, praying vehemently that he wasn't going to fire me.
But luckily, he dropped his usual "in the office" façade as soon as I shut the frosted glass door behind me. He motioned for me to sit down and I relaxed. I had known the Chief for a long time, and we had built up a kind of mutual respect, maybe even friendship, over the years I had worked for him.
He looked at me carefully in silence for a few moments, then decided to speak.
"Meryl, there's something wrong with you, I can tell," He stated. "You've worked in this office for five years, and in those five years I have never seen you miss one day of work, nor have I seen you come in even a minute late. And that's not the only thing that's worrying me," he interrupted as I tried to respond. "I read your reports. If I had only been your friend and not your superior, I never would've recalled you from the Vash the Stampede case. However," he continued as I attempted to speak again. "I have a duty to this company to put you in whatever position you're most effective, and it seemed that that was not in the company of the man in question."
He looked up at me sadly. "I hate to say this, Meryl, but if you want to stay with this company, then you'll have to get over it."
It was then that I broke down in tears.
The Chief sighed in a long-suffering manner. "I thought it might be that way. Meryl, it's my advice that you take some time off work. You're a good worker, the best in the office, but you need to get readjusted to settling down in once place and reestablish your life. I hired someone to fill in for you. I'm afraid I can't pay you like this is vacation time, because policy doesn't allow it, but I want you to know that there will always be an opening for you here.
"As a friend Meryl, I'll tell you that you need to find other people to talk to and be with. I know from experience that loneliness will eat away at you." He patted me on the shoulder and handed me a handkerchief, but I only cried harder. Now I had lost the two things I loved most—Vash and my job—within the space of two weeks.
What did I have left now?
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"So that's really December, right? Right over there?" I felt like an excited child on Christmas Eve.
"Yeah, that's it. You've only been asking me about it for the past twenty minutes, now." Wosh sighed. Knives grumbled something unintelligible and scuffed the sand with his shoe. "Surely you've been to December before?"
"No, I stay away from big cities when I can. I've had some," I cast a sideways glance at Knives. "Bad experiences."
"Oh, well December's a great place," Wosh continued, as if he hadn't noticed my discomfort. "Great big buildings, loads of stores, paved streets. They have to use nearly four Plants just to support the city and the outlying areas. Can you believe that?"
I nodded absently, but my mind was trailing back to Meryl again. What would I say to her?
Hey, look! After you left I became a raving drunk and then Knives woke up but he'd lost his memory and then we went after you and found this guy who'd said he'd seen you so I followed him to December to find you. I love you and want you to have my children.
I moaned softly. As if. Who even knew if she wanted to see me? What if she was mad at me for not trying to stop her? What if she had decided to become a lesbian? I moaned even louder.
"…and so apparently they had to rebuild it. Hey, are you okay?" Wosh finished whatever he'd been ranting about and turned to me, concerned. Knives had made it clear soon after we'd left that if he so much as glanced at our thoughts, he wouldn't wake up the next morning, so Wosh had been holding back his powers. He obviously hadn't heard my thought process.
"Yeah, fine, fine." I waved him away and trudged on, made more tired by my dark thoughts than any physical fatigue.
"You're not fine." Knives muttered under his breath so that only I could hear him. "I'm your brother, I can tell."
"I can't hide anything from you, can I?" I gave him a half-smile, which he mirrored in a slightly more cynical fashion.
"No you can't. You're preventing me from outright reading your thoughts but your emotions are as easy to read through your eyes as a children's book. He can see them too," Knives motioned to Wosh resentfully, raising his voice slightly. "But at least sometimes he knows when to shut up."
"I heard that, too!" Wosh called from his position a few yarz in front of us.
Hours later, as evening descended upon the group, we arrived in the city, me and Knives looking completely the part of country bumpkins among the stylish and suit-wearing populace rushing home from work.
We self-consciously attempted to draw attention away from our dusty, simple, homespun clothing while Wosh made sure that his long, somehow pristine, black coat was straight, brushing invisible dust off his shoulder.
"Well you don't have to flaunt it," Knives muttered at the young outlaw, who smirked.
"It's hardly my fault you boys don't keep up with fashion!" He waved one hand dismissively, chortling slightly.
Knives muttered something under his breath that I couldn't quite catch, but I think I discerned the words "son of a—" and "ram a jackhammer up his—".
I smiled a little, strained as it was due to my current amount of stress. I used to be just like Wosh, but I would never wear a red coat again. Maybe I should look into a black one like his. It would probably look good on me…
"So," Wosh said, bringing my thoughts back on track. "Where do these Insurance girls of yours live?"
I stared at him blankly.
He looked back at me, except with a kind of bemused disbelief. "Come on, now! Don't tell me you don't even know where they live!"
I managed a weak smile, and this time I even heard Knives groan slightly.
Wosh shut his eyes and massaged the bridge of his nose for a moment, then regained composure, though I couldn't help but notice a muscle in his jaw slowly clenching and unclenching.
"Alright, we're going to a bar, I'm going to have a drink, and then we're going to find a phonebook and find them. Any questions?" He gave us a look that harbored no disagreements, one that even Knives couldn't oppose, then stalked off.
"He has a short fuse, doesn't he?" I laughed nervously, rubbing that back of my neck.
Knives deadpanned. "To deal with you without blowing it, you'd have to have a fuse longer than my—"
"Are coming or not?" Wosh called.
"Yeah, we're coming!" I sighed and dragged Knives along with me as I hurried to catch up.
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Oo…that was a little longer than normal (not that that's bad or anything). I really have this chapter planned as the second of a three-part section (which is basically the events leading up to and including "the reunion"), so expect #3 to be coming soon.