Disclaimer: I do not own Trigun. I do not own Meryl, or Milly, or Wolfwood, or Vash, or Knives or even the cute little black kitty. I simply write fanfiction in my spare time. Though sometimes I really, really, really wish I owned Vash. (hehe)
Author's Notes: Yes, I am still alive. Yes, I am still procrastinating. No, I cannot procrastinate at will. It's a process which will someday probably cause me to be consumed in madness. Okay, enough drama. Hellooooooo my dear and faithful reviewers! Yes, I am still here. I thought about waiting until the reviews got to a quarter of a thousand but then I realized that my fingers would bleed from responding to the reviewers, which by the way I do not mind at all (The responding to reviewers NOT the bleeding.). So in the kind, procrastinating goodness of my heart, I thought I should update. (Besides, I want the reviewers to put a kind word in to Santa for me if I've warmed any hearts. LOL) SO here it is! And not wanting to break with tradition, here are my responses. Find yourself!
hbice: Okay, I updated. So you won't be sad. It's my last good deed for the year. So Santa doesn't get mad.
inkydoo: I found something to procrastinate over!
Lindsey: Thanks! I'm trying!
Genesis: So I'm a bad author. If you can find Vash the Stampede to come and punish me (snicker) I would be oh so grateful.
pat : Laziness & writer's block. Bad combination. Procrastination and chocolate. Good combination.
little Villian: Who's "jeebus"? LOL
Crystal Music: (mumble, mumble)
betsytheripper: (author winces at imminent death threats) Um…here. A new update. Please don't hurt me. Much.
cjflutterbye: Tada! And here I am again!
vashluver1: And this is me rambling ? I wonder what I should have for dinner? Does cheese stink to molds? Why are they called molds anyway? Aren't they fungi? And if I have a pizza with mushrooms isn't that like fungi overload because of the yeast and the cheese and the mushrooms? And . . .
kat: Yes, I heard the girl(s) begging. I wonder now if there are any guys reading this fic? Or is it only rabid fan girls?
sharpshooterjane: You like granny too? I'm so glad!
DailyMassacre: (putting hand to head in pain) Did you have to shake so hard? Now I can't think for the next chapter.
Crystal Twilight: (channeling Vash channeling Elvis) Well, thank you. Thank you very much. Love and Peace.
NinaWilliamsTheSilentAssassin: Yes indeed! Meryl and Vash forever! And gasp! You count the months I don't update?
wheelershanyou : Where did I go? To a very deep, very dark place called college where many go and none leave unscathed.
Divinya9: I got scared when you said you would hunt me down, so I thought I should update.
Aryanne: Thank you for ALL the updates!!!!!
Valraven: For some strange, inexplicable reason, your review made me laugh. Weird.
Sesshomarusgirl123: As you wish. (Bishie points for whoever can tell me where that line comes from.)
Buddi-chan: And I've updated. Happy? )
geranium: Bwahahahahaha! I'm glad you share my sick sense of humor.
Crystal Mage: Okay, I'm stupid as an author. I procrastinate and I have no idea what WAFFy means. Please don't pelt me with tomatoes for that. Or else I might just go into hiding. Again.
SpikesFanGirl: Frankly, I don't know what Vash will do. Do you? LOL
Sunsilver: As I write this (with a big grin on my face), I can tell you had fun reading it! I'm glad!
dark-pyro-angel-2: For the love of Vash, I will write soon.
ScreamsOfTheDead: Yes he is, isn't he?
DecoyNeko: And I give you even more pining. Aren't I evil?
LoveChild of Gehenna: (innocent look) What do you mean by that comment? I would never do anything to Vash. Bwahahahaha
Just A Weirdo: Um. . .nice wall of poking sticks you have there. (author slinks away uncomfortably)
BPE Exeter: Sorry. Chapters short. Author bad. Bad, bad author. Chapters continue to be short. Reviewer must cope. (grin)
wheelershanyou: I don't abandon my reviewers! Never! I just go into periods of forced exile.
the old fart: (holds up stack of papers grimly) Your threat to the professors worked too well.
Furys Canticle : Hmm…you have aliens in your head too? Do they say nano-nano and dance the oompah-loompah dance?
Elbereth Silimaur: Well, I don't know if this chapter will help any, but here it is.
vashfan311: Yes, it is a hobby of mine to make Vash suffer.
Yaoi Addict: LOL. Okay, I'm updating. . .now.
Weiila: I hit it. The block I mean. Then life kicked in. But I found something to procrastinate over. Great isn't it? LOL
Alpha Draconis1: Vash, cannot die. He simply can't. I won't let him. (author glares at suggestion, not at reviewer)
nekura : Ajglajgfoaufoude. . .oops, I thought you were speaking in gibberish, so I was going to respond in kind. Turns out you were just excited. Cool.
Dee Saylors: (gasp!) You didn't review each chapter? I'm so unloved.
ShadowDemonGengar: Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! Okay! I'm updating! Put the poking stick back on the poking stick wall!
Orion Kohaishu: Thank you Orion and Sean. And yes, I did take "that" any way I wished. (giggle)
evil squeede: Pathetic? You haven't seen pathetic yes. (rubs hands evilly over keyboard)
kagomeandinuyasha4ever : I don't know about the ASAP part, but I've updated.
Edoras: And rabid fans will know! Later. Bwahahahahaha!
Vashra BloodReeper: No honey. We aren't there yet in the car ride that is this Vash and Meryl fanfic. But you should have thought of that before we left. (LOL. Just like being on Summer vacation traveling to Florida.)
Neptune Butterfly: Damn! It's been that long since I updated? No wonder some of the rabid fans are upset!
Rainy-days13: Yup. It took a while, but there is hope at the end of the tunnel.
Snapdragon76: Yes. I had lots and lots and lots and lots of distress and tests. Unfortunately, not all of it produced procrastination.
Neptune21: Thank you for not joining in the poke-the-author-til-she-updates-or-bleeds-fest.
And that was that! So for those of you with "author alert" on, Merry Christmas! And for those of you who don't, well, Merry Christmas anyway.
Chapter 13
You know, tip-toeing quietly is not easy for a guy my height to do. It's not easy because 1) being this tall, every movement takes longer and more energy to make and 2) the assorted buckles that adorn my clothes seem to make all sorts of inconceivable noises that I've just never noticed before.
There's the one over my hip that goes 'skeek, skeek, skeek' every time I turn. There's the one right by my knee that does this 'urk' noise when I bend. And there's the one over my – uh – sensitive areas that kind of does a 'k-chesh' whenever my coat brushes over it. Then there's the 'nyao' noise.
Wait, let me make that clear. The one that goes 'nyao' is not an attached belt buckle but the cat which has taken into its head that it's some sort of pet. Milly, of course, has already welcomed it to the household, right after she saw it looking hungrily at my donuts. "Wow, Mr. Vash! He's the color of dark chocolate pudding!" she'd exclaimed before the slightly happy glaze that colors her eyes whenever she thinks of pudding suddenly took control. "And he's just like us!"
Like us? "What'd you say, Milly?"
But Milly wasn't paying attention to me at that point. She was busy petting the cat and meowing. And let me make that clear that it was Milly meowing and not the cat. "Awwww! You're all alone in the desert too, huh?" she'd exclaimed, on the verge of being teary eyed. "What are you doing out here by your lonesome?"
Nyao! the cat responded and gave me a look.
Milly looked up at me, puzzled. "Oh him? He's the Humanoid Typhoon."
Nyao!
Milly shook her head and laughed. "Oh he's not dangerous at all!"
Thank you, Milly, for defending me against a cat.
Nyao?
Milly's eyes looked puzzled. "Oh him? I don't know. I don't think he minds."
Huh? What the hell was Milly talking about now? It was hard enough sometimes understanding what Milly was trying to tell me. Adding a cat to the mix didn't help matters at all! And since when did Milly talk to cats?
Nyao, the cat demanded.
"I'm quite sure," Milly said happily. "I think it even helps a little when you're around."
I was about to interrupt but the cat kept on meowing like it understood.
Nyao? Nyao, nyao, nyao?
"Of course!" Milly laughed. "We'll be your family, Kuroneko-sama!"
Then there were two very happy, very similar, very freaky (because they were so similar) meows. From both Milly and the cat.
Just great. So now, we're the cat's family. One big screwed up family.
Nyao? the cat mewled softly in question again, asking me what the hell we were doing in this hallway.
"Shh," I whisper irritably. This cat wasn't making things any easier for me.
I continue my tip-toeing towards Meryl's room. I don't know why I'm tip-toeing but it just seems more appropriate this way although it makes me seem like a pervert. In Meryl's eyes anyway. I mean, come on! If she happens to come out of her door and see me, she's going to accuse me of trying to sneak to her door to peek through her keyhole (and even though the thought had occurred to me, since I am a guy after all, I would not be so disrespectful as to actually do that!).
So in the short but so interminably large space that separated me from the door, I practiced what I was going to say.
I'm sorry, Meryl, but I have to say this: Milly and I lost our jobs today and it wasn't my fault I swear and. . . and. . .I love you.
Hmm. . . No good.
Hey, short insurance girl! You know your cooking is improving lately and Knives even ate it all and even the cat likes it and I love you.
(cough) Yeah, right, like that was any good either.
Hey Meryl, you know that Knives, my dear wonderful brother is a jerk and what he really said was a joke and –
Okay, that wasn't good either. That one, I actually felt a mental thwack of a small fist connecting with my head before I could finish my sentence.
Damn it! I wanted to kick myself in frustration.
Nyao? the cat looked up in amused puzzlement.
Yeah, I'm confused too, buddy.
The door to Meryl's room suddenly opened and for a moment I panicked. Now was my chance! Tell her that you appreciate her! Tell her that it wasn't a joke! Tell her that you loved her cooking! Tell her. . .that you love her!
Nyao? the cat said happily. And I moved quickly to her door.
Meryl turned and made a small sound of surprise.
"What are you doing here, kitty-cat?" Meryl asked. "Did Milly let you up here?"
Nyao, the cat said and ambled its way to Knives's door.
For a moment, Meryl made as if to stop him. Then with a slight smug smile, she opened the door wider to Knives's room and practically escorted the cat in, leaving the door slightly opened as if by accident. And with a small shrug and a last look in the hallway, she went back into her room
I sighed. From my hiding place pressed against the wall where her door had blocked me.
Now why the hell did I do that? Why the hell did I hide?
There was a throbbing in my head and my stomach that had nothing to do with the threat of Meryl's fist connecting with my head.
Why couldn't I say it out loud? It was so easy to say in my head! Really, why the hell couldn't I say it out loud!
Three words. Okay, four, counting her name: Meryl, I love you.
And Knives is an incomprehensible idiot who does not know when to keep his mouth shut.
I grin. That last would make her happy. Even if I garbled the confession so much that she didn't understand me.
I can do this! I'm the Humanoid Typhoon for heaven's sake! I dodge bullets, protect the weak, chase the elusive mayfly of love and peace. I can confess to one woman that I love her. Four words. That's all that I need to say. Four words: Meryl, I love you.
Okay. Practice one last time. Slow, deep breaths.
Meryl. I. Love. You.
I raise my hand to knock, the words ready in my mouth, and – and –
Stop.
I can't do it. What if it was all in my head? What if I ruined what fragile friendship we have just because I needed her so much? What if the confession only made her withdraw? Leave Milly. Leave my brother. Leave me. What if she doesn't love me back?
I can't do it.
Unwillingly, heavily, my hand falls to my side.
I love her. I know this. But I also know that I'm not the only one who needs her. Milly needs her. Knives needs her. A confession would jeopardize all that we have now. I cannot risk Milly or Knives much as I long for her and hunger for her. Besides, how could she ever love me? If she heard Knives' and my little argument, she probably even dislikes me now. I know she could never return my feelings. How could she? The great Vash the Stampede. Hah! Broken and imperfect. And her, so pure, so perfect. What was I even thinking? I'm so sorry, Meryl, I mouth at the door.
For a moment I thought I heard movement from the other side of the door and I listen very closely. But there was only silence.
I love you Meryl, I say in my head. But what comes out my mouth is a whispered, "Goodnight, Insurance-girl."
It is then that I feel the furry little body circling around my ankles. "I'm causing problems again, aren't I?" I mutter to the cat which was once again wandering the hallway.
Nyao.
"What do you think?"
Nyao!
"I should leave, shouldn't I?"
Nyao?
"Maybe you're right." I stare at the cat grimly. "It should be fun traveling with a maniacal, narcoleptic brother."
Nyao.
I'm not sure but that could have been a 'yes.' Or, a 'baka.' But since I don't really speak cat, he was of no help whatsoever. (sigh) Well, off to sleep I go then. If sleep could come now.
"Good night, Kuroneko-sama," I whisper to the cat and surprisingly it purrs its way down the hallway and straight back into Knives's bedroom, its tail swaying as if in laughter.