In a rotten mood, Vash sat back in his chair that sat in the shade of a makeshift café. The caravan was stopped waiting for the demi-slat sprays. He had a feeling it would be awhile, in fact, people in the caravan said it would be a few days at the very least. It wouldn't be so bad, but for the fact that Meryl sat next to him, her watchful eyes on him as they had been for the last four days. The little insurance girl was true to her word, she didn't allow him anywhere near Milly, although in truth, the big girl did much to avoid him.
The moment Meryl sat down in the little café area, Milly smiled and said that she needed supplies so she was going to go shopping. Vash watched her go and Meryl ordered a coffee as they waited. "Stop looking at her," Meryl grumbled as she glanced at him. A frown came to Vash's face and he reached into his coat and pulled out his sunglasses.
"Why don't you just leave me alone?"
"I can't, it's my job to keep an eye on you," Meryl responded. She was all business again, Vash realized. How could such a young woman be so hard? He couldn't remember meeting anyone that mean in his life, and wondered just why she had let her heart become so cold. The insurance girl took her coffee from the waitress and sat sipping it. "Where are we headed next, anyway?"
Vash ignored her. A frown formed on Meryl's face too. Stupid jerk, couldn't he just answer her one simple question? It shouldn't have bothered him that much that she was sitting next to him! He seemed right happy when Milly was still there and now that she was gone he looked like the evil humanoid typhoon that the rumors said he was. Why did he have to be so cold around her? Meryl sipped her coffee, her knuckles white on the cup, she wanted to punch him. Why couldn't Vash just talk to her? "Are you still mad about May City?"
"No," Vash said. He didn't say anything more and didn't look at her.
"Fine," Meryl spat. She turned her head and looked out at the caravan, wondering if she should go back to the truck. It's not like he could do anything in the middle of the desert! In fact, he was acting fairly inconspicuous since they left the city. Meryl hoped it would stay that way, but she never knew when something would happen and she would be buried in a mountain of paperwork again.
Glancing over at him, her frown faded. She put her cup to her lips again and watched him ignoring her. He was pretty handsome even when he was acting all mysterious and evil. Meryl turned her head as she heard voices of men as they ran by, "Where'd she go?"
"I don't know! But the boss is going to kill us if we lose her!"
Meryl's eyebrow rose, she glanced at Vash. "Vash…"
His eyes moved, a man nearby had turned to look at them over his shoulder. The man stood up and left the shade and followed the two men. Meryl sighed and set her chin down on her hand. "I wonder where Milly is, she should have been back by now…"
Walking out into the sunshine, Milly was smiling. Mr. Wolfwood stood next to her, his huge cross over his shoulder, a grin on his face as he looked down at the money in his free hand. "Thank you so much, Big Girl! Now I can get my bike repaired."
"It's no big deal," Milly replied, her hands in her pockets as they walked past the trucks and vehicles of the caravan. "I love playing chess, it was really very simple actually."
"Well, simple or not, you deserve to be rewarded!" The priest shoved the double dollars into his pocket and put a hand on her shoulder. Milly's eyes went wide as she looked up at him. Wolfwood glanced down at her with a grin on his face behind his sunglasses. "What would you like? Anything at all?"
Milly put a finger to her chin and said, "Well, I was trying to find pudding… I ran out this morning but I can't seem to find anyone who sells it."
Wolfwood retrieved his hand from her shoulder and slid his sunglasses down his nose. "Pudding? Is that all?" He smiled as she nodded enthusiastically. Boy was she sweet. How in the world did someone so innocent get placed so far out in the middle of the badlands? There were all sorts of evil people out here that would eat up and spit out a girl this sweet, and yet she seemed to be holding her own. Maybe it was her size, he mused. He was just glad to finally have an opportunity to be standing here with her now. Especially because, without her, he would have been stuck walking to his destination and being even later than he already was. He hoped his boss wouldn't kill him for the delay… Because he could.
With a shiver down his spine, the priest nudged his glasses back up on his face and hefted his cross punisher higher up on his shoulder. "Okay then! I'll buy you all the pudding we can find!" He pointed down to the semi-truck that doubled as a grocery store and Milly nodded and clapped her hands.
"Thank you so much Mr. Priest!" She glowed. Strangely enough, she felt so much better now that he was here with them again. She felt somehow complete, like a part of her was missing when he left. Milly nodded to herself as she followed them down the row of vehicles. She couldn't wait to tell Meryl. She also couldn't wait to see if anything had changed between her and Mr. Vash… Milly smiled. Leave them alone long enough, and maybe, just maybe, Meryl would finally admit that she liked him.
The priest glanced at her brilliant smile and chuckled to himself. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad to hang out with the trio for a little while longer. He nudged Milly with his shoulder and she sighed happily. At least until the caravan started moving again. And maybe… Just maybe… He could manage to spend every moment of it with the big girl. Wolfwood returned her smile as they went to get her pudding.
Keep reading… There's one more chapter…