A/n: Thanks to everyone for all of your wonderful reviews; again, don't own series or characters.
It was 2:47 am. Still discouraged about their little spat earlier, Pip laid quietly on his bunk, tossing up a pair of loaded dice, and catching it again. He did this for a good five minutes; many of his fellow comrades were curious, some were concerned; few just didn't give a damn.
"What's bothering him?" One soldier asked another. The other soldier shrugged his shoulders, and lit a cigarette.
"How should I know Brentwell? Go ask i'm." He finally said, exhaling the gray-colored smoke.
"Me? No, um…why don't you go ask i'm?" Brentwell protested.
"I'm not the one who's curious about what's wrong with Pip. Lord knows, that for a soldier, you aren't so smart." The soldier commented, before taking in another drag.
"Why don't I save you ze trouble, and answer your question." Said the French voice over in the bunk.
Pip sat up, pulling a cigarette carton from his breast pocket. Grabbing a nearby matchbox, he pulled one of the matches apart, and stroked it against the bottom of his boot.
"Tell me Brentwell…" He started; he lit the cigarette, and took a drag. "Do you have somebody you care about back home?"
Brentwell nodded. "Yes, my mum."
"Yeah, that's because he can't get a girl." A random soldier called from the other side of the room.
The room filled with laughter, and mild snickering; Brentwell just ignored them, and continued.
"I lost my pop a few years ago due to the war in Korea; I'm all she has."
Pip nodded, understanding where he was coming from. He too had lost his parents in a skirmish, leaving him to stay with his grandfather; it was a tough life for him as a child. He knew that his grandpére would murder people, just to put food on the table, being taught the tricks of the trade, and even forced into military school so he could be "toughened up". He always contemplated on running away from home to live a new life, but as he got older, he became corrupted with the love of the fight. When he reached the proper age, he set out to join or rather create the band of mercenaries known as the Wilde Geese.
"I understand what you are saying." Pip answered. "But you see, my problem is simply zis. The girl I care about is hurting herself by not doing what she needs to do in order to survive and stay healthy. I'm very worried about her, and try to do my best to help her, but as stubborn as she is, she just doesn't cooperate; I guess she doesn't want to be helped."
Brentwell knew exactly whom Pip was referring to, but kept silent. It was bad enough that his captain was just lying around; heavily contemplating about what went wrong. But he decided to make a suggestion anyway.
"Why don't you just go and talk to Officer Victoria?" Brentwell whispered.
Pip raised a brow. How did he know he was referring to the police girl? Was it that obvious? Better yet, was his months of teasing her obvious to everyone else; what else could be the reason; he did have feelings for her?
"How do you know that's whom I'm referring to?" He asked. "Okay, dumb question, of course it's obvious." Pip thought to himself.
"I just do sir. But anyways, just go and tell her how you feel and maybe she'll come around." He suggested.
"You're right David. Besides, where are we going to find another hot police girl zat can shoot a 30mm harkonnen from more than 90 yards away?"
Brentwell laughed, knowing that everything was going to be all right…or so he thought.
"You can't." Pip added with a sigh. "Maybe I should just give her some space."
He got to his feet, and walked out of the barracks; Brentwell sat there confused more than ever. "I just don't understand."
Walking down the dark and lonely hallway, Pip thought of ways to fix his problem-only to immediately second guess himself, and try to forget about the whole dumb matter. Maybe he needed some air; it had been a while since he last took a stroll on the mansion's Bowling Green. It was one of the only places he could go to think without the distractions from his comrades. Exiting through the soldier's quarters, he left the building to do just what he was so fond of doing.
The bowling green looked beautiful as opposed to the practice area, which was pretty much a wasteland. He finished his cigarette, and sat down on the grass. Again, he sighed deeply; the memories from hours earlier just didn't want to leave. He thought of her again.
"Damn-it, I sure did it this time." He said to himself. He lay back on the grass, and took in the view from the cosmic sky; it was beautiful.
In all his years living in urban cities and traveling from place to place, he never took the time to look up at the stars…there were so many. He just wished that the police girl were there to see them with him; wish he could apologize.
"What is wrong Seras?" He asked, knowing that she wouldn't answer. "I wish I knew, I wish you would tell me, what's wrong with you."
"…I don't know Pip." A voice said behind him.
Pip jumped slightly only to see Seras standing behind him. He sat up a bit to greet her; she looked ashamed. She was probably ashamed of the fight they had earlier, but no one knew for sure.
"Seras, you scared me!" Pip said coolly; he may be a fearless macho mercenary, but hey they can experience fear too.
"I'm sorry." Seras whimpered. "I didn't mean to. You were just lying there, and I thought you'd like some company."
Pip nodded, and invited her to sit beside him; once again, they were silent; hesitant of what to say to each other. Seras would have been the first to break the silence, but Pip beat her to it. He wasn't too sure if she was still emotional over their recent conversation, but he tried anyway.
"Um…So, how are you doing?" He asked.
"Fine…you?"
"Just peachy; a bit tired though, but zat's what's expected when you are the captain of 20 or more troops." He explained.
Seras nodded. After going for a walk and merely talking with Sir Integral for more than an hour, she was getting to be a bit tired tool; it was a bit after midnight after all. She looked up to the night sky for a second; she too was amazed by all of the stars.
"They're really lovely aren't they?" Pip asked.
"The stars? Yes they are." Seras answered.
"…they're as lovely as you."
Seras could feel her cold dead heart beating, as a shade of pink spread across her cheeks. She knew that Pip had feelings for her, but she wasn't too sure if they were real. Even if it were, were they for the right reasons? Were they really coming from the heart?
"Um..."
"You don't have to say anything Seras. I know what you're feeling; it's alright." Pip replied. He put his arm around her shoulder, and held her close, making the color of her cheeks turn a shade darker.
"By the way, I'm sorry for pressuring you to drink. I shouldn't have done your master's job." He added.
"…I-it's alright. I mean, how would you feel if you had to ingest something that once flowed in the veins of a human?"
Pip laughed. "I would probably be in the same situation you would be in. Geeze, I had no clue it was like zat."
Seras nodded. "Exactly! I just don't think he realizes the reality."
"Maybe he does, but remember the reason. You have to drink blood in order to survive. If you don't, you'll be very weak; he cares enough about you to have to force you to do that." Pip explained.
Seras though for a second; Pip was right. Alucard must have cared about her if he was putting so much pressure on her, and bugging her about her diet. Maybe if she were to hold her nose and down it, it wouldn't be so bad? Whatever the case, she knew that it was probably for her own good.
"I'm going to go now…I'll talk to you later?" Seras said, standing to her feet. Pip nodded, and repeated the gesture.
"I have to get going too."
Alone in her room, she sat there at her table staring it down: her dinner that she didn't' touch earlier. Was she ready to do this? Was she going to give in to her true nature? She picked the bag up, and gently removed the cap that closed up the fluid. Meanwhile, Pip was walking down the corridor, when he noticed that Sera's door was slightly ajar. He wanted to sneak a peek before going off to bed, but lo and behold when he saw what was on the other side, a light smile came across his face.
"Atta girl Seras….Atta girl."
A/n: Okay is it just me or does the chapter seema bit short? It's been a while (college), so please excuse my tardiness.
