Vash and Meryl walked down the hall in silence. Meryl was beginning to worry; for if her new found definition of "grocery shopping" was (and she was afraid it was) the same idea Wolfwood and Vash had, she couldn't think of anything more nerve racking.
"Vash-"
The gunman pulled his finger to his mouth, hushing her with a simple action.
Meryl wanted to groan. Anxiety was quickly building up in her. Vash mustn't be considering that kind of grocery shopping. How could he? He was her job, and that definitely was out of line! But what if… no, he wouldn't…he wouldn't even dare… with a little insurance girl? What could possibly give him such motivation? He was marked down as a womanizer, but Meryl didn't see much potential in it. He had once gone after women, but nothing too serious- they all ended up slapping him in the face. If he did try anything, what would she do? After agreeing to help with her reunion…did he expect anything from her? And if he did, she would tell him no… she would tell him no… right? There wouldn't be any real reason for it… not really anyway.
She followed him down three flights of stairs, beginning to blush. It was just a short walk from there to the exit. They went out into the blazing sunlight, away from prying priest ears. Children were playing across the street, laughing and throwing a ball back and forth. During the midday, few adults traveled the streets. Instead they tended to family, home, or work. They cooked, cleaned, and wrote reports. And here Meryl was, going grocery shopping alone with Vash, with no money, and no grocery list.
"Vash, where are we going?" Meryl asked after several streets of silence.
"To the grocery store," was his reply.
Meryl let her troubled thoughts whirl around her head for a moment.
"Where is the grocery store?" She asked.
"In the middle of town," he turned to her, half smiling (or smirking, with her jumbled mind, she couldn't tell which). "Remember? Across the street from the bank? We'll show that Priest what real grocery shopping is."
"But I didn't bring the list…"
"You have a loaf of bread in your cupboard, so we know you need anything but that." Vash concluded.
Some part of Meryl felt relieved. So they really were going grocery shopping… really.
"And crackers," Meryl added.
"There won't be any crackers by the time we get back, trust me, that Priest will have them all safely in his stomach."
Meryl suppressed a smile.
Like the streets at midday, the grocery store was nearly empty. The cashier, a dumpy sort of a woman, had her nose pressed against the morning's newspaper and ignored their entrance. Vash grabbed a shopping cart that was parallel to her. Then he looked at Meryl expectantly.
"Let's… get the most important items first." She answered.
The cart was off. Thanks to Vash's aura of luck, one wheel was stuck sideways, and another was so twitchy it looked like someone had slipped it caffeine. A terrible high-pitched squeak sounded each time the cart was turned. The perennial noise wore on Meryl like nails on chalkboards. Steadily she became agitated with Vash's fortuitous nature. Still, she could find no reasonable answer why Vash attracted so much mayhem. It was as if he was cursed with bad luck. Meryl hadn't seen such a pattern of trouble anywhere else in her whole life.
Vash stopped the cart, the energetic wheel still quivering.
"What are we doing in the bread aisle?" Meryl asked.
"Grocery shopping."
"Evidently," Meryl said.
"Meryl…am I that front forward?" Vash asked, reaching for a box next to the bread.
"And this punning is really getting out of control… I almost thought back there at the hotel…"
"You thought…?" Vash's eyes reached her, with the box safely in his hands.
"Unlike some people around here, I do know how to use my brain," she answered irritably.
Vash stared at her. His words were once again misinterpreted by the small insurance girl. While he placed the square box in the cart, he hesitated on whether or not to address the hotel event with more speculation.
Meryl tried to steady the twitchy wheel with her foot while Vash put several more square boxes in the cart. Ever since Millie and Wolfwood had begun spending time together, she had seen less of Millie and more of the Priest. And although Vash and Wolfwood weren't on as close terms, she wondered if it was somehow the same affect for him. Meryl had suddenly become secluded with her own thoughts to comfort her… which when it came to certain people, wasn't always comforting.
"Vash, you're really stocking up," Meryl looked at the cart in disbelief.
"But they're on sale."
Meryl's lavender eyes peered more observantly at the cart. "Donuts!" Yes, how could she have expected anything less?
"Don't worry. I grabbed a box for you too."
"And the other three are for you?" She asked.
Vash smiled.
Meryl plunged her hands into the cart and picked up two of the boxes.
"Hey…what are you doing?" Vash asked.
With authority, Meryl threw the donuts back on the shelf.
"Those are mine!" He exclaimed as Meryl picked up the last two boxes, ridding the cart of them.
Meryl over exaggerated the moment of putting the donuts down. Her hands flicked with satisfaction, and she turned to Vash with a smug look.
"You're going to my reunion," she reminded. "The last thing I need is to be married to a blimp." She proceeded to poke his stomach.
Vash's jaw dropped.
With a strong sense of "a job well done", Meryl gripped the shopping cart and marched down the aisle.
The gunman stared longingly at the pastries. They looked fresh, fluffy, and beautiful. He glanced at Meryl, who was well ahead of him now, and back to the donuts. Mouth-watering, he grabbed one box. For a moment he was back in the memory of their sweet taste.
"Don't even think of it!" Meryl ordered.
Alarmed, Vash stuffed the box back on the shelf. He nearly smashed the wheat bread next to it in his guilty rush. "I was just looking." He insisted.
"Ha!" She wasn't going to believe that. "Get over here."
Once Vash was close enough to her side, she proceeded
Vash tried to occupy his mind, keeping it away from donuts. He began reading the signs above each aisle, memorizing their contents…but the idea of pastries continued to linger in the back of his mind. Few things could empower his self control…
Meryl kicked the sideways wheel in frustration. It behaved for a moment, but after a foot it retreated back to its old habits. She grumbled.
"Let me see," Vash suggested.
He twirled the wheel around several time and wiggled it. Just when Meryl's mind was about to acknowledge his great accomplishment, the wheel popped off completely.
"Uh-oh," was his reply. His mint green eyes stared down at the black dirty wheel in his palm.
Meryl struggled to hold her frustration inside as Vash ineffectively tried to reattach the wheel. His hands blackened from the debris coating the wheel.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I'll push the cart."
Meryl opened her mouth to answer, but no words came out. She was interrupted by a loud cry.
"MERYL!"
The entire possibility of Vash pushing the cart left her mind. If grocery shopping was taking long, it was going to take several hours longer… Gabby had just appeared at the end of the aisle and was making a mad dash for Meryl.
Meryl stood there, mouth agape as Gabby pulled her into an uninvited hug.
"Oh my gosh! How are you?"
Before Meryl could answer, the woman was off at 1000 words per minute.
"… and I told them not to worry about it, that I wanted to plan it. They didn't believe me and so I told them I really wanted to do the planning, but I could tell they just couldn't take the idea of someone like me planning it. So I insisted that if they indeed wanted someone to plan it with a superb and detail and moderate display, that it only made sense to pick someone sensible, and they…"
Meryl glimpsed Vash's wide eyes; she was sure it must be shocking to hear Gabby speak for the first time.
"And- Oh my gosh! Meryl, who is this?" She asked. Her eyes were livid and resting on Vash, who she had apparently just noticed.
Meryl jumped to the answer before Gabby broke her mouth into another marathon. "Gabby, this is Mark…" here was the test. She pressed the words out, ignoring unessential thoughts, and announced with a jump of her stomach, "my husband."
"OH!" Gabby gasped and took Vash's wheel-less hand immediately. His black dirty palm pressed against hers in a handshake. When she let go, black was smudged all across her palm and proceeded to spread to everything she touched.
"Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed again. "But where are your rings? I'm wearing mine from Richard, he bought it at the best jewelry store in December. Why didn't you wear them, I would have loved to see it, where is it from?" She asked Meryl.
"It's…well, we took them off because we were cleaning and-"
Gabby seized the subject of cleaning and went off on another rampage discussing how she encountered the best laundry detergent just last week. While this long story was being told, Meryl became suddenly alert that her and Vash would need proof of their relationship. She hadn't bought anything to insurance their lie. And she was slightly lucky Gabby was more interested on the subject of detergent than her and Vash's relationship.
"Meryl," Vash addressed after a half an hour. "Don't we need to get these groceries before it's nightfall?"
"Oh, you two are grocery shopping?" Gabby asked.
"At least we thought we were…" Vash said under his breath.
"Richard and I almost always go grocery shopping together. He does such a great job picking out what we need."
Vash sent a humorous look to Meryl, and pressed his lips to conceal a smile. In response Meryl sighed and rolled her eyes. Everything seemed to be rather ridiculous lately… especially grocery shopping.
After placing the broken wheel in the cart, Vash grabbed its handle bar, and cleared his throat.
"It was nice meeting you, Gabby, but we really need to get home to… er" he searched for the right word. It hit him, and he smiled. "-The baby."
Meryl's eyes widened. The baby. Small ruddy patches appeared on her cheeks. It was ideal, but yet too upfront.
"Baby!" Gabby lit up with enthusiasm.
"Yes," Vash emphasized and grabbed the dumbfounded Meryl's hand.
Without Meryl's consent, her blush deepened.
Vash gave her arm a terse tug and directed the cart quickly away from the loud woman. Meryl followed his pursuit.
"I hope all your friends aren't that talkative," he remarked.
"She wasn't really my friend. Gabby will talk to anything that sits still long enough." Meryl explained.
They moved four aisles away at a quick pace and ducked into one full of canned goods. Vash proceeded to fill up the cart with more groceries. When Meryl spotted something to fill some of her needs, she realized Vash still had her hand. In her mind she silently debated whether or not to let go. Once her brain interfered, she realized how foolish it sounded, and began filling the cart with both hands.
After several more aisles, they directed their steps to the cashier. The stout woman looked up at them with bored eyes. Vash began to pile their groceries onto the counter, and Meryl started to help. The woman stared at them, chomping loudly on gum like a cow would cud. Slowly, she began to scan the items.
Vash caught Meryl's worried expression returning.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"I've just remembered I didn't bring any money… could I borrow some?"
"Don't worry about it," Vash insisted.
Chewing loudly, the woman announced the total.
"Are you sure that's it?" Vash asked.
Her dull eyes stared down at him in response.
"When we were shopping, I thought-"
"You're buying that." The woman pointed to the cart with one fat stubby finger. "You break it you buy it," she explained after seeing the confused look on the gunman.
"But it was broken when we got it!" Meryl reacted. "The wheel was bound to break off any second."
"Then you should have picked a different cart." The woman concluded.
Meryl shot a glare at her as Vash retrieved his wallet. She would have never paid for it, but Vash was already handing the cashier money.
"Thank you," he responded and hastily stuffed the receipt in his pocket. He began depositing the groceries back into the broken cart at full speed. "Hurry, she's coming," he hissed.
Before Meryl could ask who, she heard Gabby's voice call out to them again.
Vash finished loading the cart in an amazing ten seconds. "Come on." This time he looped his arm around hers and quickly pulled her with him, crying out loudly. "Hurry, the babysitter can't stay there all day!"
Meryl was pressed against his red coat closer than she could ever remember being and was forced quickly out of the building. She could smell the gunpowder radiating from the swish of the fabric and she could even hear his breathing.
Safely outside, Vash unhooked his arm and repositioned it securely on the wobbly cart. Everything had happened so fast that Meryl's brain was just catching up with the rest of her. Subconsciously, she folded her arms against her body in a soft closure.
For some unspeakable reason, both remained in heavy silence.