Blue: …I have no excuse this time other than pure laziness… My apologies :winces at all the menacing looks from the readers: I really am sorry! Please don't hurt me:cowers:
Ivey: I did my job this time. It's all Blue's fault. :lounging on the couch and filing her nails. Glances over at Hiei and raises an eyebrow: Is there a reason you're still here?
Hiei: I was hired by the readers to keep Blue writing. :sharpening his katana:
Ivey: You haven't been doing a very good job…
Hiei: …
Blue: Review time. Faery Goddyss- I'm sorry for not updating sooner or e-mailing you. Things have been… well… sucky around here and I haven't been working on any of my fics. But let's not think about that! Let's think about not running me through with your Spanish saber. :nervous grin: And speaking of updating why haven't you? Bloodstained Hands- :smiles: I can't tell you that, but Ivey does have some good ideas on the matter. Hungry- I apologize I really do. I am so ashamed of myself. I don't hate you. Really! And well… Ivey doesn't really like anyone… Creature of the Light- Fear not! There shall be romance! Thequietwriter- I really have gotten behind with the updates. Again I'm sorry. AnimeFreaks13- Sorry for making you wait so long!
Hiei: … :considering silting Ivey's throat:
Blue: Hiei, whatever you do, don't get blood on the carpet… Jessica- I am cruel aren't I? Shame on me:smites self: igbogal-Thank you! I will continue no matter what. Actually I probably should have titled the last chapter 1000 Words. It's supposed to be like that song from FFX-2. I love that game! Kikue-chan- All shall be answered in due time. Pailay- :gives you sno-caps and soda: You're my 100th reviewer! Hurrah! Thank you so much for the compliments. This story is actually turning into my favorite project. Inkydoo- You'll see! Again thank you everyone for reviewing and I'm sorry! I'll try to update quicker.
Ivey: Blue doesn't own Trigun or the guest character Schiezka, but she does have a cat named Schiezka. :has a wicked gleam in her eyes and a water gun in her hand: Here kitty…
Might As Well Be Strangers
By Blue
Chapter Eleven- Things Are Looking Up, Looking Down
Jonathan Stryfe was decidedly not a morning person. When the sunlight streamed in through his window the next day he groaned and through his arm over his eyes. He lay in bed for another good twenty minutes before relenting to the fact the day had begun. With a sigh he threw back the covers and stumbled out of bed, pulling on the first pair of pants he found on his bedroom floor. As always he mentally reminded himself that he desperately needed to do laundry before grabbing his last clean shirt from his dresser and slipping it on. Dressed and somewhat ready for the day Johnny trudged down the hallway towards the kitchen in search of god's gift to the lethargic: coffee. Upon passing the coat hooks nailed to the wall he stopped and stared at the brown jacket hanging next to his own blue one. After the initial thought of 'That's not mine…' his groggy memory reminded him that it belonged to his guest.
"Oh, right…" he muttered aloud and then made his way back down the hall to the room that had belonged to his sister. Swinging the door open his eyes fell upon the terror of Gunsmoke sprawled across the twin bed with his feet dangling off the end, drooling on the pillow and cuddling Meryl's teddy bear. Jonathan stared for a minute before closing the door again. He couldn't possibly deal with that before at least one cup of coffee.
Ten minutes later Vash awoke to the smell of freshly brewed coffee and burning toast. With a yawn he sat up and rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, then proceeded to the kitchen. He blinked in surprise to see Meryl's older brother standing before the smoking toaster with a mug of coffee in hand looking like he might fall asleep standing up. After a moment Vash smiled and bid him good morning to which Jonathan just grunted. A second later two charred slices of what had once been bread popped out of the toaster.
"Breakfast's ready," Jonathan mumbled and grabbed one of the two pieces of "toast." The humanoid typhoon watched in fascination as the older Stryfe sibling munched on what he'd dubbed the morning meal and wondered how he survived on carbohydrates alone. With a shrug he poured himself a cup of coffee and then nearly choked when the bitter liquid assaulted his tongue. The day was not starting off well…
A day's travel away in Bergen City Meryl Stryfe and Gram Morten where having a much better breakfast of cheese omelets, bacon and orange juice. They'd arrived late the night before and had been fortunate to find rooms at a small motel where they both slept peacefully. Compared to Vash and Johnny their day was going rather well so far. Gram had yet to tell Meryl what the Coleman brothers where planning to steal and from who and while she normally hated being kept in the dark the mystery was actually rather exciting.
"Where do we go from here?" she asked curiously.
"Tomorrow we get on the sand steamer to Brahms."
"Sand steamer?" she repeated with dread. Both of Meryl's experiences on a sand steamer involved highjacking and she was reluctant to get on another one. The second time was by far the worst since she was wearing only her nightshirt at the time and several of the criminals kept leering at her legs. At least during the first highjacking she'd had enough time to put on some clothes. "Can't we just take a bus?"
"Nope," he replied as he munched on a piece of bacon. When he didn't give her a reason her eyebrows furrowed in annoyance.
"Why not?"
"Because our bounty is on the sand steamer. They're going to highjack it, well, not them exactly, they hired some lackeys to highjack it as a distraction while they break into the safe." At Gram's announcement Meryl buried her face in her hands. Gram raised an eyebrow at her.
"Every time!" she wailed.
Most people dislike traveling. Totting around luggage, sitting on uncomfortable bus seats for hours and being cramped into a small space with noisy strangers generally put people in a bad mood. Despite the fact that he'd spent the majority of his life on the move Vash rather enjoyed it. Seeing new people and places never failed to keep him entertained. Humans were fascinating to the gunslinger. No two people were quite the same, yet they all shared the same good and bad characteristics. Not even twins were exactly the same.
Vash was glad to have met Jonathan Stryfe, not just because he was helping him find Meryl, but because it gave him a bit more insight to why Meryl was the way she was and he was a good man. He could see Meryl in her brother in more ways then just looks though they did look eerily similar. Their ebony hair had the same cowlick in the back, they shared the same facial structure (though Meryl's was more feminine), their gray eyes both darkened in anger and they were both short with a slight build. It was almost painful for Vash to see a similar look of annoyance flash over Johnny's features. The small frown that appeared when he was concentrating brought back the memory of Meryl hard at work on her reports. While disturbing the man's short temper made him want to smile.
"Thanks for all your help," he told Johnny as he stepped out of the apartment. The seemingly older man leaned against the doorframe with a nod and crossed his arms.
"Good luck," he replied with a smile that waned after a moment as his expression turned dark, "If you hurt my sister I will hunt you down. I will come and find you and beat the shit out of you until you wish you were dead. And then I'll leave you in the desert for the vultures. Got it?" Vash audibly gulped.
"Got it…" Johnny's smile returned.
"Good. Bye now." And with that he shut the door. Vash stared at the closed door for a minute before leaving for the bus station. 'He's scarier than Meryl…' When he arrived at the station he thought the best course of action would be to see if the clerk happened to remember seeing Meryl the day before. The station wasn't very busy this morning and the person at the counter, a mousy looking young woman with brown hair and glasses, had her nose in a book. Vash strolled up to the counter with a friendly smile hoping to charm the information out of her. The young woman, named Schiezka according to her nametag, was too wrapped up in her novel to notice that she had a customer.
"Excuse me miss?" he said in an attempt to get her attention. Schiezka jumped in surprise and dropped her book with a guilty expression.
"Hello sir can I help you?" she said pushing her glasses that had slid down her nose back in place with her index finger.
"I was wondering were you working yesterday?"
"Uh… yes?" she replied a bit nervously. Vash smiled more brightly at her response.
"That's great! Did you see a woman here yesterday? Kind of short with black hair?"
"Oh uh…" the brown haired girl paused in thought and then nodded with a smile. "Yes, she was sitting over there," she pointed to the bench, "I think she was waiting for the man with the long brown hair, because she started talking to him and they got on the same bus."
"Do you know where they went?" he asked with hope.
"The bus they boarded was headed for Bergen City. There's another one leaving in an hour if you need to go there." Vash wanted to leap over the counter and hug the girl, but refrained.
"Yes, please!" the man replied cheerfully and purchased his ticket.
"Thank you sir and have a nice day," she said handing him his change and the ticket.
"No, thank you," he said with a grateful smile. Schiezka blushed lightly and went back to her book.
Knives smiled to himself as he felt his brother's mood improve through their connection. Hopefully he'd found another lead about the girl's whereabouts. The blue eyed twin was feeling restless and his thoughts seemed to jump all over the place. Millie's cheerful voice pulled him from his musings and he glanced over at her. The woman had announced that she needed to buy groceries and had asked if Knives would like to join her. Having nothing better to do he accompanied her and ended up carrying the basket as she picked items off the shelves. Apparently she'd just discovered that they has a new flavor of pudding. Vanilla and chocolate in one cup, which seemed like the best thing since sliced bread to the childlike woman. The freeborn plant's mouth twitched into an almost nonexistent smile. 'At least she's somewhat entertaining…'
Blue: Ivey leave my cat alone! Please review everyone!
Hiei: … :puts his katana to Blue's throat: Write. Now.
Blue: o.o ….'k…. :goes back to typing: