(Untitled)

[tidesnpc]

Characters: The crew of the Winding Way, other visitors are welcome and encouraged!
Content: The Way hosts their own Long Night party for the citizens of Colvus.
Setting: The Way in general; mostly top decks and the nearby docks, I'm guessing
Time: Shortly past midnight, the day after the Long Night
Warnings: Partying~!

Comments

[sofull_ofmercy]

It hadn't taken Wolfwood long to find the Winding Way - not only was it a generally flashy sort of ship (or so he thought; those lights concealed a lot), but it was also the only well-lit place at the docks. He walked through the outskirts of the growing crowd, trying to look as casual as a man in black could at a party. It worked well enough, considering he'd left the Punisher back at his hotel.

Wolfwood ambled up the galley plank, both hands shoved casually in his pockets. He swept a calm gaze across the deck, and took in the slowly mingling adults and active kids alike. It seemed like a nice enough shindig, he thought. Definitely better than all the socialite crap going on in town.

Out of the corner of his eye, Wolfwood caught a glimpse of a rather jarringly red figure wandering about the food table. He froze for a moment, then relaxed again into a stance that was much more alert than it looked. Although it was the right place, he hadn't expected to come across Vash so soon - even now, he wasn't sure the rumors were worth anything. The man certainly matched the description, and there was something in his stance that screamed fighter, but any half-bit bandit could put on a red coat and get the same effect.

He took a last drag of his cigarette, crushed it out on the sole of his shoe, and walked causally over to the food table. The tall man was trying to balance three plates covered in food - mostly donuts, of all things. "You aren't seriously gonna eat all that, huh?" Wolfwood grinned in affected disbelief.

[stampeded]

Vash had left his coffee at one of the tables in favor of the food - which he had mostly managed to to carry by getting both his arms under the third plate, though it kept wobbling precariously.

He answered automatically, smiling and cheerful, "Sure I will! I'm starving." It was only then that he got a good look at the other man. It was no one he recognized, though the guy didn't quite look like a resident... but all the black had to be for the Vohemaro celebrations, wasn't it? Though most of the partygoers Vash had seen wore both the colors instead of just one.

"Ah, hold on..." He slowly made his way over to the table where he'd left his coffee, dropping the plates there. The food piled on them shifted alarmingly, but somehow, none of it fell off.

[sofull_ofmercy]

Wolfwood raised his eyebrows at the precarious stacking of donuts. "Man, I don't envy you that appetite one bit." He re-balanced a particularly dangerous looking stack and snagged a plain doughnut as a prize.

"So," Wolfwood continued speaking around his mouth-full of doughnut, "You with the ship, or just hear for the cheap 'n plentiful food?"

[stampeded]

That kind of thinking was something Vash didn't fully understand - he had always been on very good terms with his appetite, discounting the few times he'd ended up stranded in the Badlands without supplies, or when he didn't have enough money to eat.

Did that man just...? Vash eyed him as if he'd just stolen a mana crystal instead of a rather normal (if delicious) donut. "Of course I'm with the ship!" Vash said as grabbed a donut of his own, from the pile closest to the other man, gobbling it down in seconds. "I'm the first mate!"

He was already taking a second donut to eat, again from the pile closest to him.

[sofull_ofmercy]

Wolfwood grabbed another donut and shoved it into his mouth. "Oh! That's you?" He said, feigning disbelief, though it really sounded more like 'thas oo?'. "I guess the big guy's got an eye for happy coincidences, eh?. I'm Wolfwood, your new gunner and priest." He stuck out his hand for politeness' sake, but continued grabbing donuts with his free one. Wolfwood wasn't quite sure if he was hungry or just being instinctively competitive, but damn; the donuts were good.

[stampeded]

Vash wasn't about to sit there and let someone eat all of his donuts! He wasn't sure what this guy was trying to prove, unless it was how annoying he could be. Regardless, Vash kept gobbling down donuts as well, determined to at least make sure he got to eat most of his own food.

"Mmph! You're the new guy?" He returned the handshake, firmly, but otherwise kept kept eating with his other hand, just as Wolfwood was. "I'm Vash. Welcome on board!"

His expression was just a little at odds with his friendly welcome, eyes narrowed in concentration, though even then he didn't manage to look very threatening.

[sofull_ofmercy]

Wolfwood feigned choking on his donut. "Wait wait - Vash? That Vash?"

Bingo. Sure, the guy could be just claiming, but there were far too many coincidences at this point for Wolfwood to not believe him.

[stampeded]

In any other circumstance, Vash would've been glad to take the advantage it would've given him. Any other circumstance wouldn't have been that alarming, though, and it was hard to talk and chow down at the same time.

He had an idea of what Wolfwood was getting at, but it was better to make sure before blurting something out. Vash tore off another bite of donut, looking at him with wide eyes, with the expression of innocence he'd used quite a lot over the years. This time, at least, he wasn't trying to overdo it.

"Which Vash?" He asked after he'd chewed and swallowed.

[sofull_ofmercy]

Wolfwood lowered his voice somewhat and leaned against the table. "The Vash, spike-head." He licked the glaze off of one hand and reached back for another donut. "Ya know, Humanoid Typhoon and all that jazz? Though I gotta say, you don't look it."

[stampeded]

"Oh, that one." He finished scarfing down his donut, his expression now one of mild resignation, "It's horrible having such an unfortunate name! Do you really think an outlaw would be on a theater ship full of kids?" In this case, the answer was a resounding 'yes', but he was trying not to let on to that. He hadn't expected to find anyone that still remembered the name.

Vash kept eating the donuts, even though he still had a plate full of a variety of other foods. His donuts were the most precious, and that's why he had to eat them all first!

[sofull_ofmercy]

Wolfwood stared at Vash with a look of extreme skepticism that was in no way reduced by his sunglasses. "So you're telling me that you're named Vash, wear a long red coat, and have blond hair and glasses; but you're just that other Vash, right?" The guy didn't need to know how Wolfwood knew all those old rumors, of course, but he sort of hoped Vash'd just take that bit on faith.

[stampeded]

It looked like it was time to admit defeat. Wolfwood was too well-informed about it to successfully keep lying to, and Vash was running out of excuses. "Hey, don't say it so loud," he pleaded, with a faintly miserable edge to his tone of voice. "No one else here knows, and I'd like to keep it that way!"

What was it about his luck that he had managed to run into two separate people that had guessed who he was, and all within half a year? He was certain it had to be a case of bad luck; he'd never had this problem before, and he had been on the Winding Way over two years now.

[sofull_ofmercy]

Wolfwood smirked triumphantly. "Heh, hey, look, don't worry," he spoke in a conspiratorial whisper and elbowed Vash jokingly in the stomach, "I'm not gonna rat you out or anything. I was just curious."

He grabbed a small pastry, and left Vash to the donuts. "The rumors 'bout you aren't completely dead back home." Wolfwood grinned widely and stuffed the pastry into his mouth. "Ish like meetin' a shelebrity or somethin'."

[stampeded]

'Just curious' about an outlaw? This Wolfwood guy was sure something. What that something was, he didn't know. Vash was honestly a little dumbfounded by his continued friendly behavior - who would sit there and willingly share a meal with Vash the Stampede? He knew what those rumors were like, and none of them were flattering in the least.

He smiled at Wolfwood anyway, though it was more of a wince that was trying to be a smile. Vash couldn't quite hide how uncomfortable he was over this topic. "Come on, I'm no celebrity. I'd say I'm a pretty normal guy."

A normal guy that had already helped to decimate over half the pile of donuts, and was already reaching for another.

[sofull_ofmercy]

Wolfwood nodded. "Sure, why not? I can't really blame you for wanting to lay low." He smiled broadly, but his tone held a bit of genuine glee. "And this seems like a pretty good place to be a pretty normal guy."

Sure, the reports had pegged Vash as a bit of a bleeding heart, but he seemed to be a genuinely nice guy. Sort of ditsy, and Wolfwood had a hard time believing all the rumors, even the ones he knew to be true.

It was unnerving, but hell, he liked the guy so far.