Report 52: [Action]

[bernardelli]

[ He's Meryl, doing the laundry, outside of building 4. She's taking clothes down from the line and placing them in a basket. There seems to be a lot more than usual -- some clothes that would be a little small for Vash. Of course, a new house resident adds to the laundry load

Comments

[not_a_bluesbro]

[A priest out of no where! He probably snuck up while you were in deep thought or something; he starts taking clothes off the line, looking a little exasperated.]

No word from him yet?

[Guess who's been looking all over for him? This guy.]

[bernardelli]

[ She practically jumps out of her skin when she notices him. Dear God, her heart. She grabs her chest and gasps, tipping over from the balls of her feet onto her bottom, before settling down again. Her eyes give him a blaming look before she quickly gets up and folds the garment in her hands. ]

Not a single word. That idiot...

[not_a_bluesbro]

[A small smile. Not his fault you're no good at saying hello.

He starts folding up one of his shirts as he speaks.]

Aaah, that's a pretty good title for him, isn't it?

[He takes a breath, like he's going to say something-but it ends up a lengthy sigh. He didn't want to ask her 'you don't think he was involved, do you?'. Didn't want to worry her more than she already was.

But it was also Wolfwood's philosophy that she was a big girl.]

I've been looking for him, but I haven't really found anything. You don't think he decided to take a vacation on his own after that little self-doubt issue he had, do you?

[bernardelli]

[ She sighs and smiles a bit. ]

The most accurate one.

[ She folds a shirt with lengthy sleeves absently, moving a little slow as she looks at it, before dropping it in the basket. ]

He should know... he should know, by now, that wandering off is nothing but trouble for him, right now. He's got a number of enemies. It's that luck of his.

[not_a_bluesbro]

...What do you think the chances are he was dragged off against his will, then?

[By the Malnosso. He's well-aware at this point that people have struggled to no avail. Even a few weeks in Luceti can reveal that much, if you pay any attention to the journal entries.]

[bernardelli]

There's a great possibility of it... it's usually more evident, though, unless he decided it wasn't worth the fight.

[not_a_bluesbro]

... Maybe he didn't want to worry us too much. Which is stupid of him, because I would have preferred to see him put up more of a fight anyway.

[He puffs quietly on a cigarette he's been working on lighting, frowning into the filter.]

You okay, Meryl?

[bernardelli]

He should know by now that his 'make them worry less' methods always backfire.

[ She sighs and rubs the bridge of her nose, as if a headache is in the makings. ]

I-I'm fine, just... tired. This kind of thing, it's exhausting.

[not_a_bluesbro]

[He smiles sympathetically-poor Meryl, she worried the most one of them. He figured it a blessing and a curse all in one, because while he appreciated someone who thought straight and smart, it was pretty damn obvious she was building that anxiety up behind her cooler facade.

'No need to worry' would have been a stupid point to bring up. 'Vash is Vash' was out of the window, with everything that's been happening. He knew there was no need to try and reassure her of anything, because it wouldn't really work.

They can both deal with headaches and concerns together, instead of trying to veil 'em with positive-albeit-unhelpful thinking.]

I understand. Just don't tucker yourself out too much-I'll keep trying to find out more, to see if something helpful pops up.