stungunning | 1 [accidental voice post eventually filtered by Wolfwood from Knives, Legato and Yuber]

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1 [accidental voice post eventually filtered by Wolfwood from Knives, Legato and Yuber]

[There's the sound of some background noise; birds tweeting, shrubbery being trodden underfoot, but above all that there's the sound of someone- a woman- humming cheerfully.]

Oh my goodness, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many plants before except in picture books! And isn’t it a lovely day? I’ve never had a dream before where I got to be in a forest, but if it means that I get to see lovely trees and animals like this then I don’t think I mind it at all!

[Some more happy humming can be heard, and footsteps through the undergrowth.]

My back’s all itchy. That’s funny, I don’t usually get an itchy back when I dream. Oh no, I’m not allergic to trees am I? That would be just awful! Magic Book, could you tell me if I’m allergic to trees?

[…]

Silly old Milly, of course the book isn’t going to tell you that, books can’t talk!

…I wonder if there’s a pudding tree? All my very best dreams have pudding somewhere, so it really doesn’t make a lot of sense if there isn’t a pudding tree…

[More humming, someone sure sounds cheerful. Then she stops.]

…I think I’m lost.

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[And now she's leaping off the log as though it's made of fire and taking a big step back and away.]

What's happening? This isn't a dream is it? Is this heaven? Did I die? What's going on, I don't understand!

[He sighs; he figures this was a possibility. I mean, waking up in a weird place with wings and a dead man talking to you? Hello? But he's naturally calm at the sight of her panic, standing up and straightening his shoulders.]

You're not dead. I know it sounds like a dream, but... you've just been kidnapped here, from our world. Vash and Meryl are here, too.

[a pause, as his gaze softens]

They can bring the living... or the dead to this place.

But... but that's impossible! That just can't happen, and-

[She doesn't think she can believe it.]

This is just a really really strange dream, where you can pinch me and it feels like you actually really did pinch me, but it's just a dream.

[She wraps her arms around herself in her insecurity, only now does she realise that the reason her back is itching isn't because of a hypothetical tree allergy as her fingertips brush feathers.]

[She yelps and leaps forward, bumping into him- and he's solid.]

[He looks down at her, clasping his hands into weak fists.]

Those wings on your back—the people who took us put them on all of the kidnappees. I have them, too, under my coat.

[He looks down to the ground. This is the hardest thing he thinks he's ever had to do. Legato doesn't hold a candle to it, no matter how much he'd like to, the son-of-a-bitch.

His jaw tightens. Those bastards, bringing her to a place like Luceti. No matter how much he's happy to see her, it isn't right.]

Vash and Meryl have already been here for over a year, and I've recently appeared just a few months ago. I know it sounds crazy, but...

[She stands there, wide eyed, looking at him, then trying to look over her shoulder at the brown wings that are growing out of her back]

A whole year? But that's not true, I just saw Meryl before I went to bed and we said goodbye to Mr. Vash just this afternoon. And you-

[Definitely did not die months ago or it wouldn't still hurt like this.]

[Yeah don't mind her Wolfwood, she's just going to put her hand on your chest for a second there.]

[He doesn't mind; nothing but a few breaths and a slightly speeded heartbeat to greet her. He looks up just enough to catch her expression.]

Time at home doesn't move, when people are brought here. Vash was on his way to find his brother, just before he arrived... Even though he's been here for that long, nothing's changed since he left Gunsmoke.

[His mouth is an unwavering line, but his mind is picking apart the words he should be saying. It's difficult to keep up with himself. A hand reaches up toward her shoulder, but hangs in empty air.]

[She listens to his words carefully, but she's frowning in deep concentration. That's his heart beating.]

[It's really beating.]

[She stops frowning and meets his eyes for a second, then her eyes dart over his face.]

[Then. The tears start.]

It really is you!

[And this right here is a fullblown patented Milly Thompson fullbodied hug.]

[Expected that, but then, you've always been such a strong woman; he falls right on his butt, barely managing to keep himself upright with one hand while the other curls around her shoulders, lost beneath her hair.

Damn, you really are exactly the same. Was he really expecting something even a little different? He though... what if a few years had passed, what if she'd moved on to better things? But—this is exactly as she was.

He dips his chin and presses his cheek to hers, face contorting into a look of guilt.]

I'm sorry... I broke such an important promise to you. I shouldn't have left you there by yourself.

[The tears are streaming down her face and she can't quite work out if they're happy or sad, but it doesn't matter. Not right now.]

[She's holding him again.]

[She brings her hands up into his hair and turns her face into his neck, trying to urge him closer.]

You didn't break it. That doesn't count. You had to go, you wouldn't be you if you had stayed behind.

[You're wrong, it's not that simple! Didn't I just abandon you because I wasn't strong enough? That's the God's truth, isn't it? He lets her move him closer, and honestly, the numb feeling of surreality is being replaced with an overwhelming sense of grief.

Grief for his own death, but above all, grief for what he'd left behind.]

You've always been too forgiving for your own good...

... [His frown curls, faintly, very faintly, against her hair.]

But that's one of the things I love about you, honey.

[Geez, he'd never thought he'd get to say that dorky little name so teasingly ever again. He's allowed to tease, right? He'd missed doing that so much.]

Edited 2011-03-05 06:09 (UTC)

You didn't do anything wrong.

[She hiccups at the endearment and holds him tighter, because he sounds so... he sounds so exposed.]

[Just like...]

[She screws her eyes closed and just... lets it all out with a sob and she feels so silly because she's getting your collar all wet, she's such a silly Milly.]

Edited 2011-03-06 00:11 (UTC)

[I did plenty wrong, trust me.

But he just sits there with her, letting her cry as long as she needs to. It's a role-reversal for him, being the comforter. It's not that he's unused to it, but this isn't just any person.

...What a day.]

[A few more hiccups and one very soggy shirt collar later- sorry about that darling- Milly pulls herself together and swipes at her eyes with the back of her hand and a manful sniffle.]

There. Everything always looks much, much better after a very good cry.

[She offers him her very best watery smile, which is funny because there's still a few stubborn tears streaking down her cheeks.]

[Man, my poor shirt. |D

He pats her shoulder reassuringly, smiling a little.]

... We'd better get you back to the apartment, before you freeze out here. Even if it's not that cold, it's still winter here, y'know.

[Hey, at least her nose wasn't running.]

[She smiles back, and then puts her hand on top of his.]

[...his hand is warm.]

It is a little cold...

[Small favors, definitely. He grins and shrugs off his jacket to flip onto her shoulders. His little black wings twitch a little at his back, unused to being de-jacketed.] That'll do for now. It's not too far of a walk, luckily. When I'd gotten here, I was a whole day's hike away.

[Remember, I can walk a fuckload of isles.]

Edited 2011-03-06 04:43 (UTC)

That is a relief, I don't think I could walk all that far without shoes, I might accidentally stomp onto something.

[The jacket's nice and warm, and it smells like him too. She tugs it a little tighter around her shoulders, then she peers curiously at his wings.]

Yours are black.

[Oh, right. He looks over his shoulder a little at his own and snickers.]

Yeah, seems like they knew it was my color. Better than bright purple or orange, right?

I really don't think purple would suit you at all well, or orange. Grey might look nice, or even blue, or white.

[Milly chews on her bottom lip thoughtfully for a second, as though she is pondering one of life's very great mysteries.]

[This is so strange. She's standing in the middle of a forest, slowing beginning to lose the feeling in her toes actually, and she's talking to her dead... dead what?]

[And is he her anything for that matter? After all, one night doesn't really amount to anything... does it>?]

[Oh dear she's still looking at him funny, isn't she?]

[Better say something...]

But I think that the black ones are very nice.

[And without really thinking much about it, she reaches out to brush one of his wings with her fingertips.]

[Wolfwood wonders the exact same thing. After all, you can't just pick up from having sex to being together like that, when it all happens so quickly, in that fleeting moment of...

It's a troublesome little uncomfortableness he feels, until Milly's touch makes his wing twitch faintly under finger.]

Yours seem to match you perfectly; leave it to the Malnosso jerks to actually get something right, for a change.

[He starts leading her back toward the village, more content with smiling a little more.]

Edited 2011-03-08 07:33 (UTC)

The Malnosso?

[She follows along beside him, nice and warm inside his jacket, and looks at him curiously- although really before he mentioned the unfamiliar name she was looking at his wings. They're really nice.]

Who are they?

They're... well. They're the people who kidnapped us from our homes, I guess you could say. Or, at least, they're what causes us to show up here; they're the guys who stuck wings on you and put you out in the middle of the forest.

[aka they're jerks, obviously]

They're... what you'd consider an enemy.

But Mr. Priest, why would they go through all of that trouble?

[Although, seeing as he's so clearly anti these people, she's going to keep the thought that they can't be all bad if they bring dead people back to life to herself.]

[Obviously there's more to this than the apparent facts.]

Do we have something they want?

Honestly, I'm as lost as you are... We're practically in the dark about everything they do, even though I'm hoping it's only a matter of time before we can at least shine a spotlight on whatever they're expecting to accomplish...

Stealing a bunch of people from different worlds... Doesn't seem much in the way of helping them, you'd think.

Edited 2011-03-10 07:22 (UTC)

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