[i]
"Ice-cream!!!" cried Millie in delight. "Sugoi-ne!" She clasped her hands eagerly, eyes wide open as she watched the vendor drop a nice large scoop of pink dessert onto a cone.
Nicholas grinned as he paid the vendor and handed Vash, Millie and Merril their cones. "It's just about the only one around these parts and I thought you might enjoy it."
"Honto ni?" She blinked in surprise. "How did you know?"
Nicholas winked. "Well, I just do. After all, you are my honey."
". anata!"
They burst out laughing, their chuckles echoing through the dusty street. It was an old private joke they shared, borne out from the time when they were hiding a fugitive girl and pretended to be husband and wife. Besides them, Vash and Merril watched the exchange and smiled. It was good that the trio had bumped into Wolfwood again in their travels.
Nicholas brought a certain. charm to the group. Knowledge of ice-cream parlours being one of those charms.
"My only regret is that eating ice-cream is such sticky business, especially on hot days," Merril idly commented as she neatly avoided a catastrophic ice-cream encounter with her hand.
"Oh, do you need any help?" Vash eagerly volunteered as he reached out to help himself to her ice-cream but only ended up grabbing thin air as Merril manoeuvred it out of reach.
"Nice try, Vash." Big wobbly chibi eyes greeted this statement but Merril was heartless. "I know you Vash. The last time you "helped" me I lost my strawberry sprinkled and chocolate doughnut... Argh!" Merill yelped as an awkward backhand movement to avoid Vash's frontal attack resulted in more sticky ice-cream dripping down her hand.
"Vash!!!"
"The serviettes are by the end," offered Wolfwood mildly. "I'll go and grab them and we can start moving." Bowing low to Millie, who giggled at his "gallantry", Nicholas neatly dodged Vash's abortive attempt to get his ice-cream and walked over to the corner where the aforementioned tissue sat. He pulled a few from their metal encasing and was about to turn around, when a poster caught his eye.
What the...?
Narrowing his eyes, Nicholas reached for it and tore it from its wooden bindings. Although it was slightly faded, the contents inside stood most prominently in his eye. In it, were stencilled bold words: "Wanted - Help in Orleans to clear Fringe. Reward = $5,000. Signed by the mayor."
Orleans?
"Nicholas? Nicholas?"
Orleans?
"Nicholas!"
"Nya?" Nicholas blinked and realised that the others had stopped fighting and had already gone a distance ahead.
"Are you coming with the serviettes already?"
"Hai, hai!" announced Wolfwood cheerfully, as he crumpled the poster into a ball and stuffed it into his shirt pocket. He hurried and easily caught up with them.
Vash quirked an eyebrow. "I thought you said you loved ice-cream?"
Nicholas blinked. "Yes I do, pointy-head." He scowled at his friend. "You're not having mine, if that's what you're asking."
Silently, Vash pointed downwards. Nicholas' hand was entirely covered with uneaten melted ice-cream.
"..!!!!!!!!"
***
Vash looked at his friend in concern. Ever since the ice-cream stand, Nicholas had seemed to have fallen into a deep introspection of some sorts. Not that it was very noticeable, but from the little ways like how he kept staring into space, and failed to rise up to the occasion when Vash succeeded in stealing his ice-cream the second time, it was becoming quite apparent that something was up.
But Nicholas, when questioned, merely shrugged it away.
It was his way.
And so when Nicholas told them later that day that he was leaving, Vash was not very surprised. Hurt that Wolfwood didn't trust him enough to tell him the full story, but then again, not very surprised.
***
"I'm not joining you."
The girls blinked. "What?" Merril slowly put down the milkshake that she was having and regarded the pastor. "You're leaving already? So soon?"
"Yes."
"But Wolfwood-sama," ventured Millie, confusion written all over her face. "Where are you going?"
Nicholas stood and slung his cross-gun across his shoulders. "North," he replied, looking away.
Quietly, Vash got up to his feet. "I'll go with you," he offered.
"No."
Vash blinked at the sudden change in demeanour. "No? But - "
"Look Vash, it's something that I have to do myself, okay?" Nicholas flicked a glance at the Stampede, face inscrutable.
"But - "
Vash moved from the table towards Nicholas.
Only to find himself stopped by an irate Merril.
"Just where exactly are you going?" She demanded.
Vash grinned sheepishly. "Uh, with Nicholas?" He offered feebly, raising his two hands up defensively.
"It's too dangerous!!"
Vash smiled and looked at her. "I know you're worried about me, but really I can take care of myself..."
Merril rolled her eyes. "I don't mean you, I know you're perfectly capable of taking care of yourself. I'm talking about the townspeople of Orleans!!!!! You've already caused enough collateral damage that the insurance company cannot afford anymore!"
Vash blinked, ego deflated. "Oh." But he soon brightened. "But I'm not going there to fight, I'm just going to help Nicholas."
"You always go there to help, you never go there to fight. but the city always ends up destroyed anyway!" Vash had the decency to look slightly ashamed while the slim lady in white steamed on ahead. "Look Vash," she tried again in an attempt to mollify. "The townspeople are still hunting you. If you go, you'll just get in the way and bother Wolfwood-san from doing whatever he's supposed to do!"
"But, but, I never bother Wolfwood!!" protested Vash violently, eyes wide with innocence. "I never bother anybody! Tell her, Nicholas!"
Nicholas flicked a glance at the scarlet-clad pointy-head. "You're bothering me now."
And while Vash struggled with the two insurance agents, Nicholas left the scene without another word, unaware of a pair of understanding eyes that watched him silently as he went.
