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"Not even gonna lie, I think he needs to be put into a time out pit."

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"Well, I guess it'll do." If she's lucky she can con him into at least one new outfit. If not he'll at least be great for telling her if any of her picks look good on her.

"Let's find a store then!"

"Ah, see? That we can do." he said. He didn't mind shopping with her if it was stuff for her, that was perfectly fine! "That can be the adventure: you getting some new stuff and having me carry it for you. I'd prefer my wedding outfit be a surprise, anyway."

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"Aw, not even for a wedding outfit?" How disappointing. She's sure he'd look good in a few things, and to not be able to get him in them is quite sad.

"Well, I do need some new clothing..." She's running out of pants that aren't getting ripped from all the chaos.

"Meryl." no. No, no, no, no more clothes shopping. He wasn't doing that again-- even if he'll need an outfit for the wedding, he'll do that on his own time! Closer to the wedding so nothing gets ruined--!!

"Even if it doesn't look like it, I got a new shirt recently; I don't need to go looking for more stuff. Unless you wanna look for stuff for you, I'm vetoing anything to do with clothes."

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Oh. "Alright, I'll try and contact him while you do your stuff." That uneasy feeling was getting worse, digging deeper into the plant's bones but she tries to ignore it, unsure what it means.

Meryl pats Vash on the shoulder lightly, sighing. "Call me when you're done and we'll see about getting some dinner. And planning what we're going to do to find Knives and baker man."

Hopefully Knives replies soon.

"Well... I guess all we can do is wait."

Before Vash can turn around and find them somewhere to sit down, his holo-tablet starts ringing.

"Oh, shoot—" the blond quickly opens the panel and looks at his schedule, "I have a meeting I need to be at. It's a one-on-one, so I can't miss it. Text Knives and tell him to call you—I might be there a while..."

He groans.

"Research leads... Be glad you don't have to deal with them, heh." Vash scratches the back of his head, then offers Meryl a quick hug, "Don't wait up for me, alright?"

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"We could go on a boring adventure." Shopping was an adventure if one does it right. He could probably use some cool new outfits for the wedding too.

"When's the last time you bought a nice outfit?"

"I'm... really not looking to go on any adventures right this second..."

Like he ever sought out adventure; things like that just had a tendency to find him.

"Besides, boring's good sometimes. And boring'll give me plenty of time to track down an appropriate wedding gift-- can't do that if I'm wrapped up in something."

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@angelictyphoon replied to your post “"Next asshole to call me princess–" Except Nick or...”:

"It's your regal bearing. It's inescapable."

​"Don't you get sweet with me, mister." A huff. "But thank you, I appreciate your feelings."

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"Next asshole to call me princess–" Except Nick or Nico, they have Privilege here. "Is getting his shins kicked in with my steel toe boots. I may also remove them with my axe."

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Busy, Vash. Hunting. I'll call when we're somewhere safe.

Meryl leaned over Vash's arm for a look, brow furrowing slowly. "Hunting." That could mean a lot of things. Almost worriedly she prodded across the connection between the three of them, concerned.

The poke back was no less chiding than the text, and she scowled.

"Mystery grows larger. And he doesn't tell me everything."

Vash hums, agreeing thoughtfully. "Maybe. I don't know why he'd keep us in the dark about it though. Especially you—you're always traveling with him."

This time, Vash tries texting Knives before calling him. He remembers that his brother does prefer that...

'Hey! Gonna call you real quick. I'm okay.'

He gives it a few minutes to send, especially since they could be out in the middle of nowhere, then tries calling Knives again.

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"Sounds boring."

"Want to have an adventure with? I'm sure we could find something fun to do. Something super exciting."

'Fun'... right... a muscle in his face twitches, but doesn't mar the smile already present-- though he will move to set her down, now--

"A lot of the same, nothing really worth mentioning. I think the new hair's helping that, though: I'm getting recognized a little less."

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My muse is being hit on by someone they aren't interested in and are visibly uncomfortable. Send, "there you are, darling" for your muse to come and wrap their arm around mine's waist to guide them away.

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An illness? Meryl hasn't heard anything about illnesses, but for it to be brought up and Knives to agree to look into it... "Maybe Knives asked him to help look into it since he brought it up in the first place?"

Presumably Nicholas had information and Knives had figured he'd know more about it since he'd asked.

Meryl frowns, pressing her chin into her hand as she tries to put together the pieces they have into a coherent whole. "If Knives is busy looking into that might be why he isn't answering his phone. And if they're tracking a lead outside of any of the cities, Nicholas' phone might not have service. Knives' phone is on the SEEDs network, isn't it? To make sure he can connect and get access no matter where he is when he's out making maps. Our phones don't lose access even if we're gone for long periods because that'd make SEEDs work harder..."

Explaining why Nick's number had been removed from service and Knives' had not.

"Try calling again."

"Yeah..." Vash agrees, for once not blaming himself for something. Well, maybe it is his fault, but it's not because he didn't text for eight days. Unless it is. Maybe that's still an issue here.

He shakes his head and hushes his voice, "Before they left... hmm... Nicholas mentioned some kind of sickness going around and had asked Knives about it. He also said that SEEDS is covering it up—that it's a conspiracy theory. I wonder..."

No, SEEDS is cold and devoted to their research, but Vash doesn't think they'd cover something like that up. They want what's best for the humans! If there's a disease spreading, then it would be important for humans to know so they can avoid contaminating others. He wishes Nicholas had gone into more details about symptoms or origin or anything... but...

"Knives went off to research it. I let Nicholas leave after he gave me his number... I had to go back to work, so I couldn't lead him out. That was the last time I saw either of them."

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"Then I'll make sure we have the wedding somewhere interesting." She'll show him a frog later maybe. "Now what have you been up to since I saw you last? Besides a new hairstyle."

It'd been awhile if she remembered their last hang out right. Surely he's done something fun?

"Not in person or anything, but kind of, yeah. We had these video files on the ships before the Fall-- sort of simulated 'recordings' of ecosystems that were meant to be educational tools for people when we landed."

He remembers the mountains and ocean ones best, but there were the swamp and wetlands ones, too. The former was the one that had frogs!

"They all got corrupted, though. Most of the video files did."

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"I see, I see." She nods to herself at that, grinning. "Bet your Wolfwood likes it? He probably puts his hands in it too, it's fun how it springs back up. Like a frog. I've seen those now!"

Weird little bastards but funny.

"Have you seen any before?"

Oh it's too late for thoughts like that, Meryl, he's already got some stuff in mind-- he quirks his lip and hums thoughtfully, finally settling on putting his hands somewhere around the middle of her back for support.

"Teeechnically no...? I just changed how it sits, but it's different, yeah. Finally caved and did the full-on spikey thing like most of the other Vashes do."

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"That is strange." But then, she knows that Knives is... weird. About how he chooses to do things sometimes. He's very particular about doing things in specific ways, so for him to change his voicemail like that...

And knowing he doesn't answer anyone calling unexpectedly, except her and Vash...

"Maybe he wanted anyone calling to know he isn't alone so they don't leave a message they don't want baker man to hear when he plays it back?"

That still leaves too many questions about why he's there with him at all and why he hadn't told either of them. Knives never does things without some sort of reason behind them, but... Meryl frowns, feeling unease settle into her bones.

"Something's wrong."

His mouth is dry when he hears the answering machine, and for a moment all he can do is let out a near-silent squeak. Vash thought he eliminated all thoughts of his brother wanting Nicholas for himself... so why...?

"... Knives, where are you? W-why is Nicholas with you? Where's his phone—I... I wanted to apologize to hi—him for—"

There's a beep and then the message finishes recording. Damn his hesitation.

"I don't know... but if him and Knives are on some kind of excursion, then Nicholas's phone would still work... right? Why would he make a new voicemail message with Nicholas there...? It's still his phone."

Vash's heart is so confused... but... he is the one who took eight days to text Nicholas for the first time. Still, Knives encouraged Vash to be brave and talk to Nicholas... he also assured Vash that he wasn't interested in the baker...

"Why am I getting a bad feeling about all of this?"

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The phone rings and rings and rings, before a robotic voice clicks onto the line, dull. You have reached the number of Knives and–baker stop fucking kicking sand at me– please leave a message after the beep.

Meryl waits impatiently, face making an interesting expression at the tinny greeting she hears despite the distance between them. "Why in the world is he with baker man?"

And why had he not stabbed him for kicking stand at him for that matter? Mysteries were just piling up now.

"O... kay... I'll try calling Knives then..."

Well now things are serious. Vash can function a bit better when things are serious. He shouldn't be concerned, but he is. There's a sinking feeling in his gut, and he's not sure why.

He texts Nicholas one more time, receives another error, then goes to his contacts and finds "Knives (brother)." He's pretty sure Knives prefers calling when it comes to issues like these that aren't 'yes' or 'no' questions.

For some reason, Vash is anxious to know what he'll hear on the other side of the line. Taking in a deep breath, he hits the call button.

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"This is why you're my favorite!" Platonically, of course.

"Don't go too crazy though okay? Save enough for pizza toast or you'll cry about it later when you don't have enough for two slices." Absolutely a tease. She hums, bright.

"Did you get a new haircut?"

Hey, he definitely doesn't mind the hair ruffling, tactile thing that he is--

"And risk committing one of the biggest wedding etiquette faux pas at your wedding?" aside from wearing white or showing up late... orrr getting into a gunfight. That was how the first and last wedding he'd been invited to ended-- "no way, I'll make sure to get you guys a good gift. I'll make it myself if I have to."

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Meryl skims the error messages, mind immediately spinning through every reason she can think of for why the system would send one like that. "Maybe he had trouble paying his bill recently and his service was suspended? He did lose a couple days of business when the power outage happened, didn't he?"

Though, it seemed awfully quick for that... Usually they'd give residents at least a couple weeks to try and pay a missed bill. Meryl frowns, tapping her bottom lip thoughtfully.

"I'll go ask! You keep trying to send him a message and to contact Knives. He might know something."

Vash stops in his tracks, no longer letting Meryl drag him down the hall. His pocket just vibrated—he must've gotten a response.

Please be good, please be good, please be good...

Pulling out his phone, he cocks his head as he reads the text:

Error Code 06: The message was not delivered within the allowed time frame, often due to recipient’s phone being off or out of service area for too long.

"Eh? Isn't there cellphone coverage everywhere with civilization? How long does a phone have to be off before a message doesn't go through?"

It's a system message... so it's not like Nicholas is just finding a convenient way to say 'no' to him... Maybe his phone died? But... for long enough that his service turns off? That seems unlikely.

Maybe he was so upset with Vash that he changed his number. Maybe he went to uncharted territory, like a trip. Surely he would've mentioned that... He was talking to Knives about maps though...

Vash sends another message.

"I'm really sorry. I have like twelve drafted messages I never sent because I couldn't decide how I wanted to text you."

Error Code 06: The message was not delivered within the allowed time frame, often due to recipient’s phone being off or out of service area for too long.

He squints and furrows his brow.

"Hey, we should talk about it if you want. I promise I can hold a conversation :p"

Error Code 06: The message was not delivered within the allowed time frame, often due to recipient’s phone being off or out of service area for too long.

"Mm... I don't think that date is happening. Look—"

With the conversation still open, Vash turns his phone to Meryl.