'Say, Wolfwood, do you believe in ghosts?' he finally asked putting an arm over the back of the chair, barely hiding the smirk in the corner of his lips.
'Uh?' the preacher looked up with an arched eyebrow. 'Yeah, I guess I do. Goes with the job.'
'Ever met one before?'
'No, but what the hell is up with those weird questions Needle-noggin?'
Not answering, Vash looked at you and simply gave you a corner smile and a barely noticeable tilt of the head towards his drinking buddy.
You didn't need much more to understand what he was hinting at and a rush of excitement ran through you. You hadn't pulled a prank in several years, and considering this one was a special request from your new traveling companion, it made it that much more thrilling.
Getting up from your seat, you slowly made your way to the side of the black-haired man. Now, now, what would be sure to set this man off? You pondered for a second before it struck you. You licked the tip of your thumb and index and carefully reached for the man's cigarette. In a swift motion you firmly pressed your fingers on the burning tip of the cigarette, not even needing to concentrate more than you already were for the thin paper roll to be extinguished.
'Uh? Shitty thing,' mumbled the priest as he reached for the lighter that was still on the table.
Quickly, you retreated your arm and instead went to pull the lighter away from the man's grasp. The latter frozen with a frown on his face.
'Now, you better quit fucking with me, how are you doing this?'
'I'm not, that the best part.'
The man groaned and went to reach for the lighter away, but once again you pulled it away form his reach. You saw his knuckles turn white as he clenched his fist on the table.
'You better talk, Spikey. I'm not patient.'
From the corner of your eyes, you saw Vash pout for a second, before you turned to face him, sensing him looking at you.
'We really can't have any fun, can we Luck?' he complained, gesturing to hand back the lighter to his friend.
It was your turn to pout; that priest man was absolutely no fun. But if you were to comply with Vash's request it wouldn't be without pulling one last spook.
You grabbed the lighter and lifted it up, still half-shocked by how easy it was to manipulate objects now. Under the preacher's dumbfounded expression, you flicked it open and lit his cigarette before setting the closed lighter in front of him.
With a sad sigh, you took back your seat next to Vash, your chin propped on your hand.
There was a minute or two of silence where the man of God stayed pensive, taking multiple drags of his cigarette and Vash refilled their drinks.
'I haven't done an exorcism in years, but I think I remember enough for it to work.'
'What!?No! Luck's a friend I'm not doing that Wolfwood!'
'Haaah... Only you would make buddy-buddy with a ghost, blondie.' The man chugged his drink and loudly set the glass back on the table. He rubbed his forehead for a moment before resuming, 'how that even happen?'
Vash exchanged a bright smile with you that sent heat rising through your chest before he turned his focus back to the other man and started telling him about his encounter with you. You paid attention at the start of the tale, wondering if the outlaw would explain exactly what he was doing in your little town, but when it became clear that he wouldn't say anything more than you already knew you quickly lost interest.
Seeing the two men talk and interact was just as, if not even more, interesting to observe than their conversation. With every banter and laugh, you slowly understood how their personalities fitted each other, and with every glass the priest became more and more lively. You laid your head on the crook of your arm on top of the table enjoying seeing Vash's tiniest changes in expression and the flush building on his cheeks from the alcohol.
'So, this ghost of yours-'
'Luck.'
Your ears perked at your name being spoken by Vash and you slightly lifted your head to pay better attention.
'Yeah, yeah, this Luck; ever considered using them to find out whoever those assholes that have been gunning after you are and why? I did find some clues pointing to a base in Auctobre city, we could send the ghost as recon and-'
'Wolfwood! I'm not risking Luck getting hurt!' Vash's usual smile had dropped, a scowl taking it place.
'I know, you and your morals Needle-Noggin, but this is a golden opportunity and how's a ghost going to get hurt anyway?' argues the preacher taking another long drag of his cigarette.
'No, she's not going to-'
'I am,' you interrupted Vash as you straightened yourself against the back of the chair. This was indeed an amazing opportunity to help Vash and to prove to him you could be useful. You just had to convince him to let you now.
'Luck I'm not going to let you,' resumed the blond man in a serious tone. 'You got shot and hurt last time because of me and-'
'No Vash. I got shot and hurt because of myself. I caused the whole thing in the first place, not you, and I decided to take the hit.' You explained calmly but in a firm voice, not breaking eye-contact.
'Ghost-lady's arguing, uh?' cut-in the priest, taking a swig of his glass. 'What's she saying?'
Your blond roommate refused to let up your gaze, still intensely looking at you with a pensive and pained expression on his face.
'Hahh, let me guess, she's agreeing with me? That's a smart ghost, if I've ever met one,' butted in with a laugh the man once more.
Vash's eyebrows knitted closer for a moment before he let out an exhausted sigh and turned away from you. 'Alright, we'll talk about this more tomorrow. It's getting late for tonight,' he finally conceited in a defeated tone, while slouching over the back of his chair with his eyes closed.
'Getting kicked out already?' groaned the black-haired man in a light joking tone as he straightening himself with a small stretch.
The blond outlaw followed suit and got up, pushing his chair back under the table. 'C'mon Wolfwood, you're coming by again in a couple of hours, no need for the dramatics,' he huffed with a chuckle as he headed towards the entry door.
'Doesn't change the fact you're kicking me out, Spikey,' bantered back said Wolfwood with a smirk as he stood up and grabbed his large cross against the wall.
As the priest closely followed behind, you stood up yourself. You ran a tired hand through your hair, not looking forward for the conversation that you could tell was awaiting you after the preacher left. You dragged your feet after the two men, your mind busy coming up with arguments to convince Vash to let you participate in whatever plan was being hatched.
'Ah! But I'm not leaving without this bad boy though!' With a light slurred laugh the priest quickly flipped around and, as he took a large step to reach for the liquor bottle on the table, halfway phased through you as you stood right behind him.
Before you could react, he had already fully phased through and you felt slightly pushed backward as your breathing got caught in your throat. Then it hit you, a fraction of a second later, an intense nausea and dizziness that sent you to your knees coughing and gasping for air.
'Hell, what was that?'
'Luck? Luck!'
You fainting heard the men talking and some shuffling through the ringing in your ears. It didn't take long for Vash's worried face to appear in your field of view and to feel the heat propagate from where he was resting his hand on your back.
'I'm ok, it's ok,' you tried to speak in a confident voice, but were betrayed by the shakiness of your breathing and a coughing fit. 'I just need a minute, it's no biggie, ok?'
The blond outlaw didn't believe you, concern clear as day on his face and behind his blue eyes. You gave him a small smile, taking in deep breaths to fight back the still poignant urge to empty your stomach then and there.
'Holy..' you heard the priest whisper.
You had even forgotten he was still there for a second during the ordeal. As the overwhelming sickening sensations barely seemed to recede a little, you heard him walk around Vash and you until you could see his black shoes a few feet in front of you.
'Well, Needle-Noggin, I didn't think anything could surprise me anymore but here you go doing it again.'
You saw Vash look up towards the man, but you didn't feel comfortable doing so yet as the floor was still spinning around the corner of your vision.
'What do you mean Wolfwood?' asked the blond outlaw in a soft voice as not to disturb you. He had started gently rubbing your back in a soothing motion, which you didn't realized you enjoyed so much until he studently stopped when he heard the black-haired man next words.
'I can see her.'
Your head shot up. The priest slowly crouched in front of you, and to your stupefaction he was staring directly at you.
'Faintly, but I can see her. Holy...that's the weirdest thing,' further explained Wolfwood, pointing at you still with a baffled expression.
After having seen him so guarded and confident, seeing this grown man staring at you with a half-astonished, half-nervous look made you scoff ever so slightly. What was it with grown men and their fear of ghosts?
'What's wrong, preacher? You look like you just saw a ghost,' you threw at him in a raspy voice but in jokingly fashion, a smile growing at the corner of your lips.
You heard Vash hold back a chuckle, which only made your smile wider, even if it triggered your nausea.
'I can see you saying something, but I can't hear anything,' said Wolfwood with a slight frown with a hand rubbing his chin as it seemed he was trying to figure out what you had said. 'What?' He finally asked as he noticed Vash barely holding himself together.
The blond man turned to you, as if asking for permission to repeat your words. After you gave him a slight nod, you watched as Vash struggled to repeat your words as he was overtaken with laughter at Wolfwood's dumbfounded and almost embarrassed expression. Your nausea seemed to recede even further as a light fluttering made its way through your chest as you heard Vash's warm laughter and genuine smile. He truly was most handsome when he had that honest happiness shining through. However, your contemplation was cut short as you caught the priest stand back up.
'Seems you're a joker Ghosty, maybe I should walk through you again and see if that makes you crack more jokes, what do you say?' he said with a devious smile while glaring at you.
'Wow, so stuck-up, aren't you?' you clapped back with a huff.
'Sucks for you, Ghosty, I can't understand shit you say' he added with a satisfied shoulder shrug, pushing his cross in a better position on his back.
You frowned; what a jerk. But you liked a challenge and that was exactly what he was giving you. Pulling your tongue out in a grimace, you proudly flipped him off.
The priest seemed taken aback for a second before he let out a loud laugh. Calming down, he reached for his cigarettes in his inner vest pocket.
'Haah, that's pretty universal; I got the message,' he finished saying in a mumble as he lit a cigarette and put the pack away, all the while keeping a smirk.
Vash stood up, giving you one last smile and glance to assure himself you were fine. 'Alright, stop the bickering you two. You gotta go now, she's gonna need time to recover...thanks to someone.'
'Oh, and she's gone again! Damn freaky stuff, you know Needle-Noggin?'
The latter didn't answer, he simply wrapped his arm around the priest shoulders, guiding him to the door.
'I'm going, I'm going- don't push! But she doesn't need you to fight for her; girly got spunk, hah!'