The Naked Truth

By Rubious

 

Rating: PG-13

Warning: Angst, violence, nausea, nudity, OOC

Pairing: (Wolfwood + Milly)

 

Sydney Rhudy drew a scene of the nude Wolfwood and the Cross-Punisher. It can be seen at www.geocities.com/odangodonut/nekkid_wolfie.jpg.

 

Previously: Wolfwood confronted a gang of thugs and is feeling the effects the next day.

 

Chapter 2: Naked Came the Preacher

 

            Milly Thompson knocked on the door to the room. Hearing no answer, she opened it cautiously, calling out, “Mr. Priest, are you here?” Vash had asked her to check on Wolfwood since he hadn’t joined them for breakfast.

Wolfwood was in the shower, shampooing his hair to erase any evidence of the scuffle from the night before. He thought he heard someone in the other room calling for him. Shutting off the water, he listened again for the voice and realized it was Milly, his co-plotter in the scheme to hook up Vash with Meryl the previous evening.

            Reaching for a towel and finding none on the rack, Wolfwood shouted, “I’ll be out in a minute.” Cursing the housekeeping staff for not supplying any towels, Wolfwood quickly looked for alternatives to conceal his nudity. He spied the Cross-Punisher leaning against the wall just outside the bathroom door. Seeing that Milly had averted her eyes, he edged over to the Cross-Punisher and held it in front of him like a surrogate fig leaf.

            Milly smiled radiantly at the sight of the black-haired man. “There you are, Mr. Priest,” she chirped.

            His face red with embarrassment and small puddles forming on the floor from the water dripping off his body, Wolfwood wished Milly would leave, but her presence was causing a stirring in his loins. During their travels, he enjoyed a genuine rapport with the brunette insurance investigator that didn’t go beyond flirting. But this wasn’t the time or the place to display any physical attraction towards her. “What are you doing here? I was taking a shower.” Irritation showed in his voice and in his expression.

            Milly glanced down at her feet as she replied. “I didn’t mean to intrude. Mr. Vash was worried about you when you didn’t join us for breakfast. He thought you might not be feeling well after last night.” She glanced up, an apologetic expression on her face.

            Anger flashed briefly across Wolfwood’s face. //As if Vash the Stampede never had a hangover.// Looking into her beseeching blue eyes dissolved any ire he felt towards Milly, his tone softened. “Do you mind if I get dressed?”

            Milly blushed, but made no hint of exiting the room. “Mr. Priest, you’ve got nothing I haven’t seen before. Growing up in a large family, I saw my brothers naked when they were bathing or when they went skinny-dipping. It happens when your family has ten children and only one bathroom.”

            “Skinny-dipping?”  The image of Milly cavorting nude in the water aroused him further, but suddenly Wolfwood grabbed his stomach and collapsed on the floor, the Cross-Punisher falling beside him. He was racked with spasms of pain and an attack of nausea.

            The temptation of seeing the handsome man naked before her passed momentarily when her instinct to help her friend prevailed. Milly gingerly assisted Wolfwood up and led him to the toilet where he vomited his stomach’s contents into the porcelain fixture. The tall brunette stepped back and found a washcloth and several towels on the dresser that the housekeeping staff neglected to place in the bathroom. Returning to the bathroom, she saw the container of Meryl’s leftover chicken dinner lying on the floor next to the bed.

            She offered Wolfwood a towel, which he gratefully accepted and wrapped around his waist. Milly wet the washcloth and gently wiped Wolfwood’s face. His complexion very pale, the ill man struggled to his feet and almost fell backwards into the bathtub. Milly caught one of his flailing arms and steadied the preacher on his feet. “Are you okay?” she asked.

            Wolfwood stood shakily, his hands leaning on the sink for support. Dark circles ringed his bloodshot eyes. Stubble added to his haggard appearance.

            “Did you eat the chicken from last night?” [1.] The question voice sounded much too loud to him. Wolfwood groaned affirmatively. “You shouldn’t have eaten that chicken. Don’t you know that leftovers should be refrigerated? You’ll get food poisoning.”

            Wolfwood moaned in discomfort. He didn’t need to be reminded of his current condition. He shifted his position slightly, causing the towel to move a tad lower, baring a bruise inflicted in his scrape with the Angry Llamas.

            Seeing the nasty bruise and the discolored skin on his torso,  “What happened?”

Milly inquired, displaying a deep concern for her friend. 

            “A fight” the grimacing Wolfwood replied.

            Milly put the ailing preacher to bed. While doing so, she managed to sneak in a caress of his cheek. She cast a loving glance at the handsome man. The brunette stood above the sleeping Wolfwood. //Should I kiss him? It doesn’t seem right to take advantage of him in his injured condition.//

            Milly wrestled with her ethics and her instinctive concern won. She shut the door quietly, hung a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the doorknob, and went to tell Vash and Meryl about Wolfwood’s injury. Before departing, the blue-eyed woman leaned against the door and sighed in relief.

 

NOTE: [1.] Meryl had grilled chicken for dinner in “Come Dancing”.

 

Author’s Notes

[1.] Check out Sydney’s art at her home page, The Kawaii Lounge, at www.sydart.net.

She’s a very talented artist.