DISCLAIMER: Trigun and its characters belong to Yasuhiro Nightow.
Lyrics to "Sweet Memory", by Melody Gardot
Lyrics to "All That I Need is Love", by Melody Gardot
AUTHOR'S NOTE: 2 things. 1. Gee, Nick, why the Melody Gardot? Because she's Melody Gardot, that's why. 2. To date, I have been in love with one and only one woman. She loved to cook, and I loved to watch her cook. She made everything look like magic. So, when I couldn't sleep, I thought about her and this came out. My bad.
Cooking up Romance
Vash was always in a hurry to get home at the end of the work shift. People thought he couldn't wait to eat dinner.
In truth, it wasn't dinner he was hurrying to get to. It was the half hour or so before dinner that was his favorite part of the day.
He clocked out and rushed home, hoping he didn't miss a thing. As he came in the door, he heard the drawers opening in the kitchen. Excellent! She hadn't started yet.
The radio came on, the soft sound drifting from the kitchen to the rest of the house. He went and stood in the threshold to the kitchen, eagerly anticipating the show.
There was Meryl, back to him, chopping vegetables. He could picture the smirk on her face; she knew perfectly well that he liked to watch her at work. He didn't really think of her as his wife. There were lots of wives in the world. There was only one Meryl Stryfe, and she was his. So, despite the fact she was his wife, she was even more so his Meryl.
She sang along with the radio, her petite body swaying with the rhythm as she chopped, sliced, and diced like no kitchen appliance ever could.
"Sweet memory
Talkin' 'bout a sweet memory
It goes round and round in my head
Pretty soon I'll want the real thing instead
But for now I got this swee-ee-ee-eet
Me-mo-ry…"
The artist on the radio was very skilled, but Meryl matched every change, keeping time perfectly. It sounded to Vash like they were doing a duet.
Meryl looked like a ballerina to him as she scooped up her cutting board and swept all the vegetables into a heated wok. She whirled, deftly setting the cutting board aside and picking up the one she used for meat. She was very particular; there was a cutting board for meat, and one for vegetables, and one for everything else. Never did they get mixed up. The meat board had fresh meat already on it, and she set it down in its cutting place.
She pirouetted to the knife rack and picked one out, half-twirled back to the meat, in time with a new song.
"Well they don't know, no
They don't know, well
All that I'm dreaming of
They don't know
You know that they don't know
That all that I need
Is love…"
Vash loved the way her body synced with her voice, the sound of the knife on the cutting board sounding like part of the song itself. She worked quickly and efficiently, cutting away any parts she wouldn't use. These throwaways she swept with the back of the knife into a bowl to be used for making stock later. The good parts she swept into the wok.
Flames jumped and her light sprinkling of oil sizzled as the dish cooked. In specific timing known only to her, she added spices, sniffing experimentally. A dash of this, a pinch of that. The food began to take on a seductive smell to Vash.
Sometimes she let him try his hand at maneuvering the wok. He always made a mess of it. Not as big a mess as when he tried to flip pancakes or make pizza, but food still spilled. Meryl made it look easy – the food seemed to defy gravity as she flipped it, always coming right back into the wok. Vash had no idea how she did it.
He'd never admit it, but secretly he thought Meryl was part magic.
All too soon, the show was over. The food was cooked, the radio went off. Meryl continued to hum softly as she prepared three plates.
She finally acknowledged his presence. "Don't just stand there, set the table!" She pointed like a general. He saluted and got to work as she cleaned and washed up.
When the table was fully set, Vash went over and wrapped his arms around Meryl, kissing her neck. "There's only one thing I love about you more than your cooking," he whispered in her ear.
Meryl smacked his hands playfully. "No dessert until after dinner!" Stood on tiptoes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Besides –"
The front door banged open.
"– don't you remember –"
A little girl's voice proclaimed, "Awesome! I can smell dinner!"
" – this is how we got the first one."
Vash swept up his Meryl and kissed her anyway. She was more than happy to return the favor.
Their daughter burst out, "SPEW! Not in the kitchen, you guys!"