Reasons for Meryl's Bad Moods
Spoilers: Trigun vol 1
If he had to admit it, he was amused by the games she played. If they were indeed games - the way she would scold, or be blunt to people. He enjoyed them, as long as it was not him who was at the receiving end. But of late, he'd been at the receiving end of plenty.
A few incidents stood out starkly. He blushed slightly to recall Milly's appalled expression as Meryl took him to task like a five year old, in front of a whole crowd of people. She'd grabbed his ear and dragged him out of the saloon and scolded him in the street for everyone to hear. He had just looked at girl; he had not even grinned at her, or attempted any flirting. Milly had cringingly excused Meryl's behaviour as, "she's on her period, Mister Vash, sorry she's worse than usual." He had not known where to look after that. He had done his best to avoid Meryl. He had also remembered the date, so he could anticipate future occurrences and make sure to make himself scarce at that time of the month. Oh man, who would have thought, strategic woman avoidance. He had heard enough married men complaining about lying low at such times, but had never thought he would be stuck in such a situation.
Thinking about that, what was the date... oh yeah. That would be it, what happened to girls that they got all emotionally crazy? He sighed, very thankful that he was not a woman. How did Meryl deal with it every month when she didn't have him to bitch at? He smiled crookedly; he would love to see the reports she sent back to Bernadelli at such times, as that seemed to be her other outlet.
Then there was the time a few weeks after he'd just come to know them. They had just come off the sand steamer and had visited Little Arcadia. She'd thumped him in the back and taken him to task for trying to protect the old folks. It had been his first real encounter with her totally irrational side, and also with her utter lack of apology. He would have slunk off at the dead of night, ditching them so they couldn't find him again if he hadn't owed them for helping out on the sand steamer. It was during that time that he had realised she was complicated and brave. He had been planning to ditch them soon after helping her, but, somehow had not been able to. He had not made it obvious, but he had slowed his pace and allowed them to fall in behind him. She intrigued him. She'd fought for others, and there was something about her that he could not abandon just yet. Um. Not that he liked her, she was interesting, that was all. Her partner was funny. He really liked Milly's inadvertent humour.
There was also the incident with the hotel. Meryl had miscalculated how much money they had had, and they'd had to find a new place while still owing the hotel they had stayed at money. The hotel owner had taken to sending heavies around to remind them. While he saw most of them off with part payment, a few had encountered her and she'd thrown a fit after the fifth one had slipped through his net. She'd grabbed the poor man and had dragged him back to the hotel and had explained in a voice that entertained the entire dinner service why she could not pay then and there, and that she would be paying by the end of the week, and how impossible the hotel owner was being. That was rudeness, he did not like it, but she did have a point. The hotel owner was not being particularly polite either. It had been after that discussion that they had discovered that the hotel had only seen half money they had been paying the heavies. He'd fully agreed to her furiously quiet almost murderous complaint she had delivered with both him and Milly in attendance as her bodyguards. The hotel owner had taken the point. He'd been quite glad to leave that town.
He recalled the time when she had been so irritated at him, that she'd tried to call his bluff before a saloon of bounty hunters. But he knew that game better than her, and had only caused guffaws of laughter when he had announced himself as the legendary outlaw. Hah, had she been peeved. It had felt good to get the better of her little power games. He liked to keep her just on the edge, thinking she knew him, as she was so secure in her pride she forgot to actually watch him. That was convenient when it came to slipping off to do things he didn't want her knowing anything about. He didn't care for his myriad philanthropic actions and idle flirting to all end up in a Bernadelli report. A man had to have some secrets.
He watched now as she furiously stormed across the room to him, dodging people in the crowded saloon. He got to his feet so that she wouldn't corner him. Once she had noticed him he slowly made his way out towards the back door. He paid his tab on the way out and skipped down the steps with Meryl hot on his heels. He made it across the tomas yard before she caught him.
"Vash!" She scolded.
"W-what?" He said quietly, sometimes that worked to keep her quiet.
"You-"
"I sent a posse of bounty hunters, who were after me by the way, out into the desert chasing a runaway tomas." He interrupted before she could announce his deception to the world. Some things were best kept to a whisper.
"And who will pay for that tomas?"
"Ah..." He hadn't thought that far.
"You idiot!" She hissed at him. "You owe me two thousand double dollars!"
Oh, was that it?
He sauntered off.
"Vash!" She hissed after him.
"What? You want your money, c'mon."
She gaped at him shocked.
"You have two thousand-mmmpph." He leaped over and clamped a hand over her face. He carefully released her when she grabbed his arm and tried to pull it away.
"If you want to keep that amount of money, best not to advertise it." He murmured in her ear.
She jerked away and pushed him back.
"Get going." She ordered.
He reached his room and dug in his bag. He found one of the pouches where he stored cash when he had it and pulled out a wad of notes. He counted off twenty hundred double dollar bills. She took the money wordlessly.
"Where did you get that?" She asked suspiciously.
"I won it." He folded the rest away and stashed it in his bag once more.
"Where?"
He smiled and shrugged. He was not explaining everything.
He had helped a couple who had been mugged, and on taking the mugger to the sheriff's office had received ten thousand in reward. That had been yesterday and already half he had distributed to various places, the rest would go towards a few necessities and rent.
"Where?" She demanded again, this time stomping over to him. "I'm not taking dodgy cash."
That hurt, that he'd have dirty money on his hands.
"In the pursuit of Love and Peace."
And if she did not understand that, then why was she following him?
