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luckymeryl · 2 years ago

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Outlaw Insider Chapter 8

Damn that Man

Author's Notes: Sorry for previous misspellings. It's Amorus Lynch, not Amorous. He is not lovely. If you would like to show your appreciation and/or help me move out of my mom's house feel free to send me a ko-fi https://ko-fi(dot)com/kokohamstar

Summary: Meryl and Milly are reporters interviewing the biggest baddies on No Man's Land. Now Vash is just trying to keep them safe. Who is chasing who now?

For the whole story, read on AO3 here

Now. Onto the story:

If they were traveling for pleasure, the three of them could say their vacation was relatively enjoyable. They were able to see friends that they hadn’t seen in years. People like Brandon Marlon, and Miss Melanie from the orphanage. It was unfortunate to have to give her the news on Wolfwood’s passing, but she seemed like it was almost expected, albeit heartbreaking.

They met up with Kaite, who was now, legally, working on sandsteamers. He’d grown so much. He was a young man now, and had worked up the ranks to being one of the head engineers on the steamers. He was even able to grant them passage on the one he managed for free.

Luida was a sight for sore eyes. Milly had scooped her up into a hug the moment they saw her, Vash and Meryl laughing gently at the scene. It was a nice break from traveling for a few days staying with her, but when their feet had rested and the itch to keep moving settled under Meryl’s skin, she was practically dragging her two partners back out into the desert.

The most interesting visit that they’d made, was to a girl Meryl hadn’t met before. Lina and her grandmother pulled Vash into a strong embrace. The younger cried upon seeing him, touching his hair gently.

“Wow Lina. You’re growing up so fast.” Vash laughed, patting the girl on the head. “I almost didn’t recognize you.”

She gave him a punch on the arm. “Yeah yeah. Where have you been? You should have visited a long time ago!” There was blush proudly spread across her cheeks.

Meryl smiled at the girl. So that was the one who cared for Vash after the fifth moon incident, huh? This is where he had settled down and lived…normally for a bit. There was a bit of sadness as she thought about this. Could he go back to living a normal life? Was having him chase her around ruining what could be considered retirement?

Dinner was cleaned up, Milly ducked off to bed, followed by Lina and her grandmother. Meryl considered following Milly, but found her mind still buzzing with the idea of what Vash could be doing, instead of wandering from town to town as he always had. Instead of sleeping, in that case, she decided on a walk. It was chilly. Without the warmth of the suns, the dry cold wind caused chill bumps on her arms before she ducked into the town saloon.

It was relatively quiet, as far as bars are considered. There was a gramophone playing in the corner, a low rumble of chit chat among the men (and a few women) that occupied the room, and the clink of glasses for those being served.

It’d been a while since she’d had a drink, she thought. So headstrong into her goal of finding her next big scoop, she’d barely given herself any chance at relaxing. She took a seat at an empty table, ordering one beer from the waitress, and picked at the splintered wood as she waited. She heard the movement of the chair in front of her and readied a glare at the intruder before even looking up.

“Hey Meryl.”

She blinked slowly. “Uhm. Hi, Vash.” The waitress brought her beer and Vash ordered his own. “Why are you… did you follow me?”

“Yep!” There was a brilliant smile on his face. He looked like the dopey-faced puppy she first met and she couldn’t help the warmth in her heart at the memory. “I can’t have you getting into too much trouble without me, after all.”

How the tables had turned. For years she chased him down, trying to keep an eye on him, trying to keep him out of trouble….trying to keep him safe. But now he was here. He chose to be here. He chose to keep her close and out of her own mess. “I can take care of myself.” She mumbled as she brought her mug to her lips. “You’re the one that causes trouble.”

He laughed. “Yeah I guess you’re right about that.” He accepted his own drink from the waitress with a smile and a ‘thank you’ before she left. “But you left alone. You’ve been in your head all day. I was worried about you.”

Meryl couldn’t help the flush on her cheeks. Stop it. She told herself. Stop it stop it stop it. She was willing the blush to go away before he noticed. “I’m fine. Thank you.” Her tone was short.

“Mm.” He nodded. “Man this place sure has changed.” He glanced around the room, stretching at the same time. “This place used to be eat up with bullet holes. They did a lot of fixin’ up since I left.”

“You were here for a while, right?”

“Two years.” He commented. “Lina and Sheryl were very kind to take care of me back then. I owe them a lot.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Lina and Sheryl? Sure. It’s been great seeing them again.”

“No I mean…” Meryl stared into her drink. “I mean do you miss living an easy life here?”

“Hmm…” Vash thought for a long moment. Meryl could feel the muscles in her shoulders tensing up as the clocked ticked just a few seconds. “I mean… kind of? I liked it. But there’s something about a normal life that always makes me wonder when the other shoe will drop, you know?”

For some reason that didn’t set her mind at ease. Her thumb ran across the rim of her glass. “But if you knew it was safe. If you could just…erase your reputation. Would you do it?”

“Mm… nah.” He laughed. “I think I’d just get bored.” He leaned over, tipping his head low to look at her face. “What about you?”

“Huh?” She looked up at him. “What about me?”

“I mean do you think you’d ever be able to settle down and live the normal life?”

“I… maybe at another time I could have done that? But now… no. I don’t think the normal life is for me. I feel like if I’m not moving, I’m stuck.” She took a long drink to finish her beer before ordering another.

“Careful.” He teased. “If I remember right, you’re kind of a lightweight.”

“Lightweight?” She glared up at him. “I’m not a lightweight! I can hold my own just fine.”

Vash motioned his hands to lower her voice. “Hey hey. I thought I was the one who caused a scene.” He laughed nervously. “Besides, if I recall, it didn’t take much for you to get incoherent in the past. Maybe two or three beers?”

Meryl’s eyes bore into him as she brewed silently in her thoughts. “Ma’am! Can we get two whiskeys please!”

“You’re having liquor now?” The look he gave her was that of worry. “You don’t need to prove anything.”

“We’re having liquor.” She corrected. “I’m not proving anything. I just want whiskey. And I know that’s your drink of choice. Okay?”

“Alright, alright. We’re having liquor.” He wouldn’t argue with her. In his experience, it never ended well when you chose to argue with one Meryl Stryfe.

That explained the first drink. Getting lost in conversation could almost explain the second glass of whiskey set before them. But when she ordered a third, he started to worry. Alcohol didn’t sit as well as it used to. Now he was more human than ever and his alcohol tolerance was getting to be about the same. “I think that’s enough, short girl.”

Meryl frowned up at him once again, face flushed and a pout on her lips. “You just don’t think I can take another drink.”

“No no. I know you can. But I think I’m done.”

“See? I’m not the lightweight. You’re the lightweight.”

He couldn’t help the chuckle that left him. “Right. You’re right, I’m a lightweight.” At least more so than he used to be.

She groaned, taking a drink of her beer. “I can’t believe we’ve still got nothing on him.” She ran her hand through hair. “We’ve been at this for weeks and just…just dead end after dead end.”

Vash wasn’t going to complain that they hadn’t run into a serial arsonist slash murderer in their adventures. If he were being honest, meeting up with all of their friends was actually his favorite part of traveling. He could do with just that. But he’d support her, nonetheless. “We’ll get something soon. We’re scouring the planet, after all. So it’s only a matter of time.”

There was a small huff from the woman. “Yeah well… I need a matter of less time.” With that she downed the last of her beer. This time, she didn’t order another drink. Perhaps she’d proven her point well enough. She glanced up at Vash, meeting a warm smile in return that made her heart flip.

No. No no no. She’d gotten over it. She’d gotten over him. She’d moved on. He was… just a friend. Just a partner in all this. She used all of her will power to try and get her pulse to slow down, but his smile faded into a frown and she felt her insides sink.

“Are you alright, Meryl?” He was concerned. Of course he was concerned. Of course he was just… just good. Of course when she needed most to forget that, he’d give her a gentle glance, with brows furrowed just a bit and make her remember just what it was that she fell for years ago.

“M’fine.” She muttered, turning her eyes away from him. Her cheeks only reddened further, which she hoped she could simply blame on the drinks. She wasn’t so far gone that she’d try to acknowledge it, after all.

She heard his soft laugh across from her. “You’re kind of cute when you’re drunk.”

Damn him. She didn’t know if she wanted to spill everything, grab him close and kiss him, or just simply run outside and vomit in the closest dark alley and hope he never found her. “Hush.” She said instead. When did words become so hard?

Vash only chuckled again. They sat in silence for what Meryl considered an awkward amount of time as she stared into her empty glass. When the silence between them broke, it was Vash that spoke up. “This song is nice.”

“Huh?” She lifted her head, listening close to the old gramophone, trying to catch the tune. It was a nice song. A little jazzy. Slow. Maybe something from Earth? She wasn’t sure. There weren’t any words. “Oh… yeah.”

“Do you want to dance?”

“I…what?” She blinked at him, jaw dropped in shock before she shook the expression from her face. “I mean… this isn’t really the dancing place. It’s a bar.”

“C’mon.” He took her hand, pulling her to her feet. “No one here cares. Maybe we can make it a thing? Dancing in the bar.”

She stumbled a bit, the alcohol in her stomach flowing into her head. She fell against him, hand still in his before stepping back carefully. “Sorry uhm…” She took a deep breath. “I’m not really a dancing type.”

She wasn’t sure if Vash didn’t hear her or just didn’t care, because he gently led her to an open spot between the tables and the wall and placed his right hand on her hip, his prosthetic left holding hers. “It’s easy. Just follow me.”

With the way her head floated, she didn’t have much of a choice. He turned her and swayed with her to the music, holding her close. Her vision began to drift from the focus she was trying to keep on his coat, up to his neck, then his lips, until she was finally looking at his eyes. Okay… so she wasn’t over him. She clenched his hand, hoping he couldn’t feel it. Her feet started to freeze beneath her, causing him to have to catch her once…twice.

He stepped back, looking down at her. “Are you okay?” Once again, he was ducking his head down to get a close look. “You’ve had a lot. Do you need to sit down?”

“I uhm… I just…” She stepped back, pushing him away with her hands on his chest. “I think I need to go sleep this off. Get some water. Don’t want to have a hangover tomorrow.” There was an awkward laugh to match the mood she’d placed between them.

“Okay. Let me just get the bill and we’ll leave.” Damn him and that smile. It was supposed to comfort her. She could tell it did. But instead it just made the alcohol burn more and her stomach churned.

“Mmm…mhm. Thanks uhm… I’ll pay you back.” She was not going to puke in front of him. He was not going to see that.

“Meryl?”

“Thanks again, Vash. G’night!” she turned on her heels, feeling the whiskey burning its way back up. She held it back. She held it until she got out the door, round the corner, and into the dark alley between the tailor and the grocer. Just like she’d imagined doing out of sheer embarrassment, she found herself heaving on the ground, propping herself up with a hand against a wall. As she regained some sense of composure, taking deep breaths and, gracefully, wiping her mouth with her hand, she grumbled. “Damn that man…”

How she’d missed him getting back to Lina’s she would never know nor care to find out. She’d made it before he did. He never knew what happened. She just owed him a few double-dollars for the booze and what dignity she had left when they continued their excursion the next morning.

“Feeling better?”

She’d avoided Vash during breakfast, choosing instead to shower and have coffee in her room. Now she was face to face with him as they loaded up the bed of the truck and, even through her hangover, she’d rather look straight into one of the suns than look him in the eye. “M’fine.” She mumbled, giving him a nod as she threw her bag onto the mess of provisions. “How much do I owe you?”

“Don’t worry about it.” His hand came down on her shoulder and he gave her a gentle squeeze. “Just get some water and let me or Milly drive, alright?”

Another silent nod is all she gave him before she went to the cab of the truck, listening to the creak of metal as Vash climbed onto the back. At least she wouldn’t have to sit by him while they traveled. She took the paper from Milly as her partner had approached her with a canteen. “Thanks.” She took a sip of the water—the only true cure for a hangover, she was sure of it—and unfolded the newspaper. “Milly…”

The blonde looked at her, head tilting curiously. “What’s up?”

“They caught him.” She said, looking over the page again. Mass Arsonist Behind Bars. “They caught Amorus Lynch.”

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