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The dead of night brings a certain chill to the desert, the sand no longer prickling the skin and feet of lonely wanderers and lost souls, instead washing over the dunes with a blue-ish hue, cooling each grain down, like nature's own air conditioning. Wind gently sweeps over the land, causing flecks of sand to fly like stars, mingling with the deep glow of the shining sky above, the pale light of the moon casting lengthy shadows, almost too long to fully see where they end.
Alone sits Meryl Stryfe. Not completely alone, really, as her group all lay beside her, of course all the guys would leave her with look out duty for the night… typical… but still, the silence hangs caught in the air while the crackle of their makeshift fire and the guys' occasional grumbles in their sleep keeps the atmosphere feeling somewhat alive.
She sighs to herself and dusts off her lap, she starts to ache after being sat for so long, and without anything like coffee to keep her going out in the barren landscape they pitch tonight's beds in, she could tell she'd soon succumb to the comfort of sleep soon enough. She wants to do something about it. So, making sure she doesn't wake up the sleeping Humanoid Typhoon atop her car, she gently opens the driver's side door to the vehicle to rummage around in the glove box by the passenger seat, struggling to see and resorting to blindly feeling around in the dark until she locates her belongings.
She reaches back and sighs in relief, bumping her head on the sun visor on her way up, groaning as she rubs the back of her head.
"Damn it, Roberto, couldn't you have moved that… It's your seat…" she hisses under her breath but maintaining her cool, not wanting to wake anyone up. If anything, she's lucky he hadn't previously rooted through the compartment out of boredom while they traverse the desert for what feels like days on end.
Meryl crawls her way out of her car to sit herself back down by the fire, the glow of the flames lighting up her eyes in the dark while she looks down to her hands. Bundled up in her arms are many separated polaroid pictures she had taken on her travels, many taken in some of the others' blissful unawareness. She smiles as she looks through each picture with a soft fondness only others had seen once or twice, the blush of her cheeks and smile in her eyes making her glow more than the fire in front of her ever could.
Memories flood back to her as she looks at each still frame, a moment eternalised in film that she takes immense pride in creating. She dismays slightly as she has to stifle the laughter that rises in her throat as she looks through each print, remembering each moment like a ray of pure sunshine in her memory. Life in the desert, let alone on No Man's Land in general, is tough and rather gritty at times, so these rare moments of genuine pleasure are hard to come by, and Meryl knows. Forever capturing those moments will at least give them all something to look back on positively when all is done and the dust has settled, even if those moments are outrageous or silly at best.
Each picture conjures a clear vision in Meryl's mind, taking her back to those captured times, where time never felt real and all they had was eachother.
"Undertaker, do be careful with that, we aren't trying to wake him up, for goodness sake!" Meryl stands stubborn as she watches Wolfwood approach a sleeping Vash with a resting man's worst enemy… a permanent marker. That stupid shit-eating grin that Wolfwood proudly wears as he takes near silent steps towards Vash, oh, Meryl can't stand it! She can no longer idly stand by, sure, the marker was her idea after all but Wolfwood getting a hold of it was never the plan. She makes a mad dash for the priest, knocking him down into the sand as she runs directly into his back, the marker flying out of his hands and into the ground below, the tip of the pen facing skywards.
"Oh, you're in for it now, little lady, get off of me!" Wolfwood scrambles across the sand like a lost insect, searching for the marker, prepared to make his best friend's face a work of art, shaking Meryl off in the meantime. He lurches for the pen and grabs it, dusting himself off and returning to his artistic plan of destruction. Meanwhile Roberto is sat aside, watching the whole thing play out, giving zero shits about whatever happens. Kids these days…
Wolfwood slowly leans in towards Vash's face, the marker pen's alcoholic scent miraculously not waking the man up, and begins to create his masterpiece. Meryl stands by, defeated but containing laughter as the priest gets to work on his artistic magnum opus. He wipes a layer of sweat from his forehead and stands up, hands to his hips, marvelling in his work.
"So, whaddya think of this, eh? Quite the piece!"
Meryl can hardly contain her laughter behind her stoic attitude, eventually caving and snatching the pen from Wolfwood's hands, reaching over to Vash's face herself.
"Got yourself some confidence there, insurance girl! Kudos" Wolfwood roars this deep laugh that causes Vash to mumble something inaudible while he fell back into his sleep, Meryl shoots Wolfwood a glare that only read 'shut it!!!' before snickering herself and going back to her work at hand.
The sun broke over the sands horizon, the waves of the air dancing in taunt as everyone begins to wake up. Needless to say, Meryl and Wolfwood got a lot less sleep than Vash did but he'd never know. The blonde yawns with an obnoxious stretch and rubs his eyes, seeing a smudge of black across the side of his finger, but his cluelessness leads him to think it is just dirt. It isn't until everyone is awake and Vash is desperately searching for the answer to why Meryl and Wolfwood can't contain themselves with laughter that Vash assumes it is his hair and goes to fix it in the car mirror, only to be greeted with the fruits of his friends' labour.
"GUUUUUUYS, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MEEEEEEE" Vash cartoonishly sobs, pointing out each drawing, every last pen line. He had the works done! Glasses, one of those silly curly mustaches, smiley faces, even some things only Wolfwood in his stupidity would draw, all of it! Watching the edges of the drawings only slightly smudge causes his stomach to drop.
"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GO OUT LOOKING LIKE THIIIIIIIS" He wails and slumps down onto the hot sand, only to jump back up because sitting on hot sand is really not the best thing to do.
"Look at ya, Blondie, barely recognisable! Maybe think of these as a disguise!" Wolfwood stifles his laughter as he approaches a sulking Vash, lip pouted and all.
"I look like a fooooooool"
"Yeah but you're our fool, Tongari, either way, we need to haul ass and get outta here! Besides, surely there's water in the next town, you can wash it off!" Wolfwood's kick-up-the-ass tone isn't what Vash wants to hear but perhaps what he needs, but it gets him rolling.
Vash watches himself in the mirror inside the car, occasionally attempting to rub away his defilement, while Meryl and Wolfwood share short looks between eachother like a secret code. They pull into the next town over and stop over at a bar, the travel and Vash's, to put it politely, whinging had tired everyone out, so drinks were in order. Without even sitting down, Vash rushes to the bathroom to scrub his face free of marker, leaving small grey patches in their wake. He breathes a sigh of relief before turning off the tap and returning back to normal again, scouting out his friends. A glass the size of his head is slams down in front of Vash, his eyes in shock, some of his drink spilling over onto the table, but the waiter didn't care, it could be worse.
"Where did this come fro-"
"We're sorry, Vash…" Meryl looks as Vash in the eyes with a guilty look in her eyes, hoping he'll take the peace offering.
"Who's we, lady? I've got no regrets!" Wolfwood is able to quickly say before Meryl stands on her chair and traps the man in a headlock.
"Like I said, WE are sorry for all of this, Vash, we want to make it up to you, so drink up, you must be parched!" She lets go of Wolfwood as she finishes talking and dusts herself off, seating herself back down and tending to her drink.
"So… it was you two then?" A cold chill runs through Meryl and Wolfwood as Vash looks at them with an expression of malice and revenge, his eyes going dark…
"Ah, no hard feelings! It was funny! I'm surprised you had a pen like that though!" His expression quickly changes as soon as it came about, the ray of sunshine returning, the two of them breathing sighs of relief.
A gentle tug at her heartstrings, Meryl flips the picture to the back of the pile, looking through each photo with a soft smile. She laughs to herself gently as she thinks back on the memory.
"Poor guy, I should still have that pen somewhere…" She mutters to herself as her trip down memory lane continues. Picture after picture, Meryl has been in hysterics, fits of laughter and tears, each one bringing out and evoking a new feeling within her. She flips through over to the next picture and reminisces once more.
"You're kidding me, right? We're not all staying in-"
"All in one room, cuts costs for everyone, listen to your grandpa once in a while, kids" Roberto leans over the counter of an inn reception, but no bribery trick in the world could work on the receptionist. 'Dog eat dog world' as Roberto himself would say. Meryl, Vash and Wolfwood all collectively groan as Roberto caves and hands over the full amount for the room, lugging their bags over to the stairs.
"Better not be only one bed, I'm not jamming in with all three of you" Wolfwood scowls as they make their way to the room, not nearly in the mood for any bullshit of any kind. He'd suffered a significant case of heatstroke because the idiot refuses to take his suit off in the middle of the desert and so he faces the consequences of his actions. It only made his mood worse, dehydrated, tired, dizzy and dealing with a decent amount of sunburn too, he just wants to lay down and do absolutely nothing, praying to God that the sheets and shower are somewhat cool.
"I guess we'll see then!" Vash responds in a far too chipper tone for Wolfwood's liking, but he puts up with it because it's Vash, his friend.
The bags are dropped outside the room's door as the hinges creak as the wood swings open, the click of the key barely audible. What awaits them are two single beds and a couch as well as a mattress, obviously dragged last minute from another room, sat sadly on the floor.
"Separate beds" they all sigh with relief as they pick fights over who gets what bed. Eventually, the bickering settles and bags are placed on the beds, Meryl and Roberto getting the single beds, Vash gets the couch and Wolfwood, surprisingly much to his relief, is on the mattress. Shedding his baggage, Wolfwood abandons the rest to find solace in the cold water of the shower, which the others are okay with, they can wait for him before planning anything.
He turns the dial of the shower, the water freezing against his skin but he enjoys the feeling, relaxing and cooling off for even just a second feels like all of the weight on his shoulders disappears. Five, ten, fifteen minutes pass and the man emerges back into the real world, a towel around his waist and hand towel around his shoulders to catch the water dripping from his hair. Not even in interest but rather in shock, Meryl stares dead straight at Wolfwood's chest, trying not to cry from laughter.
"The hell is so funny, lady? Am I funny to you?" He scowls as he sits back onto his mattress, dust kicking up under the impact.
"Not… quite… just, just look at yourself, Wolfwood, you'll see…" She giggles to herself as the man checks his reflection in the glass of the window.
He stares in silence, not saying a single word, until he walks his way back into the bathroom. A harsh, evident line between his tanned skin and the darkened area from a relentless mix of further tanning and burning spreads across his chest in the obvious outline of where his shirt remains open. Not even a minute later, he returns with the towel wrapped around his chest, the edges tucked under his arms, his brows knitted in embarrassment and agitation and his arms crossed in front of him.
"Not a word about this from any of you, I'm sleeping" He throws himself onto the mattress, making the floor creak with the force of the hit, throwing the towel off of him after covering himself with the duvet and calling it a day. And like that, he's out like a light.
Meryl keeps an eye on Wolfwood as he rests, eyeing up the perfect shot to capture his embarrassing burn line, all the while maintaining conversation with an exhausted Roberto and a hungry Vash. Many many talks, or more like ramblings, from Vash, about donuts and planned ideas for later, Meryl finds her perfect shot. Like a wild photographer capturing the image of an animal, she moves slowly, smoothly, surely to get the right angle. The flash clicks and the picture prints, she runs away like fleeing a crime scene while Wolfwood comes to his senses.
"I sure do hope that weren't a camera flash, miss Meryl" Wolfwood speaks with a rumbling sound to his voice, his throat dried out from sleep. Meryl jumps slightly in response, hiding the camera and print behind her back.
"Nooooo, no, that was uh… glare from the sun! Yeah, glare from the sun through the window!" Nervous laughter builds in her throat as the printed picture slides into her back pocket.
"Yeah, whatever, just let me rest, a man needs his beauty sleep" He rolls over with a huff and sleeps once again, this time laying on his front.
They all breathe out with relief, no more tension needed. The day continues with Wolfwood's intermittent naps and everybody milling about the room, Roberto occasionally leaving to get cigarettes from the reception beneath them or from further into the town. As uneventful as the day was, they know not to take these kinds of days for granted considering everything that's happened to them and what may potentially happen in the future…
Eventually, the fire starts to dwindle, ashes flaking away from the kindling, leaving Meryl alone with the stars again. She smiles as she realises she's gone through every photo she has, reminiscing truly is a sweet way to spend time, albeit counterproductive if she's supposed to be on look out. But counterproductive or not, Meryl feels the warmth in her face and the ache in her cheeks from smiling, hugging the pictures close to her chest before returning them gently to their hiding place in the glovebox. She even made sure to move Roberto's stupid sun visor so she wouldn't hit her head again.
Meryl eventually lays down and stares at the stars, the fire dying but bright enough to be safe, the deep inky blue of the sky slowly fading into a light orange, the sun rising over the distant horizon. At least she can get a few hours in before driving again. She relaxes her body and lets herself rest after a long night of reflection. Meryl Stryfe is happy.
'So that's what she does, how sweet!' Vash leans back onto the roof of the car, making sure Meryl fell asleep first. He lays back and a wide smile and heavy eyes, such sweet memories, and seeing his friend happy makes Vash happy too. He lays and watches the rise of the sun and the fading of the stars, the sand starting to glow with a bright amber as the sun veers its head over the dunes. He continues to smile as he lets himself sleep again, to the dawn of a new day.
-//-
It has been two years since the mass destruction of the city of JuLai. The crater that is left from the blast remains a constant reminder to humanity just how dangerous Plants are, especially Independents. Vash the Stampede, now wanted for $$60,000,000,000, is nowhere to be seen. Roberto DeNiro never had a complete burial due to the blast obliterating the whole city, taking his body with it. Nicholas D. Wolfwood parted ways with everybody after leaving Vash to deal with his brother. And Meryl Stryfe works alone. She still visits ground zero of JuLai to commemorate the loss of those who were living there, and especially for Roberto, pinning up a picture of her own of everybody to the fence circling the crater, leaving his hipflask and a new pack of cigarettes every so often.
She sometimes wonders about where everybody is, where Vash disappeared to after flying into space, where Wolfwood ran off to… Meryl drives herself through the desert, the radio of her car, as troubling as the news can be sometimes, bringing her a sense of comfort as the silence eats at her inside. Better to listen to something than your own thoughts, right? But every so often, on those nights where the desert is as cold as she remembers, and the stars shine with the same brightness, she still instinctively reaches for glovebox, clutching onto her pictures, her memories, once more...