DISCLAIMER: Trigun and its characters belong to Yasuhiro Nightow.

The Dance

"A dance?" Meryl repeated.

"Yeah!" her partner Milly said enthusiastically. "The money from the quick-draw contest and Neal's dad coming back have kept the restaurant from going under, and the town is holding a dance to celebrate. Doesn't that sound great?"

Meryl leaned back against the wall of her room – her tall partner had no idea how much space she could take up when she got excited. "Well, yes, that sounds nice, but if they have the money for a dance, it would have been nicer if they'd given the money to Neal's mom in the first place."

Milly's joy didn't dampen a bit at Meryl's practicality. "It sounds like it'll be loads of fun. Everybody's going! Mr. Vash even asked if he could take me, but Mr. Wolfwood had already asked, so I had to turn him down."

Meryl's mouth quirked. "Vash asked you?"

"Yeah." Her partner grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of her head. "He said he didn't know anyone else who would be fun to go with, and seemed really disappointed to have to go by himself. I felt kind of bad for him."

Didn't know anyone else who would be fun to go with?

Why, that little –

"Maybe he could go with you!"

Meryl slapped on a bland expression. "No, I don't think I'll be going. I have paperwork to catch up on, and a few chores to take care of. I'm sure everyone else will do more than enough partying to make up for me not being there." Especially Vash, that overindulgent, flirtatious louse.

Vash the Stampede in person was nothing like his reputation. He ate donuts like they were the only food, drank too much, and flirted with anything in a skirt.

Except Meryl. But that was fine, because she had absolutely no desire to be flirted with by that man. He annoyed her to no end.

"But Meryl –"

"I'll be fine, Milly. I can have plenty of fun without making a public spectacle of myself. You enjoy the dance for me, ok?"

Milly was still uncertain; she had really hoped Meryl would go to the dance so they could all have fun. "But Meryl –"

"That's the end of it, Milly," Meryl declared. Defeated, her friend left the room to have some tea downstairs.

Meryl felt bad for having to shut Milly down like that. She didn't like having to draw a hard line. But in a group that was made up of her, Milly, Vash the Stampede, and now somehow a priest that didn't act like a priest, someone had to be the serious one.

She sighed as she got ready to clean and oil her derringers for the night. It wasn't like she didn't want to have fun. But she'd feel awkward being at a dance by herself. Nothing at a dance hurt worse than not having a dance partner.

There was a knock at the door. She picked up a loaded derringer and aimed at the approximate torso level on the door. "Who is it?"

"It's Vash. May I come in?"

Oh, jeez. It was only the twit. She set the derringer back down. "No!"

"Please may I come in? I need to talk with you about something!"

Good grief, did that man ever take a hint? Still…it was odd that he was being polite. Most of the time, he treated her either like she wasn't there or casually, making offhanded comments that were borderline insults. On the other hand, when they were alone he actually was very decent.

"Fine," she called. "Come in!"

The door opened and Vash the Stampede stepped in. Many people had seen the fearsome side of him, as she had. Few ever saw the jerk that she knew him to be.

"Is it ok if I close the door?" he asked. There was a hint of nervousness to his voice.

Meryl thought about it. He'd never been anything but rude or indifferent to her before – ok, sometimes he had been nice, but never really friendly the way he was with most people. She certainly had no fear he'd try any of his moves on her. And she was more than willing to call him on his stupid crap.

"Yeah, go ahead." She waved in annoyance, and he shut the door, crossing over to sit down on the floor in front of her, making no attempt to get too close.

"I wanted to ask you…well, you know…you've heard there's going to be a dance, right?"

She nodded warily.

"I was wondering…" He cleared his throat. "Would you like to…maybe go with me? To the dance?"

"Ah, I see what this is about," she said. A confused look came on his face. "Milly turned you down, so now you're resorting to the second-stringer."

"What? No!" Vash waved his hands in front of him like her accusation was a curse he was warding off. "It's not like that –"

She slapped him, leaving an angry red handprint. "Well, you can forget it, Vash! I wasn't going anyway, but even if I were, Meryl Stryfe is nobody's backup choice!" She raised her hand again

"Hey!" Vash grabbed her hand, taking it in both of his and gently bringing it down in front of him. "There's a big misunderstanding here. I didn't ask Milly to go with me, I made some small talk and asked if she was going. Then Wolfwood butted in, thumped his chest, and said, 'Yeah, with me!' like some big thomas's ass. Before he jumped in, I had been going to ask if you were going."

A faint pink began to color Meryl's cheeks. "Why would you care if I was going?"

"Because I don't really know anyone else in town that well –" she started to purse her lips for a harsh retort "– and because…well, I've never been to an actual dance before, and…Milly said you could dance, and I don't want my first dance to be by myself, and…I think you'd be nice to dance with."

Everything after not knowing anyone in town well was mumbled, but Meryl could make it out. The pink began to be a real blush.

"You've never been to a real dance?"

He shook his head. "No. Back on – back home, there were some get-togethers, but they didn't feel like anything organized. Or anything I was wanted at." He frowned and looked away. She chose to leave her questions about his past alone…for now.

"Have you ever danced before?" she asked.

"Well, Re – my…mother, she taught me and Kni – my brother some dances. It's been a long time, but I still can waltz. Something called swing, which was really fun. Jive, and jig. Oh, and tango, I can do the tango."

A brief image of dancing the tango with Vash flitted through Meryl's head, which she then shook to clear it. The height difference would make it look ridiculous.

"So…will you be my first ever dance date?"

She sighed with feigned aggravation. "I'm a professional. I don't date on company time – and every second with you is company time. So this wouldn't be a date. But…yes, you may take me to the dance."

Vash brought his fist down in triumph. "Yes! My first dance! Thank you!" He jumped up in excitement, then leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before running out and down the hall, yelling in joy.

"Just don't step on my feet, you broom-headed buffoon!" she called after him.

She touched the spot where he'd kissed her. It was a simple peck on the cheek. Guys had done that before. So why did this one leave her warm all over?

Meryl went back to cleaning and oiling her derringers, humming softly. Maybe it wouldn't hurt anything to think of this as a date, after all.

The image of her dancing the tango with Vash came back. It didn't seem so ridiculous this time.