Pretty much universal for an AVN, granted--the MC is always, in the words of Frankie Mermaid from The Velocipastor, "swimming in bitches." To me, Val in particular (Zenda too as far as I've seen, but I haven't gotten past that first date with her since I backed up and decided I'd rather hang with H&A) seems to turn this up to 11.
I'm writing from the perspective of early Ch. 4, just after going shooting with Val, so I haven't seen anything that happens afterward that may further explain that. But with that said, it doesn't seem that simple.
Specifically, at the bar, Val at least suspects that MC isn't telling the truth. I caught at least one error at the time (I-40 doesn't go through Denver, or indeed through Colorado at all), but wasn't sure whether that was an error by the writer, or intended by Val to be a test of MC. We now know that it was a test, because Val says as much when she tells MC that she knows who he is. So here's what I know so far:
- Val immediately wants to take MC to bed, though she knows he isn't who/what he claims to be.
- And she had some, as yet unknown, reason to test him there in the first place.
- By their (second? third?) encounter, if not before, she knows who he is and why he's there.
- At that time, Val promises to protect MC, and makes claims of being well-prepared to do so, including having a safe room. Guns aren't that unusual in the US (though somewhat more so in New York), but safe rooms--of the sort that could reasonably be expected to protect you against a well-equipped and -motivated adversary, as we're dealing with here--are.
- Val has yet to explain how she knows what she knows, or why she has what she has.
- And she's very interested that MC talk with her.
The last bullet, of course, is entirely consistent with her being sincere, but it's equally consistent with her being up to no good.
Anyway--I'm not asking for spoilers, nor am I saying I just can't trust her, but I think those are some reasons to be a bit suspicious of her.
Yeah, pretty much that.
Fair. She's certainly no dummy, and presumably knows that Mora's moved in with MC and H&A (of course, Mora lived, and even slept, with Tyler, and the fool never touched her). H&A, well, could have been just roommates. But you're right that neither of them--especially Heidi--knows the meaning of "subtle."
