Fuck it was hot.

Heat rose visibly off the bar counter as Gob pulled at the collar of his shirt, in the corner Nova looked about ready to peel off her already scant clothing. The ghoul almost chuckled at how that thought would have once made him practically drool, but now, well, a worthier subject had been occupying his thoughts for quite a while. Not that the kid was sexier than Nova, but she was a much better person, and it had taken Gob all of ten minutes to fall head over heels in love with the girl.

Ten minutes and the vaultie, who had just seen a ghoul for the first time in her life, had shown him more kindness than he ever got from the residents of Megaton. Granted she'd been startled by his appearance, he couldn't blame her for that, but after a few minutes she had relaxed and even smiled at him. No one ever smiled at him except Nova, and even then there was a world of difference between the two looks. He'd given the girl a discount and even told her about Moriarty's computer, Gob wasn't sure if she ever did hack the bastard's info, but he had liked helping her all the same.

"It's too fucking hot Gob, I'm gonna turn in for the night." Nova panted as she took her leave.

Gob just nodded before walking around the bar to lock the bar door, figuring that most of the residents of Megaton had turned in for the night, the heat making it hard to do more than lay naked on their beds. If possible, the ghoul felt even warmer, imagining the vaultie doing just that as he walked into the back room. It had felt a little awkward taking Moriarty's room at first, but it left an extra room upstairs to make more caps off of. He had burned the bastard's mattress though, the stink of him would have been impossible to deal with every night.

Pulling off his shirt the ghoul tossed it aside, only to hear a muffled giggle come from the vicinity of his bed. If it were still possible for him to blush Gob was sure his face would have been bright red, 101 was reclining on his bed wearing nothing more than a tattered tank top and gray boxer shorts, his dirty shirt bunched in her lap.

"I…uh…" He felt his mouth go dry, hindering his ability to form sentences. The vaultie just smiled at him and patted the empty space on the bed beside her.

"Sit down and take a load off, I brought you a present."

Gob couldn't think of anything more he could want besides her barely clothed on his bed, well maybe her with no clothing at all, but he wasn't going to look a gift Brahmin in the mouth. So he just nodded and slowly made his way over. The ghoul tried to give her as much room as possible when he sat down, not an easy task considering how small the bed was, there were only a few inches between them and he could feel the warmth of her skin as he settled on the mattress.

"Here." The girl smiled as she pulled out two Nuka Colas from her bag. Gob could see the condensation on the bottles and was pleasantly surprised at how cold the glass was when she handed him one.

"Thanks…where did you get these?"

"Moira sold me a Nuka machine for my house, keeps them nice and cold. I figured you could use one on a day like this." The vaultie popped her bottle open and took a long drink, unaware of Gob's hungry stare at the way her throat worked back and forth. He opened his own Nuka, almost shivering as he felt the cold liquid make its way down into his stomach.

He wasn't too surprised that she'd picked the back lock and snuck in, from the stories she'd told him it seemed like she was pretty good at it. 101 wasn't an angel, but she was the hero…or heroine of the wastes and his personal savior. She'd never admitted to having Moriarty killed, but it was all too convenient to be coincidence.

Not long after she'd come back from one of her adventures to find Gob's face swollen from a particularly brutal beating the girl's attitude towards the Irishman changed. Before she had barely tolerated him, Gob thought it might be due to some lingering resentment for Moriarty holding out the information about her father, but after that she had glared at him openly and never spoke to him if she could help it.

A few weeks later a man had come in talking about a group of slavers near Megaton who had a girl with them that'd but Nova to shame. Moriarty didn't normally go out of his way for those sorts of things, but even Gob had noticed that Nova's novelty in town was beginning to wear. However the newcomer hadn't seemed like the slaver type, a little too clean cut and a little too polite to him and Nova when Moriarty wasn't paying attention.

The bar owner took off a few days later, barking orders at Gob and Nova that there'd be hell to pay if anything was out of place, but a week later he still hadn't returned, 101 had been in town the whole time, in better spirits than Gob had seen her in weeks. Doc Hoff had been the one to finally break the news, said he'd come across Moriarty's body just outside of Springvale. He thought it looked like the work of raiders, but Gob knew the vaultie had connections to the Regulators, and it seemed to him that they would be more than happy to take out a bastard like Moriarty for the girl.

So here he was, the owner of his own bar but still stuck in this shithole of a town, the only thing that made it worth while to him was her.

"You still with me there Gob?"

"Huh?" The ghoul looked over at the girl and gave shy smile, he hadn't realized he'd zoned out on her. "Yeah, sorry kid."

"S'okay." She smiled at him and took another drink of her cola. Gob tried to make up for his wandering mind by asking her what latest adventure she had to tell him about. He gave her his full attention as she told him about stopping these two crazy people dressed up as superheroes in Canterbury Commons. Gob had actually already heard some of the story told on GNR but it was always so much better to hear it from her, she made the story feel more real, and he always got a thrill out of knowing that he was one of the few people she shared the real story with. The ghoul almost jumped when halfway through the story she leaned on his bare shoulder, letting her head rest there as she continued talking. He chalked it up to it being late and hot, she was probably exhausted, needing a good night's sleep rather than entertaining him. Still he had to resist the urge to throw his arm around her and hold her closer to him.

"Well, it's getting late kid; you should probably be turning in soon." Gob said once she'd reached a good stopping point.

He noticed that his shirt was still balled in the vaultie's lap; he frowned but reached for it anyway, surprised when the girl snatched it up and held it out of his reach. The ghoul looked up to see a teasing smile on her lips and smiled back as he reached again for the shirt, she leaned back keeping it out of his reach, laughing when they tumbled back against the mattress when he tried again to grab it. Gob landed awkwardly over her, managing to catch himself with both hands at her sides so he wasn't lying completely on top of the girl, however their hips were only inches apart and the ghoul felt his pants tighten at the warmth he felt there.

The vaultie stopped laughing at the look on his face, her own expression becoming very serious. The ghoul tried to lift himself up, feeling like an idiot and hoping he hadn't ruined their friendship with his clumsiness. So it came as a shock to him when the girl's legs wrapped around him and pulled his hips back towards her own. Gob looked down at her questioningly, he couldn't believe it was possible but he felt the temperature in the room rise as 101 reached one hand up to grip his neck and bring his lips down to hers.

Fuck it was hot.