AN: I've been thinking about FO4 lately and also was looking for an excuse to write some banter. And so this was born. For people following my other story, don't worry. I'ts still being worked on. Crossposted on AO3.
"Oh...crap. Oh crap. Oh crap!"
"Wow, and here I'd thought you actually break out some real language by now." Jace muttered, crouching down next to me behind what was partially submerged and rusted red corvega, stuck in the oil slick of a swamp we were currently lost in. He was intently scanning the horizon line through sickly brown fog and burnt carcasses of what were once trees.
"Shut up!" I snapped back, on the verge of ripping out long strands of brown hair. "I have the right to be freaking out right now however I chose!"
Jace snorted, running a bandaged hand through his greasy black hair. "If we weren't on the verge of being eaten, I think I might just find this situation funny."
If I'd had anything on me besides what I was wearing, I'd be very tempted throw something at him right about now. Grinding my teeth together I hissed back, "Well I think you need to get better sense of humor."
He was about to turn to me and retort, but that was before the all too familiar sound of chattering hit our ears. We both froze, not daring to breath.
We stayed like that for a few seconds stock still, Jace gripping onto his empty rifle for dear life, knuckles turning white on his good hand hand, as bloodied and scratched up as it was.
Luck was not on our side, the sounds only getting louder as we remained in place. Jace swore under his breath, slinging his rifle onto his good shoulder. He took the risk of standing up just enough to peer over the top.
He immediately swore, pulling me up by the arm to my feet as he took one last look back before breaking out into a full out mad dash, holding onto my wrist with a death grip.
I partially tumbled face first right then, pulled back up by Jace as my barefeet slammed into the damp marsh floor, splashing more mud into my face, hair and the rest of my body.
"More mirelurks joined the pack along the way!" Jace forced out between haggard breaths, finally letting go as I got neck and neck with him. "There's at least five now in the pack. We gotta get to high ground."
We kept going, our feet hitting the ground hard as my lungs began to burn, breathing becoming more erratic. The saving grace was when the earth finally began to harden a bit after about a minute, and with that our first sign of hope in the distance.
"I spotted a train car up ahead with tracks!" He shouted, pointing to what I could barely make out at a red freightcar in the distance. "We can climb on top!"
"Got it!" I answered back , squinting as I tried to wipe mud out of my eyes. All it did was spread it around, grit stinging as it got into my eyes.
We were able to make it that far before almost giving out, almost out of breath, and I myself wheezing as a sharp pain stabbed at both sides.
The the freightcar had been abandoned and left to rust, any sort of step or ladder up to the top long gone. And the slightly indented pattern was nowhere near good enough for a foot hold. A look around the immediate area showed this was the only thing is sight for who knew how far, "We should try to get on top." Jace finally decided, hands resting on his knees. "I'll boost you up first. Once you're up we can work from there."
I gulped, looking back the direction we came, the mirelurks still far away enough for the moment, but they were gaining fast, their size only growing as I stared. How long could we keep going like this before we burned out and they caught up?The boxcar had to be at least twice my height and I wasn't great in the physical strength department.
At this point though there was only one choice to be made.
We approached one of the narrow sides of the boxcar, Jace grimacing as I put a foot on the makeshift step he'd made out of his hands. He bit back a sharp yell of pain as he hoisted me up and I grabbed the top edge, my fingers barely able to curl over the top.
With Jace pushing me up and upper body strength I didn't know I possessed, I was able to get up on top. I partially collapsed on my side, arms aching viciously as I just laid there for a few moments.
"I'm going to run for it and you hoist me up when i jump, got it?" He shouted as I lurched back up, watching as he took several paces back. I gulped, laying flat on my stomach for support, sliding out as far as I dared with one hand clinging on the the metal for support, and the other reaching down to grab.
In a swift motion he dashed forward, my heart going into overdrive as he lunged in my direction.
The moment he latched on a sharp shooting pain ripped through my arm and shoulder sockets, his weight nearly ripped out as I struggled to pull him up.
That moment was one fueled by pure adrenaline. One moment I felt like I was on fire, the next he'd grabbed the ledge himself with one hand, let go of me and latched on with the other. With a painted yell, he pulled himself up as I rushed to move back and give him space get up on.
And just seconds later we were both sitting on top panting, just in time to see the hoard approaching us from only about fifteen feet away. And they'd gained followers while they were at it.
It wasn't long after they surrounded us, Jace and I laying on our backs, trying to catch our breaths. I clenched my eyes tightly shut, trying to block out the high pitch of their chattering and what was their bodies knocking into metal.
"I count nine of them." Jace stated, the first to get up as he leaned over the side. He was clutching his injured hand against his chest, poorly wrapped with rush job bandages made from the beat up and now ripped tan pre-war trench coat he was wearing.
A grimace surfaced across his face as tried to adjust some of the bandages, a bright red color seeping through. "We aren't moving anytime soon. At least it looks like this thing will hold."
I sat up, trying to ignore my own pain as I carefully wrapped my arms around my mud coated legs. "And just wait until they lose interest? Or hope for some reason they decide to leave?"
"Pretty much." He mumbled back, wincing from either his injury or the sounds below after a particularly high screech. "Unless you have extra ammo hidden away somewhere in that outfit or have another weapon on you, we're stuck waiting."
My face went red as I glanced down at what I was wearing. Though the mud did a decent job of obscuring it, what I was wearing was a skimpy pink tank top with lace and a white bunny on it, matching short shorts that were dotted with colorful easter eggs to go along. So my embarrassing pajamas that no one outside of myself and maybe my friends were ever supposed to see.
"For the record," I resisted the urge to bury my face into hands. "I was sleeping before I ran into you and all of this happened."
He snorted. "Gotta say. Never seen anyone wear anything like that to bed before. It's very… vintage."
"Shut up." Was my reflexive response, curling in further to hide my shame. "Well tell me, what people normally wear to bed then? Armor?"
Jace smirked, raising one eyebrow suggestively. "You want to know what I wear to bed? You might want to slow down there a bit. After all, we've just met."
I could feel the heat radiating off of my face in droves, and this time I did bury my hands.
"Shut up."
"You asked."
Things fell into a bit of silence after that, leaving me to linger my own thoughts along with the aches and pain.
I was tired. Everything hurt, and as far as I could tell we were pretty much screwed. I looked over Jace's bandage job again, concern growing as the red patches began to spread.
"How are you doing?" I asked quietly, thinking back as well to his busted shoulder, currently covered by his coat, but after our expedition from the town through the woods it couldn't be in good shape.
He gave a slight shrug, eyes glued onto the Mirelurks below. "Could be better. But I've had worse. Once I get a stimpack I'll be fine."
But who knew how long that would be. I wasn't an expert, but maybe there was something I could do to ease the pain or adjust things a little.
"I know some first aid." I offered casually. "I'd be happy to take look if you don't mind."
He shook his head sharply, pulling in his hand tighter. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about it."
I narrowed my eyes, looking over his state once again. Sure there wasn't much we could do up here, but a once over could hurt. And plus the reason why he got hurt like this in the first place was because of me. Maybe I could at least...
"Are you sure? It won't take very long and I-"
"I said it's fine!" He snapped back.
I flinched back hard. "I'm- I'm sorry! I never meant to- And the whole reason-"
"Look, Lynne." Jace cut me off, taking in a deep breath before continuing. "Your name is Lynne, right?" I gave him a meek nod. "I don't regret saving you from those ghouls back in town, even if it got me injured to begin with and us here now. I at least know how to fight. You on the other hand would have been long dead by now."
At that I couldn't help but agree.
He ran his good hand through his short hair, which I noticed was really just a similar shade of his dark brown eyes, which really complimented his olive skin tone. He had to be in his late teens, early twenties, maybe only a little older than myself. Under the dirt and grime not bad looking with the whole rugged thing going on.
And I really needed to quit staring.
"No need to get all broken up over all of it." He commented dryly, not looking me in the eye. "I'm just doing what I do."
"Helping random strangers?" I asked, a slight bit of awe creeping into in my voice.
"Scavenging." Was his deadpan response. "And I guess that too. Which reminds me that we'll have to circle back to that town and get our stuff at some point."
We both glanced down at our current captors.
"If you ignore the part where they want to tear us apart and eat us, they're almost kind of cute." I said in all seriousness.
He gave me a long, exasperated look. "I'm not sure what else I expected a person who was spending the night in a ghoul infested office building dressed like that to say."
I didn't have much to respond with considering I had no idea why I'd woken up there either. I'd originally thought it was the zombie apocalypse until the other details started cropping up that showed me otherwise. And of course they had to be in some of the deadliest of ways.
Once this was all over I'd have a proper freakout, not just the little I'd allowed myself back there.
"Would it be worse to say that I find deathclaws cute?" I continued. "Because I do. I want a pet deathclaw so that I can call him Deathy and sick him on my enemies."
One of his eyes started to twitch. "What kind of name is 'Deathy'?"
"A cute one." I said as a matter of fact.
He rolled his eyes.
"How were you even surviving out there on your own for so long anyway? With your lack of skills and taste for pets I'm frankly shocked."
How did I survive up 'til then? I resisted the urge scream. What was I supposed to say? I hadn't had any time to come up with my response or cover story. But would telling the truth really hurt that much? At this point, chances of my death were pretty high, so what did it matter?
"What if I told you that I'm actually from the past of an alternative universe where technology was developed differently and the bombs were never dropped?"
He started at me for a long few seconds, no doubt judging my sanity.
And then he just shrugged.
"I'd say that out all of the crazy people I've met in my life, you don't even reach the top five. Congratulations."
I started back at him.
"But I'm serious."
He returned my look with his own unimpressed one.
"So am I."
This was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
"What kind of people do you hang out with for that to be true?"
He smirked. "People like you apparently. The wastes are a magical place to be with the colorful personalities that it attracts. That or it's just the high degrees of radiation rotting people's brains."
I leaned back what little I could while remaining balanced. "So you're a scavenger then." I began conversationally. "You must have a lot of stories. So what's the craziest thing you've ever found?"
Jace mused a little while in thought, bringing up his good hand to his chin. "I would have to say… It's actually a place. The old General Atomics Galleria. It's completely run by defective pre-war Mr. Handies and Mr. Gutsies." His expression turned into a grimace, turning to look at me for my reaction.
When I just stared, too tired to pretend to be stunned and give him any 'ohh's and 'ahh's, he was probably expecting from me, he just looked at me as an awkward silence esuned.
"Right…" He mumbled, shaking his head before continuing on. "I snuck in the back, ending up near the bowling alley. The whole place intact except for what time had done to it. It wasn't worth coming back after collecting all of that old world cash to play a round. I don't anything about bowling, but it seemed like it would be fun to try. But everything there is either busted or will try to kill you. I stuffed my bag with what seemed valuable and got out of dodge soon after."
I nodded at that with what was some actual understanding. The quest had actually been one of my favorites, but ordering from that bakery that first time had been a serious mistake. I was a sucker for anything pre-war that showed what life had been like before the bombs dropped.
"What else have you found? And where do you even sell the stuff you find? Are there people who hire you to get certain items? Like famous historical stuff?"
His eyes lit up a bit at the questions, and we spent the next while with my Q&A of his job and his retelling of adventures as a nice distraction.
Jace had apparently been doing this since he was a kid to make some extra caps. His parents and older brothers were part of a sharecropping farm located under an old overpass. With the constant uncertainty of the wastes, there were always in need of extra supplies and funds. He'd ended up volunteering to go out, and somewhere along the way it had turned into a full time job. And he didn't seem to mind one bit.
By the time we'd been up there for several hours, most of the mirelurk had realized that we weren't coming down anytime soon and actually began to break off from the pack and drift away. What was left was about four that just didn't know how to give up. Still, too many for us to try and outrun.
The sun was starting to set, the green haze that was the sky starting to darken. By now we'd both started leaning in on each other, with no other real support for sitting against. I took the chance to look at Jace's hand as his eyes began to flutter, desperately trying to stay alert after hours of inaction.
The blood had crusted over, so at least he wasn't bleeding out. But infection was pretty much guaranteed, and those bandages still needed to be changed with something clean neither of us had. I'd been brushing the dried mud off of myself as it dried, mostly gone now. And at least the pain in my arms had settled into a dull ache.
After by what by all accounts had been an insane day, I felt my own grip on consciousness start to slip as drowsiness started to take over. My eyelids began to began to flutter closed. A few minutes wouldn't hurt. A short nap and I could at least get some of my energy back.
CRACK
The distinct sound of a gunshot, followed by the splashing of guts and a shrieks of pain coming from right below us jerked me awake immediately. Jace jumped next to me, pushing me head down with him as he swore, scanning the landscape.
"We need to-" He began to say before the sound of several more gunshots cut him off, followed by several dead mirelurk at the ground.
"You all right?" Shouted someone in the distance, their appearance and that of the people following them becoming clear as he walked closer. The outfits ripped right out of history. They had to be-
"The Minutemen." Jace whispered under his breath, his eyes wide. "I thought they were long gone."
"Apparently not." Was I all as I could muster to say as I sagged in relief.
"We're fine!" Jace shouted back, urging me to get down from the top of the car. He slipped down first, falling about a three feet when his arm's reach was exerted. Grimacing when he hit the ground, I went next, resisting the urge of vomit when I landing directly into into warm, slimy mirelurk insides, working their way in between my toes.
The group of about eight Minutemen wasted no time scavenging the meat off of their carcusses, while the leader of the group, a scruffy looking man in his thirties with a speckling of gray hair in brown approached us.
"You from the area or passing through?" Was his immediate question.
"Passing through." Was Jace's direct response as he squared his shoulders, holding himself up straight. "We were ambushed by ghouls and fled, followed by stumbling into a nest a while back. Ran out of ammo so there wasn't much we could do but get to high ground. Thanks for the save."
The man gave a sharp nod. "This area is a hot spot for them. Currently we're making rounds to a nearby settlement. You can travel with us until we get there; they have a small general trade setup where you can restock your supplies." His eyes traveled over to me where I was standing off to the side, quietly observing. "And get your companion something to cover herself."
The heat once again started to crawl up my face, quickly moving the cross my arms across my chest.
"Thank you." Jace told him, ignoring my mortified state. "I gotta ask sir, when did the Minutemen start up again? My father was one of you before things went bad. I thought it was all over and done for the most part now."
"We recently got a new leader." The minuteman told him with a note of pride, cueing a few cheers from the other men. "Let it be known the the Minutemen are reforming properly and are back to assist the people of the Commonwealth."
Jace cracked a smile at that, which the man actually returned. "Good to know. This place needs more people like you."
That seemed to be the sentence that got us into the man's good graces, the perpetual glare around his eyes softening. While the others finished harvesting the spoils, we'd been both been given some stimpacks that I honestly didn't have the guts to use once I saw the needle. The probably very unsanitary needle.
The look of relief was written all over Jace's face, body losing its tension as it began to take effect. Hopefully they had some good antibiotics. I ended up handing him mind and he gladly took the double dose.
In a very efficient fashion we got on the road, or this case train tracks as we moved on. Guns were drawn as they carefully scanned the hostile and quickly darkening environment.
Things had gone basically silent from that point on as we continued on in the planned direction.
And I had no clue what I'd do once we got there. I had no money to my name. Just the clothes on my back and no innate ability to fight. Based on what I knew about this world, maybe I could get a job farming in a settlement until I actually figured out what my next move would be. But here there were so many ways to die and I was completely and utterly alone.
"Jace," I whispered to him as he walked next to me, good hand gripped on his graciously reloaded gun, other rebandaged and resting in a makeshift sling. "When we get there, what are you planning doing next?"
He's wasn't looking right at me, instead keeping his sights peeled on the woods. "Restock, get settled in for the night and then going back for our stuff. From there we can properly go our separate ways."
A surge of panic ripped through me as my hands began to shake. I licked my dry lips, trying to not to sound and desperate as I felt. "About what I said before, I just got here. I didn't come here with anything. So I don't have anything to go back and grab."
He turned to look at me, clearly not believing what I'd told him earlier. Nonetheless, he ran his fingers through his hair, brow wrinkled. "Look, I'll make to sure you're set up then when we get there then. I won't hang you out to dry."
A part of me wanted to latch onto him and demand that he take me with instead of leaving me behind. But we barely knew each other, and a life or death situation and a few hours of talking wouldn't change that. But in a very sad way he was the only person I had.
I nodded, staring at the ground as I bit my lip hard.
It wasn't the end of the world. I could probably make it on my own somehow. And it was hard enough to stay alive even if you knew how to fight. I'd just be unnecessary baggage that would just land him in more trouble.
The rest of the trip went on in silence besides the occasional barking order from the leader of the Minutemen group or the sound of a gun going off when something got too close.
It was almost entirely dark by the time we got to the small settlement, a ramshackle place that was fenced in by metal sheets that could barely be called walls. There was a gate at the front that had turrets perched up top on pestatools, a single three story building inside that seemed to be be the communal living space. The torches throughout illuminated the compound in a soft orange glow, flickering against the metal and wood.
We stepped up to the gate, then currently guarded by two burly men with guns, who once they saw who we were gave us gave a quick nod and just let us on through. The perks of traveling with the friends of the people.
The compound was rough to say the least. Everything had been hastily put together it seemed, holes everywhere in between the planks they used for walls of the building. Views of stained mattresses and broken furniture could be seen, most occupied by a sleeping person. The ground was a muddy dirt, trash and bones littering it, the cold slimy slop squeezing its way between my toes There was a small patch of crops off to one side with a pump and brahmin in a pen, and on the other was a single seller's stall that was currently closed.
"C'mon." Jace motioned, heading up the flight of stairs leading to the raised first floor. "Let's see if there's anything in a back corner we can take."
I mutely followed, carefully tiptoeing past rows of sleeping men and women in the completely open space, only separated by the occasional hung up sheet. We'd ended up bunking down in a corner near a support pillar that had a pretty good view of the entire space we were in.
After running through checks with his gun and placing it in an easily accessible place, Jace sprawled out on his mattress, stretching and letting out a soft groan. Meanwhile I was just trying to ignore the collection of mold and and mysterious stains that was on mine. From just initial looks the whole thing was lumpy, a sharp spring sticking out in one place. Not to mention with no blanket or pillow I wasn't expecting to get any rest.
After trying not to think to hard about it, and immediately failing, I laid down on my side and shut my eyes tight, curling into a small ball. God I was sore.
Something soft suddenly landed on top of me, and I cracked my eyes open to find it to be Jace's trench coat.
"You look like you'll be cold when the temperatures start to dip." Jace mumbled laying back down and half asleep. "You can give it back when I wake up." His voice was partially slurred by the end before he completely drifted off.
I adjusted and tugged the jacket around me, silently thanking him as I closed my eyes again. I was able to sleep on and off for a while, but the morning seemed to come too soon.
Before I knew it, people were getting up for the day, and I clenched my eyes tight, decided to ignore the commotion and burning sunlight in favor of sleeping a couple of minutes longer. I don't know much time passed, but I woke up again when something else was soon tossed on top of me, this time much heavier, causing me to groan and sit up.
What had landed on me turned out to be some new clothes and a cloth backpack full of supplies and other necessities. The outfit ended up being an tattered green flannel shirt and jeans of all things, along with what looked like army boots.
Jace sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck not quite looking in my direction, "I wasn't sure what your size was for shoes, but if they don't fit the guy in charge of the stall said you could exchange them for something else."
"I…" I was at a bit of a loss of words as I went through everything he gave me. A pistol, food, stimpacks, a brush, bandages, a pouch of caps, a box of 10mm bullets- As dumb it was my bottom lip began to quiver. "Thank you Jace. Seriously. This must have cost you a lot to get together."
Jace shrugged, adjusting the strap of his rifle on his shoulder. "Once I go back and get what I scavenged, I'll be able to recoup the loss pretty easily. Don't sweat it."
I tried to to swallow back the lump in my throat. "So… you're heading out now?"
He nodded back. "In a few. I'm going to see what information I can scrounge up about the sites from the locals. I guess I'll see you around Lynne."
"You too." I replied quietly, not trusting myself to say anything else in case I'd end up making a scene.
And then then he just walked away, leaving me there without another word.
It was slow moving from the that point as I gathered up my clothes and other new belongings in one big armful, making my way down to the pump where I was hoping to wash off some of the grime from yesterday. Some other people had the same idea, lining up with buckets and filling them before heading over to one of the open fires and heating them above the coals.
I ended up just crouch down after the other people had left, giving myself a bone cold shower that sent me shivering and bolting towards the nearest fire to try and dry off in front of it.
The other people around me gave disapproving looks and side glances. Apparently the common method here was to heat up a small amount of water and wash yourself off with a damp cloth. Right now though I was to cold to be embarrassed about my social faux pas.
I stood as close as I dared to the fire, impatiently waiting to dry off. Once it was decent enough I searched for the nearest private location I could find, which turned out to be behind the communal building, close up towards the fence where hopefully no one would come around to for a few minutes.
It worked out successfully enough, the clothes a bit loose on me, but it wasn't anything a belt or rolling up pant legs or sleeves couldn't fix. And with the comb I could at least attempt to brush out my rat's nest of hair. The shoes on the other hand-
I placed them on top of the rest of the stuff I had shoved into my arms, making my way to the front of the compound, passing by some brahmin that were scattered around and out of their pen, chewing on what little they could find. Most people were either farming, their bodies hunched over as plowed and tilled. Others either kept their eyes down as I passed, or glared with their hands moving near where they had guns holstered on their wastes.
Trying not to make eye contact, I scurried along, thinking about my own gun that I'd just been given that I had no idea how to use or maintain. And now I was in a world where everything and everyone was out to get you. Hopefully it wouldn't be hard to pick up. If I didn't have a high learning curve I was going to die out here pretty soon after I left those gates.
Trying to ignore those nagging thoughts, I picked up my pace, ignoring the way my legs were starting to shake.
Behind the ramshackle stall was a man who looked just about as worn down and dirty as the others, fingers tapping in rhythm to the song playing on the rusted radio propped up on a crate a few feet away. And of course of all things the song had to be Accentuate the Positive.
His eyes ran up and down me, snapping onto the shoes in my arms before letting out an annoyed grunt. "You must be that girl he talked about. ...And we had a deal. Shoe size off?"
I nodded, setting the pair of boots on top of the counter. "Too small, if you have anything bigger that would be great."
He grumbled something, ducking below and out of view as the sound of banging metal and cursing gave me a pretty good idea of man's setup back there.
"Lynne!"
I lurched, snapping my head around to see Jace waving as he walked up towards me. My body sagged in a bit of relief to see him again but at the same time I couldn't help but rock side to side as the words began to tumble out of my mouth.
"Jace! I thought you'd be gone by now." I said, lowering my voice as he closed the distance gap between us.
"That was the plan." He scowled, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I can't find my coat. I forgot I left it with you, but when I went back to check out the mattresses, it wasn't there. You happen to have grabbed it by accident?"
I stared at the bundle in my arms, for the first time really looking through what I had with me in total. And there it was, almost matching the color of my backpack in tone.
With one hand I grabbed it and gave it back to him, giving him a sheepish smile. "Sorry about that. It's been a bit of a off morning for me."
Taking the coat from me, he took his rifle off carefully and set it down before sliding it onto to his frame like it was some sort of expensive suit coat.
While he was doing all of that, the man behind the counter finally came up for air, placing a similar military style boot down on top of the counter. "This is about what I've got right now." He huffed out. "Take it or leave it."
I nodded and gave him my thanks before he started mumbling to himself and started, from the sound of things rearranging his stock. I took the moment to finally put something on my feet. They were a bit big, but it was better than nothing.
"Well, it's definitely been an experience." Jace said with a note of finality as his eyes flickered towards the gate. "Maybe we'll run into each other again some time."
With a small wave he started moving, walking away what really would be now for good. I had no delusions I could make it in the types of places he liked to hang out.
"W-wait!" I stammered, causing him to stop and turn around. At his raised brow I tried not to let my face go red and I scurried up so that I was standing next to him. "Would you mind if I tagged along with you for a little? I mean, just until the next settlement. I don't think I could make it out of Mirelurk territory on my own."
I tried not to look too desperate, but I knew the way I was fidgeting with my hands and rocking on my feet wasn't doing me many favors.
His gaze rested on the gun now laying on top of the pile I had in my hands.
"You don't even know how to shoot, do you?" He said with a sense of resigned disbelief that made me crumple under his stare.
"Not… exactly." I answered, looking away.
"You said you were from an alternate universe?" He deadpanned.
I gave him a sheepish grin. "I did indeed."
He let out a long exasperated sigh as his gaze lifted up to the sky. "Well, like I said. You don't even reach the top five of crazy. But for some reason I doubt traveling with you will make for a boring time. We might as well stick together for a while until I know you won't die in a swamp somewhere."
"You mean it?" A grin broke out across my face as I resisted the urge to go over and hug him.
Jace rolled his eyes, the corners of his mouth lifting up just so slightly. "Yeah, I do. But we've got to set up some ground rules for traveling together."
I nodded eagerly. "Sure, that sounds good to me."
"First off", he started, lifting up one finger for me to see. "No backstabbing or double crossing one another, though that should be a given. If this happens the guilty party loses their living privileges. Secondly," He lifted up a second finger. "We split the loot based on who scavenged what. If it's something large we found together, both of us get equal shares. Though depending on circumstances, later this can be negotiated. Third," He added another finger. "We aren't raiders. We don't hurt the innocent or go around shooting up places and looting." He then added finger number four. "And finally, just for you," I swear his eye ever so slightly twitched. "We're not making any of the rabid wildlife our pets. Especially deathclaws."
I nodded sagely back, musing in thought. "That I can do. But for the last one, what if I find a Yao Guai cub that's really cute though? Like so cute that I want to hug it and squeeze it and never let it go?"
He gave me a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Then I will make sure you personally get to deliver it back to its mother. That way you'll have even more of them to hug. Imagine all of those fluffy Yao Guai, right within reach."
Like I said, the beginnings of a beautiful friendship.
"Deal." I stretched out my hand that he took and gave a rough shake.
We started walking out of the gate together as Jace began to give me a quick rundown of how to actually use the gun that was now in possession of as I carefully stuffed my wet clothes into my backpack.
"You're keeping the pajamas? Really?" Jace asked with a snort as my face started to go red once again.
"Shut up." I snapped back, shoving my pink shame inside my backpack as fast as I could. "Like you said. Vintage. And who knows, someone might be willing to pay quite a lot for high quality pre-war clothes. Especially with its unique design. And by your rules the payment would be all mine."
And that's the moment when the smirk was wiped off of his face about my pajamas for good.
AN: Don't feed the Yao Guai. That is all.