Charles looked up at the sky above him. The clouds had gotten much darker, despite it only being 1pm. That only meant one of two things. Rain or a rad-storm and Charles really didn't want to be stuck out in either of them. Charles holstered his revolver and turned back to his girlfriend, Piper, who had been accompanying him across the Commonwealth.
"Hey Pipes. Any idea where there'd be some shelter? I'd be quite confident in putting my caps where my mouth is and say that a storm is on the way." Charles said, looking around. Piper looked up and seemed to come to the same conclusion when she audibly cursed.
"I just hope that Nat brought the clothes in. Our Dryers been on the fritz lately so the only way to dry them is 'au naturale'. Gonna have to spray them down with Radaway or we could get radiation poisoning… or they could fall apart… I'd say you're right though. I think I can see a building off in the distance…" Piper replied, looking off in the distance.
"It's our best shot, might as well see if we can settle there for the night…" Charles explained as they came off the road. Tomorrow would mark Charles seventh month in the Wasteland, and still he was surprised when he found things that seemed so commonplace and normal, so downtrodden or infested with creatures originally thought of only in movies. Walking through a carpark, Charles shivered slightly every time he saw a skeleton sitting in a car seat.
"Hey Charlie? You alright?" Piper asked. Piper wasn't oblivious to why Charles was suddenly quiet. While they travelled, he'd often shut up and almost seem reflective before he'd apologise to Piper for practically ignoring her for the past five or so, minutes. It was interesting to Piper on how Charles reacted to the world around him and it provided the eager reporter with plenty of material to fuel the first, and continuing issues of the Publick Occurrence surrounding the 'man out of time'. Piper could still remember the first time that Charles came to her over a Diamond City citizen talking to him over the papers article. Piper found it adorable that he seemed to almost bask in the attention, and it became one of the many quirks that drew her to love him.
After passing through what Charles would regard as a cemetery, both he and Piper unholstered their pistols before proceeding into their hopeful shelter. It had become a habit to head in prepared after one occasion when Piper had walked into a room while discussing Old World habits with Charles and she had been assaulted by Rad-rats and feral ghouls. A ghoul had gotten a lucky hit in and disarmed Piper. It was around then that Piper and Charles had discussed their feelings for one another because Piper could still remember the fire in Charles' eyes as he fought against the ghouls and rats with only his trusty revolver and sword. As Piper flushed her system with a few Rad-Aways, Charles had tended to her every need and had even given her a foot rub after she complained about her "bunions having bunions…"
Once the coast was cleared, Piper deposited her gear in one corner while Charles scouted the cupboards and any other places for food, ammunition, or anything else useful. After Charles unearthed a small generator buried underneath some rubble, they found out that they were in a small diner that someone managed to repair. The grill seemed to work, the lights were dim, yet constant and after Piper had built a small fire in the middle of the floor, it was warm.
"Hey Charlie? Any luck on the whole food front? I mean, a diet of gum, Nuka-Cola, and Sugar Bombs, can only get a girl so far…" Piper groaned, throwing her press cap down on top of her gear.
"There's nothing here to eat but if you can stick the hunger pains for about an hour, and promise not to look, I can guarantee that you'll enjoy the reward at the end." Charles said, depositing his own gear beside Pipers. As he was met with silence, Charles turned on his heel only to be met by an adorable pouting Piper. No matter how cute this made Piper look, it was a deadly weapon that she had used relentlessly against Charles when she wanted something. It had started to lose its strength a while back and now, Charles was impervious to Piper's wiles. With a quick kiss on the cheek, Charles handed Piper a pack of gum and sidestepped around her, heading for the kitchen. Piper stood awestruck for a few seconds, her brain trying to figure out how her ultimate weapon had finally lost its potency.
"Trust me Pipes, if I can pull this off, you'll thank me. I'm gonna try and make something that I grew up eating. Now it won't be anyway near as fresh, but hopefully since I've a working kitchen, to some degree anyway, it should taste nice. Piper then groaned audibly before she walked up to Charles and kissed him on the cheek.
"You run a hard bargain Blue, but I'll trust you. Just know that if you fail to deliver, you owe me at least six months of Noodle bowls… Now, whatcha making?" Piper said, arching an eyebrow. She watched as Charles pulled out some Brahmin steaks, a knife, a few unlabelled jars and tins and some age-old loaf of bread.
"Can't say, it would ruin the surprise. Now no peeking or I'll be legally bound to blindfold you… Go and sit by the fire, or do something… anything…" Charles said, shooing Piper away. Piper simply stuck her tongue out at Charles and sat over in one of the booths. The warmth from the fire was welcome, as the rain had hit and was pouring down in torrents. Piper pulled out a small notebook from her pocket and laid it out in front of her. The Publick Occurrence needed a new article and if she put out another issue of 'the man out of time', then she and Nat would be 'out of caps.' Piper tapped her trusty pencil off the sheet of lined paper, but no inspiration or idea came to her. After deciding to leave the reporting for a while, her attention finally fell on and seemed to stick to Charles and the quirks about him that both interested her, and made her realise how lucky Nora was before the War.
His army background was obvious as his arms, legs, torso, and backside were almost crafted from solid stone. Piper had blushed as she had personal experience with how good Charles' body looked as she was glued to it, more so when he decided to wear that skin-tight blue jumpsuit that would be her eventual downfall. While he was quite charismatic and would try to end a fight before it even started, he was in no way a pushover. Piper glanced over at Charles' pistol that sat on the counter beside her. It had become a tool of retribution and revenge for Charles after he had taken it off the corpse of the man that had put a bullet in Nora's head. Charles had Nora inscribed in the stock of the gun and they were never more than a foot or two away from each other. While Piper had feelings for Charles after he had returned from his vendetta mission, she owed Charles enough to just be the shoulder to cry on as the emotions from losing his wife had come to the surface.
Through the steam rising from the grill, Piper could see his glasses getting foggy and after he laid them down beside his weapons, Piper was welcome to look at the deep irises of sapphire and emerald. Even Charles' brunette fringe was sticking to his forehead and Piper couldn't look away. When Charles looked up and caught her staring, it took Piper a few minutes to realise that she shouldn't have been staring. Charles simply smiled and untied the simple red bandana from around his neck. Abandoning his post in the kitchen, Piper watched him in trepidation of what he was going to do with the cloth.
"I warned you Ms Wright. Now you must unfortunately be blindfolded…" Charles said as he suddenly lunged at Piper from over the counter. Piper put up a fight but after a scuffle in the outside mud, Charles had emerged victorious. Piper didn't mind giving him the victory in the end however, as the rain had made his t-shirt stick to his chest underneath and now that beautiful image was permanently burned into her mind for later inspection. Now Piper had to rely on the investigative powers of her nose and she had to admit, whatever she was waiting for smelled delicious.
"Any chance you could hurry with the food Blue? I mean, come on! I'll end up starving soon!" Piper urged. Charles simply laughed before he sarcastically replied.
"Hey Pipes? I thought you were a reporter, not an actor. I should let McDonough know of the career change. He'd probably endorse it!"
Now it was Pipers chance to laugh. They continued to chat for a while longer until Piper heard Charles place something on the table in front of her. After she heard the familiar hiss of two fresh Nuka-Colas, Piper slowly drew the bandana down.
At first, she was confused. Piper had no idea what she was looking at. Charles seemed quite proud of the effort, so she was sure that it looked as it should have.
"I'm sorry Blue, but what the hell is this thing? It looks like a Brahmin crapped between two slices of bread…" Piper said, slowly inspecting the sandwich. Charles gladly took a bite of his own and washed it down with his Cola. After a loud sigh of relief, Charles started explaining his strange creation.
"While I admit to burning the meat a bit, I swear its good stuff. That my dear Piper, is a Hamburger. Now it would be better with cheese or something else, but these were the thing to eat when I was a kid… roughly 230 years ago. Damn, that never gets any easier to say…" Charles said, "Just try it please, for me?"
Piper glanced down at the 'hamburger'. After she slowly wrapped her arms around the sandwich, she cautiously took a bite before groaning again in absolute ecstasy. Charles watched as Piper took bite after bite and quickly consumed the sandwich as though she had inhaled it.
"That was delicious! Thanks Blue!" Piper exclaimed. Charles could see Piper eyeing up his own burger and after taking another bite, Charles sold the rest of his burger in exchange for a kiss. A price that Piper was more than willing to pay.
As the rain fell down over them, both Charles and Piper chatted while sitting by the fire. When the rain had finally passed, Charles checked the time on his Pip-boy and it was just short of Midnight. Deciding to stay where they were for the night, Charles rolled out a sleeping bag that he would share with Piper. As Piper watched Charles prepare their sleeping bag, inspiration finally hit and after a mad scribble across the page, Piper threw her notebook down on the counter before joining Charles in the sleeping bag.
On the page, Piper had written 'Old World Cuisine, should we go back to our old ways?' and had it heavily underlined. It was certainly a topic that she'd revisit with Charles in the morning.