Scratching what little skin was left on the bridge of his nose, Hancock slumped into an old cushioned chair with a soft groan. All of the day had been spent clearing out a group of raiders from a small cluster of houses for a couple of settlers that were looking to start up a new settlement. While it had not been a difficult battle for Flash and her ghoul lover, the journey had been long and the fight had been exhausting. Neither had received any serious injuries, although Flash had managed to get a small gash from a bayonet, but the couple had still decided it would be best to camp out in one of the little houses for the night.

Which explained why Hancock sat down to relax in the chair as Flash went about scavenging what she could, seeing as he did not seem to understand the value of an ashtray. For a moment, he considered taking one of their last hits of Jet, but thought better of it knowing Flash would be jealous if he took a chem break without her. Even more so, she would be displeased that he did not share their quickly dwindling supply. So instead Hancock settled for smoking a cigarette from the pack they had salvaged the previous day as he waited for his partner to finish searching for junk. It wasn't often that he smoked, but as he continued to travel the Commonwealth it appeared that it was becoming more of a common occurrence. Flash at least did not seem to mind the lingering scent of smoke on his clothing. Or any of his other smells for that matter. Several minutes after lighting up Hancock watched as Flash came lugging her obviously overweight baggage over her shoulder with a beaming smile on her face.

"There are easier ways to cripple yourself than that," Hancock said playfully as he dropped his cigarette on the ground and stomped it out with his boot.

Flash giggled lightly as she set the large duffel bag down on the ground a few yards from his feet, then bent over with her back to him so she could rifle through the contents. For what he could see, she had pulled out a needle and thread as well as something she that made an extra effort to conceal from his sight.

"Yeah. Yeah, well guess who gets to carry all the ashtrays," Flash grinned as she pulled a coffee table across the floor to rest in front of him, shrugging out of her Silver Shroud coat and pulling off her scarf. "That's right, you do! How fun, right?"

"Yes, that definitely sounds like a good time."

They both shared a chuckle as Flash adjusted the table again before sitting down, handing Hancock the needle and thread so he could stitch the gash on her upper arm closed. It only took a few seconds to close the wound. Once it had been stitched shut, Flash leaned forward to kiss Hancock's forehead before leaping happily to her feet.

"I found a fun little surprise for us while I was scavenging today," she chirped pleasantly. "I hope you like it."

"Well what is it, sunshine?" Hancock asked as he leaned back comfortably in his chair. "Hopefully it is more chems, because our supply is getting pretty low. All we have is three Buffouts, four doses of Med-X, two shots of Jet, and about eight Psychos. But you are the only one who takes the Psycho. That stuff just doesn't seem to agree with me."

Flash turned around with a box in arms, which she promptly placed on the small wooden table in front of him. Facing the ghoul, she gave him a warm, loving smile.

"I like to think that it gives me a bit of an edge during a fight, so more Psycho for me," she stated happily as she pulled something from the pocket of her pants. "But yes, I did find some chems to replenish our supply. It should hold us until we make a trip back to Goodneighbor, although that is not the big part of the surprise that I have for you."

Side stepping, she revealed a pristine looking boxed chess set as she placed a container of Mentats into his hands at the same time. A grin slowly spread across his rough face as he realized what she implied. Flash wanted them to both get high on the pills and play a couple games of chess.

"I don't know what I did ever to deserve a gal like you, but I am sure glad that you settled for this ugly mug," he spoke affectionately as he slipped an arm around her waist to pull her in for a quick embrace. "I thought you had never played chess though. Did you get the idea from Fahrenheit?"

Giving a brief nod, Flash stepped away from him to push the coffee table closer and set the game up.

"You know that I don't think you are ugly, Hancock," she also replied, pausing to place another brief kiss on his scarred flesh.

Once everything was in place and the game was ready, Flash took off her boots, snatched a Mentat from Hancock, and plopped gracefully onto the ground across the table from him. Hancock followed suit, popping one of the chalky red pills into his mouth. Silently, his lover stared at the board for a few moments.

"Hopefully you are going to explain the game to me as we go," Flash stated thoughtfully after a couple of seconds more of staring, "because I honestly have no idea how to do this at all."

"Of course, love," Hancock reassured in a vaguely cocky tone, making the first move of the game as the Mentat already began to kick in.

It was a long time and several more Mentats later that Flash finally gave a sigh of defeat a roughly pushed the game board away. Hancock had managed to win every single round that they had played, much to her dismay. Even when he agreed not to take another Mentat after his wore off and let her continue to take them, she had still lost the game to him. The ghoul gave a soft laugh as he watched her stare at the chess set in obvious frustration. It wasn't his fault that he was much better at the game. Still, he appreciated her effort to please him and was adamant about doing something to make her happy as well. Carefully, he moved the coffee table to the side as he leaned back and opened his arms to Flash.

"Come here and sit with me, sunshine," Hancock's eyes were soft and full of affection as he beckoned the woman to come cuddle with him. "Let's just take some Jet and relax. You know that I have to rest some time to keep looking this beautiful."

Instantly Flash's eyes lit up with joy as she scrambled up onto her feet, crawling up to settle herself in his lap. She felt the comfort of his body heat and snuggled closer, wrapping an arm around his neck and resting her head upon his shoulder. Grinning, he reached into his own pack for a Jet. Tilting her head back slightly, he put the inhaler to her mouth and pressed down on the canister. Flash inhaled deeply before Hancock pulled the inhaler away and put it to his own mouth to take his own two puffs. He always took an extra hit because it took more for a ghoul to get the same high as a human. Softly he carded his fingers through the long white hair on the top of her head, occasionally rubbing the shaved sides behind her ears in a soothing manner.

"You know that with us together, the world ain't got a prayer," he mumbled softly as he was drifting into a drugged slumber.

"You're right," Flash hummed in agreement, kissing him lightly on the mouth before they both fell asleep in the chair together.