At least once a week Hancock would wake up alone in bed, the space where his lover occupied barely holding on to the heat his body left behind.
At first he thought nothing of it; Cecil and he at the beginning of their relationship, and Hancock not quite accustomed to some of the other man's habits. Hell, up until they both got the nerve to fully admit their feelings he had not even seen his face. And what a face it was; perfectly smooth skin, marred only by friendly wrinkles at the corner of his grey flecked blue eyes and a tiny scar down the left side of his lips. The ghoul would admit he had been momentarily struck with jealousy, especially at the sight of soft looking snow white hair that seemed to be the only sign of Cecil's age.
Where was he…? Right; his lover was no longer in bed. It only happened while they were in Sanctuary for more than a day or two. Anywhere else in the whole entire Wasteland Hancock knew that when he woke up he would have the peace seeking Vault dweller nestled against his side, head rested on his shoulder, and steady puffs of surprisingly cool air brushing against the thickened skin of his neck.
But anytime they were here for longer than two days… Cecil would just vanish. Sometimes for a few hours, sometimes for even a full day. Then he would just come back like nothing had happened, voice under that damn snyth helmet sounding like smiles and sunshine. He would never complain, not with that voice and the gentle brush of gloved fingers against him that beckoned him to follow… But damn was he curious.
He had asked around, casually of course, to find out if anyone knew where his idiot went. No one he talked to knew; not Preston, who had been with their leader the longest. Not Deacon, who supposedly was supposed to know everything. Not Valentine, whose job it was to track down other people. No one.
That was, until this morning.
He had woke up early, the sun just barely peaking over the hills and the settlement was still quiet. He sighed, knowing the instant his dreams began to fade like chems wearing off, that his lover was not present in their shared bed. His hand slid over the bare mattress where Cecil usually laid, and like usual found the barest of warmth. The smell of something cooking, however, was something new. Finding his boots and hat, which had been tossed aside haphazardly before bed, he then made his way out of the bedroom. The sound of burning thrusters, and the digital hum of vocalizers, told him the one in the kitchen was the old Mr. Handy he saw flit around the settlement every so often.
"Good morning, sir!" The cheerful tone from the robot was a little more than he could take this early in the morning, already upset in finding himself alone again.
"Mornin'." None the less, he tried being polite. He was glad he tried when the robot set a plate of food on the counter for him, his stomach already grumbling just from the sheer smell of food.
"I believe Master Cecil calls this Mirelurk Steak. Dreadful things, those beasties are, but he says they are more than fit for cooking."
Hancock mumbled a tired 'thanks' as he slid onto a stool and quickly began to eat, noting how the robot continued to cook. "Terribly sorry if I woke you this morning, sir. I tried to keep quiet, but these blasted primitive stoves we are now forced to use are not made for such stealthy endeavors. I'm only thankful Master Cecil was already awake. Poor chap. I really wish he would stop going to that vault to visit the missus."
He nearly choked on the piece of meat he was chewing at that, slamming a fist against his chest to dislodge the food stuck in his throat.
"Are you quite alright, sir?" Codsworth paused in his task, grabbing a container of water from the cabinets and setting it in front of the ghoul; pushing it forward in a worried manner, urging the other to drink. Hancock did not need prompting, hurrying up and taking the container and gulping down two thirds of it. "Sir?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine." He said after a moment, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. "You said he went to visit his wife?"
"Ah, yes. Mrs. Nora… The poor dear did not survive the horrible experience like him and Shaun did. I believe Master Cecil has yet to decide where he wishes to bury her, sadly. I don't believe they ever talked about it while the missus was still… still… with us." Hancock did not think it was possible for a robot to sound genuinely heartbroken, but this one manage to do so.
"But why the Hell does he still go up there?" He asked, noticing too late that his voice had raised slightly in volume.
"I believe it is akin to visiting a grave, sir. At least until he decides on a proper one. He tends to do that when he is upset by something, usually by a night terror I believe."
"And how would you know?"
"I asked, of course!" It went silent, save for the sound of pots and pans being moved and thrusters burning. In all the time this had been happening, it had not dawned on him to so much as even ask where Cecil had gone. He slumped forward, resting elbows on the counter and pressing his hands against his face.
"I'm a goddamn idiot."
"We all have our moments, sir." The almost smug reply had Hancock looking between is fingers at the robot; an eye stock was looking back at him, and Hancock knew if it was capable the damn thing would have rolled the optical glass in exasperation.
"I was, momentarily, going to take some food up to him. You are more than welcome to join me, sir. I am sure they won't mind the company."
The trek up to the vault was a short one, but it still seemed to take forever. Perhaps he was nervous; this would be his first time entering the vault, and not even before asking his lover if it was alright if he did. He decided, for better or worse, to attempt to gleam a little more information from the robot as they went.
"Do you always bring him food when he's up there?"
"If I know he's there, yes. Not that he needs it as much now. I remember when he had first came out of the vault, Sanctuary with just few people in it; not nearly the bustling place it was back in my day, mind you! He would be up there for days on end, sometimes weeks! Oh it was dreadful, especially if I didn't know he was up there. He would drag himself home in such a state!"
He felt mild surprise at that; the longest he had ever knew Cecil to vanish for was a day. But a week, even weeks… He could not imagine. If it had taken him this long to figure out, well… be told, where Cecil went he did not want to even think how long it would have taken him otherwise. Though, perhaps, he might have found out sooner that way; a week missing and they, himself and the rest of the Vault Dweller's friends, would have searched the Wasteland top to bottom for him.
"Truthfully, I was not thrilled when you joined our little group if you don't mind me saying. I though your little chem habit would rub off on Master Cecil in a horrible way."
He opened his mouth to say something, anger quick to boil up to the surface. It quickly simmered out, however, when Codsworth continued on as if nothing was the matter.
"But, you seem to have proven me wrong. Ever since he had met you, Master Cecil has become less dependent on visits down memory lane," Hancock now noticed how far they had gotten the conversation speeding up the process of arriving to the vault. The robot drifted over to the control panel inside one of the rusting booths and hit a button inside; carefully balancing the plate of food it had been carrying this whole time as it slid in and then out of the small space. "Mrs. Nora was a lovely, wonderful, lady… but she's gone. You seem to distract him from all that and hopefully the night terrors will come to an end soon as well."
Hancock stepped onto the platform, which began to lower just as the robotic butler hovered over it. It was louder than Hancock expected, and frankly he was surprised one could not hear it all the way down in Sanctuary. Despite the sound of metal sliding on metal, the robot did not stop talking.
"Frankly, sir, I think you are the only reason he has not gone into the deep end by now. Your friendship, and now relationship, seems to keep him going… What I am saying," The platform came to a halt, and Codsworth was quick to float directly in front of the ghoul. The heat from the thrust was hot against his knees, and Hancock knew he could smell singed cloth from his pants. "If you ever hurt him, and make him go back to wallowing weeks away in here again or anywhere else for that matter… Well, I won't ruin the surprise, but I am sure you get the general gist of it sir."
"I hear you loud and clear."
"Splendid. Come along now, the sooner he sees you the sooner he's sure to want to get out of this wretched place and spend quality time with you instead."