I Don't Dance...
It wasn't that Charon didn't like Underworld…He still thought of it as 'home'. Home meaning- a place to come back to if his current employer (Gloria) died and there was no line of succession for his contract.
His employer told him that her home in Megaton was also his home…
Charon didn't need a place to call home. He didn't need the security and peace of mind that a home can bring. He didn't like being tied to a place, or confined to walls.
What he did like was the dusty air, the hard ground. The danger! The thrill!
Splattering Raider brains all over the wasteland.
That was 'his' preference.
Gloria, however had a different perspective of Wasteland living.
While he was trigger happy, she was trigger shy.
He liked to kill, she liked to fix.
He liked CRAM , she liked INSTAMASH.
The list could go on and on. Surprisingly they got along; quite well actually.
But while Charon liked being outside, Gloria liked being inside.
Like right now, they were in Underworld. For some strange reason his employer loved Underworld.
Which he thought was odd because the place had so many damn Ferals crawling around and his employer was terrified of them. One reason she loved the rundown Ghoul city was there was always something for her to do. Like fix the hell out of 'everything'. By the time their third visit came around Winthrop had stopped calling her 'Smoothskin' and started calling her Gloria. He even made her part of the Underworld maintenance Staff.
Whenever she knew they would be coming to Underworld she would stock up on wonder glue, nails, wires, scrap metal, seemingly worthless junk.
But she worked well, literally making something out of nothing.
He was leaning against the wall guarding Gloria's pack and armor while she sat cross-legged on the floor; a screw driver in one hand in the other several wires. Dogmeat was in a sphinx position as he watched his master fix…whatever it was. She tucked the screw driver behind her ear and began whipping the dirt and grime off of one of the several large fans lying around with her 101 utility suit. The thing looked like it had been through hell and back. Several hole and rips were on the legs of the outfit and every other inch of the thing was filthy.
She placed the fan into a large machine and flipped a switch. She sat up from her position when the machine moaned and groaned but eventually came back to life. Dogmeat jumped up when Gloria let out a large whoop. A cold burst of air hit him from one of the ceiling vents, dirt and dust came blasting out as well.
"Winthrop! Winthrop!" she yelled dashing out of the room arms above her head and pre-war high-tops squeaking on the floor. Dogmeat barked and ran after his master Charon not far behind.
"Look!" she dragged Winthrop over to one of the vents near the floor. She pulled his hand down so he could feel the air.
"While I'll be a perky sonofa' bitch." He had been working on the air-conditioning for months. Gloria did a little spin. "This calls for a celebration!" she exclaimed. She played with the contraption on her arms and turned a knob up; Three Dogs voice came on.
"Now ol' three dog has a special treat for you kiddies,enjoy…"
A tune that no one ever heard before came on that didn't stop Gloria though. As soon as she recognized a beat she began to sway and moving her feet. "Woof!" Dogmeat and Charon arrived at the scene. Gloria laughed as her precious pooch ran circles around her. "Come on Winthrop dance with me!" she ignored his protests. (He said something about a bajillion other thinks that needed to be fixed) and mumbles (about how he hadn't danced in years)
Charon sat down on a bench and out of the corner of his eye he saw the door of Carols Place open "Oh Greta! This is that song I was telling you about!" the two female ghouls can bounding down the stairs.
"Hey buddy wus up?"Charon felt a hand land on his shoulder and roll off "Op there is goes again!" slurred the Underworld drunk Patches "Min if I sit here?" he picked up his unattached arm and gestured to the bench Charon was currently sitting on. Charon only grumbled as he watched his employer be twirled by the head of Underworld Maintenance. By now just about everyone is Underworld caught wind of the air-conditioning and joined in on the 'Celebration'. Most of the pre-war Ghouls like Carol and Flora were really into the music.
"Charon!" his employer called him, she had a big smile on and her eyes were bright. She grabbed his rough hands and tried to pull him up from his sitting position "Dance with me!" she giggled when she noticed patched humming an offbeat tune to the music swaying in his seat. Charon grumbled something "What was that Charon?" she asked innocently "I don't dance" she laughed "You can't be serious! Everyone dances!" she let go of his hand and spun around. "Pritty smoothskin I'll danse wicha!" slurred Patches "Thanks Patches but I think your feet are sewn on the opposite feet today" she said sweetly. Patches look down at his feet "Well lokkie there, they are…"
"Now," Gloria redirected her attention to Charon "Get up Mr. Grumpy Pants." He obeyed and stood like his employer instructed. The first song ended and another one started, it wasn't as upbeat as the first one but still a pre-war classic. "See look, it easy," she grabbed his hands again trying to get him to sway to the beat of the music. It looked rather comical. Charon was just standing there with a stoic expression on while Gloria moved her feet to the music. She laughed at his statuesque composure, he just grumbled again. She rolled he eyes and let go of his hands "Fine," she started defeated "You can sit down now." Her smile wasn't a big and bright as before as he sat back down on the bench. Gloria walked across the room to sit on a bench with Flora.
Patches gave Charon a lopsided look. "Wassa matter witcha?" he asked pointing towards his employer; he paused for a long while collecting his thoughts "Ya gotta make yer pretty smoothskin smile buddy." He leaned to one side "Yeah pritty smoothskin…" Patches leaned so far to the side he fell off the bench; passed out. Charon grumbled for the millionth time that day. Since when did Gloria become his pretty smoothskin?
Dogmeat came trotting over to him resting his head on his lap giving him 'the look'. Charon looked down at Gloria's dog.
He let out a low growl as well as a look that sad 'You broke my person, fix her' suddenly Charon felt like the bad guy. He gave the dog a pat on the head. Dogmeat barked looking proud and dignified in some odd way before trotting over to Gloria.
Gloria's eyes lit up when she saw Charon following Dogmeat. He smile grew wider when he held out his hand.
"Dance with me."
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I only own my version of The Lone Wanderer (Gloria) my version on Dogmeat. And Flora the Ghoul
Charon and the rest of the Fallout world belongs to Bethesda.
Oh jeez this thing took me forever to write. What got me to finish was the inspiration I got from "But I'd Never Let You Go" By izzum :0 go read it, her Charon dances!
Patches was fun to write xD plus I put in some Winthrop I like Winthrop
The songs I envisioned in the back ground were these…
First song: Shake Rattle and Roll-by Bill Haley and The Comets
Second song : Searching-by the Coasters
Third song: Personality- Lloyd Price (this is my Charon Theme song for some strange reason…)