"How in the world are neon signs still intact?" Fay pushed her glasses up higher on her nose and followed the bright curves of the glass with her eyes. Of all the things to contemplate in this new turn of events, it was over the delicate, gas filled, flickering sign that buzzed above. Goodneighbor in blue and pink, like it was some nice little diner. Soon her thoughts were on food and her stomach gave a loud growl. Best to just go inside and get it over with.
"Ah, fuckin' 'ell, will you just go inside, you idiot?" Cait growled and pushed past her to throw the peeling warped door. "Damn prewar pansies, waiting around to get shived." The red head looked back and impatiently gestured for her to come in. Fay just frowned and stomped past.
At first glance, the town looked rather well kept. Little debris, no corpses strewn about, wanderers that actually look partially fed, if still fairly...high as a kite. She glanced between the two store fronts and perked up. They were both manned by some very interesting individuals. A robot and a ghoul! Fay grinned and started towards the general store, mentally making a list of questions to ask the petite ghoul behind the counter.
Before she could get too close though, a grimy man in ripped leathers stepped in front of her and grinned. "Hey there, girlie. Welcome to Goodneighbor."
The tone of his voice put steel in her spine and she frowned up at him. "Hello. Is there something you needed?" she asked, resting her hand on the freshly acquired power fist latched to her hip.
The wind picked up and blew his stench into her face as he leaned down a bit. "It's more what you need from me. Now, you're new to this place. I just wanted to offer you up some insurance." He lit a cigarette and blew some smoke. "Wouldn't want your pretty little face getting marked up, now would you?"
"This pretty little face can take care of itself," she said, settling back onto her heels. This shit gave her the creeps but it's not something she couldn't handle. Fay slammed the heel of her hand into his chest and pushed him back a step or two.
"That was a bad idea, bitch," he growled and threw his fresh cigarette to the ground. "Give me everything you've got and maybe I won't have you gutted. Or better yet, I could always have you pay me in other ways. Considering your get up, you're begging for a cock."
As he reached a hand out to her, she snorted and grabbed his wrist, pulling it back to the tendons limit. "You're funny. What's your name?" she asked over his yell of pain.
"F-Finn! Let go!"
"Tsk tsk. No can do, Finn." He let out more cries of pain as she slowly twisted his wrist back more. "Now, is this any way to treat a lady? You should be giving me your arm and a nice tour of the place. What do you have to say for yourself?"
"I'm sorry!" he shrieked, lowering to his knees as she pulled his whole arm into a lock.
Cait scoffed and pushed herself away from her seat against the wall. "Just teach him a lesson already, Fay. I want to get some grub."
Fay glanced at the red head and sighed. "I suppose you're right. Though I doubt it will be enough to keep him from doing this again." Finn whimpered out soft pleas from the ground. With a quick twist, she snapped his wrist. Of course the man screamed, but she just shoved him to the side. "Maybe next time, you should take the name of your town to heart. Be a good neighbor."
The sound of clapping caught her attention and she glanced up to see a ghoul in a bright red revolutionary style coat walking up to her as he applauded. More ghouls. This place seemed to be full of them. She straightened up, adjusted her glasses, and met him half way. "I like your style, sister. Sorry about the less then stellar welcome," said the ghoul, offering a hand and a grin. Now it was easy to see he was a man from the broad shoulders and deep voice. Fay took his hand and gave it a shake, noticing how his eyes widened a bit and the grin slipped from his face.
"With the few weeks I've been out here, I'm not surprised. That was one of the more tame hellos, to be perfectly honest." He was slow to let go of her hand and goosebumps rose on her arms as his palm rubbed along her own. The texture of his hand was a bit different from the last ghoul she had shook hands with. Neither had been bad. Different for sure, but this… Fay shifted her shoulders a bit and tried to stand up straighter.
"A few weeks, you say?" His eyes locked onto her Pipboy and he gave a chuckle. "Vault girl. That explains it. Well, let me say properly. Welcome to Goodneighbor. Name's Hancock and I'm mayor around here. Now allow me to give you that tour you mentioned earlier." Before she could reply, he took her arm, threaded it through his and lead her away from the store fronts and to an alley along the side. A tall woman in armor straightened up as they approached. "Take care of him for me, Far. I've warned him and now it's time for some action," he told her and jerked his chin towards Finn who was getting up. The woman nodded and strode over to grab him.
Fay watched until Hancock started walking her away, pulling her along with him. "Not to sound rude or anything, but what are you going to do with him," she asked, looking up at the nose less man.
"What a good mayor should do. Get ride of the trash." A frown found it's way to her face as she realized what he meant. They were going to kill him. Not that she wouldn't have done the same thing if he'd pushed her. The laws, now old and nonexistent these days, were burned into her heart. It felt wrong. "I was about to take care of him myself but it was much nicer to see your little show there. I don't think I've seen someone move quite that fast before." He met her gaze and gave a half grin. For all the scarring, discoloration, and missing nose, he was quite good looking. It brought a warmth to her face and she looked away and ahead.
"I keep forgetting that the people here deal with crimes more...harshly and a lot quicker," she said, pulled on the braid that fell over her shoulder with her free hand.
They stopped in front of a large white building and Hancock patted the wall affectionately. "This here is my place. It's open at all hours to everyone. Plenty of beds with anyone that can't afford a place at Rexford. And of course, yours truly is up at the top ready to help out when I can."
Before he could continue, Cait strode up and thrust her hand out at Fay. "Oi, boss. Before you get too chummy with the peeler, I need a cut so I can get a fix."
The shorter women pursed her lips. "You need to cut that stuff, Cait."
"We've already went over this. Don't give me shite. Just give me my fucking cut."
Fay sighed and slipped her arm from Hancock's to dig in her pack. She pulled out a few packs of mentats, a syringe of psycho, a puffer of jet and some caps and dropped them into the open hand. "Sell the mentats to get some food. Meet me at whatever hotel there is around here when you're done." Cait nodded and took off.
"You uh, don't like chems?" His gruff voice pulled her back to the man beside her. His face was set hard and his whole posture stiff.
"No, it's not that," she replied and shouldered her pack again. "Cait just gets very hard to be around when she does anything. Aggressive, tries to fight anything nearby, including me." A sigh escaped her as she rubbed her eyes under her glasses. "Now, shall we continue this tour?"
Hancock tipped his hat back as he continued to stare at her with a straight and rather intimating face. Fay felt her face grow warm and straightened up. What was his problem? Did she have something on her face or was it the chem comment? After almost a solid 20 seconds she scoffed and turned to find her own way around but he finally spoke. "You are one odd human, sister."
"Yeah, well, you aren't so normal yourself with you revolutionary get up and missing nose," she bit back, taking another step back. "Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to find a place to stay and get something to eat." And with that, she turned around started off towards the other end of the alleyway.
"Woah woah, hold on now." She jerked to a stop as he grabbed her pack and pulled her backwards towards him again. "I didn't mean to disrespect, doll. You can't blame me to lookin' a bit at the nicer things around me," the ghoul said as he flipped her around and put an arm over her shoulders. "And it seems to me like you need to relax. Let me help ya out."
Tension once again set her shoulders. This guy was really grabby, but he was offering help. Plus it would be good to get the in with the local "authorities" per say. This Hancock obviously had all the connections. Fay looked up at him again, finding that easy half grin on his face again and she returned it with a small smile of her own. "You know, that sounds pretty good. I'm sure you have a place to get boozed."
"Right around the corner. It'll be on me."