Ava groaned as the sunlight peeked through the cracks in the old saloon. Last night was ranked as one of her top five worst evenings ever to occur to her. What sort of best friend kicked you out of your old home moments after you save them from utter destruction?
The kind you didn't need any more, thought Ava. Fuck them. I have Charon, Gob and Nova. I don't need anyone else.
She was wrapped tightly in the thin blanket, yet she did not remember coming into bed back at Gob's. Sitting up, she saw Charon, her ghoul, sitting at the small table near her bed. He rested his head on the table top itself and his deep, rattling breaths let her know he was deep asleep. Ava's guns and shoes were laid neatly by the door and she smiled warmly to herself. The rest of the evening came back to her. Sitting outside the vault. Charon sitting beside her. Crying. A powerful arm around her shoulders. And then sleep. There had to be some remnant of a heart left inside Charon if he cared enough to bring her back to Gob's and tuck her into bed. Something was in there, she was sure of it. The bed was comfortable for wasteland standards, but she couldn't lie around all day. She glanced at her pip-boy for the time and gasped. It was already almost four in the afternoon. The whole day had been wasted and her mood soured once again. Ava stood up and quietly pulled her shoes on. She gave Charon one more look before walking out the door. He looked so peaceful. Leaning over, she very lightly planted a kiss on the back of his head.
"Thanks for everything sleeping beauty. See you downstairs," she whispered before closing the door behind her.
Charon's eyes flashed open before the door had even closed. He rubbed the back of his head, over the very spot that he felt Ava touch. It tingled with a sort of…pleasure? Was it pleasure? He wasn't sure. He picked up most of their weapons and strapped them to his back. With two sniper rifles, two combat shotguns, two Chinese assault rifles, Ava's favorite .44 Magnum and Charon's combat knife, he looked like a walking armory.
Downstairs, Charon took his seat next to Ava. Nova and Gob snickered at the sight of Charon carrying so many weapons. The larger ghoul growled in their direction, quieting them.
"You look like a man on a mission," commented Ava.
"Half of these are yours. You're a big girl, and I am not your pack mule. Carry them," said Charon gruffly. Ava gladly took her weapons, feeling quite naked without them.
"We're going to the Citadel. I think I'm ready to look for that G.E.C.K. I told you guys about. I promise I'll be back to visit soon, okay?" said Ava as both Nova and Gob came over and hugged her goodbye.
"Take care of her!" Gob said to Charon's back.
"Always," he grunted.
Nova looked up at Gob the moment Ava and Charon stepped out the door. "You think he cares for her? I agree with Ava, he just gets annoyed with everyone."
"You girls must be blind. Charon's got it bad; as bad as I have ever seen it," said Gob.
The sun was beginning to set, and they had just arrived at the Citadel's gate. There, Ava heard the Brotherhood of Steel knights talking about a ferry just down the way.
"Yeah, that ferry came Point Lookout. The bombs never fell there. It's…a weird place," said one of the knights.
"You said the ferry is down the shoreline?" asked Ava. The knight nodded and continued his conversation with his squad mates. Ava tipped her head in the ferry's direction and asked the ghoul, "Wanna check it out?"
"Why not? The Brotherhood won't be eager to let me inside the Citadel anyway, might as well put it off," said Charon.
A worried looking woman practically ran up to Ava when they arrived at the dock, completely ignoring the large ghoul beside her, and grasped Ava's hand.
"You! Are you going to Point Lookout?" asked the ragged, older woman. "I'm Catherine. My daughter, Nadine, stowed away on the Duchess Gambit a few weeks ago and I haven't heard from her since! Could you look for her? I'll do anything!" Ava choked up. The woman had her mother's name. Charon let out a sigh. He forgot at times that Ava was "the heroine of the wastes" and that everyone expected some sort of help from her. Maybe if Ava didn't have such a soft spot for the weak, they could be left alone.
"I can't promise anything, but I'll do my best to find her ma'am," said Ava.
"That Tobar fellow said he dropped her off at Point Lookout but hasn't seen her since. If you find her, please give her this note and ask her to come back with you," pleaded Catherine. The woman shoved a worn piece of paper into Ava's hands and she tucked it safely into her pocket.
"What can you tell me about Nadine?" Ava asked.
"She's about your age but with bright orange hair. She told me she wanted to find fame and fortune but I forbade it. I should have known better," said Catherine with a frown. Ava patted the woman's shoulder and smiled.
"You did nothing wrong. You care for her is all. I'll be back as soon as I can," said Ava.
"Thank you so much Miss. Please, stay safe!"
Ava and Charon walked down the dilapidated dock and a man strolled out of a room on the ferry and greeted them with open arms. He wore a tattered coat and an old army hat.
"Hello there! I'm Tobar the ferryman and this beautiful vessel is the Duchess Gambit! I'm heading back to Point Lookout, interested in coming?" asked Tobar.
"Dad taught me not to accept rides from strangers," said Ava.
"Aha, but he's not here and I'm not a stranger because just told you my name," Tobar replied with a grin.
"He thinks he's clever," said Charon so that only Ava could hear. "How…quaint."
"How much to get to Point Lookout?" she asked as she boarded the ferry.
"300 caps. You can pay me when we get there, but your dog here is gonna have to stay behind. The swamp folk don't take kindly to his type," said Tobar, holding up a hand to prevent Charon from stepping any further. A growl rumbled deep inside Charon's chest, but he kept quiet. Ava turned to him with mild panic in her eyes. Going somewhere without Charon felt…wrong.
"You'll be fine. I shall be here when you return," said Charon. The thought of leaving Ava was making him nervous. Point Lookout was far away. If anything happened to her, he would never forgive himself. Charon looked down at her and saw her watery, green eyes. It was almost enough to make him crumble.
"I'll get this done really fast, I promise," said Ava in a shaky voice. Charon patted her upper arm roughly before she walked back onto the ferry. Tobar walked up the steps and sounded the horn, letting the wasteland know of his departure. Ava stood at the stern, gripping the railing for dear life and never taking her eyes off Charon. As the ferry slowly began to move, she waved with a sad, faraway smile and blew the ghoul a kiss.
Charon felt his heart lodge in his throat for the hundredth time since partnering up with his Smoothskin and his mind began to go a million miles an hour. Should he stay? Should he go? If he went after her, his weapons would be soaked. He could always clean them out; it wouldn't be much trouble. Could he swim fast enough to catch up to the ferry? Of course he could; it was a fucking ferry, not a speedboat. What if Tobar found out? Fuck Tobar, that simple-minded fool. Did Ava want him to follow? Did he want to follow her? Hell yes he did; he would follow his Smoothskin to the ends of the Earth and back if he had to and it was then that he dove head first into the water.
Ava's angled jaw dropped. She had watched Charon's face with interest as it quickly contorted from a grim expression, to confusion, and finally to a strange sort of happiness and satisfaction. He leapt into the water. He was coming after her, Tobar be damned. She looked over the side of the ferry and Charon had already caught up and was clambering onto the deck as quietly as he could.
"The things I do for you, Ava," muttered Charon. Ava wrapped her arms tightly around Charon's waist. He froze in silent shock as Ava pressed her body against his. She was small and warm. Ava gently took his hands and guided them to the small of her back before wrapping her arms around him once again.
"On a scale of one through ten, how uncomfortable am I making you?" she whispered, hoping Tobar could not hear.
"…Six," Charon answered. He grinned stupidly, grateful that she could not see and rested his chin on her head. She didn't seem to mind that he was soaking wet. This, he didn't really know what "this" was anymore, but it was right.
"The sun and the sky kind of look like fire, don't they? It's beautiful," she said quietly.
"I have seen something far more…beautiful. Everything else pales in comparison. I believe it has ruined me," he said. Ava smiled and thought back to the very first day they had ever met. She had wanted to send him away so quickly but now life without Charon looked bleak and meaningless. She couldn't ask for a better man to have by her side.
"My father would have liked you," Ava said suddenly.
"Is that so? He wouldn't mind his only daughter, who is not even twenty, cavorting about the Capital Wasteland with a beer in one hand, a gun in the other, and a slightly crazed, blood-thirsty ghoul by her side?" asked Charon, suppressing a smirk.
"Maybe not with a beer in my hand. Everything else, he'd be okay with I think. I…I miss him so much. Why did he tell me to run? I feel like I left him to die back there," said Ava.
"From what you've told me back at the Arlington House, there was nothing you could have done. If you stayed, his death would have been for naught." Charon's stomach rumbled loudly and Ava choked out a laugh.
"I'll go buy us some food off that moron. Wait in the cabin, I don't want Tobar to turn the ferry around," said Ava. Charon freed Ava from his arms and walked into the small cabin. There was a cot in one corner, large enough for Ava but definitely not him, a toilet opposite the bed and a small, yellowed sofa that he also would not fit on. Damn his height. The only comfortable bed he'd ever slept in was Ava's bizarre heart-shaped bed at Tenpenny Tower. He hoped Ava would hurry. He had not eaten all day.
Ava walked up the steps to where Tobar stood. He looked over at her and gave her a toothy grin.
"What can I do ya for, ma'am?" asked Tobar.
There he goes, trying to be clever. Charon would knock his ass out so fast, thought Ava.
"I need food. Lots of it."
Tobar pulled a carton of food from underneath the ferry's steering wheel and Ava picked out an assortment of food, including Fancy Lad Snack Cakes, Dandy Boy apples and iguana bits. She paid Tobar his caps and gathered most of the food under one arm.
"So, uh, wanna eat dinner in my cabin with me? I haven't had such lovely company since that Nadine girl," Tobar said as he dragged a long, dirty finger down Ava's arm. She reached for her .44 Magnum and used the end of the barrel to scratch underneath her chin. Tobar backed off almost immediately.
"I like being alone when I eat," she grunted. Ava rushed down the steps, disgusted that another man had laid a hand on her and walked into her cabin.
"What the hell took so long? I'm starving!" said Charon, stepping out from behind the door. Ava tossed him a couple of boxes over her shoulder and he caught them without effort.
"Tobar was trying to get me to go to his cabin for 'dinner.' Dinner my ass," said Ava as she sat on the floor near the cot. Charon had taken a seat on the cot, leaning against the wall and resting his feet on the cot's edge.
"What?!" Charon snapped. Ava looked up at him from the floor with a mouthful of snack cakes.
"Don't get jealous, I obviously said no," she said with a smirk.
"I am not jealous. I am protective of what I consider mi…you know, if I wasn't the way I am, people might succeed in killing or taking advantage of you," he spat before devouring his food.
"Key word there is 'might.' Either way, it's sweet. How'd you turn out to be such a sweetie pie, Charon?" Ava asked, clasping her hands together and giving the ghoul a mocking sort of smile.
"My mother rolled me in sugar and the slavers could not resist," he answered, the sarcasm dripping from his mouth. Ava almost choked on her last snack cake at his remark.
Finished with her meal, Ava began repairing her sniper rifle using parts from the spare they had found some time ago. Charon watched her intently, glad that she had picked up one of his better habits since they met. Ava lifted the rifle to her shoulder and adjusted the scope to her liking. He swiftly realized how strangely she held the rifle.
"No wonder you are always injuring your shoulder. You are holding it incorrectly. Come," he said and patted the space between his legs. Ava jumped up and sat between his knees, leaning against his chest. The act felt strangely intimate and almost every fiber of his being was screaming for him to push her away, yet he could not. Instead, Charon wrapped his arms around her and showed her how to hold the rifle properly by placing the butt of the gun just above her armpit and not against her actual shoulder. He rested his chin on her shoulder for a few seconds and adjusted the scope. Ava smiled as she felt his breath on her neck.
"How does this feel?" Charon asked. He was no longer talking about the rifle, he noticed, and waited for her answer.
Ava was not sure if Charon meant the rifle or how they were sitting but either way, her answer was the same. "Perfection. Nothing feels better."
She leaned into his chest further and said, "I'm not gonna lie. You make a good pillow. I'm sleeping here. That couch looked gross anyway. On a scale of one through ten, how nervous am I making you?" she asked with sly grin.
He looked down at her in disbelief. This was…flirtation. He was sure of it. "Seven. Seven out of ten, but you can stay. Just don't drool all over my arms, Smoothskin."
"I think I should be worried about you drooling on my head. I'll get rad poisoning," she teased.
"Fuck you, Ava," he said with a laugh. Ava loved hearing it. It made her smile more than anything else. If she could make the meanest ghoul in the wastes crack a smile and laugh at her stupid jokes, then surely she could find a lost girl in the swamps. Maybe even find the G.E.C.K.
