Holy balls its been a long time, right? I have a lot of excuses, but you guys just want to get to the update of course. You can thank TehKinkehWalrus for inspiring me to get back into Fallout. We have a joint account under verysaggyladies and you should check out our story for Fallout 4 over there.

NOTE: you can find me on Twitter if you care to, for updates, questions or suggestions. I post update changes there, or what stories are discontinued, things like that. Twitter: LikePicklez


VIII :: Too Much Confidence ::


MINION


Dinner is nice.

I don't mean this dinner, just dinner in general; starving is not fun, and I did a lot of it out in the Wasteland like everybody else.

But tonight, I have caps, and I go down to the market and sit at a big table and tell Charon to pick whatever he wants from the crudely wrote menu we were handed moments ago.

He stares at his a lot longer than I stare at mine, because I already know all that I want, and Angela has fed me before so I won't have to specify amounts but I want Charon to think about what he wants instead of what he can have.

People stare, of course, no surprise there with me and my hair and Charon and his. . .well, his everything. The snobs don't take kindly to ghouls, the lower deck were brain-washed with lies about ghouls and probably are confused as to why he isn't charging around the room spewing radiation and trying to tear their throats out. But no one says anything, their second glances don't last long, probably because he's with me and I've crafted a reputation.

"You ready to order," Angela skips up, all smiles and sunshine as usual, an old ring on her finger that doesn't shimmer in the light like it did two hundred years ago, probably perched on a fancy woman's finger before. "I recommend the Mirelurk cakes, of course."

"I'll have those, Salisbury steak, sweetrolls and Nuka-Cola."

Angela hums as she writes, shifting her weight as she looks over at Charon. "And you, hon?"

He looks up, mildly confused and folds his menu with practiced ease, holding it up for her to take. "The same as my employer."

"That makes it easier on me," Angela chuckled and folds our menus into the crook of her elbow. "Alright, your food will be out shortly!"

I chuckled. "She always has the best energy," I watched Charon adjust the position of his utensils on either side of his plate. . .mine were just thrown on top of my plate. "Etiquette classes or. . .?"

He peered at me from beneath his brow and straightened himself; I hadn't even noticed he slouched. "I would rather not say."

"So classes," I paused. "Why teach a trained bodyguard etiquette?"

"I would rather not say."

"Anything you would like to say?"

"Quite a few things, yes."

"I bet they're all really mean."

"Possibly."

"Wanna grab a drink after this?"

"I do not drink alcohol."

"Well you're just tons of fun."

The back-and-forth is cut off by cheers from the bar where Gary is entertaining at his grill, flipping steaks and cutting one in mid-air. I chuckled when people clapped, a piece of steak having been flicked into one of the on-lookers mouth from his knife. I did like the energy here sometimes, when people weren't being complete assholes; some said it was because of me, and I called bullshit, I don't cause this much happiness.

"Here's your food," Angela broke my concentration as she wheeled out a cart loaded with food; my mouth watered. "I know Minion's appetite, and you're quite the man, so I just grabbed what I could without the damage being too bad."

"Girl, I'm paying, you don't have to worry about that," I reached over to the tray as she set out Nuka-Cola's and several bottles of water on the table.

"For the medicine Preston gave you," she fished out two little pills. "And some old prescription pain killers. They're way past the expiration date, but they do dull some of the pain without getting you addicted to Med-X again."

"Thanks, chica," I grabbed the pills and quickly downed them, drinking from the water first. "I'll make sure I finish at least two of these bottles so Preston doesn't implode."

Angela chuckled. "Enjoy your meal."

"I plan on it."

Charon had already grabbed his food, organized it too neatly on his side of the table, while I just slid whatever I could fit onto my plate. Even though I was the one pretty and dressed nicely, I looked like the savage and not him, maybe that was why no one was giving him the stink eye anymore.

"Orgasmic," I mumbled around a mouthful of Mirelurk cake.

"Can you refrain from talking like that while we eat," Charon requested after a hearty bite of his white mush.

I stuck my tongue out at him but conceded, the both of us eating in relative silence for awhile. We were both pretty hungry and the food was good, so that was something; we wouldn't be able to eat like this again for awhile, and I wanted to savor it to be honest.

"I want this to be normal again," I murmured, looking up and around at the people really enjoying themselves. "I want this. . .to not be a luxury."

A tall dream, with people leaning against the jukebox, listening to old music from people centuries dead. People laughing at a man who cooked their food with flare, a girl with a ring that would never shine like it was meant to. A good meal, even ancient and almost stale, should be the norm and not something you strived for on a daily basis. They should be in houses, have jobs, have food, have money, have a life where blood and guts and monsters were only on holotape and in your nightmares.

Dad always told me I had amazing dreams, ones I probably wouldn't be around to see fulfilled.

"I took this for granted, in the Vault," I murmured, cutting at my steak. "I took for granted clean water, and food, pretty dresses, makeup, being able to sleep without keeping one eye open and a gun in my hand. I hated the Vault, never fit in, but that didn't mean some didn't and me and my father. . .we ruined that for them. We opened the Vault, we got out, let the world in. . .I destroyed them."

Charon said nothing, and I didn't really want him to say anything because he hadn't been there, he didn't know what had happened with the Vault and my father, the lives so rudely torn apart in the middle of the night. Maybe they were all right, maybe my father and I were just monsters all along.

"Your father was the first out," Charon stated around a mouthful of sweetroll; I was surprised he even took one for himself. "He opened the Vault, not you."

"I don't care what you say," I sighed, taking a hearty, burning sip of my Nuka-Cola. "I won't get into a debate about it. . .but I feel that way," I paused and shrugged. "Just accept it, okay?"

He didn't say anything, just continued to eat and I chuckled, finishing my Cola. We continued to eat in relative silence, listening to the chatter around us, the music playing from the radios and the jukebox. Nothing overlapped, everything flowed, like the speakers in the Vault, music to my ears, something I never thought I would admit to enjoy.

The sounds of normalcy.


He talks again.

Its jumbled, and it doesn't make much sense, but Charon doesn't hear it so I don't delve into it too far because he'll just straight up shoot ED-E this time, whether it pisses me off or not.

I sent the hulking bastard down to the showers, doubting anyone would give him a hard time, even let him take my Pip-Boy to listen to the radio. He said he probably wouldn't use it, but the way he looked at it said he definitely would. I did want him to just have a good time, even for a moment, because after this. . .we were headed back out into the wasteland.

Luxuries, as minimal as they were here, would be over.

I sighed, laying back against the pillows and letting my wet hair soak into the fabric, stretching my arms and my legs out against the sheets. ED-E was powered down in the corner, having been run through extra diagnostics by Li before we shoved off. I was gonna grab another fusion core on my way out probably, in case he needed to be charged again, or in case something went wrong. I didn't want to lose my little trash can, he was pretty cool and I also didn't want to lose any opportunity to figure out this whole voice thing going on.

"Gonna go talk to Li about that," I murmured and shimmied out of bed, shorts riding up on me but I didn't care.

I scoops up ED-E into my arms, grunting under his weight, but I still didn't want to turn him back on again. I struggled with both doors on my way to the lab, almost slipping down the stairs from my wet hair dripping around my feet and the combined weight in my arms.

Li glared as I set ED-E on the rolling table she seemed to favor when working on him.

"What is it now," Li places a hand on her hip, other hand holding a clipboard. "I've run all the tests, he will be ready by the time you leave."

I shook my head. "No, no this is different - he's been speaking."

Li cocked her head. "Well, he is a special case, perhaps someone integrated an A.I. into his sy -"

"No, no this. . ." I scratched the back of my head. "I mean, you didn't find an A.I. pattern in there did you?" Li shook her head. "Okay, so its an outside source. He was doing it almost day one, and they knew my name. I think someone is listening to me through it but I don't know how, why or where they're coming from. Think you can help me trace it?"

"Mm, perhaps - but I lack the technology at the moment. If you can pay, I can bring in the equipment."

I groaned. "Any other way?"

"Well. . .there's the Brotherhood, but you can't just go in and say you have someone spying on you through your bot. They'll either ignore you or destroy it for you bringing a possible threat to their door."

"So I just gotta try to get into the Citadel," I sighed. "Awesome."


CHARON


"Bongo! Bongo! Bongo! I don' wanna leave the Congo oh no-no-no-no-no!"

He just wants her to shut up.

"A binga-banga-bongo 'm so happy in the jungle I refuse Ta gooooooo!"

Its the only thing he wants in this world.

"Mistress," he says softly, but his gravel-tone seems to catch her attention as she spins on her heel and looks at him, walking backwards with her gun over her shoulder. "Could you please cease your singing? We could be heard by threats."

She snorts and turns back around, pointing at the sky with her gun. "I have you and a bot to protect me! I don't need to stop shit, as far as I'm concerned anything that comes my way today can go fuck itself."

Charon sighed but continued on behind her as she sang without a care, skipping and calling the words wrong. They had been walking for an hour, passing Wilhelm's Warf twenty minutes ago and they were nearly to Megaton, and yet they had passed no threats. The air was calm and cool, raiders seemingly ignoring them for napping on the edge of the bridge they inhabited near the Citadel. Charon had voiced his concerns, and yet there seemed to be none at the moment to back up his worries.

But he kept his eyes on the bot.

Enclave technology, as far as he was concerned.

Yes, there had been eyebots before the bombs, spouting news, on television, personal uses and such, but now only the Enclave used them to broadcast their propaganda. Charon didn't trust it, considering Minion knew nothing of the voice on the other side of the speaker, and they could probably see them as well, or hear them all the same.

"Why are you so uptight? Its a calm day."

It was, but there was always something in the Wasteland to prove you wrong the moment you admitted it.

Charon said nothing and continued to walk dutifully behind Minion, who seemed content with just listening to the next song on the radio. Megaton lingered in the distance now, wavering in the heat waves coming off of the hills while they remained a neutral temperature.

"I think I wanna go blow something up tomorrow," Minion hummed.

Charon sighed softly.

"What, you don't wanna blow anything up?"

"Not necessarily, no."

"Well, what do you want to do, huh?"

He hadn't thought about it.

"Do you own a sniper rifle?"

She peered back over her shoulder, looking up to the sky as she thought. "I can get one."

"I would like to go and clear out a raider nest with a sniper rifle."

She was quiet for a beat. "Okay!" She chirped. "We do that, we restock and rest and stuff like that and then we head out tomorrow! Maybe someone knows of a good place around here we can start at."

Charon nodded, though she wasn't looking at him, and felt something odd in his chest. He couldn't explain it, though it felt like contentment almost. The only time he was allowed things like this was his smoke break, maybe he would get to rough up someone for Ahzruhkal on his own. To get a say in what he wanted, he was grateful, but he wouldn't say it out loud like she would probably like.

Or not, he didn't understand this employer, and knew he probably should not considering their time spent together already. For years, he had served military personnel, governors, even spent some time in the White House and some of the prominent military bases. After the war, he had been tasked with keeping one person safe, one very important person, and he had fucked it all up. Then it was whoever got ahold of the contract. Gunners, raiders that weren't too fucked up, slimy men and women of the underground, Talon, a couple of times he was in the West under the control of corrupt NCR officials.

Charon had seen many things, many people, all shapes and sizes, mental capacities, or lack-there-of mostly.

But Charon had never once met a person like Minion, he knew that even in their short time together.


MINION


"You did what now?!"

I looked over at Gob from the side of my Nuka-Cola, caught his gaping face, hands gripping the edge of the bar. I shrugged and set down my bottle, licking my lips as I did so; bubbles popped oh my tongue.

"I took a great big bite out of his heart."

Gob blinked slowly at me, scratching at the side of his head. "Min, I sent you down there for a companion, not to make a scene."

"Really? This is me we're talking about."

He opened his mouth, possibly to protest, and then closed it. "Point taken."

I smirked, reaching for my bottle, but the door to Gob's left, my right, flew open and slammed him into the counter. The sad thing is, he didn't scream like I would have, he just winced, used to such torture and my blood set to a soft simmer. Moriarty came out of the room, slamming the door shut and grabbing Gob by the back of his throat.

"Min' tellin me what the fuck is wrong on this here paper, huh," he shoved the clipboard in his hand into Gob's face. "Am I seein shite, or am I short this month?"

"I-I -"

Moriarty slammed Gob's head into the counter and that's when Gob screamed, his face scrunched up, blood trickling out of where his nose would be. My hand closed around Moriarty's wrist, my glare set to stun and he seemed to be for a moment but then his lip curled and he swung up, back of his hand connecting to my cheek and sending me toppling back out of my stool. I called out something, most likely a curse word, but rage made me blind as I rubbed the back of my head, trying to sit up but a boot squared me flat in the chest and pressed me back to the floor.

"Coul' do the whole Wasteland a mighty big fava and just end ya now," he twisted his boot in my chest and I grabbed his ankle with both hands. "Probably be a fuckin' hero."

"Nah," I gasped. "You'd still be a slimy piece of shit."

Moriarty growled, pressing more weight against my chest, and I screamed at the pain, being bathed in light the moment the door swung open. I heard the very loud metallic clang of a shotgun and then Moriarty's head was in bits all over me. I scrambled from beneath his body as it went slack, hitting its knees before it slumped over and blood ran across the floor.

People scrambled out of the bar, some too stunned to move, just like me until Charon hauled me to my feet. He kept me close against his side, glaring at the puddle of brain matter on the floor. . .the bar. . .the ceiling. . .Jesus Christ it was everywhere.

"Charon," Gob choked as he straightened up, looking stunned, and in pain. "You got Charon?!"

I didn't say anything, just stared at the floor, confused minutely about why Gob was so stunned. I ate his employers heart, of course I brought him home with me.

There was the heavy pounding of boots on the floor and behind me, I could hear Simms asking what the Hell was going on but Gob said his name a couple of times and said something about explaining. Good, because I couldn't, my mouth was so dry, it felt like I had a mouthful of dirt between my teeth.

Charon started shuffling me along, out into the sun that blinded me. I turned my face against his side, forcing him to walk me slowly down and up ramps; the entire town seemed silent. When I looked up, people stopped and stared in horror as we passed, and I didn't even have it in me to sneer or say anything.

Charon unlocked the door and that's when I finally peeled myself away from him, hearing the literal sound of peeling on his armor and wondered vaguely when he had gotten hurt because I was pretty sure Moriarty was the only one hurt back there. He didn't say anything, he just watched me go up the stairs, destination the bathroom because I felt a bit sticky from the whole ordeal; how much of Charon's blood got on me?

I shut the door softly behind me and sighed, running a hand back through my hair but it was cold and wet, blood staining the palm of my hand. My eyes widened and I walked over to the mirror in the corner, wiping the grime off of it the best I could and tried to find my reflection.

I looked like Death.

I must have been in the path of Moriarty's blood than I realized, it had coated me halfway down my body from my head to my stomach. It was beginning to dry around my face, my wide eyes, my trembling lips. I raised my hands, flipping them over, flexing my fingers, watching the red crack around my knuckles as I curled a fist.

I punched the mirror.