A build up chapter, so please bare with me.
You know I've had it drawn to my attention I've been neglecting my other story's so i need to work on those, the next up date will be a fair bit slower in coming.
A few weeks had passed since he had come back from Count Motts. In the mean time things had gotten into a pattern. He followed Louise round all day, carried, or rather, atomized all her school books, and on occasion used his pip-boys record function to get some hard topics for later listening.
He also spent a fair bit of time with Siesta helping her out with odd jobs around the school such as washings and the like.
For two weeks this pattern continued then came the annual familiar contest.
Headmaster Osmond watch in no small amusement as the stage just about shot up. He did think he ever seen it built so fast. He told Professor Colbert so much in fact.
"Well it has to do with Louise familiar Wheatley." he said back. The two watched from the steps as the man in question worked his, thing, into position and with an odd half whistle, half-tropical bird call and another 6-inch iron spike was driven into place.
"Indeed." Osmond said his head in his hand as a worker tossed him an iron nail and he reloaded his, thing. "Funny, I was under the assumption that the staff disliked him."
"I was too." Colbert shrugged. "I asked about it and," a whistle cut him off and he spoke again. "Turns out he help one of the servants with a problem with one of the nobles."
"Really?" Osmond said, more than a little worried "How did did he do that?"
"Apparently he challenged Mott to a duel, and won." Silence stretched between the two; there concerns about just what KIND of familiar he was came back.
"And you're sure he has no runes on him?"
"Positive, the only place I have not checked that could have runes is his left hand and I'm not even sure that glove thing can come off."
"I see, perhaps it's for the best then." He said. The two kept watching the stage grew. At this rate, it would be done a few days early.
"Excuse me." The two turned to see a somewhat upset Louise. "Do you know where my familiar is?"
"He's helping build the stage." Colbert pointed at him and Louise stomped off to confront him.
A short walk latter she was in front of the stage bellowing at the man holding the improvised nail gun.
"What are you doing?" he looked down.
"I thought I lend a hand, the fact I am getting paid for my time may also have something to do with It." with that he drove another spike into the stage affixing a plank with ease.
"Paid! You're my familiar I'm suppose to take care of you! Not the other way round." For her trouble a rail road spike slammed between her feet scaring her just about a foot in the air and setting her hair on edge.
"I thought we went over this whole 'I'm a person thing." He said back with a frown. "In any case my caps are useless here and I do have expenses." He did not mention how much powder he was wasting trying to hand load 5.56 cartages, he just was not any good at it. Back home he had heard of some hand loader back west who could make a bullet that made armor look like paper, but was it just was not a east cost skill.
"Beside, well over half my time back home was spent on odd jobs, did I ever tell you about the time I delivered a letter and ended up having to deal with vampires?"
"Vampires!" Louise gaped along with more than a few workers.
"Well, so they claimed." He shrugged. "Point is you never know what will happen." Silence for a moment, he shrugged and shot another plank into place.
"What do you need any way Louise?"
"Your suppose to be practicing your sword!" she growled at last.
"O yes this, familiar contest. We both know that Tabitha's going to win, she summoned a friggen dragon! I can't compete with that." he said at her frown.
"Beside I have no powers." Louise tapped her left arm. "My pip-boy? It does all the power I can't do squat save be a good shot."
"And the sword fighting?" She replied.
Wheatley ignored her for a second. "Right the stage is down! Where too now?" a cry came back they need a hand with the curtains.
"On it." Then to Louise. "I have no clue. I been meaning to read up about that Gandalfr perk on my pip boy, except when I get the library I remember, I can't read. I'll have to talk to Colbert."
"You want me to get you some children s books?" she smirked hoping to get under his skin. It failed.
"That might actually be a good idea." he shrugged. "In any case it may not be important in the short term, but I can not tell you how many times my life has been saved by a book." and with that he slid another rail road spike into the rifle turned nail gun.
"I'll get to work on the sword thing latter I'll wrap this up first." and with that he walked off to lend a hand with the curtains.
Louise fumed and stomped off in no small annoyance. The princess was coming and her familiar was treating it like a big joke.
SHIFT
Two hours latter Wheatley tapped his pip-boy in no small annoyance as he looked at the offending image on the screen. Nearby Louise read a book on a chair and Derflinger was resting on his hip.
Normally his pip-boys list of perks showed what it did, though he always thought it pulled the numbers out of its ass, so to speak.
This time though nothing. The only description was, Error, the image in question, again he had to ask where it came from? The image showed the vault boy with runes on his left hand looking curiously at his hand scratching his head with the other.
He frowned deeper as he glared at it. "I really need to find out what the hell this thing is." he sighed and leaned his back to the stone wall in thought.
"Quit lazing off!" a irate Louise yelled from her chair as she read her book.
"Your one talk." he said back.
"For your information I am trying to look up your rune your so worried about." she said back with a snarl.
"What is with you? You been snipy as hell the last few days." he said back with more then a touch of venom.
"The princess will be there to watch and I want to make a good impression!" She said back sharply.
"You two good friend or something?" he leaned back. "Cuz, quite frankly if its all just a political ambition thing,"
"I would never!" she said back, the sheer outrage putting him on the defensive. "OK, OK!" he said raising his hands to placate her. He stood back up and unsheathed Derflinger.
"Any advice? I mean your the sword?"
"Don't sweat it, I mean your the Gandalfr." he glared into the hilt.
"Care to explain what you know about it bud?"
"What you don't know? Come on! You moved like a natural when you beat that pompous count up."
"You did what!" Louise said dropping her book as her face went red with anger and confusion.
"I did challenge him to a duel first, nice and legal assuming duels are legal in the first place." he rubbed the back of her head as Louise quivered in anger.
"You, stupid! Dog!" she said looking for words to place her anger. At some point Wheatley had crossed a line. Between beating a noble up, the accusation of political ambition in impressing the princess, and his lack of diligence in leaning how to use a weapon he had admitted to having no clue how to use.
"umm, you know back home we have a expression." he said as she drew her wand.
"And that is?" she growled.
"Discretion is the better part of valor." with that he de-atomized his Chinese stealth armor and turned invisible. Louise looked around sharply wondering where the heck he had gone, and how he had done that!
"Nice trick." Derflinger whispered as the two crept though the school. "You know magic does not normally effect me so this is some handy bit of kit."
"Shut up Derf, were being sneaky." Wheatley growled back. For a few minutes they made there way though the school till they got to a wooden shack and Wheatley uncloaked at last and entered, and found two old friends.
The first was professor Colbert who was working on a lab table that lined a wall with all sorts of chemicals on it. The second prompt him to speak up before he fully atomized his stealth armor.
"You still have that thing?" spread out on the floor was the Death Claw that had come though the summing with him. Colbert started, almost dropping one of his beakers and turned to face Wheatley.
"Wheatley! What are you doing here?"
"I seem to have crossed a line with Louise and am one wand wave away from being blown up." he shrugged in his time with her he had noticed her explosions tended to the loud, but non lethal kind. "Any way you still have this guy?" he pointed at the Death Claw and Colbert nodded.
"yes. Its incredibly interesting!" he said walking over and lifting a flap of skin to revel where he had done a dissection. "at first I thought it was some dragon subspecies but after dissection it actually had more in common, taxidermicly speaking, with a lizard."
"Gee what gave you that idea." Wheatley said sarcasticly scratching a scale off its neck.
"Well," Colbert started and Wheatley preempted him.
"Save it, I know a long winded explanation when I hear one. A more mundane question is why is this thing has not rotten yet?"
"A few preservation charms." he said pointing them out.
"I see." Wheatley said the shrugged. "Mind if I stay here I need a word with a magic sword and Louise is still likely mad as heck." he drew Derflinger and glared at the hilt.
"Fine by me." Colbert said turning back to his beakers of Dragons blood, only to turn back in shock when he heard the first sentence Wheatley said.
"Ok then, whats a Gandalfr?"
"Gandalfr? Why do you ask?" Wheatley held his pip-boy up.
"Some kind of runes are on my left hand under my pip-boy, and according to my pip-boy there something called Gandalfr effecting me. What it does I have no idea." he shrugged.
"I thought that thing was part of your arm?" he said surprised.
"It is, sort of." he shrugged. "The way I understand it is that the thing fuses to my arm when the bio lock engages."
"May I see?" Colbert asked.
"I, really don't like taking my Pip-boy off." he said, but he did reluctantly take it off to show the teacher.
For a few moment Colbert looked at the runes before Wheatley drew his arm back and slid his pip-boy back on it and flexed his hand a few times.
"For the record this is the most time I have ever spent with out my pip-boy sine I was ten." Colbert nodded. "So what's a Gandalfr?"
"O." Colbert said getting out of his musings on what this meant. "A Gandalfr is a kind of legendary familiar only used by the founder him self it was said to be a master at any weapon."
"I can attest to that." at his look he replayed. "Technically I have never had any formal training with any weapons, much less complicated sword forms. Also when I used Derflinger it was like I was ultra-jetting and everything just about stood still."
"Jetting?" Colbert asked.
"It's, ah crap, I really do not want to explain." Colbert nodded he knew how that felt and let it drop. "So what kind of world are you from any way?"
"A dead one." he said simply. At Colbert odd look he shrugged. "Ask me when you have a spare globe or map available I'll be able to put in perspective. I grew up with it and I don't understand it half the time."
"I see." Colbert said with a nod. "Excuse me I have, some business I should get back too."
Wheatley nodded. "I'll wait here till I think Louise would blow me up when she see's me."
"Just, please be carefully a lot stuff here is flammable." and with that Colbert left, the shack, but once out of sight he started to run, the headmaster had to know about this!
Wheatley leaned back against a wall with only a dead Death Claw for company. With a sigh he de atomized a well worn of copy of guns and bullets and started to thumb though it.
"I need a better reading book." he said at last.