Boone's eyes slowly opened as he woke from another peaceful night's sleep. When the group was given access to the Lucky 38's suite, Boone hadn't trusted the set up at all. He had stayed up during the first few nights, feigned insomnia, while keeping an eye out for trouble as the others slept.
He might not have been so cautious, but that robot cowboy never left the suite, and Boone wasn't going to leave everyone helpless with that thing around. Cass had voiced the same concerns to him, and the two had agreed to keep watch in shifts. One of them would be awake at all times. They opted to not mention it to the others. It didn't seem necessary to alarm them, and The Courier had a soft spot for the robot that had dug her out of her grave.
Boone's sleep had definitely improved with this arrangement. Clean sheets and soft pillows may have helped as well. He felt peaceful and well rested, more than he had in a long time, until he turned over in the bed and found a Nightkin staring down at him.
"GOOD MORNING, SWEETY," it bellowed. Boone rolled off the bed away from the super mutant and landed in a crouch, hands going for the pistol under his pillow. He heard thundering footsteps from the hallway and The Courier's panicked voice.
"WAIT BOONE!" The girl flew into the room and flung herself in front of the nightkin. The Courier blanched at the face Boone was making and smiled weakly. The nightkin didn't seem to notice their altercation and started for the door.
"I'VE GOT TO FINISH BREAKFAST!" Boone lowered his gun and watched the hulking figure leave the room before looking back at The Courier. His finger was still on the trigger.
"That's… um, Lily… but she likes to be called 'Grandma'…" The girl ran out of the room before the sniper could retaliate.
*.*.*
The Courier carefully placed another card on the card house she had started while dinner was cooking. The molerat stew was bubbling and she had gotten bored waiting. Hearing footsteps coming her way, she looked up as Boone entered the room. He nodded a greeting and went rooting through the fridge. After retrieving a bottle of water, he sat at the table. Soon the smell of dinner had spread, and the others started filtering into the room. The Courier got up to check the stew as her companions started talking to each other.
"So, what's our next move?" Veronica said, looking over to The Courier. "We need to find that Benny guy, right?"
"Uh, well, turns out he's skipped town…" the girl said evasively, giving Cass a warning look from across the room. Cass looked annoyed, but didn't speak up.
"We've got the Chairmen on our side about the whole thing, so I don't think he'll be coming back for a while…" The Courier continued. "But now that House has got us put up and is paying the bills, I figure we can stick around here until we figure out where that creep got to."
"Sounds good to me!" Veronica said happily. The Courier started handing out bowls of stew, and the conversation died down as everyone ate.
After a few minutes of silence, Arcade looked up with a frown on his face. "I wonder what tipped Benny off… We've only been here a week…" The Courier shrugged innocently, but the doctor continued. "Based on what you've said, I didn't think he was the skittish type."
That made the girl laugh. "Oh yeah? You should have seen the look on his face when he saw me. You'd think he had… been….." The brunette's words came to a halt as she realized what she had said. The whole table was staring at her, faces varying between shock and anger.
"You saw him?" Arcade sputtered.
"You shouldn't have gone alone," Raul admonished.
The girl sat up straighter. "I didn't go alone. Cass was with me!"
"Not when he took you up to his room," Cass said flatly.
The younger woman spun her way, glaring. "Shut UP, Cass!" But she knew the damage was done.
"You went off alone with the guy who shot you in the head?" Arcade spoke. "Were you armed?"
"Yes," the girl said, defensively.
"Pfft, with a switchblade," Cass said. "He probably still had the gun he shot you with."
"Come on, guys," Veronica spoke up. "She came back alive. No harm done."
"Except he knows you're alive. And he got away with the chip, right?" Raul said. The Courier nodded, smiling sheepishly. She glanced at Boone, her smile retreating when she saw his face.
"You could have been killed," he said tersely.
"And you went along with this?" Arcade said to Cass, who glowered at him.
"What was I going to do? Hogtie her and drag her back here?"
"If that's what you had to do," came from Boone.
The Courier scowled at him. "Hey! I'm not some helpless idiot. Yeah, he got away, but I found out his whole plan!" Boone opened his mouth to speak.
"YOU KIDS PLAY NICE, NOW!" came a bellow from the doorway. The conversation abruptly stopped as Lily entered the room. "THAT'S BETTER. NOW, FINISH YOUR DINNER BEFORE IT GETS COLD. THEN IT'S BED TIME." She wandered back out, leaving everyone to eat in silence.
Later, The Courier was alone in the kitchen, washing dishes and trying very hard to act like she wasn't upset. She sensed someone approaching, but continued scrubbing the pot in her hands without turning around. She saw a pair of large blue hands pick up the clean dishes and start drying them.
"WHAT'S THE MATTER, DEAR?"
The Courier sighed, looking at the nightkin. "I didn't think everyone would be so mad…"
Lily chuckled, putting the dishes away. "THEY'RE ONLY ANGRY BECAUSE THEY CARE ABOUT YOU." She turned to the girl. "I CAN REMEMBER HOW I USED TO YELL AT YOUR GRANDFATHER WHEN HE'D GO OFF HUNTING RADSCORPIONS. I DID IT BECAUSE I WORRIED ABOUT HIM, BECAUSE I LOVED HIM."
The brunette let out a sigh and looked at her pseudo-grandmother. "Do you think they'll forgive me?"
"OF COURSE THEY WILL, DEAR. GIVE THEM TIME."
*.*.*
Arcade Gannon had seen quite a few things in his life, but a nightkin carefully folding laundry was definitely not one of them. He had walked into the suite's bathroom to find Lily humming as she sorted delicates. He started turning to leave when the super mutant's voice rang out.
"HELLO, DEAR. DO YOU NEED SOMETHING WASHED?" Arcade froze in his tracks, then slowly turned back.
"Uh, no thanks, I'll just be go-"
"DON'T BE SHY, SWEETY. I DON'T BITE." That made Arcade laugh, despite himself. He lingered in the doorway of the room, curiosity overtaking apprehension.
"So, uh, where did you say you were from?"
"OH, I GREW UP IN VAULT 17. IT WAS LOVELY. COMFORTABLE AND SAFE. BUT WE HAD TO LEAVE." Her tone became serious. At least, he thought it did. "SOMETIMES I MISS IT, BUT YOU KNOW, YOU HAVE TO ENJOY WHAT YOU'VE GOT, NOT WISH FOR WHAT YOU'VE LOST."
The doctor frowned at that. "It's not always that easy…"
"THAT'S TRUE, DEAR, BUT IT WOULD BE A SHAME TO LET THE PAST RUIN THE PRESENT." Lily picked up the stack of towels she had just finished folding and walked off to put them away. She gave the scientist a pat on the arm as she went.
He watched her go, deep in thought.
*.*.*
The Courier was reading in her room when there was a knock at the door. She looked up from the intact pre-war medical book as Boone, Arcade and Raul entered. She put the book on her desk and looked at the group again.
"Uh, is this an intervention? Because I can kick the sarsaparilla habit whenever I want. I only drink it for the star caps anyway…" She trailed off, gauging their lack of response to mean this was a serious meeting. Arcade spoke first.
"Listen, about Lily, we don't know if she's the best fit for this group."
"Yeah," Raul added. "I don't think a schizophrenic nightkin helps the team dynamic, Boss."
"She could snap at any minute. We have no clue if we can trust her," Boone said, crossing his arms over his chest.
The Courier looked at the group of them. "Woah, woah, where did this come from? Has she done anything to cause concern?"
Arcade shifted on his feet, looking uncomfortable. "Do we really have to wait until she does something dangerous?"
The Courier looked thoughtfully at them, but smiled easily. "Listen, I didn't get this far in life by doubting my ability to judge character."
Raul laughed. "Boss, you've had a hole shot out of your head, then you went and hung out with the guy who did it alone and unarmed."
"How can we trust her? Her personality could change without any warning," Arcade said, frowning. "She seems nice enough now, but this personality might not be there later…"
The Courier opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted by Lily stepping into the room.
"WHO WANTS COOKIES?" The super mutant placed a tray of cookies and a bottle of Nuka-Cola on The Courier's desk.
The girl's face lit up with joy. "Thanks, Grandma!"
"KEEP UP YOUR STUDIES, SWEETHEART." The nightkin left the room. Boone looked at The Courier, who was happily eating a cookie. He groaned and left, giving up. The others followed, Arcade grabbing a cookie on the way.
"Hey, this is pretty good," The Courier heard him say from the hallway.
A big thanks today to my editor, I had a lot of trouble with the wording on this one.