A/N:
Charon had been a part of her little gang of misfits for a while now, but he would never cease to consider her to be the weirdest of them all. Never mind the wannabe gang-leader and ex-raider. Not to mention him, the 6 foot and then some ghoul.
He remembered his first impression of her; he'd been standing in his usual spot in the Ninth Circle, minding his own business and willing the drunks around him to mind theirs or risk becoming his business, when she'd walked in. Immediately, Charon had decided something about her;
She made him uncomfortable.
She'd made him uncomfortable arming herself with naught but a knife and dressing in questionable nightwear. She'd made him uncomfortable when she had waltzed up to him wearing a huge smile and started prattling on about 'Dad' and 'Muties' and 'Wanna get a Nuka Cola together?'* and hell, she'd made him uncomfortable when she'd looked hurt when he growled for her to Talk To Ahzrukhal and even more so when she'd plunked herself down at the bar, ordering Vodka and telling his asshole employer to 'Leave the bottle, Captain.'
Charon had gritted his teeth as that piece of slime kept staring at her while she threw back shots like they were purified water and eventually struck up a conversation with the girl, keeping his voice low. At first Charon had just assumed he was trying to sell her chems, but when the smoothskin had kept throwing glances over her shoulder at him, that idea sort of got trashed all to hell. Charon had figured that if they were in fact discussing him, he probably didn't want to know what they were saying because everything about that girl made him uncomfortable.
Had he known just what she was actually planning to do with him, there was a high chance that Charon would have ran, far away from the bar, screaming at the top of his lungs and fucking contract be damned. The ghoul had actually breathed a silent sigh of relief when the weird smoothskin got down off her bar stool (not without some drunken difficulty) and swayed over to the door. He'd figured she was probably crashing at Carol's Place and had he been a crueller man, he would probably have hoped she would trip and fall over the railing to her death on the way there.
Little had Charon known that it would probably have been a lot better for him if she had…
The next day, he'd found himself being shaken out of a daydream (of all the ways he wanted to kill Ahzrukhal) by somebody saying "hey, buddy…"
He'd looked down to see that it was her; the girl from the day before. A couple of conversations among customers had informed him that she was the one that the loudmouth DJ from Galaxy News Radio had apparently started a religion too. Granted, he'd been convinced that Three Dog exaggerated her exploits (he knew better now) but he'd still had to admit they sounded impressive. From what Charon had heard of her, the kid from Vault 101 was supposed to be, for lack of a better word, good.
'Good' was not a word one often heard in the Wasteland, he'd thought. Especially in Underworld… And never in the Ninth Circle. Oh, he'd heard Ahzrukhal say plenty of times that he was 'gonna get Greta good one of these days' but that was quite obviously a different thing. The girl who had stood before him was apparently some kind of hero, but Charon had written her down as just one thing in his book, and that was capital 'C' Crazy.
"Don't worry, things will get better soon!" She'd said, for some reason trying to sound reassuring and failing miserably (Charon had by now learnt that the facial muscles needed to do so were woefully underdeveloped in that girl.) Before he could ask her what the hell she was talking about, she had danced up to Ahzrukhal, a big unnerving smile on her face.
"Ah, come to talk about Charon's contract have we?" Ahzrukhal had drawled and Charon blinked. What the heck was she doing…?
"Charon's contract?' She had replied, sounding outraged "Charon's contract? I don't give a SACK OF CAPS!" She'd all but yelled the last part and thrown a bulging, jingling bag down on the bar with a dramatic flourish.
… That was a lame-ass joke, kid Charon had wanted to say.
Ahzrukhal had seemed as shocked as Charon felt for a moment before he'd gotten his greasy mitts on the bag, untying the string and peering inside thoughtfully.
"It's all there, dontcha trust me?" She'd beamed and Ahzrukhal had smirked.
"Oh, after all the time I've been in business, I can tell it's the right amount. It feels…' He'd given the bag a shake "Right."
Yeah, that's because you have a fucking set of scales under the bar Charon had thought grimly I hope it really is the right amount in there, kid...
The girl had simply shrugged and asked for the contract and Ahzrukhal drew it from his pocket.
"It's been a pleasure doing business with you, miss... Nicky, was it?" He'd said, handing it to her
"Nyx, actually and don't go saying how 'appropriate' it is.' She'd said "Nyx and Charon, yeah I get it. We could have our own show and all that jazz."
"Miss Nyx then.' was Ahzrukhal's reply. Charon decided he hated the way he said her name. It just pissed him off that he could make something beautiful and unusual sound so goddamn dirty. "I'll give you the pleasure of informing Charon yourself."
I'm not deaf, you bastard…He'd fumed silently.
The girl (Nyx, he'd reminded himself) sauntered up to him and before he could say anything, she had piped up;
"Wanna hear a joke?" She'd sing-songed.
Charon had just stared. And she'd continued as if he'd said yes;
"So a girl walks into a bar and this ridiculously tall guy is really rude to her.' She'd paused for a moment as her eyes sparkled "And so she goes and orders vodka and talks to the bar's owner. After a couple of shots, she begins to feel really light-headed. "I think I've contracted something!" She says and the bartender replies "I think you have!" And do you know what she had contracted?"
Charon hadn't dared to presume even the most obvious answer.
"You!' She'd cried after he'd not replied, whipping out his contract from where she'd concealed it in her… Cleavage. "Congratulations!"
He'd not been entirely sure what it was he was being congratulated on, but had been willing to let it slide because damn, she'd purchased his contract. Charon had wondered if she knew what she was getting herself into…
Though at that point he really should have been wondering if he knew what he'd just been dragged into.
"Sooo, what do you say?' She had obviously been trying to cajole him into thanking her, and perhaps, Charon thought, he should have, but all that'd came out of his mouth was the usual conditioned phrase which he would utter upon his contract changing hands… With one subtle difference.
"You purchased my contract.' He'd stated "That is good to know. Please, wait here while I take care of something." The words had barely left his mouth when he'd unhooked his shotgun and began striding towards the bar. He'd rapidly become aware of the fact that Nyx was following him closely and she'd crashed into his back when he'd stopped abruptly to look at her.
"… I take it you will not honour my request for you to wait?' He'd said stiffly. She'd shaken her head and he'd sighed "Alright… But it was for your own good."
Ahzrukhal had looked up when Charon reached the bar, new employer in tow. He'd smirked at him, looking slimier than day-old Iguana bits. "Come to say goodbye, Charon?" He'd asked and Charon smirked right back at him.
"Yes."
And then he'd blown that slimy face right off his skull.
He'd heard Nyx gasp sharply but ignored her in favour of directing another shotgun blast into his former employer, splattering his carcass all over the sorry excuse for a bar. Satisfied, Charon had turned to the girl.
"Alright, let's go."
Nyx had not answered. She'd stared wide-eyed at the carnage, and then lifted a shaky hand to point at the bar's refrigerator.
"You BLASTED him on top of the fridge!" She'd shrieked and Charon looked to see that a good chunk of what he assumed had once been Ahzrukhal's face had landed neatly on top of it. It took a lot of effort to hide a triumphant grin as he began to explain himself.
"Ahzrukhal was an evil bastard. He deserved-" She'd cut him off by jumping up and down like a Little Lamplighter on a combination of Nuka Cola and gumdrops.
"That. Was. AWESOME!' She'd yelled "He fully flew EVERYWHERE! Did you mean to get him on the fridge?"
. . .
Charon had wondered if it was cause for alarm that the girl was ridiculously excited for somebody who had just been witness to what a normal person would deem cold-blooded murder. The other patrons had not seemed to agree with her enthusiasm, he'd noted. In fact, they'd looked downright horrified… And just a little bit pissed off.
"Time to hit the road, kid." He'd muttered to which she'd nodded.
"Ok! Just lemme grab those caps back!" Nyx had said, picking up the bag and shaking it to dislodge any… Ahzrukhal from it.
They'd pretty much run out of the place and Charon had stolen a glance at the strange girl who had become his employer, a thousand questions running through his head. In the end he'd asked only one;
"Where the hell did you get all those caps from?" She'd grinned.
"Ahzrukhal."
"No, I meant- what?" Charon had blinked at her as she laughed.
"I stealth-boyed past you guys and took most of them out of his safe last night." She had informed him, causing Charon stop abruptly. Nyx had apparently forgotten they were running as she tried to turn to see why he had stopped and had collided with a nearby wall.
"… Ow."
Ignoring her pain, Charon had stridden up to her, backing her against the wall "do you realise that if you'd been caught Iwould have been the one who had to kill you?' He'd growled. She'd had the decency to look afraid, but Charon had been pretty certain she was just putting it on "Do you think I'd have enjoyed that?" Nyx had shrugged; the very picture of nonchalance.
"Dunno. You seemed to enjoy wasting Ahzrukhal back there."
Charon had shaken his head, thought better of it, and nodded.
"Yes, but that disgusting rat got what was coming to him.' He'd said "and you've obviously got a brain the size of a Radroach's, but you wouldn't have deserved what he got.' He'd moved away from her then and she'd frowned.
"… I take offense at the Radroach comment." He'd heard her mutter, but ignored it and extended his hand to her.
"Come on, we've got to run, kid." She'd stared at his hand for a moment then grinned and grasped it tightly. As they'd run out of Underworld, probably just imagining they were being chased by a dozen angry drunks, Charon had become quite aware of the warmth of her smooth palm against his rough one.
Outside, the frosted late-noon sunlight had lit the mall and Charon had noticed that Nyx's hair, which in the dim light of Underworld had seemed inky black, was in actual fact dyed a midnight blue. It looked good with her pale blue eyes and even paler white skin, but he'd gotten the feeling he knew where she'd gotten the hair done.
"… Did you let Snowflake do your hair?" He'd asked in vague disbelief. She had nodded.
"Yup. He did an awesome job, huh?" Nyx twirled around like some kind of demented ballerina as she had said this and Charon had sighed again (at that point he was beginning to suspect that he would be doing it a lot around her.)
"You do realise he's usually higher than a fucking kite, don't you?" He'd questioned.
"Yes." She'd replied like it was no big deal.
"And you do realise he probably used Nuka-Cola Quantum to make that colour, right?" He'd then tried.
"Yes."
"… Not a lot worries you." He'd commented and she'd grinned.
"No."
They had begun to walk, the day already starting to die. For once the sounds of gunfire had been distant and the most prominent sound had been the wind blowing between the ruined buildings of D.C…
… The same wind which had also begun to buffet the skirt of Nyx's extremely poor excuse for attire to the point of indecency. Charon had politely looked away and cleared his throat loudly.
"Nyx."
"Yes, Charon?"
"We've got to get you some more appropriate clothing."
"Hee-hee."
Charon supposed it would have been the beginning to a beautiful friendship… If only she wouldn't make him so goddamn uncomfortable.
*Please refer to this deviantart . com / art / Two-Different-Fan-Perspectives-117037659 it makes me laugh and is a cute statement about a lot of people who support Ghoul Love. It takes guts to support it, you know. So many people hung up on looks… Sigh.
Take care! :D