Thanks much for the congrats, new reviews and favourites! Keeps me going, folks. :) FYI, occasionally I put up two chapters in one day, sometimes on either side of FFs update rollover, so click back if you think you're missing something, you might've.
She had passed Moriarty brooding over the town again on her way inside, trading a simpering smile for his nasty glare. Cort peeled in through the door to the dim saloon and waved politely to Nova who was downstairs for a change, the saloon being mostly deserted again in the afternoon heat. The woman waved back distractedly and returned to slumping against the wall with a blank look on her face. Slinging up on her favoured stool, she chirped at the bartender.
"Hi Gob!"
"Hey Cort, you're back!" Watching the ghoul hurry over from the sink, Cort rested her chin in her hands and grinned.
"Course I am. Have to make hay while the sun shines and all that, visit while I can." She thumped her heels together and smiled wider. "Nuka?"
Grabbing one from under the bar, he levered the cap off and handed it over, shaking his head. "You're lucky these things aren't addictive, the way you peel through them."
"Hey! I like the fizz. There's nothing wrong with that." Holding her nose over the end of the bottle, Cort giggled as the effervescent liquid tickled her nose. Gob was sure his heart had skipped over a beat or two listening to her do it. Sneezing from the bubbles, she finally glanced back up to him. "Did you enjoy your letters?" Watching his face take on a pained expression before going blank, she frowned. "What happened?"
"...Nothing." Gob looked down, refusing to make eye contact with her. Both of them jumped when Nova spoke up from the corner and successfully lit Cort's fuse with what she said.
"Nothing my ass, honey. Moriarty took them away from him this morning for being a distraction while working. Bullshit, I'm the only one that works in their bedroom."
The bartender was hunching in on himself, still not looking up. "I'm not allowed to have them anymore, or new ones. Or writing my own." This quiet admission managed to ignite Cort's smouldering temper into a full-blown rage.
"WHAT?" Bellowing, she stood up on the rungs of her stool and leaned over the bar. She mentally cursed at herself when Gob cowered back from her, then slammed a hand down and vaulted over the bar. Grabbing him gently by the shoulders and tilting her head back, she looked up at him. "I'll go fix it. Promise." Spinning, she jumped back over the bar and barreled out the front door, skidding to a halt in front of the Irishman. "You give him back his fucking letters right now."
"And pardon me, I'll do no such thing, you meddling little brat. I do what I want to what I own under my own roof." Leaning back against the railing, he gave her a shit-eating grin that she ached to slap from his face, stopping only when she bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to make it bleed.
Give them back, or I'll make you give them back."
"Oh and we're trying to make cute little threats now, are we. Bless the child. You don't have what it takes, girlie. Even if you did, I'm a pillar of this community. They'd eat you alive if you so much as threw a punch."
Cort stared at him without blinking as she thought rapidly. Having been separated from her only remaining parent, Carol had filled a void for Cort, however briefly, and the thought of Gob being denied contact with his adoptive mother had thrown her into absolute fit of righteous indignation. Motherfucking manipulative bastard. Motherfucking piss-soaked manipulative bast- "Oh. Oh." Still not breaking eye contact Cort started laughing, scaling up and down crazily; Moriarty's grin faded as he took on a more guarded look.
"And what might be so funny lassie? Share the joke?"
Slapping a knee, Cort reduced herself to giggling in spurts. "I'm just thinking how funny it would be to find out what the community will think of their pillar when they find out he's been pissing in the fucking still. Jericho in particular would probably love to know that little tidbit." She smiled viciously when he started. "Oh yeah, I know. Firsthand experience. And don't tell me I can't prove it. You know who my father is, tell me I don't know how to isolate that out of the booze you're serving up with the correct equipment I just happen to now have. Don't try to tell me they won't believe the poor little Vault girl who disarmed the fucking bomb over you either. Now give me back Gob's letters, or so help me I will end you, one way or the other."
Moriarty pushed off the railing, looking for all the world like he was about to strike her, and she felt dangerously elated, close to hearing the chimes in the back of her head for the first time in weeks. Oh please you sonofabitch. Do it. Right now. I need to kill someone anyway, It's been hours and it would feel so nice to choke it out of you by inches.
"You're playing a dangerous game. You're good, but you're not that good. Nobody's as good as Colin."
"I might not be, but ask yourself if I am that fucking crazy." Cort stared him down, still smiling and mentally begging him to take a swing until Moriarty flipped a hand in and out of a pocket, throwing Gob's letters to her left before storming back into the bar. She snapped them neatly out of the air without looking and followed behind him. "Thanks!"
He turned back and pointed at her before vanishing into the back room. "You're done for, lass. Done."
Swinging back into her seat, Cort mumbled to herself while straightening out the crumpled papers, ignoring the open-mouthed stares coming from Gob and Nova. "I'll be done with you when I kill you." She placed the sheets gently on the bar in front of Gob, who had creeped back over after Moriarty had disappeared. "There. I fixed it."
"What did you just do kid?" The ghoul was staring at her like he had never seen her before, and she felt her temper dissipate entirely into a confused depression.
"What I promised. He won't take them again, don't worry." She watched him delicately pick up the papers and tuck them back into his pocket.
Gob shook his head slowly. "That's not what I'm worried about." Not sure what to do but wanting the sad, bewildered look off of Cort's face, he tentatively pushed the forgotten soda back in front of her. "Don't forget this, huh?"
"Oh! No, I won't. Thank you."
Gob watched her smile and drink the fizzy beverage happily, shaking his head. It was like watching a switch being flipped in her. Busying himself when two scavengers drifted in for booze, he left Cort alone for a long while, who continued to sit contentedly at the bar while waiting for him to finish. Whatever had happened was nuts, but he had his letters back, and it had been nice seeing Moriarty taken down a few pegs for once. Gob felt better the more he thought about it, and the kid was perfectly calm now. She had probably just lost her temper over all the hard work it had taken her to bring the letters back to him being wasted, and there was no way Moriarty could do anything to her. Not the girl who had done all the things on the radio. Him, after Cort left, maybe, which Gob decided firmly not to tell her about. That wouldn't hurt her, and she couldn't change it anyway. He'd take an extra whack or two in trade for what he had seen today, and what he was seeing now. The kid was still smiling a little, pretty grey eyes following him occasionally as he worked. She was always so kind to him, and even Charon had looked close to something resembling what might have been happy last ni- Wait. Last night.
Gob paused, thinking hard about the previous evening, then internally shrugged, walking over to lean in front of her again. What the hell, it hurt less to go out on a limb and fall off than regret not trying, and I've got a long time to regret. I'd rather get my feelings hurt than stop having them, even if everything does suck. "Cort?"
She blinked and moved her eyes back to him. "Yeees?" Gob focused on those and rushed forward before he lost his nerve.
"What you said about smoothskin men yesterday. D-did you mean it?"
"So far, yeah, actually. I met more nice guys in Underworld than I did out here. I think you and Crow are probably the only ones outside of there who haven't been total dicks to me. Maybe some in Lyon's Pride." Cort's face fell. "I miss Crow. I really miss Crow. That was the first time I've been totally happy since...well since I got out here."
Gob slumped a little inside. I knew I was crazy. Well, nothing ventured. "You have a thing for him, huh."
"I don't have a thing for anybody, really, Gob. Maybe I could've, but I don't think so any more. I'm...different now. There's...things I can't do anymore. And I can't stop looking for my Dad, so that kind of throws a wrench in everything. Like my entire life. I'm pretty sure that was my fault anyway, as it is. Pardon the awful pun, but I think my relation-ship has sailed. It would have been nice, though." Cort rested her chin on the mouth of her Nuka bottle and stared blankly at the back wall for a moment before continuing. "Besides, I've got good friends like you, and Charon, and I've got Dogmeat. That's more than enough. Really." Squeezing her eyes tightly shut for a moment, she drained the last of her soda and pushed back while blinking rapidly to keep from weeping in front of the bartender, not wanting to upset him. "I'm gonna go Gob, okay? I'm still tired from yesterday. I'll see you tomorrow before I go for anything you want to send back down to Carol."
Gob watched her dart out the door, wishing for all the world he could run after her to fix whatever it was he had just done, and not daring to. Fighting down his own urge to cry with a skill born from long practice and abuse, he picked up a glass and started polishing it.
Charon jerked up from where he had been dozing on the couch when Cort burst into the house and slapped the door shut, leaning against it and staring wide-eyed at nothing. Looking at her, he swore under his breath. Oh holy fuck. Something's set her off her nut again. Here we fucking go. "Alright, what radroach crawled up your fucking ass this time?"
"Nothing. I was just talking with Gob and I got tired and I wanted to come home, okay?" Charon frowned and walked closer. The kid's eyes were too shiny and she still wasn't looking anywhere aside from straight ahead.
"Like hell nothing. Don't tell me that pathetic mess did something to fuck you up this much. Did someone do something to the mutt?" Charon doubted anything could have happened to the dog without Cort loudly murdering whoever was responsible, but it was the only thing he could think of after noticing his absence.
Cort snapped her head around to face him. "Dogmeat's playing with one of the kids, and that pathetic mess is the reason you're out here with me, Charon. I couldn't get him out, so I got you out, but he's not you, so try not to despise him too much, huh? Not everyone can be as perfect as you are."
Charon looked at her, incredulous. "That's who you were too fucking gutless to get out? You spent fucking weeks busting up shit to buy my contract off Ahzrukhal, and you couldn't figure out how to pay off some shithead Irishman in a pissant town for a fucking lousy bartender?"
Cort practically screeched at him in response. "I can't get him out! Don't you think I've wracked my brains out on it and everything else, all I do is fucking think all the time! There's no way that bastard is as easy to fool as Ahzrukhal was and I could never come up with enough caps, he'd just jack the amount up to hell out of spite. I can't kill him, not as long as I need to have a safe place to come while I'm trying to find my fucking Dad. All I want to do is stop and I can't and I hate it. I can't do the right thing and I hate it, I don't even know what the right thing to do is anymore and I hate it, and I hate HIM. He fucking left and I HATE HIM!" Cort dropped the floor and bawled, finally cracking again under the strain of everything.
Charon positively gaped at her before swearing again, loudly. "Fuck kid, knock it off!" Cort hunched and cried even harder. Charon put his hands on the back of his head and shifted from foot to foot, staring. This was the last thing he had ever expected to come out of her, and he had no idea how to handle it. Generally the ghoul had made people cry for fun, not tried to stop someone from doing it. I can't even go get the motherfucking dog to come fix this, I'd have to shove her away from the shitting door to leave and there's no fucking way any part of that plan would fly over well.
Standing there for a few more minutes and getting no new ideas, Charon winced when she started winding up into flat out wails. Fucking fuck it. I'll move her to the couch and tell her I'm going to find the fucking dog, she'll just have to deal with it. Walking over to the door, Charon shoved his hands under Cort's arms and lifted, staggering back and grunting when she launched herself up at him. Yeah, this was a fucking fantastic idea. What the hell do I do now. The girl was latched onto him, arms wrapped around his neck and legs around his waist in what was practically a death grip. Also, his neck was getting decidedly and disturbingly wet where her face was buried into it.
"Fuck." Briefly considering trying to peel or shake her off and dismissing both just as quickly, Charon placed an arm around her hips for balance and walked slowly back and forth, trying to think of what a normal person would do. She was crying. People cried because they were sad. People stopped when they were happier. What made the kid happy. The motherfucking dog made the kid happy. He couldn't go get the dog without humiliating both of them unless the kid let go, and the kid wasn't letting go because she was sad. Breathing firmly and slowly out, Charon tried to find a way out of the circle he had just made in his head. Okay. So what would the fucking dog do to make her happ...aw, crap. No. No fucking way.
What finally decided him was noticing the very pertinent fact that Cort had become quieter, if not any drier, since being picked up. Giving in, Charon wrapped his other arm around her back and made the closest approximation to cuddling that he was capable of. For a moment he panicked, thinking he had made it even worse when she gripped tighter, then relaxed when her crying started to settle down. Back starting to ache, he moved over to the couch and sat down on the edge, waiting. Cort mumbled out a question some time later, after her breathing had evened out.
"What am I supposed to do now?" Sighing heavily, he answered.
"Finish the shit you started and find your jackhole old man. Get that particular nightmare the fuck over with, it's driving you crazy. Then we can do whatever you want, to whoever you want. Go anywhere. Rip shit apart. Maybe let the fuck go of me at some point." Twitching, Cort slid off of him immediately and clumsily moved down the couch, clearly embarrassed.
"Sorry. I'm sorry." Charon rolled his eyes and roughly pulled her back against his side, then wiped at the damp patch on his neck with his free hand.
"Fuck's sakes, Cort. You wear me out, you know that?"
Dogmeat clicked up the ramp and around the side of his world's den sometime in the early evening, thoroughly and happily worn out. He had spent the entire afternoon tearing around Megaton with the boy, and it had been nice to play. Grabbing the doorknob in his mouth, he twisted it open and pushed his way inside, then skidded to a halt. Something had upset his world; he could smell it saturated into everything. Turning to look for what needed to be ripped apart, he saw her slumped against the big one, who was slouched back and dozing with an arm draped around her.
Padding over he sniffed carefully at them both. Whatever had gone wrong, the big one seemed to have been a good moon and fixed it, however a very good moon wouldn't have allowed it to happen in the first place. Crawling up on his world's other side after returning to push the door shut, he put his head in her lap and whuffed quietly when she rubbed his ears. He would make it a point later to make sure the big one learned how to prevent things, but for now he was tired, and fell asleep with her tugging at his fur.
I've actually trained a couple of my cats how to open the lever type door handles inside my house, so Dogmeat should be able to handle one he can fit in his mouth. Also, never teach cats how to open your freaking bedroom door. Unless I lock it now I'm up at 3 in the morning with a paw flicking my nose.