Charon slept peacefully, his face relaxed and almost…happy looking. I felt like a creeper. I'm crouching down, right in front of his face, smoking a cigarette just staring at him. He's been sleeping for a few hours now, and I get bored. I wanted to try and count the areas on his body that were showing muscle, but it was too dark and confusing. I'd never seen veins before, and got distracted when I saw them around his muscle. I tell you, actually seeing how the human body works is pretty fucking awesome.

I leaned back, inhaling on my cigarette and exhaling smoke into the world. I half wanted to wake him, but I couldn't find a reason to. Just to say hi seemed pretty stupid. I stood up and walked to the edge of the second floor platform. Maybe back before the bombs fell, about two hundred years ago, this was a pretty nice house. Now it just provided a good overnight shelter for me and my ghoul companion.

I leaned on the edge of the wall. The desert always looked silvery at night. The sand sparkled in the moon, and the clouds were…they were strange looking, that's for sure. Luckily it didn't get too cold at night here, so I was never freezing. Silver and chilly, that's the desert at night. Glancing over at Charon, I smiled. His legs were sprawled out and his arms hung over the edge of the mattress. He was too tall for it, his feet hanging off the edge. He seemed pretty comfortable though, despite his awkward height. Or maybe when he was a human, people were just taller. Nah. I've never met anyone as tall as Charon. Well, once I ran into this guy named Crazy Wolfgang. He's pretty tall, maybe just as tall as Charon.

I tossed my cigarette out into the sand. Walking over to my pack, I pulled out my cap purse. It's a small pouch I like to keep my caps in, so they don't get scattered around my pack and fall out. Money is money, you know. I dumped out all the caps on the floor in front of me, and began counting. I made a deal with Charon, we would split everything in half. So that's what I'm doing, cutting it all in half. What else am I supposed to do? Keep watch for enemies who aren't coming? They'd step on a mine first of all, and I'd know they were there when they did.

I had too many caps to count. I just made two piles, and went back and forth, dropping one cap in each. They made a nice clanking sound as they fell, and it made me smile a bit. I always liked finding rhythm in oddball things. It let my mind wander, and think thoughts that weren't so bad. You know what I'm wondering now? What would happen if I tore up Charon's contract? I mean, it seems he saves it out of self-preservation. Without that shit paper, does he really have a purpose? It's all he seems trained to know is that thing, without it, what happens?

As curious as I am to discover the outcome of this problem, I'm not going to. Charon is unpredictable. If I rip his contract, he could very well kill me, or himself. I'd be pissed if someone destroyed the only thing I had to live for. Oh, wait, they kind of did. My dad. Those fucking Enclave. I'd really make them pay if I ran into them again. I'd be in my own mindset, and just send them all straight to hell.

Sighing, I finally finished separating the caps. I dug around in my pack for another small pouch, and I found one.

"This is Charon's money pouch."

I said no one, gathering all the caps. I tied the pouch closed and looked at it. I wonder what he'd buy. Weapons and ammo, probably. Glancing up, I saw him sleeping still. It made me smirk, and I saw him arm. It was still busted up, and I could see a dark stain on the white gauze.

"You're not a fast healer, are you?"

I smiled and shook my head. Back in my pack, I found an empty water bottle.

"You stay here, Charon. I'll be right back."

Talking to someone, even if that someone is dead asleep, made me feel better. I'm not sure what it made me feel better about, but it worked. I quietly went down the planks, and jumped into the soft dirt. There had to be a puddle or patch of radiation around here somewhere. I began to walk around the house, looking for the gleam of a puddle. Sure enough, I found one a few yards away. I could still see the house, and I was very quiet. If there were any enemies nearby, I didn't want them to know where I was.

My Pip-Boy ticked furiously as I dipped my hands in the puddle. I looked over and checked my Radiation Level. It wasn't that bad, I just had to make sure to find and take some Rad-Away, so I didn't get sick. I filled the bottle up, and wiped my hands on my outfit. Screwing the cap closed, I headed back to camp. I hope I get good points for doing this.

Charon was thankfully still sleeping soundly when I returned. I sighed, and tried to find an extra piece of gauze or cloth to soak in water. There was nothing left in my pack by way of gauze, and I sighed.

"I should have grabbed more…"

I looked around the platform, my eyes finally adjusted to the dark. No cloth anywhere. I brushed a clump of dirt off my tights, and smiled.

"Dez, the genius."

I poked a hole in my legging with a sharp piece of wood. Tearing off a strip, I smiled. It would do very good. Crawling over to Charon, I quietly removed the gauze from his arm. He was still bleeding, but probably hadn't noticed since I gave him so much Med-X. I poured some of the water over the piece of nylon, and lightly cleaned up Charon's cut.

It seemed like almost instantly it began to heal. The bleeding stopped, and I could see how deep it was. I pouted, it was pretty bad. Re-wetting the nylon, I put more water on it, hoping to speed up the healing process. I was about to replace the gauze, when I felt his arm jerk. He moved quickly, wrapping his hand around my neck. I dropped the water bottle and cloth, and stared at him. He opened his eyes, and let me go instantly.

"Dez, what are you doing?"

Note: Never creep around a sleeping mercenary. They will become paranoid and attack you.

"I...uhm…I was…here."

I quickly picked up the water bottle and gave it to him. Only a little had spilled out, and Charon took it from me. He looked at his arm, and motioned for me to continue. I picked up the gauze, and bean to tie it around his arm. He drank the rest of the water, licking his lips.

"I didn't mean to wake you."

I said, not looking directly at him.

"It's alright. I didn't mean to scare you like I did."

"I understand why you did though. I should do the same thing."

I tied the gauze back on, and smoothed it over with my hands. It took two of my hands to fit around one of Charon's muscles. I shuddered, and took my hands off of him. He tossed the empty water bottle outside the abandoned, ruined house and searched for a cigarette. He lit one, and handed me one too. I took it and watched him rub his eyes.

"You can go back to sleep, I'm not tired yet."

Charon shook his head, yawning. His teeth were the color of tree bark, and I figured it had something to do with the radiation. Gob didn't have pearly white teeth, either. Charon didn't have fingernails, or ears, or a nose. He caught me looking at him, and I felt my face get hot.

"It took about a year for me to look like this."

I picked my head up, taking a drag off the smoke in my hand.

"How'd it happen?"

"My skin got really dry, and started peeling away. At first I thought it was normal, just dead skin. Then one day I woke up, scratched my head, and a chunk of my scalp fell off."

"Did it hurt?"

"No."

I nodded. I looked at the red muscles and blue veins that showed through.

"Does it…does it hurt now?"

"It does not hurt at all."

He put his left arm onto his right, and smoked his cigarette, sitting against the wall.

"How did…how'd you turn out like this? Like a ghoul. Were you born a ghoul?"

Charon glared at me, and I knew to change the question.

"How'd you end up working for Ahzrukhal?"

Again, he glared at me. I watched him take a drag from his cigarette, and inhale slowly.

"Don't ask."

I bit my lip. Okay, so that was a sensitive topic, too.

"So…all you did in the Ninth Circle was be a bouncer?"

He seemed more comfortable with this question and I relaxed a bit.

"No. Raiders often liked to come into Underworld. When they did, Cerberus and I would take care of them."

"The robot?"

"Yes."

"So he is a guard dog! I knew it!"

Charon narrowed his eyes at me. He got off of the mattress and stood at the giant hole in the wall, looking out at the desert.

"You can sleep now."

He threw the cigarette out into the field. I sat on the old bed and pulled up my Pip-Boy map again.

"If you want, we can just head straight to the campground, avoiding the waste disposal and traveling a little farther from Fort Bannister."

"If it is what you wish."

"I think that's a good idea."

Charon shrugged and kept staring. He was always, always, always looking for something to look at. Even when there was obviously nothing out there, he was still looking. I sighed, and pulled my feet up on the mattress.

"You sure you don't want to sleep anymore?"

He nodded. I remembered his share of the caps I had made, and grabbed his pouch.

"Charon, think fast!"

I threw the bag and he caught it without a second glance. I smirked, one day, I will trick his reflexes.

"What is this?"

He fingered the pouch and opened it.

"Your caps. Fifty-fifty, remember?"

He looked at me, closing the pouch and shoving it into his pocket.

"I do not require payment, nor do I expect it."

"It's your money you helped me find. Spend it on something nice, will ya?"

"Is that an order?"

"Charon…"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. I really couldn't sleep, I wasn't tired, but I figured I could at least try. I laid down on the dirty mattress, and curled up in the fetal position. I close my eyes, and heard Charon pacing on the landing. I opened one eye and saw him pick my gun up and tinker with it. Hey if he was going to repair that piece of shit for me, then good luck to him. Lord knows I have no idea what to do with it.