Goodneighbour was just how Nora left it; falling apart at the seams. Crumbling buildings that might collapse any minute; streets crowded with chem addicts looking for a fix and people willing to stab you over even the smallest disagreement.

It was still far more of a home than Diamond City or Sanctuary ever were.

Nora grinned as she made her way to the Memory Den, weaving her way through the ever crowded streets. It's neon red sign shone through the fog beginning to settle, glowing like a beacon of good luck.

Okay, so the Memory Den wasn't some perfect haven that made everything better; but it was the place that had helped lead her closer to finding Kellogg. So, basically the same thing.

Putting her hands against the gnarled wooden door, Nora pushed it open with a grunt and strode inside. "Hey, anyone home?" she called as she turned the corner.

As expected, Irma lay across her love seat in that cute feathered dress, cigarette in one hand and a battered copy of the Silver Shroud on the other. Huh. Nora had never pegged her as the comic book type.

"Ah, if it isn't my favourite customer." Irma beamed at her from across the room, setting the comic carefully on her knee. "Didn't think I would see you back so soon; need Amari's help again?"

A laugh left Nora's lips and she shook her head, ignoring how strands of dark hair fell in her eyes. It was definitely getting too long. "Actually I came to say thanks. You and Amari did one hell of a thing - you have no idea how grateful I am." Finally she had a solid lead on Sean. Her baby wasn't lost for good.

Irma's eyes softened and she straightened up to pat the space beside her. "I'm glad we helped. I must say it was an odd request - one that might not even have worked. I'm glad it all paid off."

They shared a warm smile for a moment, tears pricking the corner of Nora's eyes. Sometimes this world still felt like a nightmare - impossible and suffocating, too crazy to be real. It was people like Irma, Amari and Nick that made her realise not everything was so terrible.

Irma reached out a slender hand - pristine for post-apocalyptic living - and placed it against Nora's shoulder. "You know you're always welcome here. If you ever want to have a try of our pods - for their intended use, no more crime solving - go ahead. No charge."

Nora rose a brow. Honestly, the entire concept was just weird. She didn't like to think how easy it was to manipulate thoughts and memories. The future certainly was full of oddities. "Thanks Irma, but I think I'll pass. It was kind of you to offer, though."

Irma simply smiled fondly and shrugged. One hand reached out to pluck a packet of cigarettes from the beat up side table, the other reaching for a light. "It isn't for everyone. Some people find it creepy, some find it… addictive. I've been told it's even more intense if the dream features your soulmate. We've had plenty of people wanting to relive their first meeting… and first other things." Irma wriggled a perfectly sculpted brow.

A bark of laughter escaped Nora's lips as she ducked her head. "I'm glad I've never been here to deal with that. At least you can say you never get bored at work."

"Too true! I swear, if I have one more person ask for dream sex it will drive me mad." Irma rolled her eyes skyward. With an expert flick of her wrist she lit her cigarette, then offered the packet to Nora.

She declined. "I'm trying to quit. I have to be healthy if I want to survive running around in an apocalypse. Anyway, tell me more about these strange dream requests." A grin curved the corners of her lips as she leaned forward. "Sanctuary is so starved of decent gossip I swear."

"Well, you know Travis? From Diamond City. Well sometimes he comes in and asks about Scarlett-"

The rest of the sentence drifted off as a door creaked open. Irma broke into a wide smile and reached out a hand for whoever had just made an appearance. "Kent, honey!"

Nora's eyes widened to saucers as she turned in her seat. Her hand subconsciously inched up her sleeve to trace the dark ink of the soulmark against her wrist. Kent. If only. There had to be dozens of Kents in the Commonwealth.

When her eyes came to rest on a round, ghoulish face, she could only stare.

The guy - Kent - froze under her stare. "Oh, sorry! I didn't realise anyone else was here. I'll uh, come back later." He edged back to the door - where did that lead to, anyway? - grabbed the handle and disappeared back into the room. The door thudded closed behind him.

"Uh. What?" Nora stared at the door with a brow raised, hand still resting against her soulmark. "Did that really just happen?"

"It did. Kent can be a little… flighty, I suppose. He's had a tough time, don't blame him." Irma's usual easy smile faltered for a second, "he doesn't usually react like that though. In fact he's usually so eager to hear about you - when I first mentioned you, after you left with Nick, his face lit up."

"Why would he be so excited over me?"

She waved a hand airily, smile dancing across her lips again. "Well, you're becoming pretty well known around here, Miss 111. Just about everyone in Goodneighbour knows Nora Bentley's name. Anyway, between you and me, I think he has a little crush on his new role model."

Nora let out a light laugh as her eyes wandered to the firmly closed door. He didn't even know her. Falling for someone he didn't know could be a dangerous game - she had seen enough people obsessing over Hancock to know that much. Unless…

"Out of curiosity, what's Kent's surname?"

Irma rose a thin brow, red-painted lips tilting up. Where did she even get a colour like that in the Commonwealth? "Oh, have I piqued your interest too? I know he's a ghoul, but I promise Kent is a complete sweetheart."

"Irma," Nora complained, rolling her eyes, "my question!" There was no way he was the right Kent. She had wandered half the Commonwealth these last few months, been all over and met all kinds of people. Her soulmate couldn't have been so close the whole time.

"Oh, sorry hun! His name is Kent Connolly - I'm surprised you didn't know, with his radio show and all."

Whatever Irma said after slowly filtered out to nothing. Kent Connolly. Connolly. No way. There was absolutely no way in hell her soulmate was sitting less than twenty meters away with only a door between them. Had he been here the first time Nora visited? Known who she was and not said a thing?

"Holy shit! Irma, he's my soulmate."

Irma's jaw snapped closed, delighted smile playing at the corners of her lips. "Really? Oh, I knew something was up when Kent wanted to know so much about you." Cigarette forgotten, she stubbed it out on the nearby ashtray and straightened up in her seat. "Well, go talk to him. He's too shy to do it himself so you need to take the initiative."

Nora felt her heartbeat quicken as she fixed her eyes on the splintered old door. When had her hands started to sweat? "What if he doesn't want to talk to me?" He had bailed the second he locked eyes with her. Maybe he didn't want a soulmate. Maybe he didn't believe in fate. Maybe he did and it was just her he didn't want.

Okay, now she was overthinking. Sucking in a deep breath, she turned back to Irma. "It's okay if he isn't interested. I'll get over it." Probably. Maybe?

Irma just rolled her eyes. "He does. Did you listen to a word I just said? All he's done is ask about you since the day you waltzed in here with Nick Valentine in tow. He knew who you were, too, as soon as he saw that vault suit." She placed a soft hand on Nora's shoulder and smiled like someone who knew the answers to the world. "Go on, stop procrastinating!"

"Okay, okay! I'll peek my head inside." Nora forced down the butterflies swelling in her stomach, wiping her damp hands on her khakis. She was fine. There was no need to be nervous. This was only one of - if not the - most important things in her entire life. Yeah, meeting her soulmate two hundred years later than expected was no big deal.

Fuck. She was going to screw this all up, wasn't she?

The walk from Irma's cushioned sofa to Kent's door was barely a few metres, but it felt like the walk of death as she heaved herself up and inched over. Since when was she, ever confident Nora Bentley, afraid to speak to someone? Why did her legs feel like lead, her head fuzzy like she was in a dream?

This soulmate stuff was going to be the end of her. Depending on how terribly this went, that might be the better option. Maybe Hancock would let her hide out for a while until she recovered? Maybe it was better to just vacate Goodneighbour completely and never come back.

Her hand shook as she gently knocked on the door. Her knuckles were still bruised and sore from an old fight with a super mutant, but the twinge of pain as her knuckles hit wood was nothing compared to the way her heart did backflips inside her chest. It was as if it was trying to break free. "Hey Kent, it's Nora. Mind if I come in?"

Silence. Kent didn't way a word on the other side of the door - Nora strained her ears but couldn't even hear him move. Was he ignoring her?

"Kent? It's okay if you don't want to talk to me, but I want you to know it's also okay if you do." The words tasted sour on her tongue. Irma was wrong; Kent didn't want to see her, he had no interest in meeting her at all. Now she was stood out here looking like an idiot, waiting on her soulmate to answer and he didn't even want to know. All those times Hancock had told her soulmarks were a bunch of shit. Hell, maybe he had been right.

"Nora, are you still there?"

The voice was so small, muffled by the door, that Nora almost didn't hear it. There went her heart again, skipping like she was some schoolgirl with her first crush. Was this a soulmate thing, or just her being a big baby? Eventually she let her hand drop to the door handle, hovering nervously. "Yeah, I am. Hi."

Real smooth, Nora.

"Y-you can come in. If you want. I mean - you don't have to, but if you do…"

He sounded as if he was about to cry. Nora softened, gentle smile curling at her lips. "Of course I do. We're soulmates! Hell, I thought for sure I'd never get to meet mine. Okay, I'm coming in; you ready?"

There was a small "yes" from the other side and that was all Nora needed. She couldn't help the beaming smile that spread across her lips as she turned the handle, or the way she all but skipped through the door and into the room.

The sight she was met with was certainly an unexpected one.

The first thing she was met with was… a life sized cut out of the Silver Shroud? Glancing around the room she noted that everything was Shroud related; comics scattered across an ancient coffee table, worn out posters on the walls, a Shroud blanket tossed over an armchair with the stuffing coming out.

Then her grey-brown eyes met wide black ones. Nora let her eyes trace him, sucking up every detail of her soulmate because this had to be a dream and dammit, she wanted to remember when she woke up.

The most obvious thing was that Kent was a ghoul. Leathery skin pulled tight, thick and callous. No nose of course, just a deep crevice where one had been a long time ago; pitch black eyes that should have invoked a feeling of uneasiness. They didn't. Nothing about him did.

In fact, Nora could safely say he was damn cute; maybe it was the too-small suit jacket wrapped around his thick frame, or the way he peeked at her nervously under his hat.

When he spoke, his voice war rough and scratchy like every other ghoul in the Commonwealth - but his voice was gentle, too, and quiet.

Wait, what did he actually say?