At half past noon, Claire found herself lying on the floor of Hancock's office in the statehouse.
That is, assuming that the time on her Pipboy was correct.
It probably was, but the strange, uncomfortable feeling coursing through her body was clouding her judgement and she didn't know what to make of it. The only thing on her mind was how uncomfortable she felt in her own skin, and how much she wished she could unzip the flesh-suit assigned to her at birth, air it out, and put it back on once she felt that her skeleton had cooled down.
She tried laying on the couch but something about the way that the aged leather felt on her skin made her feel like she was being accosted by slithering snakes crawling over her body and caused her to roll off the cushions onto the floor, where she suffered a major bump to her elbow. Claire knew it would give her hell for the next few days, for it pulsed in protest as a reminder of just how badly she'd bruised it and she knew handling the kickback from her shotgun would be difficult until it healed.
And that was how Claire found herself laying on the floor, with her general's coat being the only thing shielding her back from the hardwood.
She could feel waves crashing over her, multiple sensations focusing on different parts of her body and leaving her enduring various levels of pain while her head pounded with an awful headache. Meanwhile tingles - not the good kind but rather, the kind that felt like sharp talons - trickled down the length of her torso and made her feel like she was on fire.
A very cold, agonizing fire that had somehow managed to burn her with its heat.
It was like she had entered tunnel vision with no escape in sight.
Breathing in and out as deeply as she could, until she felt her lungs straining against her ribs like a balloon filled with too much air, felt like it helped a little but only a little. She was still miserable, and knew that attempting to force anything would only make her even more miserable.
But even with that self-awareness, Claire wanted to get up and go do stuff despite being down for the count.
She let out a sigh of frustration when she remembered just how much she had planned today, which included lugging all of the weapons she'd collected from her last few gunfights to sell to Arturo in Diamond City, stocking up on ammunition and helping stimulate Diamond City's economy, and checking to see if there were any new bounties up in the marketplace so she could line her pockets with much-needed caps.
The only problem was she couldn't convince herself to get up and walk out of the State House right now let alone make the journey to Diamond City nor could she see herself coming back alive from a contract. Chances were, she would only make things worse for herself and thus, she was grounded here for the foreseeable future.
In the meantime, Claire could only hope that no other mercenaries came through town and took the bounties that clearly had her name on them.
Tomorrow, perhaps. Or the day after, depending on how quickly her headache passed.
"What happened to you?" Hancock asked as he walked in, though he didn't get much more than a half-frustrated, half-miserable huff out of Claire. And then he noticed the canister of Jet on the floor near her foot.
He picked it up and tried to take a drag out of it before noticing it was empty, and immediately realized what was going on.
"Bad trip, huh?"
"Worst trip…" Claire barely managed to whine.
"And lemme guess, you also drank three Nuka-Colas in one sitting?" he asked, gesturing to the empty glass bottles on the table. "You're more adventurous than I thought."
"I wanted sugar." Hancock heard a pout make its way into her voice and it made her all the more endearing. He couldn't resist letting out a laugh, though he wasn't laughing at her but rather, at the situation she had landed herself in.
"Well, you definitely got it, sugar," he teased.
"I'm so bummed that this happened."
"How come?"
"I had so much I wanted to do today…"
"Well, you're not going anywhere. Just kick back, relax, and wait for this to pass."
"Hmph… are you gonna keep me company?"
"What else do you expect me to do, sweetheart?" Hancock playfully teased.
"Don't you have work to do, mister mayor?"
"Why would I waste my time on mayoral duties when I could hang out with you?"
"Because I'm in no shape to entertain you," Claire quipped.
"Nah, love, you're not here for that."
"Awh… you're really sweet."
At Claire's half-hearted insistence, Hancock decided to try and cut down on his backed-up mayoral duties while he spent time with her, figuring she wouldn't mind too much if he multi-tasked. It wasn't like she had anything better to do, even if she had wanted to take the back-routes to Diamond City to see if any new contracts had been posted and get rid of all the stuff she had accumulated and didn't want or need anymore.
Everything was stashed in a steamer trunk in the corner of Hancock's office but she knew she had to sell everything off soon because the trunk was getting too full and soon would be impossible to close.
Unfortunately, she wasn't going anywhere today but Hancock was more than alright with that.
While Hancock cut down on the mammoth stack of papers that had accumulated over the weeks since he'd been on the road, Claire nursed her headache with a can of purified water and potato crisps that he happened to dig out of her pack. But even if she hadn't had any, Hancock would have personally made his way over to the Third Rail and bought some water and snacks from Charlie plus anything else she might have needed.
Maybe I should go easy on the Jet from now on. I figure I could wean myself off it if I tried hard enough. Or maybe I could go see Dr. Sun in Diamond City and get cured. I think I have enough caps to pay for some Addictol, Claire mused, feeling herself drifting as she daydreamed. She doubted she would fall asleep but it felt nice and she preferred this feeling of weightlessness over her brutal headache from earlier. Won't be giving up the Nuka-Cola anytime soon, though. I can't survive without it.
She refused to touch the hard stuff - Psycho, Buffout and its companion drugs Psychobuff, Bufftats, and Buffjet, and even considered Daytripper to be off-limits because she felt sapped all of her strength when the high passed - but she would cut off the hand of anyone who tried to take her beloved Nuka-Cola away from her.
I really messed up this time.
She wasn't exactly going to win any awards in decision-making anytime soon and decided - before she made any more mistakes - that it was best if she closed her eyes and rested, seeing as she had nothing better to do than try to sleep off her headache and pray that the drugs and caffeine in her system dissolved quickly.
A few moments later, she heard movement in the room but didn't open her eyes, figuring Hancock was just mulling about his office but then, she heard the floor creak right next to her and looked to her left, where none other than Goodneighbor's mayor had made himself comfortable next to her.
"What are you doing?" Claire giggled.
"I decided to lie down next to you so everyone thinks we're chilling."
"You know this looks weirder than when it was just me on the floor, right?"
"Whoever said anything about normal, sweetheart?"
"Mmm, I forgot I'm friends with a weirdo."
"I'll take that as a compliment," Hancock remarked as he let out a raspy laugh. "So is there anything you want to talk about, since we're hanging out?"
Hancock's proposition sounded strange even to his own ears, for he didn't know what had possessed him to say that. He normally didn't pry or make an attempt to fill the air with useless banter if quiet was more suitable but he could sense that Claire needed chatter to stay sharp and keep her mind off the debilitating side effects caused by her bad trip.
"Well, I really like it here in Goodneighbor."
"As if it wasn't obvious?" Hancock chuckled. "You're here every week."
"I just wish I had a place to stay that wasn't the Hotel Rexford."
After long days filled with scavenging buildings for anything she could sell as well as battling Super Mutants, Raiders, and all of the freaky monsters the wasteland had to offer, the last thing she needed was to listen to one very bitter and snippy hotel clerk complain about the poor state of the Rexford and yell at Fred Allen to "get to work!" or "just do anything besides loitering in the lobby!"
"Just say the word and I can hook you up with an apartment that's better than that place you've got in Diamond City."
"Home Plate is pretty nice," Claire said, shrugging. She was never in one place for too long but since most of her activities had her sticking to the downtown area, she almost always managed to make it back to Diamond City in time for dinner.
If she couldn't make it home, then she found someplace high-up to camp out for the night and hurried home at first light.
It was sometimes difficult tolerating the idiots from the Upper Stands - then again, who liked those pompous assholes? They probably didn't even like themselves - but the good friends she had, which mainly consisted of Nick, Piper, and Ellie, made Diamond City worth living in. Plus, she liked the noodles and had been told by a few of the Diamond City security guards that she was already a true Diamond City girl through and through.
I didn't know something as mundane as eating at the noodle stand instead of the Dugout Inn made me a citizen.
She had come to the Great Green Jewel of the Commonwealth looking for a fresh start but despite everything, she somehow felt much more at home in Goodneighbor's chaos than in Diamond City.
Everyone was too paranoid over there and it was only a matter of time before a pogrom started and everyone started accusing their neighbors of being synths. For that reason, she much rather preferred Goodneighbor's "do no harm, take no shit" lifestyle, because everyone - humans, ghouls, synths, even Super Mutants - was welcome as long as they played nice.
And, of course, anyone who didn't want to play nice could always get acquainted with her trusty shotgun.
Some time later, Claire decided she had had enough of lying around and somehow managed to pull herself to her feet, though she didn't get very far before Hancock called after her, saying,
"Where are you going?"
"Outside for some fresh air. Be back in a bit."
"All by yourself?"
"I'll be fine," Claire insisted. She was hardly wobbly on her feet anymore.
"Oh, no, you say that but if I let you go alone, I'm gonna find you passed out at the bottom of the stairs."
"I guess chivalry isn't dead."
"Nah, it's just turned ghoul," Hancock quipped as he climbed to his feet and followed his favorite scavver down the spiral staircase.
Once outside, Claire and Hancock found themselves seated on the steps of the State House facing the Hotel Rexford just across the road, watching drifters go about their day. Seeing them being more productive than she was at the moment made her wish she could be off doing any number of things but then, as if Hancock read her mind, he draped his arm over her shoulders and said,
"Don't worry, you'll be up and at 'em tomorrow. Just enjoy your day off."
"You're right…"
"I know I am."