Of all the alarm clocks to have, Renee wasn't expecting to be woken by the sound of a drunk customer in the morning. She jolted, blinking. Once she gathered her thoughts, she remembered; she was lying in the Dugout Inn, the only inn in Diamond City to let her stay for free. The upper stands place hardly even looked at her when she walked in. At least Vadim agreed to let her stay in exchange for taking Scarlett's shift.
She forced herself to sit up with a groan, running a hand through her hair. Her shoulder and leg were stiff. She tilted her head from side to side to stretch out her neck and stood. No time to waste. She had a flower to find.
A…Hubflower, apparently.
Renee grabbed her jeans where she'd tossed them over a chair and pulled them on, noticing the dark red blood staining the material. She'd have to buy a new pair when she managed to get some caps.
She yawned again. Mornings always started far too early for her liking. She dug around in her bag for a hairbrush and managed to tame her long auburn hair before tying it back. A mirror on the wall showed her she looked just as she felt: exhausted. She shifted her head back and forth, a habit she picked up from watching her father shave in the mornings, and was pleased to see all the usual freckles and light scars were in place.
"Damn it…" She shrugged on her jacket, stepped into her boots, and grabbed her stuff.
Yefim swept up a broken bottle by the bar. "Good morning!" He said, though he didn't smile.
"G'morning." Renee gave him a nod.
"Hey, thanks again for last night." Scarlett walked by carrying some dirty dishes. "I really appreciate it."
"Yeah, no problem."
She ignored the distasteful growl her stomach made and left the building. The early sun peaked through the clouds and a layer of fog hugged the ground. There weren't many people out and about this early, and for once the market was quiet. She went around to the shops anyway to see if she could pawn off some ammo—though she knew she shouldn't.
The weapon shop was still shuttered, but a Mr. Handy bot hovered in front of a different store seemed open to customers. The flickering neon above him read "Diamond City Surplus." She trudged over, fishing for the ammo.
"Good morning, miss!" The Mr. Handy greeted, chipper as always. "Diamond City Surplus is open day or night for all your shopping needs!"
"Mm-hm." Renee pulled out the ammo box and fished out a few bullets. "Listen, weird question, but, uh… How much for these?"
The Mr. Handy squinted all three eyes at her. "For five bullets, miss?"
"Yes?" She held them out in her palm.
"With all due respect, miss, you wouldn't even have enough for a bowl of noodles."
Renee continued holding out her hand. "Listen, I'll take anything I can get. I'm broke."
"Very well…" He sighed and plucked the bullets from her hand and replaced them with five rusty bottlecaps. "There."
She blinked. "That's it?"
"I did tell you. Would you like your ammunition back?"
"Well for this, yeah!"
The robot held out the bullets but didn't drop them in her waiting hand. "That'll be twenty-five caps."
Renee sputtered and felt her face grow hot. "T-twenty-five caps?! What the hell do you think you're trying to pull?"
"All sales are final, even those on the part of the customer. Twenty-five caps." As if to add insult to injury, he shook the bullets.
She pocketed her five caps and flipped him off. "Go fuck yourself."
"Have a pleasant day, miss."
Renee grit her teeth from saying anything further and instead turned. She noticed movement in the corner of her eye and was surprised to see none other than Curie, shaking out a rug outside her apartment. "Curie?"
"Oh, good morning, Madame Jones!" She smiled, laying the rug back in front of the door.
"Uh, just Renee is fine." Renee put her hands in the pockets of her jacket. "Didn't expect to see you this morning."
"I always wake early." Curie cocked her head. "But what about you? You should really rest."
"Yeah, some asshole at the Dugout made that impossible." She reached to massage her shoulder. She decided not to tell the good doctor about how she spent the evening and much of the night waiting tables. "I feel fine anyway."
Curie furrowed her brow but didn't press it. "I see. 'Ave you found zhe samples yet?"
"No, I was about to head out. You wouldn't happen to have one I could see, do you? I realized last night that I don't actually know what a Hubflower looks like…"
Curie's eyebrows shot up. "Oh! Of course, just a moment…" She disappeared back into her apartment.
Renee stood awkwardly waiting. She kicked at the ground. Around her, the rest of Diamond City continued to slowly wake up. She heard a man groan as he pushed the metal shutter up in his stall. When he flicked the sign on, she saw it said Chem-I-Care.
"'Ere, zhis should help." Curie returned presently and held out her open notebook.
The page was filled with detailed sketches of plants with notes scribbled in the margins. She couldn't read most of the notes as they seemed to be partially in another language, but she did recognize the plant. She laughed. "You could've just said it's a Deathbell."
"A…what?" Curie took the notebook back and looked at her notes.
"Well, that's we call them back home. Deathbells. Don't know why, but that's what I've always heard them called." Renee moved to stand next to the woman and pointed at the picture. She caught a whiff of perfume and realized it was Curie.
Curie, however, didn't seem to notice how close they were. "I see. So zhere are regional names for common flora…" She took a pen from the front pocket on her lab coat and jotted down the name.
Renee swallowed hard. She fought the urge to pull closer to the warm woman. "Y-yeah. So I'll just grab some of those and get right back to you."
"Zhey can be found all over zhe Commonwealth, so I doubt you will 'ave to travel far. I just 'ave some experiments zhat are time-sensitive." Curie snapped the book shut.
Renee stepped back. "Gotcha. Well, I guess I'll see you later then?"
"Yes, ideally. I really do need zhose soon." Curie smiled again before she turned to go back inside. "And please be careful!"
"I will. How much trouble can I get into just walking out the gate?"
As it turned out, quite a bit of trouble. Her rifle bounced on her back as she ran from a pack of mongrels back to the city. She managed to find quite a few Deathbells—Hubflowers, out by an old train track. Unfortunately, while cutting them, some wild dogs snuck up on her.
One of the mongrels snapped at her forearm, sinking its teeth in. She came to a jarring halt and tried to fling it off, but it held fast. "Get off me!" She shouted, reaching for her knife with her other hand. The dog shrieked as she plunged the blade into its head.
It was just enough time for the other two mongrels to catch up and she whirled. Another leapt at her, but she was quick to slash out with the knife and it fell past her with a whimper. She flipped the blade over in her hand. "Wanna join your buddies today?" She snarled, eying the mutt.
The mongrel slowed and stopped a few feet from her, growling. If it had lips they'd be raised. Yellow, blood-stained teeth flashed in the late morning light.
She narrowed her eyes. "Leave me alone."
It growled again before turning around and jogging away.
She sheathed her knife, careful not to accidentally cut her belt in the process. "Hmph." She scowled at the two dead mongrels before turning to continue her journey.
The Wall came into view before the rest of Diamond City and the guards paid her little mind as she walked in. By now the rest of the Great Green Jewel was awake and even a little girl stood on an overturned box by the entrance. Renee stopped before her.
"Arm yourself with the truth! The Publick is here to pull the wool out from under your eyes!"
Renee glanced around. "Wait, like Publick Occurrences?"
"The Commonwealth's premier newspaper!" The girl nodded and held out a paper. "One free issue to newcomers!"
"No thanks. I've probably already read it." Renee waved her hand. While in Bunker Hill she'd been forced to sell her books, and to pass the time, found some back issues of the Publick to read instead.
"In that case, can I interest you in a subscription?"
"Maybe some other time, kid." Renee moved on to the market.
She ignored the shopkeepers hawking their wares and nearly ran into a Brahmin from one of the caravans as it passed. Above the din, she heard someone yelling about Swatters but ignored him too. Her target was Curie's apartment and lab, and she wasn't about to let anyone stop her.
Renee knocked on the door as she entered. "Curie?"
"Coming!"
She closed the door behind her. Curie kept her lab in the basement, and Renee entertained herself by looking around at the sparse decorations in the foyer. A shelf of worn books occupied one wall, while a laser rifle hung beside it. It looked well-loved, but she had a feeling it wasn't by Curie's hand.
"Ah, welcome back!" Curie wiped her hands on her lab coat. A pair of glasses were perched on her nose.
"Some Hubflowers, just like you wanted." Renee dug them out of her bag and held them out.
"Fantastique, this is just what I needed!" Curie took the flowers with a grin. "Merci."
"Yeah, no problem." Renee raised her arm to rub the back of her neck. As she did so, Curie snapped out a hand to grab her wrist. "Um…"
Curie stretched out her arm. "What 'appened to you?"
"Oh, that. I was running from some Mongrels and one managed to get me. It's okay! I'll be fine. Not the first time I've been bitten by something."
The brunette arched an eyebrow. She began leading Renee down to the lab. "Zhe wound needs to be cleaned before infection sets in. Wild animals can carry all manner of disease."
"I mean, I wouldn't really call it a 'wound'… I just need a Stim, it's fine."
Despite her protests, Curie had her sit on the now-familiar examination table while she brought over some water and something in an unmarked bottle. Renee slipped out of her jacket. "You know, if this keeps happening, I'm never going to be out of debt with you."
Curie chuckled and began wiping down the bites. "Do not trouble yourself with paying me zhis time. I feel responsible; I sent you out to find samples, after all."
"W-well…" Renee looked away.
Curie's hands were surprisingly strong, but her touch remained gentle. She cleaned out the injury and then fetched a Stimpak from one of her lab tables. "Zhis will actually be a wonderful time to test out a new formula I 'ave been working on. If you do not mind."
"As long as it doesn't kill me." Even still, Renee eyed the syringe.
"Oh no, it will not. But I am testing to see if it is more effective zhan ozher Stimpaks. It is…difficult to test on myself." Curie slid the syringe in Renee's arms and emptied it.
The bites closed like a normal Stimpak would heal them. Soon all that remained were small scars that would fade in time. Renee turned her arm over and back, nodding. "See? Good as new."
Curie sighed. "I was 'oping it would be faster… Well, I know now zhat zhe formula does not lie with Tatos, at least." She disposed the syringe. "Zhere."
"Thanks, again." Renee continued to sit on the table. She crossed her ankles and swung her legs back and forth. "So I guess that's what the Hubflowers are for, huh?"
"Yes, my experiments." Curie turned to a different table, this one covered in beakers and flasks and papers. "So far I 'ave not 'ad much luck. You see, typical Stimpaks are no good on hard tissue, such as bone. I am trying to remedy zhis."
Renee winced. "Trust me, I'm aware."
Curie glanced at her before picking up a test tube. "Stimpaks were invented for zhe military to serve as field medicine. As such, zhey excel in closing flesh wounds, but are not so effective on more severe wounds." She put the tube down again and turned. "Such as your shoulder, par exemple. A Stimpak may close zhe wound, but it will do nozhing for a broken bone, and potentially incorrectly heal a torn ligament."
"I'm aware of that too." Renee frowned as she remembered her childhood antics that often landed her in the local doctor's office.
The brunette hummed. "You seem to be well-acquainted with injury."
"You could say that…" Renee jumped down from the table. "Well, what's the next thing you need me to get for you?"
"Actually, zhis request is much safer." Curie shuffled some papers around before finally finding the one she needed. "Could you do some shopping for me?"
Renee took the paper with a smile. "As long as you provide the caps."
"But of course." Curie returned it. "I appreciate your willingness to help."
"I appreciate you being willing to patch me up when I need it. Though, we've gotta stop meeting like that."
"Per'aps. But I do not mind."
Renee looked away to distract herself before her cheeks turned red. Already she could feel the start of a blush weaving its way up her neck. "Right…" She cleared her throat.