Maybe she isn't the worst employer Charon has encountered but he's starting to think she might be the strangest. Fresh from the vault, Eva is an obvious outsider in the wastes, her even layer of fat and ghost pale skin marking her more thoroughly then the vault suit she wears ever could. Even though she's probably the healthiest person Charon has met in a long while, she looks fragile, blue veins bold under her skin. It isn't a trait Charon wants in a person he is bound to protect. By the end of each day, Eva looks as if she could be taken down by a stiff breeze.

Her odd appearance isn't the most disconcerting thing about her however. It's her mannerisms. She is…clingy. The first night after Eva purchased his contract, she seemed weary enough of him. They made camp and she settled down directly across from him, shooting nervous glances his way when she wasn't staring into the small fire between them. They ate in silence and it was agreeable. Any employer was better than Ahzrukhal but a quiet one that had a relatively safe life? That was obviously preferable.
Once the food was gone it became more and more obvious how nervous Eva was around him. She couldn't sit still, shifting every few seconds and worrying a sickly pale lip with too white teeth. Finally, she seemed to gather up some inner courage and locked eyes with him. She had her knees pulled to her chest as if she were bracing herself for impact.

"Does it hurt?" Her voice barely made its way past the crackling of the fire. Charon stared back, unfazed by her discomfort. She tried again.

"Does your skin…does it hurt?" If Eva could get any paler, he's sure she would. The firelight flickers in the pale blue of her eyes, spilling orange onto white until it nearly looks as if she could catch fire herself, embers striking and devouring her like fire on paper.

"No." He hadn't been directly ordered to answer but he didn't want to push her to that quite yet. He preferred to leave those orders unsaid for as long as possible.

Eva nods, eyes back on the fire. A couple minutes pass and she asks her next question, voice low enough he can barely make out what she has said.

"Do you hate me?" She keeps her eyes on the fire.

Charon pulls in a deep breath of air, ashy and cold. He does, of course he does, but it is an empty hatred, so devoid of emotion it feels more like an old habit then anything alive. Fury does nothing but burn energy he could use on survival. Honesty helps him even less.

"No." It wasn't a particularly convincing response but the tension eased out of her anyways and she nearly collapses back onto the sleeping roll beneath her. She sounds relieved when she answers.

"I'm glad."

They don't speak for the rest of the night. Eva's breathing fades into the even pace of sleep and Charon tends the fire alone.

The second night, Eva sits closer to him, moving a quarter ways around the circle of the fire. She says nothing about it so neither does Charon. She takes the first watch that night and when he wakes, he could have sworn her cot is slightly closer to his.
…..

The following week, as they make their way from the Underworld back towards a home she claims to have in Megaton, Eva slowly makes her way around the circle. Five days' in and he is baring the unsettling sensation of feeling not only the heat of the fire but her body heat at his side as well. She seems to be in good cheer tonight, recapping their day and picking yet another diversion to go after the next day. She had seen a building that looked promising on her way to the Underworld but had been too scared to attempt exploring it without backup. She lightly bumps her knee against his and grins that pale smile up at him.

"That's not a problem anymore." She quips as she prods at the fire until it flips a log, releasing a flare of sparks in the process.
Charon doesn't know what to do. People don't willingly touch him. Ahzrukhal might have tried striking him if violence didn't negate the contract but friendly contact was out of the question. He watches her wearily but she doesn't touch him again, just settles back to watch the flames.

"I love fire." She sounds like she is talking to an old friend. Charon resists the urge to lean away. This is uncomfortable.

"We didn't have fire in the vault or, if we did, it was a disaster and I wasn't ever allowed near it." Her words are thoughtful, heavy with memories.

"They were always so cautious. Even real candles were too much of a risk. The fake ones look nothing like this." She holds her hands out towards the flames and sighs. "They weren't warm."

Why was she telling him this? Charon isn't certain so he sits in silence, hoping she will drop whatever she is trying to say. If she wants an answer so badly, she can order him to reply.
He waits but she doesn't push for a response so he sits quietly as she slowly unfurls her history to him.

She has been out here for around six months now, sometimes it's hard to tell. She was banned from her vault because of her father but he's gone now. She grows quiet at that point, staring at the fire like she is seeing something else entirely. Charon watches the flames as well, it's easier then looking at this ghost of a woman at his side.

Now Eva lives alone in Megaton. It's obvious she isn't eager to return; her description of the small community is scant in comparison to the vault. All she really mentions is that her house iss large and empty. He thinks he sees her lean near unperceptively towards him but he can't be certain.

"I go to a couple different settlements for supplies and there's some places I like to check in on, just to see if they're okay." She turns towards him, staring in an unwavering sort of way that could get her killed if it was directed at the wrong person. "That's mostly what we'll be doing."

The bridge of her nose and her cheeks are an angry pink. For the short time Charon has known her, Eva has been careful to apply a special ointment to her exposed skin before each morning, obviously trying to protect her thin vault dweller skin from sun damage. Clearly, it hadn't been enough today.

As she explains what her plans are for the following days, Charon tries to figure out just how difficult protecting her will be. Something that can be damaged from sunlight alone seems too weak to exist but she is still alive somehow.
She had managed to hold her own against the few hostiles they have encountered so far, though her fighting style is more cautious then he prefers. It had taken them hours to take out a group of raiders wandering the area they needed to cross yesterday. When she had finally fired, her shots were good, a snipers aim, but the lost time seemed like too much of a sacrifice. He could have gotten them through the blockade in twenty minutes' flat, he's sure of it, but she hadn't commanded him and he had been curious to see what skill had kept her alive this long. Apparently, it was more of a skill for stealth then anything tactical.

Eva stands to return to her cot, finishing off the last of the lukewarm nuka cola at her feet. She pauses and then slowly placed her hand on his shoulder, squeezing gently.

"Good night Charon. Thanks for listening."

He could have corrected her, told her he was barely listening at most and wouldn't be here if not for the faded document in her breast pocket but he doesn't. What would be the point? It doesn't help to antagonize his employer any more than necessary and honestly, he was thrown off by the sudden contact. The right words didn't really come to mind.

She returns to her cot after that, tucking herself into the ratty sleeping bag she keeps strapped to her bag until all he can see are a few stray locks of dark brown hair. It is the only part of her that doesn't look sickly, as if he has a normal wastelander as the holder of his contract and not some pale cave creature with old world mannerisms that he can't quite figure out. Charon rolls his shoulder, hoping to erase the phantom sensation of a too unfamiliar touch, and settles in for his watch.
…..

By the time they finally arrive at Megaton, she has completed her circle around the fire. Now Eva sits directly beside him, her thigh pressed flush against his, her left arm grazing near constantly against his right. At night, her cot is directly beside his own and it isn't uncommon to awaken to find her arm stretched out, her hand resting lightly on his arm. It has gone from the overly friendly actions of someone from a strange culture to incredibly suspect.

She wouldn't be the first employer who thought to use him for more than combat. One of the earlier ones he could remember, a female ghoul with a vicious sadistic streak, had considered it but upon learning that violence negated his forced loyalty, she had dropped the topic. The other had been human but too horrified at his own fetish to attempt anything. The only times he could admit his attraction to ghouls was after several heavy doses of jet but by then he was so strung out that even moving was difficult, sex would have been impossible. Still, it was a relief when the man finally overdosed. Several short-term owners later, he ended up with Ahzrukhal and that was the end of that.

He wouldn't have pegged Eva as one of these more troublesome employees. She wasn't unattractive, definitely off putting with her veins on full display, but her features are nice enough and the general aura of health she possesses is a rare thing to find. It shouldn't be too difficult for her to find someone to fall into bed with. Even if it was, she has enough caps to pay for a night with someone who still has all of their skin. Maybe it was the convenience? Charon couldn't be sure.

Reaching her home is a relief. Eva drops her pack with a sigh by the door and collapses onto the faded couch in the center of the room. There are stairs leading up towards a second floor and an open kitchen to his right. She was right, it was a very large place and he wonders what she could have possibly done to get it. He stands in the doorway, eyeing the house suspiciously until Eva notices and calls him in.

"This is your house too now." She smiles shyly and a knot of distaste forms in Charon's stomach. If this isn't sexual then he doesn't know what is.

"I figured you could use the room on the left and there's a little makeshift shower in the closet over there." She gestures to a door at the base of the stairs. "It's not the best but it's warm half the time."

She almost looks like she's hoping for his approval. If she's expecting him to grovel, to wax poetic about her generosity then she will be waiting a long time. Charon gives her a dead stare and a tiny flicker of worry crinkles her forehead. Her sunburn has started to peel and he can see little flakes of skin fall away when she rubs her cheek and breaks eye contact. Good.

"Anyways, there's food in the cupboards if you're hungry and we can get some more from the market tomorrow."

She suddenly looks very uncomfortable with the extreme height difference between them. Even when she's standing he has more than a solid foot on her, with her seated she is dwarfed. Charon knows he has no real power in this dynamic but he still enjoys the instinctive upper hand his height seems to lend him. It's petty but he has been a slave for longer than he can remember, petty is all he has.

As if she's become aware of this as well, Eva stands and looks towards the stairs. "I'm going to go clean up. You can get settled." She looks back towards him and her expression is carefully blank.

"I hope this is okay. I don't want you to be unhappy." She kicks off her shoes by the foot of the couch and heads towards the shower room. Charon drops his pack by hers but waits until the door is firmly closed behind her. Maybe she fancies herself a bleeding heart but she still bought a person and all her pretty words and doe eyes aren't going to make that not true.

After a moment, the sound of running water reaches his ears. Another mysterious luxury. He briefly searches the kitchen, grabbing a package of dried meat and a bottle of purified water with another twinge of curiosity as to how well off this strange woman really is. There's no way in Hell she's as innocent as she pretends to be, surrounded by this level of luxury so quickly after exiting the vault. It's something he intends to discover but she has his contract so he has all the time in the world to find out.