'It's too windy for travel.'
That was the only thing Charon said to Eva when they stepped outside this morning. She'd responded by grabbing a hat and tugging her bandanna a little higher.
Five hours out and now the wind is buffeting against their backs, whipping stinging sand against any skin they still have exposed. Visibility is low, the air so thick with dust it's a struggle to see more than a yard in any direction. Finding their way home isn't a concern, Eva's pip-boy will keep them from wandering off track, but there's no telling what else could be out here. Charon can't even listen for any movement, no skittering across the dirt, no claws against stone. He tries anyway but there's nothing but the endless howl of that damn wind.
Two senses have been taken from him and it's making him jumpy, anxious. His gun is readied, his finger a hairs breath from the trigger when Eva grabs him. He jolts, his repressed instinct to withdraw from her touch intensified by his jitters, and rips his arm from her grasp.
Eva just blinks up at him, looking too miserable to be concerned at his response.
"We should take cover until the weather passes." Her face is mostly covered but what skin he can see has grown pink from the constant onslaught of debris. She blinks hard and rubs at her bloodshot eyes as she turns away, steering them in a sharp angle to the right. Charon follows suit.
"I know there's a series of caves around here." She's not even looking up as she walks, eyes glued to her wrist as she tries to make sense of the map. "They're not too big but it's better than being in the open."
They stumble onward blindly for a long while before they find the cliff face. It's a while longer still to find a cave big enough for the two of them to take shelter. The entrance is low down, descending slightly deeper into the earth but ending quickly enough that there's no chance of hidden occupants. Eva climbs inside first, dropping her pack near the cave face and Charon follows, ducking in with a glance backwards as he goes.
There are certain animals that like to stalk their prey before they attack. Something could have been tailing them for miles by this point. It would feel bolder by now, anxious for the kill. He just hopes that isn't the case today. The two of them hadn't exactly looked like an intimidating target, struggling feebly against the wind.
He drops his pack by the entrance as well. It will aid in blocking out the wind but he's hoping it might be just enough cover to send any mindless hunters on their way.
When he turns, Eva is watching him. She's sitting on one side of the cave, crossing her legs and propping herself up on her elbows. She looks like she's settling down for a long wait. Charon sits across from her. The cave isn't large by any means and there's barely enough room for the two of them. Outside the wind is howling, cutting across the rock sharply. It makes the space they have seem even smaller.
"What would you be doing today?" The ground beneath them is sandy and Eva is tracing swirling patterns with her finger. She's decidedly not looking at him.
"If you were alone."
She still seems subdued. He can't see her eyes, they're hidden by dark lashes from her downward gaze, but he thinks they must still be red. They are clearly still watering, leaving faint tracks through the dust on her cheeks.
Eva waits for his answer patiently, finger constantly moving as her design grows more elaborate.
"I wouldn't be in a cave."
She chuckles quietly at his answer, though he doesn't hear much humor in it.
"I already guessed that part." One of her swirls collides with another and smudges the pattern. She presses her palm into the sand and smears it all away.
"I know there's a lot of things you wouldn't be doing." She glances his way, dark lashes making the pale white and crackly red unsettlingly bright. "What would you do?
"I…" Charon stops. What would he be doing? If he had no contract, no employer? He can't remember a time when choice was even an option. He knows he must have had it once, knows logically that someone did this to him. At times, he can almost remember how. He can almost put a face to that first voice, telling him to stand, charged with that electric undercurrent of demand that he could never ignore again.
Eva is watching him impassively now, her pinkened cheeks and bloodshot eyes an emotional contrast to the empty look on her face. He can only tell she's anxious for his answer by the movement in her hand, still dragging her fingers nervously through the sand.
Charon pushes his back into the cave wall, wishing there was more space between the two of them.
"I don't know what I would do. It isn't an option." He stares back, matching her gaze. "There's no point in dwelling on impossibilities."
A strong burst of wind picks up outside, howling so loudly it feels forceful, like something that's pushing in against him, so solid he should be able to push back.
Eva's fingers stop moving.
"An impossibility?" Her voice is quiet.
Charon wants to be anywhere but here, somewhere with distance, anything to cut through the intensity of her stare. He settles with looking away, watching the bit of dirt swirl up and around their two packs by the entrance, pretending it's something interesting. He can feel her eyes on him.
"You don't think this will ever end? That it'll never wear off?" She sounds curious but it's the pity underneath it that irks him.
"It's not a fairy tale, Eva. It's not a curse or a sickness. There's not some magic cure." He sneers his words, letting them drip with enough disdain to drown her in.
She doesn't seem to notice his tone, looking more fixated on the phrasing. It's rare for him to use her name. She is his employer and any other title only comes into play during the most urgent of situations. Shouting a warning, calling for backup. He has learned to use it when necessary but it's an uncommon occurrence. Judging by the look on her face, she's aware of the rarity as well. For a moment, she it stunned by it, stock still, but then she is pushing herself quickly off the cave floor, leaning in so close he can feel the heat of her, smell the mix of sweat and dust on her skin.
"You know that can't be true. Everything wears off in the end." She's caught one of his hands up in hers, clutching it tightly in her sincerity. The wind screams outside, snarls.
"If it's an implant, it will break down. If it's phycological, the muscle memory will fade. Everything goes away in the end. Nothing is forever."
Charon tugs his hand out of her grasp, irritated.
"Why would you want my contract to end? You'd be out a good amount of caps with nothing to show for it." Fighting his natural instincts, he leans closer, until they are so close he can feel her shallow breath warm against his scarred lips. He knows he is intimidating, hopes her sheltered life will make him more so. Hardened, cracking skin, sunken eyes, a hole where his nose should be. He looks every bit a monster and he's very comfortable playing the part.
"Ahzrukhal wasn't pleased with the conclusion of our contract. What makes you think you'd fare any better?"
His voice has dropped to a snarl, the words hissing between his teeth. Charon hates this topic more than any other, hates her more for her unique reason to broach it. Her damn bleeding heart has surfaced again, and he's ready to smear the gore away to find what's actually beneath it.
Charon's words have their intended effect. Eva recoils, pressing her fingers to her lips like the threat was her own instead of his, like she can take it back. Charon is not overly skilled with words, he is no diplomat, but he knows battle and he knows to follow when his enemy makes a sloppy retreat. He doesn't let her keep the distance she has made between them, pressing so closely he has to shift onto his knee, lean into his hand.
"You didn't buy me to break my curse. You won't kiss me and find a prince. You bought me because you wanted this, wanted the contract to hold." The world is tearing it's self apart outside, the howling morphing into moans, growls, stretches out into one long sickening roar. Inside everything is muted, his words the only true sound, hanging heavy as the storm around them.
"The question isn't what would I do without my contract. The real question is what would you?" He stays close just long enough to stare her down, fill her vision completely, then pulls away and waits.
Why can she ignite so much fury in him, so much passion? He is waiting eagerly for her response, ready for her anger or her tears. What he doesn't expect is the heart heavy sigh he gets instead.
When Eva looks at him, there are no new tear tracks down her cheeks, her eyes are only red from the wind. She reaches one hand out towards him again, wavers, drops it. She doesn't look angry or hurt, just weary.
"Charon, you're right. I don't know what I want. I don't know what to do, if there's even anything I can do." She shakes her head, more at herself then at him. "All I know is that I did choose this but I do know it's wrong. I know it hurts you." Her voice is soft but the wind is monstrous, screaming outside like it's alive. "I know I don't want to have to be alone again."
The air is saturated with that last whispered phrase and Charon feels…something. An impulse for action but of what kind, he isn't sure. They both seem to waver, angry and hurt, emotions rubbed raw by the constant din outside on obvious display. Just as the energy around them begins to condense, transition into something else, the wind's furious howls give way to a scream that is far more alive.
Charon has his gun readied first, more than a lifetime's practice has him pulling it into position as easily as drawing a breath. He watches and waits as three enormous claws slide almost silently past the two packs propped in front of the cave entrance and pause, just long enough for the terror they inspire to sink in. Charon recognizes them, knows the creature attached is intelligent enough to know how it's toying with them but somehow, he is still shocked when the claws rip the bags away and are replaced by the snarling head of a deathclaw.
The beast roars, saliva splattering the sand as its forked tongue curls outwards, scenting the air. One of its horns is broken off at the tip and its far too humanoid face is covered in old scars. The sound of its back claws scraping at stone fills the cave.
Charon levels his gun, trying to brace himself in the small space. The creature is too large to reach them through such a small entrance but he knows it will make short work of the dirt and stone in its way. It gurgles as it struggles, the deathclaws' hunting call distorting with its frantic hunger. There's no doubt this thing was tracking them, only thrown off by the storm distorting its sense of smell. Now the beast has found them and it is eager for its meal.
He fires two blasts directly into the Deathclaw's face. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Eva scream, clutching at her head as the sound of the gun reverberates throughout the small cave. Charon himself can hear nothing but ringing. He sees the creature opens his mouth but cannot tell if it makes a sound. Blood splatters across the ground but it's not nearly enough. Despite the injury, it is still struggling to reach its prey.
Charon is steadying himself for another shot, still off balance on the uneven floor of the cave, when Eva pushes him aside and darts forward, plunging a knife into the exposed fleshy part of her target's neck that has managed to work its way inside the cave. The skin dents before it gives way and he can see her muscles strain to push past the deathclaw's leathery hide.
It breaks through just as the cave entrance begins to crumble. Blood so thick it's nearly black pours from the wound, drenching her hand until she loses her grip. Eva slips forward, dangerously within the monster's reach. Enough stone has been torn away from the entrance that it can now thrust an arm inside, retractable claws extending as it goes for the kill, but Charon slams the butt of the gun against its wrist before it can reach its target.
Another gunshot erases any hearing that might have been returning, but it's enough. The deathclaw collapses.
Still, though it is too injured to fight, the beast takes several minutes to die, intelligent eyes first darting around in panic and then slowly glazing over as the last shreds of its energy fade away.
They wait.
Slowly, the ringing in Charon's ears fades away and he can make out faint sounds. He can hear Eva's breathing slow as the minutes stretch by.
He can hear the wind.
…..
The storm dissipates an hour later, just as they finish skinning the hulking corpse blocking their way home.