Chapter 24: Welcome To My World

The sun was shining through the window when Raven slowly began to wake up. Her eyes fluttered open and she grumbled with irritability from the sun shining in her face. Slowly, Raven sat up in the bed and yawned. She held her head in her hands trying to remember the events of last night. It only took her a few moments to realize that she was not alone in the bed. In fact, the courier was not even in her hotel bed. The velvet cloth covering her naked form was a sign of that. Her head turned and she saw the King laying on his side in the bed. Rex was laying in the floor, dead asleep to the world.

"Oh shit..." she thought to herself. "Did the King and I really...oh shit!"

The couple stumbled along the stairs, laughing at each other. The King was holding onto Raven, making sure she wouldn't fall down. Raven giggled and finally they took their last step up the stairs together.

"Mr. King, I do believe you are drunk."

"Yes, and I do believe you are too, Miss Wagner."

The duo walked through the halls trying to find the King's bedroom. When they got to the door, raven lazily laid her hand on the door knocb and turned it. She pushed the door open with her free hand and helped the King inside slowly. Raven got a whiff of the King's cologne and she shuddered. God damn, he smelled so good. The woman guided the King of Kings to his bed and settled him down gently. Without resisting, though, Raven allowed the King to pull her to him and they laid on the bed together. They both laughed.

"Miss Wagner, I have a proposition for you." said the King.

"Oh?" she replied. "Do tell, Mr. King."

"Well, two things. One, I'm going to start calling you Raven from now on. I think we've passed the point of formality, don't you agree?"

Raven nuzzled her head into his neck, again catching the smell of his cologne. "I agree, King," she said softly.

"Ok. And two..." he lifted Raven's head up and kissed her gently on the mouth. "Stay with me tonight?"

The girl returned his kiss. "Yes."

Raven did her best to be as stealthy as possible as she started putting on her clothes. As she began to slide on her leather garments, she felt the bed move underneath her. Raven froze when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She glanced behind her to see the King staring at her. Her gaze went to the bed instead of his eyes. She couldn't bear to look him in the eye at that moment. She felt ashamed of herself for her actions. Both of them had been so drunk the night before, and she knew last night couldn't have meant anything to the King. Plus, she didn't want to be another one of his groupies. Raven wanted the King, that much was certain now. In fact, the troubled woman could go as far to say that she was falling in love with the King. That was definitely a possibility.

"Raven, look at me." Her eyes didn't move and she swallowed hard. The King sat up and scooted towards her. He placed a hand to her cheek and forced her to look at him. "Leaving so soon?"

"I, uh..." she stuttered. "I didn't think...I mean...I have a lot of stuff to do. Um, and...I didn't think you wanted to...I don't know...have me here in the morning?"

The King looked disappointed. "Now listen here, missy. You get back in this bed right now, because leaving me in the morning is a big no-no. Understand?"

"O-ok."

The King slid a finger down her neck and leaned in, kissing her neck. "Put down your clothes."

Raven did exactly as she was told, and she breathed in gently at the feeling of his lips on her neck.

The King wasn't sure why he wanted Raven to stay, but he didn't seem to care at the moment. He watched the woman get dressed at the end of the bed and smiled as he stared at Raven's butt. The King's eyes drifted down her creamy white legs and his breath hitched. Raven turned herself slightly and smirked at the King.

"Like what you see?"

"Very."

Raven laughed and pulled up her leather pants. The King just laid in the bed watching her and when she was finished, the courier crawled back into the bed and kissed the King gently on the mouth.

"I have jobs to do so I might be a bit too busy for the next few days to come see you, but I promise to see you when I'm done. Is that alright with you?"

"What kind of jobs?" the King asked.

"Oh, just some things here and there. Just trying to help people out, you know?"

The King smiled and ran his hand through her thick black hair. "Raven, you really have a lot of heart."

Raven blushed. "Yeah, well...yeah." she coughed and got off the bed, then sgtarted putting her hair in a wendy welder's bun. "Anyway, I gotta run."

"Alright," said the King. "I'll see you later."

Raven smiled down at Rex and patted him on the head. "See you later too, Rex." The dog barked at her and she grinned before leaving.

The King watched her leave and sighed before getting himself dressed as well.

It had taken her awhile but she finally did it. She somehow managed to get enough caps to pass the security checkpoint into the New Vegas Strip. The doors opened and she took a deep breath as she walked through them. Raven turned to Boone as they walked and she laughed.

"Have you ever seen anything so damn cool in your life, Boone?"

"I've been to the Strip before, Raven."

Raven sighed and turned back around. Just as she did, Raven saw a familiar robot heading her way. It was Victor, the robot who dug her up from the grave back in Goodsprings.

"Well, I'll be a monkey's uncle. Victor!" she waved him down.

"Howdy, pardner. You've come a fair piece, haven't you? Welcome to New Vegas!"

"This place looks amazing, Victor! Where do I start?" Raven laughed.

"Raven, are you feeling alright?" asked Boone.

"Of course I am," said Raven. "I feel great!"

Boone took a good look at her, then realization dawned on him. "Oh geez. You had sex with the King, didn't you?"

Raven shushed him. "Keep it down, Boone."

Victor, looking unphased at this new information, started talking again. "The place to get started is the Lucky 38. See that big ol' tower shaped like a roulette spinner? That's where you'll find Mr. House, New Vegas' head honcho. And he's itching to make your acquaintance."

Raven mulled this over in her brain a bit before responding. "All right. I'll go there straight off."

"Yeehaw, pardner. That's the spirit. He'll be waiting for you."

Boone and Raven made their way over to the 38, but Raven was told to go up alone. She asked Boone to wait for her and he nodded, and then she went into the Lucky 38 alone. She walked into the casino and shook her head in astonishment. She'd never seen such a place. Raven walked to the elevator and asked Victor to take her up to the Penthouse. She got into the elevator and waited. Soon the doors opened and Raven found herself in an unbelievable room. There was a female Securitron in front of her and she quirked a brow. She exited to the left and saw a computer with a man's face on it. Raven went down the stairs and stood in front of this computer with a confused look.

"Um, hello?" she asked.

"This meeting has been a long time coming, hasn't it?" a voice said. "You've come a long ways, literally and, I suspect, figuratively as well. I have to ask – now that you've reached your destination, what do you make of what you see?"

Raven just stared at the computer screen. "I've never seen anything like this place. Not at all."