"What are you writing so intently?" Nora inquired, staring at the reporter not too far from her with a curious expression.
Her curiosity only increased when she saw Piper's blush and sheepish grin. She raised an eyebrow in silent questioning.
"Nothing. Nothing important, I mean. Just some story ideas I've come up with from what we've seen on this journey," Piper told her, averting her eyes from the paper and certainly avoiding Nora's gaze. Nora couldn't help but think that Piper was lying.
Piper's strange reaction just fueled her belief that whatever it was certainly, assuredly something. Something that Nora needed to know about. After all, it was a rare day that Piper Wright sat around randomly grinning to herself and giggling of all things.
They had been on this journey for three days and every time that they stopped for a break, Piper began scribbling on her notepad like a madwoman.
She needed to find out what was written on that pad. Desperately.
Nora looked at her surroundings seemingly idly, glancing at one thing or another in silent contemplation of what she could possibly use to distract the younger girl from her writing. After a moment of unsuccessful searching, however, she spotted a Nuka-Cola machine just across the road at a old broken down building. When she narrowed her eyes a bit to see better from the glare of the sun, it appeared as if it could possibly have a beverage still stored inside.
She subtly glanced at Piper, checking to see if she had seen any of Nora's actions. Obviously, she had not due to the fact that her nose was still stuffed in that little notebook. With that knowledge, Nora began her theatrics.
"Hmm," Nora hummed in mock thought, squinting her eyes and leaning forward in the direction of the Nuka-Cola vending machine. "What- is that a…?" She saw Piper move in the corner of her eye and Nora knew that Piper's gaze was trained on her.
"Darn this sun," Nora muttered, covering her eyes a bit as she peered over at the machine in an attempt to look concentrated.
"Wait… Oh, cool! Hey, Piper, I think there's a Nuka-Cola over there in that machine!" Nora told her with a sincere- or what she hoped appeared sincere- smile.
Piper's attention immediately shifted to the machine and she laid her notepad down on the table.
"Good eye! Be right back, I'm going to get it. I'll bet it still tastes good after all this time. They always are better with a little age and rads to them," Piper got up and strode in the direction of the Nuka Cola machine.
As soon as Piper reached the edge of the road nearest to Nora, she quickly snagged the pad and assumed a casual position, reading the writing.
"Beauty rest for you, beauty rest for me,
"Some of us need it more than others, you see
"Hancock is beyond repair, MacCready needs a ton,
"Whereas Piper and Nora certainly need none
"Curie is pretty, Cait is ugly as homemade sin,
"It's too bad that none of these poor wastelanders even have a chance to win,
"Nora is beautiful, and Piper is hot,
"Too bad all of the other girls are not
"But one must take pity, after all, they cannot help their plight
"It is truly sad when one can only stand to look at someone when they're not in the light
"That is when you know, you've picked up an ugly thug
"We're lucky Nora hasn't dredged up a giant bug
"The- at times- morally questionable company she keeps occasionally leaves something to be desired,
"Especially since Nora is so admired
"For being the hero of the Commonwealth, see?
"Are you lucky as me to have a friend like she?"
"What are you doing?!" Piper yelped, her eyes wide as she leapt in a desperate attempt to snatch the notepad from Nora.
"What's wrong, Piper? After all, it's just ideas for the paper, right?" Nora grinned evilly and Piper stopped, her face rapidly turning red.
"Hmm… 'Cait is ugly as homemade sin' and 'Piper is hot.' A little harsh toward Cait, don't you think? But I'm sure the readers will love a little drama," the older woman teased and allowed Piper to take the notepad out of her hands.
"Why would you do that?!" Piper demanded irritably, tucking the notepad in her pocket. She was beginning to worry that she had went too far. Nora searched Piper's face and quickly noticed that she didn't seem offended, merely somewhat miffed and primarily just very embarrassed which was a relief.
"Because I knew you were lying. And Piper Wright does not lie."
"What if it was stuff that would mortify us both?" Nora knew the reporter was speaking hypothetically, but she couldn't resist messing with her a little bit.
"You've written me inappropriately, too?! Was it with Danse? Or was it with Hancock? Please not Hancock!"
"No! ARGH!" Piper stomped off, her arms crossed over her chest as she huffed.
Nora just laughed.