"Charon, can I ask you something?" Yolandi asked. Charon was relieved to hear her speak, she had spent a majority of the morning sitting across from him, silently watching him clean his guns.

" Yes." Charon replied, he wanted to tease her and tell her she had already asked a question, but he had decided the night before that he would not interact with her in such a way. Although Yolandi had a way of making him forget his oaths.

" Is ghoulfucker a literal term?" Yolandi asked, Charon smirked and nodded.

" Why is it an insult? " She asked.

" Have you taken a good look at ghouls?" Charon asked, shocked by her ignorance, the smirk disappearing from his face.

" Yeah…." Yolandi replied, " You guys are an evolutionary marvel! You survive radiation levels that would normally kill others. Not to mention you must be immune to most infections considering bacteria can't live on your skin. No staph infections, or gangrenous tissue, no STD's. Fuck a sunburn that would never happen. Clearly stronger because of the accumulation of scar tissue. Your aging must have stopped, or decelerated at an amazing rate." Yolandi ranted on and on, Charon was annoyed no he was angry, it was easy for the smoothskin to speak about all the benefits of ghoulification because she wasn't afflicted by it. Charon knew he should of held his tongue, he would have never spoken out of turn to his previous employers, but since Yolandi had given him the privilege.

" Smoothskin stop." Charon said, stopping Yolandi in the middle of her speech.

" What?" She asked.

" We are walking corpses, cast aside by what's left of your bullshit society. Fucking murdered where we stand because we look like zombies. Rotface, shuffler, zombie, brain eater, all the names you smoothskin's labeled us with. Most smoothskin's won't look twice to see if we are feral or not. Benefits? Watching your family die? Living long enough to forget their faces? Forgetting what your own fucking face looked like?" Charon had stood up at this point, he had never intended to speak this much, yet he could not stop. He didn't feel like he was the one speaking, his rage had taken over.

Charon continued, " We became these monsters because we or our family could not afford to get into one of those fancy vaults, like the one you crawled out of. Fuck them anyway, I was their ticket into one." Charon stopped, he realized he had just let his past slip into the conversation, that was the last thing he wanted. Now Yolandi would pester him with questions about his past. He finally looked at Yolandi, she had stood up and backed away to the a set of lockers by the front door. He immediately regretted his outburst. She stepped forward and held out her hand, a cigarette in between her delicate fingers. He took it, as she lit the one between her lips and tossed him the lighter. He realized he hadn't scared her, she had simply gotten up to get him a cigarette. He sighed at this, the vaultie was crazy, anyone would have run for the hills if he had spoken to them in such a way.

"I apologize for my outburst." Charon said quickly.

" I don't think you've ever spoken so much…. but no don't apologize you were just telling me the truth. I'm sorry I never took into perspective the struggles ghouls face everyday. I was so wrapped up in the medical side of it, I didn't….look i'm sorry okay?" Yolandi replied.

"Apology accepted." Charon replied, those two words had never left his lips before, the sick feeling returned, and began to worsen as he watched the vaultie sit again, the cigarette held between her perfect lips. Her chest rising ever so slightly as she inhaled, her index and middle finger delicately clasping the cigarette as she pulled it away from her lips, her chest lowered, the smoke leaving her mouth and curling as it disappeared into the air. The way she softly pursed her lips as she exhaled had Charon feeling hot under his armor. It was going to kill him watching her, his strange obsession with her lips disturbed him. He understood it though, soft plump lips were something he hadn't felt against his skin in what felt like centuries.

" These things will kill you." Charon said taking his seat.

" Something has to." She replied with a small smile, she turned suddenly as the robot floated down the stairs.

" Your bath should be ready in a few minutes maddam. Though the amount of water you asked me to heat is too much for tub you have purchased." Wadsworth explained.

" That is because my sweet metal man, after i'm done I want it cleaned and prepped so Charon can have a bath as well." Yolandi said.

"Of course maddam, right away." The robot replied silently ascending the stairs.

"That's okay right? I'm not saying you smell or anything just that it was a long walk you must be tired, ya know umm... a soak in hot water is great that's all I meant by you having a bath like cause the trip, the dirt" Yolandi stumbled over her words, Charon smiled slightly at the idea that she didn't want to offend him again.

"Yes, a bath is fine." He replied butting out his cigarette in the ashtray with Yolandi following suit.

" Here I am trying to raise enough caps so that I can go find my father without any more interruptions or having to do too much scavenging but when Moira told me about the tub, about how I could soak in hot water I had to have it." Yolandie said, she spoke more about how she came across enough caps to pay for it but Charon had stopped listening. He was too busy trying to stop his mind from creating an image of his employer soaking in a tub. However his imagination would have to wait, so he could pay his undivided attention to the vaulite as she let loose her hair from the tight bun she kept it in. He was hot underneath his armor again, he was on fire. She combed her fingers through it before rustling it, it fell in soft waves past her shoulders. She noticed his gaze, blush attacked her cheeks, however she did not look away, a smile crept onto her face.

" Hair like that is impractical." Charon stated, " Your easier to grab, it could be used to drag you away."

Charon was pleased with what he said, he didn't want her realizing that he was looking at her in a way that no employee should look at his employer.

" That happened actually. A supermutant lifted me by my hair and pulled me up toward it's face and told me he was going to eat me. I was so fucking scared, but I managed to grab my knife and stab him. I stabbed him right in the eye at least twice before he dropped me." She said making stabbing gestures with her hand.

" How did you escape?" Charon asked.

" I didn't, I killed him.I had to he wasn't about to let me get away. I shot him with my rifle from point blank range. Painted the wall with his brains. I did have to hide for a couple of hours though, until the others had gone back to their posts." Yolandi explained.

" My job is to keep you safe, to defend you. That will never happen to you again." Charon said. " That being said, I feel that it would be in your best interest if I taught you how to defend yourself."

"Really Charon? That would be amazing! You can turn me into a killing machine!" She had jumped up in excitement.

" I'll try." Charon replied with a small smile.

It had been at least four hours Charon thought as he sat eating a box of fancy lad snacks. The music from her pipboy echoed through the house. He focused on chewing, the dulled taste of the food in his mouth, the feeling of it going down his throat. He wanted for at least a few minutes to not think about Yolandi. He stood up and walked through the bottom level of the house, he squatted down in front of a bookshelf filled with pre-war medical journals and textbooks. His employer was much more than just a pretty face, she was extremely intelligent when it came to science and medicine. On their way to megaton he had watched her hack terminals as if it were child's play. She helped a group of wastelanders with their injuries using the simplest of resources, hell she had deactivated a nuclear bomb. She had deadly accuracy with a rifle, and the way she could talk her way through almost every situation. He was impressed by the vaultie. He sighed realizing he had spent the last ten minutes thinking only of her.

Yolandi sat in the tub of hot water, the steam rising creating a gentle haze in the bathroom. Charon, Charon, Charon. There was no denying she admired him. His skill in battle, his calm demeanor, his intimidating stance. She absolutely loved how he walked, it had a certain swagger, especially in the way he held his shotgun casually in one hand. However she found herself wanting to see more of his arrogance, craving to see more of his mean streak. His outburst had excited her, in a way she did not know was possible. She found herself wanting more contact, wondering how his strong rough hands would feel running down her body. Yolandi placed a hand on her inner thigh, and squeezed imagining it was Charon. She bit her lip as she slid her hand up closer to the juncture between her thighs. She stifled a moan as she cupped herself in between her thighs firm and rough, in her fantasy Charon was not gentle. He would fuck like he fought. With her other hand she tangled her her fingers in her wet hair and tugged, she was glad she put her pip boy on full volume. Just as she was about to continue her fantasy there was a knock at the door, she almost screamed as she quickly gripped the edges of the tub.

" Yes?" She managed to squeak out, thoughts racing through her mind, had he heard her? Did he know what she was doing?

" I have not heard any movement, I thought maybe you had drowned." Charon said from behind the door.

" I can hear you smiling! I'm not going to drown in a tub! I'm not completely fucking useless." Yolandi snapped.

" You cannot hear a smile." Charon replied, " Anyway I was just checking on you." She heard his footsteps lead away from the door. She reached for a towel.

She could hear him on the second floor rummaging through his pack she wondered what he was looking for. She looked up from repairing her armor.

"I left everything in the bathroom. Soap, towels, even a change of clothes I can't promise the most accurate sizing though." Yolandi said with a raised voice hoping he would hear her. Charon grunted in response.

" Your welcome. Hey i'm repairing my armor did you want me to take a look at yours?" Yolandi asked. She received no response, she shrugged it off turning her attention back to her armor repair. She heard Charon descend the stairs, she began to say something but stopped when she looked up. Her eyes widened, she tried her best to make eye contact but it was impossible. Charon stood before her wearing only a towel that he held loosely in hand, his leather armor in the other. Her eyes started at his exposed hip, up his cut torso, his large biceps, strong broad shoulders corded with muscle. Her brain was imploding on itself. Her eyes roamed over his chest, the exposed muscle tissue, the remains of scarred flesh the stark white scars that decorated his body. She crossed her legs.

"The stories behind them aren't as exciting as you think they are." Charon said, he dropped the armor on the table, " I'll clean your guns in exchange for this."

As he turned around, she stared up his back, three large scars resembling claw marks adorned his back. He paused.

"Those ones however, it is a hell of a story."

With that he went back upstairs, Yolandi didn't release her breath until she heard the bathroom door shut.

"Oh come on, what's wrong with my plan?" Yolandi demanded pointing at the map displayed on her pip boy.

"Why do you need all the caps? We should go straight to Rivet city." Charon replied.

" What if they send us on a wild goose chase? Also, not that I don't trust three dog but what if his information is inaccurate? " Yolandi asked.

" Fair enough." Charon replied. " Or maybe you are putting off seeing your father again."

Yolandi's face contorted into a pained expression. Charon felt a panic surge through him, not only because the last time he saw her with a pained expression she proceeded to execute a man but because he had caused her pain. He promised her she would never be in danger again, now he was hurting her. He found himself slowly reaching across the table to touch her arm, the way she would touch his, but quickly pulled back his hand.

" Maybe you're right." She said sadly, she gave no indication that she was going to continue speaking. Charon felt horrible, he had never hurt anyone's feelings before. Or maybe he had, did it hurt people's feelings to have their arms broken or their ear cut off? He would have to ask Yolandi but first he had to rectify the situation.

" It would make sense to have caps when you see him, show him that you can be successful in a place that he thought would eat you alive." Charon said, slightly flinching awaiting her reaction. She looked up at him, and gave him a soft smile.

" Yeah exactly! Charon are you ready to take this wasteland by storm?" Yolandi asked dramatically sweeping her hand across in front of her. Charon rolled his eyes at his employers corny cringe worthy behavior, and nodded.