Chapter 13: Bucketlist
The tent smelled of roots and mud as I opened the tent flap meagerly to find Sennia curled up on the floor. Her head was rested gently in her hands, her maimed back facing me.
"Sennia?" I whispered.
"Please, I can't handle it right now. Just go away," came her choked reply.
"Sennia, I need you to know something before I leave you alone."
She sat still and silent awaiting me to finish. I knelt down next to her with my hands on her shoulders.
"Sennia, I have never met anyone quite like you. I have never known what it was like to be loved until I did meet you. I love you with all the light of the sun Mars provides everyday, just for you. I never really know what to say when I'm around you." I sighed, "You still give me butterflies in my stomach every time you say my name. When you feel upset, I get all twisted and it feels like there's barbed wire in my chest."
She turned to look at me with sadness oozing from her black eyes.
"What I'm trying to say is when you get upset, I get upset. And then I try to make you feel better and say something completely and utterly stupid. I thought I was giving the highest compliment when I was comparing you to those other women. Then I realized that I never should have compared you to them at all. They don't stand a chance to you. They aren't even holding a candle to you. Those women mean nothing to me and can't compare to you even when you've just woken up with your hair in my mouth again and you have that funny look you get like you've smelled something horrid."
She giggled lightly but seemed to cringe at the noise. She pushed her oily hair out of her face, only for it to fall back limply.
"I need to wash my hair." She mumbled under her breath.
"I'll figure something out." I assured her.
I turned to leave again when I felt her tug at my wrist.
"Please don't leave me again. I'm sorry I yelled earlier." Her eyes latched onto mine with such an intensity that I couldn't bring myself to look away.
"It's okay. I'm the dumbass who can't stop saying things that only escalate the situation." I sat down and she crawled into my lap. I wrapped my arms around her, mindful of her injuries.
"What kind of person do you think I was before the Legion?" Sennia asked looking up at me.
"That's a very peculiar question. I can only assume you were quite the black widow. Who can resist your charms?" I kissed the top of her head.
"I'm being serious." She was muffled by my tunic.
"I believe you weren't much different from when you first came here. You held your head up, you didn't let the situation get to you, and you took everything with such grace that I had to remember to breath when I first say you."
I could feel her smile into my chest. "Really?"
"Really. Lucius made fun of me for weeks about my infatuation with you."
"How long did it take for you finally talk to me?"
"Would the time I choked on my own damn spit be considered 'talking'? If so, I would say around four weeks. I sort of just admired from a distance and I just now realize how creepy that sounds."
"Just a little. I guess I did the same. There was just something about you. I think it was your eyes that really got me. Every once in a while, I could catch you staring at me long enough to get a good look at them baby blues." She laughed lightly while batting her eyelashes and I wrapped her closer.
She was silent again for several minutes. "What will happen if I get pregnant?"
"I am uncertain. Hopefully, it would be after the war so they wouldn't just take it from you. I assure you they wouldn't take a child away from a freed slave. That's just monstrous."
"Vulpes, taking a child away from anyone is monstrous." She looked at me pointedly.
"Depends on who the person is that you are taking the child away from. For all you know, that person could be a child molester. Maybe they plan on murdering the child. You don't know who they are."
"And you're forcing the children into slavery or into an army for them to die in or enslave other children." She had grown tenser in my arms.
"I understand that we have conflicted views on such things so I believe it would be the best if we just drop the subject. So when do you think you could take a bath?"
She had gotten so stiff that it hurt to hold her in my lap. I glanced down to see her visibly pissed. I'm not a complete idiot. I knew why she was upset this time but I would not have such conflict in the tent while we were just getting over another argument.
"Let's go find somewhere you can bathe in peace." I lifted her up and froze when she winced. I sat her down and she climbed onto my back.
The air outside the tent was hot and sticky yet again. I walked down the path to the gates and out to the shore where I had proposed just two weeks ago. She climbed down and she stood up gingerly.
"I'll help you with your back. I'll watch for anyone stupid enough to try and look." I reassured her.
She waded into the water until she was waist deep and the dried crust of the healing powder quickly turned back into a thick, gooey paste. She shivered at the feel of it on her skin. I waded in after her and cupped water in my hand and slowly poured it over her cuts.
"I'm so sorry this has happened to you."
"I told you that it wasn't all your fault. I could have said no and neither of us would be in this situation."
I continued to pour the water over her skin and watched as the paste started to slide off in muddy chunks, leaving trails of grime in their paths.
"That feels disgusting." She said through chattering teeth.
"It looks pretty gross, too. I know the water is cold, love, but this is the best I can offer you."
"I know. I'm not complaining. It itches and the water is helping." She leaned her head back and a sigh escaped her lips.
I poured the water over her shoulders and watched as it dripped down her chest. Her body shivered and she released a quiet moan.
"I think I should dunk now." She dropped under the water and didn't come back up after several moments.
"Sennia?" I looked around and she was nowhere in sight. I stood still to see any ripples or bubbles. The water was motionless.
"Sennia?!" I dunked under the water and looked around. I only saw dark blue water and sand. She was gone.
I came back up to the surface and gasped for breath. She couldn't be gone.
"Hey! Come and get me, Vulpes." Sennia was on the shore half nude, laughing, and soaking wet.
"By Mars!" I kicked up water as I rushed to the shore. She turned to run but I caught her by the arm and pulled her to me.
"Don't ever fucking do that again!" I crushed her to me, not worrying about her cuts.
"It was just a joke, I didn't think it through." She mumbled into my shoulder. She wrapped her thin arms around my torso and pulled me to her.
"You scared the hell out of me." I let out a shaky breath into her wet hair. "I thought I had lost you."
"I''m here and I'm clean-ish. Let's go home. I'm cold."
I wrapped her in my spare tunic I brought before we left. We walked back to the tent in silence. People stared but no one asked. I opened the tent and she stepped in and dropped the tunic, along with her other clothes.
"I thought you were cold?" I said trying to hide the smile tugging at my lips.
"I know a way to warm up."
"Vulpes, I have a mission for you again. Scouts have recently discovered radioactive waste bins at the firehouse in Searchlight by Cottonwood Cove. I know you understand that Searchlight is heavily fortified by the NCR. Your mission is to release that waste and let the radiation overtake the town. This is an undercover operation. I'm sure you can find a way to complete the mission and come back safe and sound." Caesar was sitting in his chair, clearly uninterested in my briefing.
"Yes, sir. Ave." I turned to leave.
"Slow down there, how's the slave?" I could hear the venom in his laugh.
"She's healing." I didn't bother to face him.
"What a shame. You can leave now." He gestured me out of the tent.
I nodded and gladly got the hell out of there. I walked down to the tent to tell Sennia I was leaving again. I opened the tent to see Sennia huddled over a bucket.
"Are you alright, love?" My voice was heavy with concern.
"I'm fine." She looked up with tears in her eyes.
"You certainly don't look fine."
"I'm fine. Just go do your mission. I'll be fine. Love you." She pushed me out of the tent and closed it. I could hear her light sobbing.
Whatever was going on, she was clearly not fine. I would just have to deal with it when I get back from Searchlight.