"Good evening deputy John." John flinched and looked over at the dark skinned woman to his right, the woman smiled widely at him. Who was that anyway? He had seen her around of course, just another person living in the common house living of...scavenging the area around the town or something? He had never talked to her before, that was for sure.
"Good evening." He muttered, tilting his head in greeting as he moved on, he couldn't stop himself from straightening a little though. Deputy John...the nickname sat well with him. Someone...Gob he believed...had started calling him that a while back and it quickly spread around the town. Odd, it hadn't taken long for him to become a small celebrity within the town...
Hefting his new hunting rifle tied to his back, the thing a little sturdier then the previous one due to a batch of wonderglue and copious use of duct tape...he smiled. The thing was his choice weapon nowadays for the hunt of raiders and the odd animal...which probably was part of the reason for people's sudden love for him.
He didn't really understand, didn't others out there fight the raiders and animals? Why did people like him for doing something everyone did every day? Sure...he actively sought the enemies out, clearing them away from the surroundings and all that...was that it? People didn't want to fight the evil? Was the 'deputy John' sarcastic? Did they mean he was a fool to look for trouble?
No, the smile had been genuine, that much was sure. Maybe people wasn't really used to others actually trying to make things better? He should ask Nova, she always gave straight answers. Though she always had to sound husky when she did it...he had caught her normal voice a couple of times, odd how people had different faces before others...
That thought brought a grimace to his face. Yeah, like he was 'deputy John' before others, protecting the traders and purging the land of evildoers. What would they think if he revealed that he partly did it out of greed for the raiders few possessions? Or that he mostly did it because he loved the rush of killing those monsters? What would they think then? Would they praise him? Or shy away?
Or he could ask Moira about it instead and have his mind assaulted by a storm of nonsense. He liked her for her caps and cheerfulness, so different from the rest of the grim population...but good God was she odd! Oh right, he should tell her about the mole rat repellent, as if he hadn't had his share of crazy for the day already...
Steering his steps over to the walkway going over doc Church's clinic he waved over at Jenny Stahl. The woman spared him a wave as she served the ever hungry Jericho his meal by the stand outside the Brass Lantern. Further off confessor Cromwell kept sprouting his nonsense, making John grimace... He really should get that bomb fixed before he left, doing otherwise would be failing Lucas Simms, not to mention he didn't trust leaving the thing dormant with Mr Burke around.
Trudging up the walkway, as always praying that the thin sheet wouldn't break under his weight, he wondered where he would sleep this time. Sure, the common house was free...but after a few lost caps he didn't feel that safe there anymore. Not to mention his indignant outburst had been really embarrassing, especially after Lucas had explained that accusations without proof was disturbing the peace...
Of course it was just a few caps, nothing compared to buying a room in Moriarty's, even without Nova in the bed. Oh god that was still embarrassing... At least he would be safe there, no one would creep up on him while he slept...the extra caps might just be worth the peace of mind. Though, John grimaced, it always stunk of Gob...
Pushing up the door to Craterside supplies John smiled, realising he had entered just before closing time. Moira was already sweeping the floor, removing burnt pieces of what had to be her latest failed invention...meanwhile the mercenary looked as if he had already dozed off at his regular spot by the wall.
Looking up from her work Moira smiled widely. Despite the craziness John knew she was making a killing out of trading with him...and it was always a guesswork trying to figure out the reason for her smiles. Maybe a little bit of everything? "Oh hi there! Don't mind the shards...they're not that sharp, how did the repellent work? Did you test it?" Ah, that's the reason then.
Placing the stick covered in that shiny, thankfully odourless, green stuff on Moira's counter John shrugged. "Oh it works all right, a little too well perhaps. It makes them explode...violently." An amused snort escaped the mercenary behind him, telling John that the man wasn't sleeping at all. John couldn't help but smile a little too, he still remembered how shocked he'd been when he suddenly became drenched in mole rat flesh....followed by an hour of cheerful chasing of panicking mole rats.
Moira's face twisted into an odd grimace of compassion, though with her gaunt features and overall disposition it rather looked like a pout. "Oh those poor little ratties...that wasn't supposed to happen! Maybe if I..."
"Erm, payment." John interrupted, not that he wanted to be rude or anything, but if he let her start he would never get out of there any time soon. Holding out his hand he felt warm satisfaction at the pouch of caps was handed to him. With these caps and what loot he had to sell...he might be ready for another try at GNR! "If you don't mind it I'd like to take a break from the guide for a while."
"Oh? Going into DC again are we?" Moira smiled and leant over the counter, her cheerfulness not the least affected by the loss of her assistant. "If you make any sort of notes on the super mutants I would love it! Like how the organise and live and such!"
"Sure thing." John chuckled, wondering how he was supposed to make worthwhile notes on a subject most probably knew more about. "Say, I got some stuff to sell here..." He pushed the heavy backpack he'd gotten unto the counter, the practically broken weapons within clattering against one another and what other stuff he had brought with him. "And I'd like to get some more weapons and ammo for it..."
"Oh sure thing! Let me see what you have here!" Moira begun to dig into the pack. Though the weapons he had there were quite effective they were all on the verge of falling apart, and therefore not worth much. Of course Moira would then repair them so they cost a fortune later...John eyed the SMG hanging in the cabinet behind Moira with hungry eyes. "What do you need?"
John pointed over Moira's shoulder as she pulled out the various weapons and chems he had brought. "How about that SMG there? Looks solid and I got a lot of ten millimetre ammo." He glanced down with a grimace. His vault suit had gotten more and more gashes in it, making it look as if it was being absorbed by his skin. "Erm, some new threads would be nice too, don't you have some leather armour? Or did you sell that already?"
"Sure do, but you know..." Moira bit her lip, as always embarrassed at pointing out he owed her more for such a deal. Which she of course would do in the end anyway, she was odd...not an idiot.
"Right, the good leather armour, the SMG with...say two extra clips? Oh and throw in three stimpaks..." John reached down and placed the old pistol he'd bought from her before unto the counter. "For everything in the backpack, this pistol and...fifty caps?" Moira grimaced. "Fine, a hundred. Remember that I'm coming back with more notes and stuff later..."
That brightened her up. "Oh of course you will!" Was that sarcasm? No, she was probably incapable of that... "But sure, you got a deal, this SMG right? Not that one?" While Moira reached back for the ordered items John opened the bag she had given him and counted off the caps he owed unto the counter. Heh...even with this payment he still had a small fortune of caps now. Heck...after buying supplies he would have a tidy sum...yep...Moriarty's it is, no way he's risking his wealth in the common house.
With a small grunt, Moira was surprisingly weak when she wasn't working on something exciting, the woman placed the ordered items unto the counter while sweeping John's offered items to the corner. "Oh by the way! If you find any interesting pieces of technology out there I'd love to have a look on them! My last thing...blew up."
"Sure thing..." John hesitated, he knew Moira was good with technology, she really was...when she wasn't experimenting with it. "I actually got one thing..." Reaching down into the old duffel bag with his more personal belongings he pulled out the pip-boy. One of its hinges hung loose from where the corner of a wall had smashed into it...and the bullet hole in the main body looked quite ugly. Yet Moira's face brightened at the sight. "Could you repair this?"
"Repair it!? I could really..."
"No, just repair it. Nothing else." John interrupted, keeping his voice stern. Like a chastised child Moira nodded, this time she definitively pouted. "If you manage to fix it you can copy all the information stored in it." The pout instantly turned into a grin of delight. Ugh...with anyone else letting them copy private notes would be horrible, Moira however was too crazy to really hold anything she'd find against him...so it wasn't so bad.
Taking the small computer Moira gently cradled it like a mother would a child. "Oh this is just great! I will take such good care of it! You'll see! It'll be as good as new!"
"Sure it will...I trust you." He really didn't. Pushing the stimpaks and the SMG into the duffel bag and grabbing the armour with one hand he raised the other in a goodbye wave. "Take care Moira, I'll see you later."
"Bye!" The door slammed shut behind him, muffling Moira's voice as she added: "Oh and good luck!"
Smiling John took a deep breath, the fresh evening air giving him new energy. Going over to the edge of the platform he leant against the rusty railing, below confessor Cromwell seemed to have collapsed in the irradiated water, a look of bliss on his face. John shook his head, what a nut... So, should he go to the Brass lantern now and get his supplies? Or use the opportunity to fix the bomb? That old thing looked awfully creepy...
"Oh well, might as well get this over with..."