14. Home
Beth POV
Like Home (Radio Edit) by Nicky Romero & NERVO
"Hey, Robert! Guess what!" I say as I walk into Home Plate. I see him lounging on the couch with his feet propped up, and his new favourite book—a collection of Edgar Allan Poe stories and poems—in hand. I don't know how this isn't destroyed by now, he'd said when he found it.
He looks up at me, placing a bookmark in the volume and closing it. He laughs, "What?"
"No, guess," I insist.
"Um, okay…" He puts his hand to his chin thoughtfully. "Dinosaurs are now roaming the earth again with every other abomination in this wasteland. And, not only are they back from extinction, but they can be cultivated enough to become our pets, and we can ultimately ride them into battle." After a second, "I call bids on the pteranodon!"
After trying to abstain from laughing, and failing miserably, I scoff. Trying to regain my composure, I just end up making myself look ridiculous. "Fine. I call bids on the velociraptor then!" Giggling, "Close, but no. Unfortunately. I learned of a place to build!"
"Oh, yeah? Let's hear it."
"So, I was at Arturo's," I toss him a bag with 5.56 ammo in it, "when I hear someone say 'it's getting out of hand.' So, naturally I wanted to find out what the topic was. I go up to him, ask him what he's talking about, and he drops a name on me. I had no idea it still existed!" I start pacing the room in excited anticipation.
"Wait, what place?" He moves his feet from the couch cushions to the floor and leans forward a bit.
"Spectacle Island!"
He leans against the couch, raising his eyebrows. "You want to live on Mirelurk Island." His tone doesn't even make it into a question.
"That's not what I called it." I'm confused, thinking he has a completely different island in mind.
"I know. But that's the name most people call it these days. The place is overrun by 'lurks."
"Nothing we can't handle." I'm sure we've dealt with worse.
He stands up, moving toward me. "No. Seriously, Beth. The place is overrun. I'm not talking just four or five. Last I heard, nobody came back alive when they went there. Whoever dibbed it Mirelurk Island had it right. I haven't even been here in the Commonwealth all that long compared to most, and I know to stay away from it." He stands right in front of me. "Why do you wanna live there so bad anyway?"
"Didn't know I made it so obvious." He just raises his brow, like, Really? "I used to go there sometimes with my parents or grandparents when I was a kid. It used to be like a park. We'd go swimming or hiking and eat at a café there. Those were good times." I think of the time my granddad had almost fallen into the water when he was fishing too vigorously and chuckle.
Robert's face tells me he's thinking hard about it. After a minute, he sighs and says, "Well, it does have a lot of space. And it's far from everyone. Most probably wouldn't even think to go out there since the last they heard was about its infestation…"
"So, is that a yes?" I ask hopefully.
He sighs again. "We'll scope it out. But if it's too dangerous, we're pulling back and building somewhere else, okay?"
I squeal in delight. "Thanks!" I hug him.
He pats my back, clearly not too enthused from my choice of location. "Anything for you, dear." His voice is incredibly drab, but I know he means it deep down. Wait. Dear?
"How are we even supposed to get building materials out here anyway?" Robert asks as we boat our way to the north end of Spectacle Island.
"Like we are right now, I guess."
"We cannot take a row boat with supplies on it back and forth for ten years. I'd like to live somewhere soon, not when I'm old."
"We'll try our best to find a powered boat somewhere, okay?" He's kinda cranky right now. Probably since he's the one rowing.
We finally reach the edge of the island and slowly drag the boat onto land. As quiet as we can be, we scan the landscape. It's better than I thought it'd be. Although it's not in as good condition as it was when I was here last, it's better than any other plot of land I'd seen.
"I love it!" I say a little too loudly. With him hushing me silently, we hear a Mirelurk pop up out of the ground like they do. He gives me an exhausted look—You did it now, it says.
He guns it down, and since his rifle isn't suppressed, two more 'lurks hear it and resurface as well. Charging at us, we have no choice but to shoot, which draw another four in our direction.
"I swear if they keep doubling!" he yells over the gunfire.
We continued to slay the giant mutated crabs left and right. It seemed like there was no end to them. They were right in renaming this Mirelurk Island, I thought to myself as I killed my tenth beast.
After all the killclaws and glowing Mirelurks were dead, out popped a king. His sonic "boom" was so loud, I lost my hearing for a few minutes—which I had to admit was kind of nice, as I was getting tired of hearing all the racket our guns were making.
Finally, once all the mutated crabs are dead, we stumble upon a smallish shack in the middle of the island, on the highest point. We decide to investigate it.
"Are you kidding me?" Robert grumbles after I read the note out loud. "We couldn't have found that before we killed enough Mirelurks to feed the entire Commonwealth twice?"
I shrug as we walk south to the tugboat. "Well, at least they won't come back." Flipping the switch to the generator aboard the boat, we hear it hum to life, providing power to the island.
Once the beacon was turned on, I start to look around for a place to build. "Help me."
"I don't know where you want it," he says, still grumpy from having to face so many 'lurks.
"Just think: when you wake up in the morning, what's a view you'd never get tired of."
He sighs, glancing around. "Well… I've always liked the skyline of the city."
"Okay. West side, it is."
"That easy?" he asks.
"Well, I kinda did pick the place. So, you get to pick the rest."
He perks up more, looking about diligently instead of with disinterest.
We spotted a couple police boats to the east of the island, and somehow—miraculously—got one of them to run. It was decided that we'd use it as the means of materials transportation.
We finally found some pre-built walls and floors at Murkwater Construction Site and hauled them back to the island along with some tools we'd found. After putting them on the west side of the island, we'd procured the help of the Atom Cats. Since we helped them when Gunners attacked a few days prior, they were more than willing to lend a hand in helping their new neighbours. And to really top it off, when we boarded the Prydwen again, and brought up the house situation, Danse had offered his help as well. We were astounded, to say the least.
Due to the luck of finding materials quickly and having help with the building process itself, the house went from a simple concept to an actual standing structure—with furniture even—within three weeks.
"Thanks for the help," Robert tells Danse as a Vertibird lands to pick him up and take him back to the zeppelin.
"It's no problem at all, MacCready."
"You're welcome at any time, Danse," I tell him. "If you feel like you need a break, you know where to find us." He smiles and nods, climbing onto the Vertibird and takes off, leaving Robert and I alone.
After the Vertibird is far in sight, Robert turns to me, a wide smile on his face. "What?" I ask him, a grin on my own.
"You don't know?" He glances about. "Look around us. We not only have a house, but we're alone finally. And no more sleeping in the shed."
I laugh, thinking of how we'd been sleeping next to the chem station in the workshop on the north end of the island, waiting for the house to be complete. "Yeah, finally," I agree.
"But... we're alone now," he specifies, wiggling his eyebrows at me. "You should be scared, you know."
"Of you? Pfft. What exactly do you want me to be scared of?" He starts stalking toward me as I slowly back up in an equally measured step.
"Oh, I don't know. I could attack at any moment." I move faster as he quickens his advance. "See? You running already shows me you're scared—and you don't even know why you should be."
I swallow hard. "Who says I'm running?"
"Me." He lunges toward me, falling to the ground when he misses, as I turn around and dash into the house.
And me, being stupid, I run up the stairs, turn right into the hallway, and slide into what we made into our new room. Hiding under the bed, I hear his footsteps in the house. "I'm gonna find you, Beth." He jumps in the doorway to the living room on the right of the front door. "Oh." He sounds so disappointed at me not being there, I giggle. Even as quiet as I was, he hears me and bounds up the steps, running into our bedroom. He changes tactics, "You don't have to be scared. I just wanna tickle you."
I get brave, suddenly asking, "Why do you like tickling me so much?"
He ducks his head under the bed and replies, "Because I love to hear you laugh." He drags me out by the ankles, ignoring me nearly kicking him in the face in protest. Picking me up far too easily, he dumps me onto the bed and proceeds to tickle my ribcage until I'm out of breath.
"Stop, stop!" I yell. Thinking I got hurt, he stops, looking at me with a semi-concerned face. Taking advantage of his lapse, I try my best to retaliate and tickle him back, but he's too clever. Pinning my arms down he looks down at me, his eyes sparkling with victory and enjoyment. "You make it too easy, Beth." He lets my arms go and starts to stand from his kneeling position on the bed.
Feeling brave suddenly, I grab his hand, his face looking a little surprised. Pulling him down by his arm, I wrap my hand around the back of his neck and kiss him with a fervent craving. It'd been a while since we'd been alone, and I've missed him like this—soft and loving, just for me.
Putting his hand on the mattress above my head, he leans in, making the kiss deeper and more passionate. As I break free for air, he moves down my neck, kissing me along my jawline and moving to the skin below my ear.
After a few seconds, I move him back to my mouth, and he continues his assault on my nerves. I feel him smile. "You're making it really hard for me," he admits, breaking the kiss himself.
"Is that a pun?" I ask, showing a snarky grin.
"Shh," he hushes, an inevitable grin on his own face. "I'm still waiting for your word."
Continuing down that road for a little while longer, we separate our faces finally, laying down in our bed—correctly, lengthwise and not across it—for the first time.
"This is nice," he comments.
"Yeah. We finally have a home," I say. "Not just the secondhand house that was mine in Diamond City. We can grow here together. I just know Duncan and Shaun are going to love their rooms." I think of the two rooms we'd built opposite the hallway from our own room.
"I'm sure they will," he says in a light tone. "Duncan's never had a room to himself. You're gonna spoil him—I can tell already." I smile as he pats my side with his hand resting there.
"Well, yeah." Making it sound obvious, I roll my eyes exaggeratedly. "Su hijo, mijo." He looks down at me, my ribcage practically intertwined with his. He looks confused. With a sigh, I translate, "'Your son, my son.'"
"You need to stop with the Spanish, Beth. You know I can't understand it."
I look away from him. "I know. That's what makes it fun, cariño."
"Stop it!" he insists. "You could have just called me the worst thing in the world, and I wouldn't know!"
"Ah, don't worry. If you knew, you'd like it." I look back up at his slightly disgruntled face. When he glances down at me, I smile, "Guapo." Reaching up to his cheek, I caress it.
Completely forgetting his irritation, he cups his hand over my own, closing his eyes and grinning. "This is nice," he repeats. Opening his eyes, he looks at me. "So, what's Spanish for 'home?' Like, not 'house,' but an actual home. Like this."
I think for a second, thinking of the term I feel fits. After a bit, I respond, "La morada."
"La morada it is, then."
A week later, we have a hand-painted sign hung above the front door. In red lettering, "La morada" can be read.
A/N: I legitimately love Spectacle Island. It's far from everyone, and I imagine the security would be amazing due to its location and general inaccessibility. The home I'd built in-game—I can't fully describe how much it actually feels like home to me. Even in its virtual glory.
I spend too much time there, really. Need to get out more. Much like real life. *sighs, then immediately laughs about thick sarcasm afterward* I'm not budging.