The second they set foot into that goddammed basement, he knew he was in for a liberal helping of karmic whoopass. Crawling through that decrepit old shithole made him want to run all the way back to Goodneighbor crying for mommy, but as per usual he was blindly following Nora's orders like a friggin mooncalf. And of course, she had made him scout ahead. He would be cursing her out right then if he wasn't afraid the slightest sound would get him chewed up into itty bitty pieces like what happened to that poor nosebleed on the floor above. He shivered, thinking about what could have done that. Nora had mentioned that this was some sort of museum of witchcraft, so he was on guard. Who knows what freaky shit went down here.
"Eep!" Nora squeaked, causing him to whirl around, shotgun at the ready. He felt the tension leave his shoulders when he saw that it was just a piece of brain she had stepped on. Nothing life-threatening at least. He went back to securing the perimeter, quietly cursing his taste in women.
It was times like this Nora thanked god her partner in this godforsaken wasteland, even if he was a drugged-up beatnik. As strange and alien he was to her at first, she had warmed up to the cranky ghoul pretty fast, all things considered. Especially at times like this, she noted, clinging to his coattails without a lick of pride. She felt a loose pang of something as she considered what Nate would have done in a situation like this. He would have been a lot better at the shoot-em-up side of things, she knew. All she was good for was sitting behind a terminal in a lab or the like.
Realizing that she was in one of those moods she had been finding herself in lately, she stopped briefly to pop a couple of mentats that tasted vaguely like grapes before grabbing some of the more useful junk lying around. Couldn't complain about the caps, though. Suddenly, Hancock paused, raising a hand to motion a full stop. Big, floor-shaking footsteps came from above. Well, she mused, at least if they got torn to shreds by whatever was lying in wait for them upstairs, she was going to be high when she went out.
"Hey," she whispered, hoping not to draw too much attention. Hancock turned and she could vaguely make out the death glare he was giving her.
"Uhh...chem break?" she asked hopefully. He just did that sigh/growl thing he did when she tested his patience and threw her one of the new chems he'd cooked up back in Sanctuary. Not pausing to wonder what he'd handed her, she took a big huff from the inhaler, muffling her cough into her road leathers.
While she'd been huffing what seemed to her to be really strong Jet, Hancock had been scouting the upper floor from the staircase. He now returned, a grim frown fixed on his lipless mouth. She'd been wondering lately what it would be like to-
"Deathclaw," he hissed, bringing her train of thought to a grinding halt, "strong."
Nora held back a groan and raised a finger to let him know she was cooking up one of her signature half-cocked schemes. After five minutes, she pulled out her syringer, loading a couple of Lock Joint syringes before creeping her way up the stairs. The blasted thing was just prowling around like it owned the place. Although, to be fair, it had pretty much established dominance over the previous occupants by riping them to shreds, so it would be reasonable to assume a transference of ownership would be in order. It lifted its head, sniffing the air tentatively, and she took the shot.
Instantly, the Deathclaw froze, its nostrils still flared. No time to lose. Scrambling, she began to litter the floor with frag mines, bottlecap mines, and any other explosives she had in her pack before sprinting for the basement.
"Take cover take cover take cover take cover," Nora screamed, almost plowing down Hancock in her hurry to get away. Not a second after they ducked behind the nearest wall, there was an unearthly roar that would haunt her nightmares for weeks to come. An explosion followed, shaking the building to its very foundations. When the dust finally settled, she realized that she had been clinging to Hancock's sleeve and unceremoniously pushed him away.
"Don't flatter yourself sister," he said slyly, "You'll know when I make my move."
Nora snorted, dusting his shoulders off before ascending the stairs to check out the damage. Hancock followed while straightening his rumpled sleeve.
"I call dibs on chems and booze," he said, beginning to search the nearby bodies.
"I did all the hard work," Nora whined, nevertheless chucking a cigar she found over at him. She'd found a box of old snack cakes for herself and was already munching her way through them at expert speed. He let out a little whoop of delight and lit it up immediately, puffing away happily. Suddenly, Nora found a weird-looking egg on one of the bodies and held it out to him to examine. He took it in one hand, inspecting it wearily.
"Deathclaw egg," he said sanctimoniously, handing it back, "and before you ask, we're not doing shit with it other than making a nice omelet. Or maybe scrambled eggs this time? Whatever you prefer."
Nora looked at the egg forlornly, trying to surpress her motherly instinct that was quickly kicking in. By the time she locked eyes with Hancock, she'd already made up her mind. He groaned.
"You," Hancock panted, tired after their lively sprint away from that godforsaken nest, "Are off your fucking rocker. No more chems. Ever. You're going clean as soon as we get to the nearest doctor."
Nora stuck her tongue out, producing a syringe of Med-X and shooting up before he could intervene. He sighed and lazily made his way over to take the offered syringe.
"I'm unappreciated in my time," she sighed, scoping out the horizon, "Let's go find somewhere too hole-up for the rest of the night. I want to drink and make merry without any uninvited guests."
"I live to serve," he said, offering an arm for her to take. She gratefully accepted, cozying up a little closer than he had expected. He covered up the goofy grin on his face just long enough to say "I know you swiped that syringe for yourself."
A/n: Girl are you a baker because you look strung out and snack all the time :p