Chapter 18 - Rise and Shine

Marilyn awoke that morning feeling a little bit sweaty. She was just a bit too warm to be comfortable, so she waved her arms to push away the heavy blanket. Except, the blanket didn't move. If anything, it restricted her a bit more. And then her groggy brain reminded her that she didn't even have a blanket. This disconnect confused her enough that she opened her eyes. She saw her hands pressed against blue fabric, a silver zipper striping down the middle. A Vault suit. Marilyn hummed and shut her eyes again. Okay, so she was wrong. It was a Vault suit, not a blanket. Just a warm Vault suit covering her.

…Wait, what?

Marilyn's eyes popped back open immediately, now fully awake. Her gaze followed the zipper up to the collar, up to Dick's face. He was still fast asleep, cheek squished against the top of her head. Feeling her heart rapidly kickstart, Marilyn tried to lean away, gently so as not to wake him. But she couldn't go far. That's when she realized his arms were firmly wrapped around her. That was probably why she was sweaty. Dick always did give off a considerable amount of body heat, and she was being more or less surrounded by his body.

Not that he was alone in this, Marilyn realized. Her right leg was hitched up between both of his, trapped between his thighs. Perhaps it was a result of her kicking him throughout the night, or maybe it was some sort of countermeasure against those kicks. Either way, it made her face grow even warmer than it had been. But as Marilyn pulled her leg back and her boot bumped into the wall, she also noticed how she was definitely not laying on the side of the mattress she had been when she laid down. Dick had laid down first and had been on the side closer to the wall. But now she was laying on that side, trapped between Dick and the wall. She couldn't possibly fathom how they'd managed to swap sides during the night, and she was embarrassed to even consider it.

After trying and failing to wiggle herself free of his sturdy hold once again, Marilyn huffed in frustration. She hadn't wanted to resort to waking him up, having much preferred the idea of escaping without him even knowing. But Dick had always been physically stronger than her, even before working manual labor. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he had so much body mass over her, given he was so much taller. Well, whatever the reason, Marilyn knew she wouldn't be breaking his hold any time soon. Not on her own.

"Dick?" She whispered, eyes flicking up towards him.

She still couldn't move her head freely, because he still leaned his own head on hers. His face showed no reaction to her whispering, so she decided to raise her voice a little.

"Dick?" She repeated, now speaking at a normal conversational volume, "Are you awake?"

Dick hummed in response, stirring a little. His stirring wasn't in the way she had hoped, though. He just nuzzled his cheek against her forehead and held her a bit more firmly.

"Dick, wake up," Marilyn snapped impatiently, trying not to blush further.

"...I'm awake," Dick slurred quietly, in a highly unconvincing manner.

"Are you really?" Marilyn squinted suspiciously.

"Would I lie to you, babydoll?" Dick mumbled, nuzzling his cheek against her forehead again.

Marilyn couldn't help herself from blushing at this. Dick had definitely never called her anything like that before.

"Why did you just call me babydoll?" She hissed, now convinced that he wasn't really awake.

"Cause you're my baby, doll," Dick smiled sleepily, eyes still closed.

Marilyn rolled her eyes. Even half-asleep, he was still such a ham. And he was clearly dreaming of someone else.

"Dick, can you just open your eyes?" Marilyn sighed impatiently.

She figured him taking a good look at her would snap him out of it. Make him realize it wasn't the 'babydoll' of his dreams that he thought he was clinging to.

"Don't wanna," Dick mumbled, lips ghosting against her forehead.

"Do it anyway?" Marilyn frowned, "...For, uh, your babydoll?"

Marilyn felt Dick hum more than she heard it, and then he leaned his head away from her. She looked up, watching him groggily open his eyes. Then she gave him an awkward smile, watching the realization slowly dawn on him. And then he quickly pulled his arms from her in a panic and flinched away, rolling off the mattress and onto the floor.

"I didn't do anything!" Dick proclaimed hastily as he sat up.

Marilyn rose up on the mattress, blinking at him. It wasn't every day she saw him blush, and she hated how cute it made him look.

"Y-Yeah, nothing happened," Marilyn nodded, feeling her face grow flushed again, "Like always, right?"

Dick was in the middle of moving to get up but paused, looking over at her with a sudden seriousness that she wasn't prepared for. It was a strange contrast with his red cheeks and made her feel some sort of way she couldn't explain.

"Well, I didn't say that," He said quietly.

"H-Huh?" Marilyn blinked at him.

Dick glanced aside sharply, not responding. But then his shoulders hitched up anxiously and Marilyn followed his gaze. Immediately, her own eyes widened. The door was open. And so was the wooden trunk. The two of them exchanged wordless glances before Dick peeled himself off the floor and moved over to the trunk to peer inside.

"It's… empty," He mumbled anxiously.

Marilyn scrambled off the mattress, coming over beside him. Her own eyes confirmed his words. The trunk was completely empty. Both of their backpacks were gone. Marilyn bit her lip, unsure what to do.

"Should we go tell Billy?" Dick asked warily, like he didn't enjoy his own suggestion.

"I-I think we have to," Marilyn frowned.

She had the feeling Billy wouldn't be too happy with them for getting robbed. She knew it was her fault, too. He'd warned her about revealing the caps, but it was already too late by then. In a way, this was all inevitable thanks to her stupidity.

"Stop," Dick poked between her brows, making her flinch slightly, "We can get more caps. At least we still have our guns."

"Y-Yeah," Marilyn nodded, hand instinctively moving to the heavy weight at her hip.

She hesitantly descended the stairs and made her way towards the pool table, with Dick following closely behind. Billy was there in his usual spot, one boot up on the corner of the table and a cigarette between his lips. Marilyn went to speak, but then she noticed the two bags sitting by the legs of his chair.

"Rule number two of the wasteland," Billy said around the cigarette, "Always lock your doors at night."

Marilyn nodded, wondering if he'd taken them as part of some kind of test. But before she could ask, Billy explained.

"You're lucky I caught the guy trying to run out with these last night," He said as he picked up the backpacks and stood, "Otherwise, you idiot kids would be outta luck."

"Oh? You caught the—oof!" Marilyn flinched, barely managing to catch her backpack when he tossed it to her, "Thanks…"

Dick wasn't so lucky, essentially getting pelted in the face with his. Somehow, Marilyn got the feeling it wasn't accidental.

"Yeah, thanks," Dick grumbled before slipping the backpack on.

"Alright, you smoothskins ready to go now?" Billy sniffed, "Because the sun's already up and we're behind schedule."

Before either of them could respond, Billy was already making for the door. Marilyn hurried to follow him, slipping under his arm as he held the door open for her. Billy let the door go when Dick moved to follow, chuckling as it hit him in the face. Dick just huffed and pushed the door open again, following them out onto the front porch.

"Try to keep up, pretty boy," Billy smirked, "Otherwise it's gonna take us forever to get to Grassy Sound."