"And that song ain't so very far from wrong."
An alarm rang from The Courier's Pip-Boy, as he bolted upwards and instinctively reached for his Ranger Sequoia. He stopped, realizing it was just the alarm, and let out a shaky sigh as he got off the bed, stretching. He knew he had to go to the lobby, something he was dreading greatly since he arrived. He went to the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror to see if there was anything on his armor.
It was in fine condition, as he nodded at himself, leaving the bathroom. The Courier grabbed his Sequoia, just in case, as he left the room, locking it, deciding to take the stairs. As he walked down, he overheard an argument, between what sounded like Charlie, and another woman's voice. He paused to eavesdrop, slowing his step to listen in through the drywall.
"-Did you really let a mercenary in, WITH all of his FUCKING WEAPONS?!"
"Well… I didn't really think much of it at the time…" Charlie responded meekly. The Courier was off put by the comment of his weapons, but he decided to continue eavesdropping to learn more.
"You didn't think much about it? You said yourself he was wearing a suit of armor AND he had a modified sniper rifle on his back. Why didn't you take them away from him? Do you know what HE could've FUCKING DONE-" The other voice yelled now, the air heavy as she barked with a parent's fury.
"Well, I didn't wanna… y'know…" The Courier paused in the middle of his already slowed step as Charlie interjected. As the other voice continued to go over her concerns, her tone of voice softened with a deep sigh as her initial frustration subsided.
"Listen, I just think we need to be more careful with who we let stay here, this place means a whole… fucking lot to you and I dont want someone shooting up the place because we didn't know they were, like. a fucking mass murderer or something..." her head lowered slighty as she looked away apologetically, brushing away her long silver hair that had begun to fall on her eyes
The Courier waited a bit to see if anything more would be said, but only a deafening silence filled the air. The Courier decided it was time now and braced himself, walking down the rest of the stairs, his footsteps left to fill the space.
The first thing The Courier saw was Charlie sitting on the couch, trying to look relaxed, as she politely forced a smile. He saw another woman, who's voice he assumed he had heard. She had a unique appearance, as he noticed the knee-length hair. He noticed an eyepatch, wondering how she'd got it. The woman turned now, shifting her weight to one side and crossing her arms now as she narrowed her eye at the stranger, creasing her lips into a line, causing her hard nose to raise and fold in contempt.
"You're early! The others should be up soon! In the meantime you can sit down right over there, would you like something to drink? We've got coffee and…" Charlie trailed off as she tried to think of what else she could give the Courier with what little they had in store, the Courier sat down in a comfy armchair, steeling his fingers together.
The moment was awkward, something he was never good at dealing with. He wondered who the others would be. Minutes passed with only silence for company, as The Courier mulled things over, the elevator doors suddenly opened and pink smoke came out of the elevator. The doors fog, the silhouette of the prostitute coming into sharper relief against the blinding pink.
The prostitute struck a series of poses, obviously being flamboyant. The Courier wondered if he met anyone more flamboyant than this spider, it was entertaining though.
After the prostitute struck his final pose and wrapped up his explosive intro, Charlie golf-clapped with a faint smile, a sincere, yet half-hearted "woo!" and some half-spoken congratulations
The other woman just sat as she groaned, holding her forehead by her temples as she shook her head and sighed.
"That was… great, Angel Dust!" Charlie said as she continued to clap.
"Are you going to do that with every new guest?" the other woman said slowly and deliberately.
"How could I not? I got into showbiz for a reason, bitch-" Angel Dust responded with a smirk.
"You're a pornstar." she interrupted coldly.
"-and I had to make myself known to this here…" he said without pause as he slowly sauntered to the courier and attempted to run his finger down from his chin, The Courier grabbed at his hand, with Angel Dust jolting back before his wrist could be caught.
"Ooh… Feisty!" he said, slightly caught off guard before he turned on his heels and strutted away.
"Anyways when's Al-" Angel Dust jolted slightly as he was cut off by a tap on his shoulder.
"Right now, my homosexual compatriot!" Alastor announced suddenly, who seemed to have appeared from thin air, just as well groomed and ready for primetime as the day he showed up. The Courier turned now, staring up at the newcomer from his Pip-Boy, which crackled loudly with static.
"Hey Alastor, good to see ya!" Charlie smiled brightly, as she glanced at The Courier.
Alastor stared at The Courier, eyeing him up. The Courier surprised Alastor by glaring at him.
The static on The Courier's Pip-Boy increased slightly, before dropping back to silence, as Alastor extended a hand.
"Pleasure to meet you." The Courier held his hand firmly by his side, distrusting him already.
Alastor's smile faltered very briefly, before he put his hand down, smiling just as brightly. "Not one for handshakes, are you my good man? I think I can accommodate you on that matter."
The Courier said nothing now, as he continued staring at Alastor. Alastor's gaze flicked towards The Courier's Pip-Boy, "My my, what's that curious…device?"
His gaze returned to The Courier's helmeted face, where The Courier still stared at Alastor.
Charlie spoke up for The Courier. "He's… getting used to things, he might be quiet for a little bit."
""Well then, I suppose I should properly introduce myself then." Alastor straightened his bowtie, as he looked at The Courier.
"I am Alastor, The Radio Demon, patron and resident of this …fine establishment." He grabbed the clipboard The Courier signed from yesterday, reading the name.
"Courier 6? Full of surprises aren't you. I wonder….what else are you hiding in that head of yours?"
Alastor's smile didn't quite reach his eyes. Alastor turned now, twirling his staff subconsciously, seemingly deep in thought.
He turned back to the rest of the group. "Well, it's been fun chatting, but I must retire to my tower, I have important broadcasts to make and legions of adoring fans to appease."
He said nothing more as shadows consumed him and he disappeared, presumably to his radio tower.
The Courier looked at Charlie, who assured him that wasn't anything out of the ordinary and motioned to introduce herself before shifting the focus to the other woman. The other woman sighed reluctantly and got up. The Courier's gaze drifted to the eyepatch once more.
"Well I'm Vaggie and this is Charlie… she's my-" Charlie whispered something into Vaggies ear now, as she just nodded. No one else said anything, as Charlie cleared her throat,
"Since we've all introduced ourselves to our new guest-"
"And Husker can't be bothered to get his fucking drunk ass over here…" Angel Dust muttered, with Charlie choosing to not respond to that comment.
"-I think it's time we get back to business!" She smiled brightly, as everyone got up, leaving the room. Charlie went wherever, as The Courier made to go upstairs.
Entering his room, he turned on the TV in his room, flipping through channels for some background noise. He pulled out his Sniper Rifle, laying it on the table. He started to take it apart, examining the parts closely to determine if anything needed repair. It was in serviceable condition, with some parts corroding, as well as various dents and scratches, but nothing he couldn't fix once he found the tools to do so. The Courier finished, placing the rifle underneath his bed.
He looked around the room once more. He didn't realize it had been cleaned while he was asleep. The curtains had been replaced, and some fresh towels were on the bathroom sink, folded into a neat square, the edges of the towels meeting into a perfect diagonal bisection. It was nice to have a solid roof, clean amenities, and a comfortable bed to retire to, let alone that it would be cleaned so meticulously and he would be provided with such amenities.
As he walked around his room, boots sinking into the soft carpet now excised of its stains, he noticed how deep his room had been cleaned; No inch was spared, every surface was spotless, every stain now a distant memory, every window made crystal-clear, the beds were made with a near-mathematical precision, even the bedsprings were polished to a mirror sheen. he thought slightly about the cleaning person before he turned off the lights, laid on his bed, and fell asleep shortly after his head hit the pillow.
I once again hit a writer's block with this chapter, luckily my friends helped me with some ideas on what to do.
May or may not do a time skip like with chapter 5 taking place a week after 4, basically the same progression with the show, albeit some chapters added in between to craft something.