"It was just me against the world...and the world had it coming."
The Courier had managed to find his way back with Angel Dust, Charlie had blown up on Angel Dust for saying he could handle himself out there. The Courier's meeting with Charlie's dad, Lucifer, surprised him as he hadn't heard about him as a family man, the King of Hell, eccentric inventor type, or a rubber duck enthusiast. The remaining 2 days passed by in a whirl, spending the last day before the coming Extermination in preparation.
The Courier met to discuss the defense of the hotel, which Charlie was leading, and he was the only guest attending as everyone else was busy with their own things, unintentionally tuning in and out, power armor is all he could think about, the comfort of a metal exoskeleton. Snapped out of his power armor daydream by Charlie, noticing his loss of focus as Vaggie glared daggers at him.
"C'mon we need you to focus, we need everyone on the same page or we're fucked." The Courier nodded, before he suddenly spoke up, blustering a startled response.
"Power armor." Charlie raised an eyebrow, wondering what he was talking about. He scrolled on his Pip-Boy, as he scrolled through the files he pulled up the schematics, Charlie peering over his shoulder, to see what looked like a giant suit of armor, but with assistive tech, along with the letters:"X-01" on the side of the internal blueprint. She was surprised, but wondered if it was possible, making a mental note to save for later whilst Vaggie, who was looking over his shoulder, firmly put her foot down.
"No, we have some fucking shit coming up if you couldn't tell." The Courier was annoyed that she yelled at him for simply wanting to show what he was talking about, but she had a point.
"What? I mean it could give us an advantage-"
"IF WE FUCKING SURVIVE!" The Courier flinched, due to Vaggie raising her voice and bringing the gravity of the situation back into focus.
"Now, pay some fucking attention." The Courier stared at the paper chart in front of him, focusing hard. Vaggie stared through to the back of his head, the meeting went on without a hitch, with a basic yet extensive overview of the plans for defense and the resident's roles, Alastor failing to keep up appearances of interest and Angel Dust nearing sleep, Charlie clapped her hands, concluding the presentation with a jolt.
"We got all that memorized?" She smiled trying to keep spirits light as the threat neared, The Courier nodded promptly, walking up to Charlie with his posture relaxing as he asked:
"Do you have any paint cans?"
"Yes they're in the Employee….wait, why do you want them?" She narrowed her eyes, slightly suspicious.
"..." Charlie sighed at The Courier's silence, pointing to a room way back in the hotel.
"They're in the Employees room, if Vaggie or anyone else asks, tell them I gave you permission."
The Courier nodded, entering said Employee room, coming out later with buckets of variations of red paint, and some red dye. Alastor, drinking coffee, noticed this, raising an eyebrow.
"Red… Don't tell me someone is cribbing my style, As the youngins say." Alastor said with slight bemusement.
"C'mon, Al, EVERYTHING in this fuckin' place is red." Angel promptly reminded.
The Courier walked up the stairs, kicking the door open with his feet. He set the dyes and paint cans down in a corner, locking the door and putting a chair on it, just in case. The Courier slowly started to take his helmet off, and the rest of his armor and clothes, save for his underwear. He grabbed a large paintbrush, opening a can of red paint, and starting the process. Hours passed, with The Courier holding his helmet, the last bit being applied. He put the letters, in all black: "HH" encircled in a big star on the side of the helmet, replacing the US Army star on the side. He put the helmet on his head, feeling a sense of hope for the first time in days, a hope that burned brighter than he had fighting the Legion, a hope that burned when he was taking on the Enclave.
He stood in front of a mirror, looking at himself. The helmet had been painted all a dark red, save for the front, where the gas-mask part was untouched. His cloak had also been dyed the same color, his pants a black-red, and his shirt a pinkish hue. The armored plates on his shoulders and his arms were a dark pink. He opened his closet, taking out the "Oh Baby!" Super Sledgehammer, placing it on his back, holstering his Ranger Sequoia on his hip. The Courier left the room, arriving in the lobby, where he immediately got stares.
Niffty, the cleaning lady who had been god knows where lately, looked up, smiling sickly.
"Oooh, two baddd…" The Courier just looked down at Nifty as she saw the red paint dripping off and soaking into the floors, with Niffty looking as if she was about to claw The Courier into pieces.
He turned to try to get a look at the paint on the floor, looking up only to find Alastor standing right in front of him.
"Someone's been busy, haven't they?" The Courier expected hostility, but found none from Alastor, surprising The Courier.
"I used to think I was the only one who could pull off red, but you do it…relatively well. Of course, I've been doing this longer than you, so that's to be expected."
"Thank you..." The Couriers tone was polite, with Alastor now surveying him intensely.
"Of course, if you want…more options, then you should come with me to the tailor one of these days, we can get you some newly made clothing, instead of those dyed, dirty wrinkles." The Courier just nodded, staring back at Alastor.
"Well, I have other things to do than to stare at an armored courier, such as collecting certain payments." Alastor checked his watch, before suddenly the shadows consumed him, taking him god knows where. The Courier sat down on a couch, feeling someone's eyes on him. He turned, seeing Angel Dust and Husk whispering to each other, staring at The Courier. The duo of Vaggie and Charlie walked in with Vaggie noticing The Courier's paint job.
She put her head her in hand and pulled at the bridge of her nose as charlie politely clapped,
"Uh… your heart is in the right place!" Charlie stopped clapping, seeing Vaggie's annoyed expression.
The Courier nodded, going onto the couch, laying on it, with paint dripping and staining it. Surprisingly Vaggie didn't even care, as she had more pressing matters to deal with. Before The Courier passed out, he placed his sledgehammer on the table. The Courier quickly fell asleep, dreaming about his dad and Angels.
I have had the Fallout 4 theme stuck in my head for the past couple of days, why am I a super Bethesda fan?!