closed rp Post

[assjerky]

CLOSED RP POST with okiedokies art by pignk

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my beloved ghost and me, sitting in a tree

[assjerky]

The Ghoul had expected, after he heard the patter of her footsteps falling in behind him and Dogmeat, to be bombarded with questions. Awful lot of bullshit got dumped on her all at once, all without context and explanation, and the Vaultie wasn't the type to digest in silence. Or so he thought. But so far, not a peep.

Nice at first. Then it got weird. Still, he let her have all the quiet she wanted--at least until he steered them into a shed with a mostly intact roof to take shelter from a quick squall of rain. Were it just him he'd keep walking--wet boots were a pisser, sure, but otherwise the rain didn't bother him much. There was just no point in exposing the Vaultie to more rads than necessary.

Not that he cared. Just if she started puking her guts out it'd slow them down.

The Ghoul sat with Dogmeat next to a low fire, absently whittling a twig into a sharp point with an old pocket knife. The Vaultie hadn't come to join them, lingering near the open doorway to stare at the eerie yellow-green glow of the storm. "Never seen rain before, sweetheart?" he remarked, pausing to blow the tip of the stick, scattering shards and sawdust.

[okiedokies]

“No,” Lucy breathed after a moment, the answer passing between her lips with a small sigh as she continued to stare out into the storms. Or so it seemed.

Truthfully, she was staring without seeing, her mind locked in the events that had unfolded before her just hours before. Her whole world tossed upside down and then shaken for added effect until she didn’t know which way was up or where she was standing. Then it had led her to here, sharing a small shack with a ghoul who had previously sold her after cutting her finger off. Granted, she had taken his finger first but that wasn’t the point.

Blinking a bit, she tried to focus on the rain instead, letting the sound clear her head for a second as she bit her lip. She had questions, of course. She had a lot of questions and they were burning a hole on her tongue but she wasn’t sure where to start. So she started with the most troubling.

“How did I not know how much of a monster he was? Is?” She asked with a frown, still not looking at him. She wasn’t sure if he would answer her or if he would just ignore her. Honestly, she didn’t know which would she preferred. “I idolized him, I thought he was the best person I knew but I didn’t know him at all.”

Finally, she glanced at him over her shoulder. “How do you process that?”

[assjerky]

The questions gave the Ghoul pause for a moment, the steady scratch of knife against wood stilling for a moment before he exhaled a quiet sigh and flipped the pocket knife closed. Didn't much care for how close it all hit to home, and he'd had 200 years to find the damn answer and here he was. Still fuckin' looking. Should've just kept his own trap shut and let her brood.

"Like I told you, sweetheart. There's what a fella does, and what he says he does." He laid his hand on Dogmeat's head and absently scritched the bristly fur on the back of her neck. "But sooner or later they gon' show you who they are. And when they do, you believe 'em."

[okiedokies]

Maybe he thought that keeping quiet would have saved him from her brooding but it was more than likely that the words would have come tumbling out eventually. His response was so blunt and yet logical. It pained her as she thought of how her image of her father had changed but the Ghoul was right, her father had shown his true self.

She drew in a breath before falling silent and stating that way for a few minutes. Long enough for the sound of rain to fill the shack as she stared at out the strange hazy colors, knowing it would be dangerous to be out there but finding it beautiful.

Then she turned away from the door and moved to sit near him. Not too close as she was keeping Dogmeat between them but close enough. “So are you an honest man?”

[assjerky]

The Ghoul made a noise that, coming from someone with a proper nose, might've been a snort of a laugh. Instead it was just a soft whoosh of air and a slight grumble in the back of his throat. "I lied to you yet, darlin'?" Avoided an uncomfortable question or two, maybe, but that weren't the same as lying. And 'honest' was different than 'good,' or 'nice.' He'd never claim to be either. But honest? Well. He was nothing if not an honest monster.

He flicked the stick he'd sharpened out of boredom into the fire, then reached into his pack for a handful of small crab apples he'd stripped from a shrub in passing. "They ain't the prettiest," he remarked as he tossed her one of the mottled, hard little fruits. "But they'll do. An' you'll figure out real quick in this here Wasteland, that pretty's as likely to get you dead as ugly is."

[okiedokies]

“No,” Lucy answered with a quick little shake of her head. “You have been a bit of a…jerk but you haven’t lied yet.”

Because he had been honest about what he had wanted from her before between using her as bait and then selling her. He hadn’t lied though, not as far as she could tell. Also, yes, she was naive but she wouldn’t call him ‘good’ and yet she was starting to understand that things weren’t so black and white anymore.

She was pondering still when she caught movement from him and glanced up with just enough time to catch the crab apple that he tossed her way. If she looked surprised at the offering, she couldn’t help it. At one time, he had refused to share his water with her and now he was sharing food. The surprise added to curiosity as she looked at the small apple, turning it this way and that before she glanced at him again.

“I know that. It sucks up here,” she told him honestly before sighing and taking a bite of the apple. The sour taste exploded over tongue, causing her to blink as her jaw was filled with a sort of strange ache and she quickly swallowed in response. It wasn’t entirely distasteful but it was different than anything she had tried before. Her cheeks hollowed out just a bit as she sucked at the remaining juices lingering in her mouth, making a bit of a face. Then she continued on after clearing her throat. “But at least it’s honest about what it is. There’s no hiding anything up here.”

And with that, she took another bite of her food because beggars couldn’t be choosers.

[assjerky]

The Ghoul chuckled, taking a bite into his own crab apple; most of his taste and smell had went even before his nose, but he could catch a hint here and there. Sour, sweet, bitter, salt...he was used to it, mostly. "You mean asshole, sweetie, you can say asshole," he quipped, licking his lips and wiping a dribble of juice off his chin. He'd never claimed to be otherwise. He eyed her over another bite while he chewed the mealy, tart flesh, paused to lean over and spit out a seed. "That why you ain't crawlin' on back to the vault? Coulda just buried that pretty little head in the sand and pretend you never saw this big mean ol' ugly world." Instead, she was here. With his cantankerous ass. Chasing her daddy to the Mojave.

[okiedokies]

“You can say it,” she gave a little sniff at him, lifting her chin ever so slightly in a way that pretty much dismissed the idea of her saying such a word. He could say it though and she could somewhat agree with him without actually saying it out loud.

She peeked sideways at him as a bit of juice dribbled down his chin, the wetness standing out against the leathery skin until he dashed it away. Biting the inside of her cheek, she lowered her gaze and took another bite of her apple. The taste wasn't as shocking the second time around but her jaw still ached in a weirdly pleasant but uncomfortable way. As though she was craving something that wasn’t good for her.

“No, I couldn’t because then I would be no better than he is,” she told him with the same tone though she didn’t sniff at him this time. She sounded irritable and sullen, hurt. “What he did to my mother, to all those innocent people? I can’t just ignore that.”

[assjerky]

"Oh sure 'nough I will, whensoever the occasion calls for it," the Ghoul chuckled, his leathery skin crinkling with a sly grin. Absently he wondered what it would take for little miss priss to sully her mouth with a filthy word or two. He'd admittedly been a little out of it at the time, but he was fairly sure he'd heard her say 'motherfucker' as she sashayed away from him outside the Super Duper Mart.

He finished the rest of the hard little apple and threw the core across the room, which Dogmeat thought was a fine game of fetch and took off the chase it, snuffling in the dead leaves and debris. "Sure you could, darlin'," he drawled, taking out his canteen and to wash back the sour fruit taste. He took a deep drink and tipped the canteen towards her; that lesson had been well learned, but she was gonna have to adapt to the amount of rads on the surface. Still, she had any of that fancy pure vault water on her, he wouldn't take offense. "Folks do it all the time, every day. Always have. Ain't that much shit changed from 'fore the bombs dropped."

[okiedokies]

"Well, don't make yourself run out of oxygen doing so," Lucy made the quip so quickly that it almost surprised her but then she couldn't stop the hint of a smirk that peeked out before she hid it by taking another bite of her apple. Yes, she had actually sworn at him just once, mostly to make her point, but she was fine if he didn't remember that particular interaction. Except that she had a sneaky feeling he did considering the way he was looking at her.

It struck her as weird then that they were sitting there in a cozy little shack, sitting around a small fire and talking almost like they were friends. Not that they were considering what he had put her through but there was an uneasy alliance forming between them. All centered around her dad.

So what was the Ghoul's tie to her father?

She wondered about it but she didn't ask because she wasn't sure how much she wanted to know right now. She knew she needed to know eventually but she needed time to compartmentalize so she didn't fall apart. It wouldn't do her any good to do that.

"I could but I won't," she shook her head at him again as she tossed the core aside after finishing her small apple. She paused, licking her lips slowly to chase away the juices before realizing that he was looking at her and offering the canteen. She blinked slowly, pressing her lips together before reaching over with a sigh to take the canteen from him. "And just because they do doesn't give me the right to do the same. I can't forget what I know now, no matter how much I would like to just go home and forget. There would be too many questions about why I came back without my father and...I don't think I could live with him the same way if he came back too."

[assjerky]

The Ghoul made a quiet sound, low and thoughtful in the back of his throat, taking the now mangled and drooly apple core from Dogmeat when she brought it back proudly. With a sniff of amusement, he dropped it to the floor next to him instead of tossing it, lest Dogmeat start thinking it was a grand game of fetch. He didn't repeat himself to the Vaultie; she absolutely could choose to bury it all. Sometimes, he wondered how things would be if he'd done that, all those years ago. Pretended he'd never heard the words that came out of Barb's mouth. He glanced at the Vaultie again, studying her in the low firelight, with her enormous doe eyes and perfect unbroken skin that hadn't been battered and aged by the rads and the sun. All righteous and full to the brim with integrity. Even that damn vault suit was still brighter and shinier than it should be. His brow creased and his lips twisted into a scowl.

"...That's the case, no point in you holdin' on to those eyesore pajamas. Don't do nothing but put a target on your back, sweetheart. And, by proximity, mine." He chuffed softly and leaned back, letting his hat tip down to cover his eyes, just to rest them for a spell. "Have to find you somethin' else first, I reckon, less you feel like streakin' through the desert."

[okiedokies]

Lucy blinked down at herself as he mentioned her eyesore pajamas, studying the bright blue fabric as she felt her stomach clench with a sort of dread. She knew that he was right though because it most definitely made her stand out and she was coming to realize that there were very few who liked Vaulties, as the Ghoul called them. But it felt weird too, to think about stripping away another piece of her identity.

"You're probably right," she sighed in defeat a moment later, her gaze flicking up to him as he leaned back and moved his hat to cover his eyes as though he were choosing to rest now that he had commented on her clothes.

"I don't really have the caps to buy new clothes though," she frowned, her brows pulling together over her 'doe eyes' as she plucked gently at the open zipper. "And where could I buy new ones around here?"

[assjerky]

"Scavenge 'em. Trade for 'em." Steal 'em, but she probably weren't ready for the conversation just yet. "Suits ain't entirely useless, somebody'll take it off your hands." He frowned beneath the cover of his hat, rustling through his mental map of the Wasteland he'd been wandering for centuries. "Reckon the next town along the highway is Goodsprings. Might be a trader 'twixt here and there. Might get lucky and stumble over a closet ain't been picked clean. Wouldn't count on it, though." He tipped his hat back up just enough to glance over her again. There were some smudges beneath her eyes that he hoped were just fatigue, and not rad poisoning. "May as well get some shut eye, Vaultie. Storm don't look like it's passing for a few hours yet."

trust me I can handle me a dangerous man, no really, I can

[assjerky]

Their good luck wasn't gonna hold up forever and the Ghoul knew it. But why couldn't it be run of the mill chemed up raiders? Why'd it have to be Ceaser's goddamn Legion? Posted up at a squeeze point where the terrain was too difficult to effectively go around and avoid them completely.

"Shit." The Ghoul scowled and lowered the rifle he'd been using the scope on to survey the area after the Vaultie had pointed out a column of smoke in the distance, which turned out to be from a small campfire. Posted around it were 4 men in those stupid looking getups, and one of their trained hounds. Clearly waiting for travellers they could take a tax from. Or worse, take as slaves. And the Vaultie? Pretty young girl? They'd take her straight to whoever the fuck was playing Ceaser now.

Cursing bitterly under his breath, the Ghoul sat down behind the busted up remains of a toll booth and frowned at Lucy and Dogmeat. "...might be a big ask, Vaultie. But I'm gon' need you to trust me. Think we might need to use you as bait again."

[okiedokies]

Lucy didn't have to look at him to know it was a bad situation but she was watching him closely while he looked through the scope. She could see the tension in his body as he surveyed the scene below where she had seen a column of smoke. She had pointed it out too because it was an unusual sight and The Ghoul knew this world a lot better than she did.

Listening to him curse, she felt her stomach twist as she looked in the direction of the smoke and frowned to herself. When he lowered the rifle, she focused on him again and then sighed. "Actually, I was already thinking that."

Off of his look, she shrugged as she leaned back against the toll booth and looked around. "Who is though? It is more of the Knights?"

[assjerky]

"Naw. Caesar's Legion. I fuckin' wish it was the goddamn Brotherhood." He knew how to handle the tin cans. The Legion were somehow even more fanatical and grew up in fighting pits. They were strong, violent, and completely devoted to their beliefs.

Christ, he hated cults.

He levels the rifle again and looked through it, then held it and moved out of the way so she could look through the scope. "Take a look. That there's a Legionaire and his underlings. We're gonna have to kill 'em all. We don't have a choice. That fella in back, the bigger helmet on? That's the biggest threat. He's gotta die first."

As she looked through the scope, the Ghoulnl found himself watching her with...something like concern. "It's gotta be you, Vaultie. Legion don't see women as anything but...chattel. They ain't gonna attack you on sight, they'll want to take you prisoner."

[okiedokies]

Well, it had to be bad if he wished it was the goddamn Brotherhood and it was unsettling to her because she had seen what the Brotherhood could do. Shifting closer when he told her to take a look, she leaned down to peer through the scope, taking note of the different men she could see.

"Shoot," she breathed when he told her then that it would be her because they wouldn't attack her. The idea that they would want to take her prisoner instead made her blood run cold as all sorts of scary thoughts ran through her head.

Letting out a slow breath, she eased back to look at him as she nodded slowly. "Okay, so, we make it look like I'm traveling alone. I can't take Dogmeat with me because she'll want to attack on sight if she thinks I'm in danger. If they're focused on me, they won't see you."

She looked at him, trying not to look worried as she pressed her lips together. "You'll come, right?"

[assjerky]

Smart gal was his Vaultie. Truth to tell the Ghoul was feeling decidedly not fond of this plan. He knew she could take care of herself and he knew he could too, that between the three of them--him, the Vaultie, and Dogmeat--they could more than handle a few low level Legionaires. Still, put an itch between his shoulder blades sending her out there alone.

He reached over and took her chin in his hand, skimmed his thumb over her lower lip. "I will." He plucked up the rifle, checked her pistol to make sure it was fully loaded, took a small knife out of his boot and handed it to her. "Count down ten minutes, then head toward 'em. Once you got their attention, try some of your fancy talkin' negotiation tactics...but play up the nerves. Make 'em think you'll be easy to control."

[okiedokies]

Lucy wasn't feeling overly fond of this plan either but she knew it was the right one. They would never let the Ghoul get close enough to do anything and so it made the most sense to send her out to be the bait. But there was a small part of her that worried he wouldn't get to her in time or that something could go wrong.

She didn't think he would just leave her behind so he could make it past but could she be entirely sure of that either? Yet she didn't want to believe it.

She stilled as he took her chin in his hand and allowed her to be soothed by the touch as well as the promise before she nodded. She waited as he checked her pistol, then took the knife when he handed it over. The way she licked her lips was the only sign that she was nervous as she glanced down, tucking the knife out of sight. "Got it, ten minutes."

[assjerky]

The Ghoul gave her a quick nod, then ducked out of the ruined toll booth, keeping low as he picked a path that would put him in the right place. "See that outcropping there? Near that old road sign? Lead 'em out past that if you can. If you can't, just do your best, darlin'. We'll figure it out."

[okiedokies]

Lucy looked out where he instructed, picking out the old sign as she nodded slowly. Drawing in a breath, she reached out suddenly to grab his hand, staying silent as she gave him a look, a silent plea to be careful before she let go and eased back. She waited for him to leave, to slip out of sight, so she could start counting down. When enough time had passed, she rose to her feet and moved around the toll booth, lifting her chin as she started down the long path toward where the campfire was.

She kept her head down slightly but her gaze stayed on the group as she approached and so she saw the moment they clocked her. She could see the surprise and the interest at spotting a lone woman all by herself and she noted that the one that the Ghoul had warned her about was the slowest to rise. She also made the slow, cocky look on his face and she felt a dark bloodthirsty thought stir in her mind as she hoped that the Ghoul would kill him first.

It was a thought that made her blink in surprise at herself, lifting her head and using it as a ploy too as though she were surprised by the sight of the men. She slowed her step, then started moving to the side as though she were going to try to keep going past them. Of course, they wouldn't let her.

"Hi," she started with a hesitant smile, her gaze darting past them as she noted where the sign was. Not close enough yet and so she looked back at the men who started to walk towards her. "I'm just looking to get by, I don't mean any trouble!"

They all laughed and tried to look like they were nice as they told her they didn't mean any trouble yet but the looks on their face didn't match the look in their eyes. She continued to face them even as she turned to move sideways, drawing closer to the spot where the Ghoul had told her to get to. She especially didn't want the dangerous one to get too close to her.

[assjerky]

The Ghoul glanced down at her hand clutching his, almost puzzled, before he squeezed it and nodded confidently, clicked his tongue at Dogmeat so she'd follow him. He hitched the rifle over his shoulder and slipped off, moving as quietly as possible over the rocky terrain. It was damn hard to stay hidden--they'd picked this location well, and it wasn't like there was much cover in the Mojave. He paused behind a scraggly bit of brush and carefully took out his rifle, eyeing the Legionaire he knew was in charge. Just to confirm what he suspected: he was armored. Meant he'd won a lot of fights. Brought the Caesar a lot of wealth and slaves. He considered the merits of trying to pick them off from here, but he caught the moment they spotted the Vaultie. The 3 younger, less experienced and less well armored and armed soldiers looked pleased, but the Legionaire. He was fuckin' cold. Dogmeat belly crawled up next to him, her hackles raised, a low rumble of a growl in her throat. "Shhh," he shushed her, grunted softly as he got his feet under him again. "She'll be fine. C'mon."

Now that Lucy had their attention, the Ghoul allowed himself to move with a little more urgency, still keeping an eye on the rocks as his feet so as not to kick one down the side of the embankment. He heard the Legionaire bark an order in that weird blend of Latin and English the Legion used, and the chatter from his subordinates died immediately. "Come on, Vaultie," he murmured, listening to the leader launch into his spiel, This land and all within belong to Caesar, imagined he must be walking towards her with threatening purpose. "Just a little further."

[okiedokies]

“Hey hey,” Lucy started to backpedal, holding up her hands as the Legionnaire started towards her after he barked something at the other men to make them stop. She didn’t like the look in his eyes but she quickened her pace, glancing behind under as though she were trying to make sure she wouldn’t fall. When in reality, she was checking the sign and making sure she was closer to it.

Only a little bit more.

“I’m not from this land, so I’m going to have to ask you to back up and let me by. I don’t want any trouble but I have no interest in meeting this Caesar. But if you’re going to insist, I’m going to have to react as though you’re a threat to me and my personal safety,” she was talking quickly and the last bit seemed to amuse him as he continued to stalk her. She moved past the sign which meant he was right in the spot she hoped would work for The Ghoul.

“Really, it’s in your best interest…,” she started when he moved forward to reach for her and she darted back. “It is in your best interest to let me go!”

[assjerky]

Seeing the soldiers reach for rope, the leader uncoiling a whip from his belt, the Ghoul had to grit his teeth to resist the urge to fire on them prematurely. "Come on," he snarled through gritted teeth, staring them down through the scope to wait for the right angle while Dogmeat crept towards them, teeth bared, snarling right along with him.

No sooner had Lucy darted back than the Legionaire's jaw shattered in an explosion of blood and bones and teeth. Nonplussed, the Ghoul loaded another shot into the rifle as Dogmeat took off like a shot, leaping at one of the remaining soldiers and tackling him to the ground with a vicious snarl. Of the remaining two, one seemed to recognize where the immediate threat was coming from, slung the spear from his back and rushed at the Ghoul, while the other, half panicked, ran towards Lucy, fumbling for a machete at his belt.

[okiedokies]

It was a grotesque scene that unfolded before her as she watched the large man's jaw suddenly explode. That was the only way to explain it. One second he was starting to tug his whip free, the next she saw half of his face explode as she stood there blinking in shock even though she had known it was coming. She felt the spray of blood splatter over her as he dropped but then she jerked herself out of the shocked state she felt as there was no time to stand there.

As soon as he hit the ground, she was pulling out her pistol, her eyes snapping up as she caught sight of a blurred mass flying past her to tackle one of the men. She didn't need to actually look to know it was Dogmeat but she looked at the man who was running half panicked at her, lifting her gun to fire off a shot. She felt the kickback of the gun but the man caught the bullet to the chest, the impact flinging him backward to the ground. Then she twisted to see the one racing towards where the Ghoul and she lifted her gun to fire at him too.