closed rp Post

[assjerky]

CLOSED RP POST with okiedokies art by pignk

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[assjerky]

The Ghoul didn't reply right away; he finished stripping the body, with the quick efficiency of someone who'd done it a hundred times or more. "Check for coins," he reminded her, a few jingling in his palm before he pocketed them. "Legion uses fuckin' gold and silver shit, but they trade just as well, most places."

He fell silent again, moving on to the last body, the one that Dogmeat had taken care of--didn't bother to slit his throat, though. Cause he didn't have a throat left. He was quiet still as he divested the body of money, weapons, rations, a sack full of some kind of jerky probably intended for the hound, which he carried over to Lucy and handed to her before he finally spoke. "Ain't your fault, Vaultie," he grunted. "Should've been a one shot kill. That's on me."

[okiedokies]

"Okay," she nodded, then stopped almost immediately because of the headache. Not that she was going to complain about it as she continued to search the body and then moved on to the next one. They were coming out with a pretty good haul which she knew was a good thing even though she didn't want to think about the lives they had to take in the meantime. Still, she knew that it was better them than her and the Ghoul. She didn't want to think about what would have happened to her if they had captured her and taken her to wherever they were heading.

She was looking over the weapons, the money, and the rations she had gathered together when the Ghoul came over to hand her the bag of jerky which had the dog nearby perking up. After peeking inside, she glanced up before shaking her head. "It's not your fault. Shit happens sometimes, right?"

Yes, she cursed.

[assjerky]

"Yeah." The Ghoul stared at her for a moment, then glanced over at the dog. "So what's the plan? I know you ain't got a lick of experience training hounds, Vaultie." Cause No dogs in the vaults. Yeah, 200 years later and he was still bitter, what about it. "I ain't kiddin', that fuckin thing bites me, I'm puttin' it down."

[okiedokies]

Lucy wanted to lean up to kiss him, just to reassure him that she was fine but she didn't move. Focusing on his question instead, she shrugged a little while glancing over at the dogs. "I'm going to use Dogmeat to help me. It already looks like he's trained, so we just need to get him used to us."

"Look how quickly Dogmeat attached to you," she pointed out as she withdrew a piece of jerky, broke it in two, and then tossed the pieces at the dogs who quickly caught them.

[assjerky]

"Darlin', Dogmeat's a fuckin' runaway Enclave experiment," the Ghoul replied with a sigh. "Ain't no tellin' what they done to her to make her the way she is. That right there's a wild mongrel raised up the same ways as these fucks: in fightin' pits. Killin' each other to make ranks." Which he should've realized wasn't gonna do anything to dissuade the Vaultie. If anything it'd tug her heartstrings even harder. "Look. We can see what happens. Seems like Dogmeat's done showed it who's the alpha dog. But you can't save everything with a pair of big sad eyes, Vaultie."

[okiedokies]

"It worked on you," she glanced over at him, pressing her lips together as she teased him to lighten the air between them. Or maybe it would piss him off more, she never really knew but she was trying to figure that out. But he was right in thinking that hearing how the dog had been raised would only tug at her heartstrings more.

"I promise, if it doesn't work, we'll...do something," she didn't like the idea of killing the dog but she had to make a compromise with him. "Just give it time, you'll see. If he does get attached to us, then it'll be good. They can both keep an eye out for things and warn us ahead of time if something is nearby."

She had drawn closer to the dog and now she was holding out her hand. He gave her a wary look before leaning forward to sniff at her fingers. Then he drew back, slinking closer to Dogmeat as Lucy sighed and looked down at herself. "I need to get this blood off of me."

[assjerky]

The Ghoul's eyes narrowed dangerously. He didn't like the implications of that statement, not one bit, not that he was some wild mongrel dog she thought she'd tame, or that she was a pair of sad eyes he'd gone soft on.

"Well good luck with that," he bit off, striding over to the campfire to take whatever supplies had been left there. He didn't even take the time to sort through them, just slung the bags over his shoulders and kept walking.

[okiedokies]

Lucy sighed as she watched him go, mentally kicking herself as she looked down at the dogs who both seemed to be watching her. "Well, okay then."

Looking around at the carnage, she trailed after him towards the campfire as she tried to figure out how he had gotten more pissed off at the statement. Did he think that she was comparing him to a dog or was he pissed off about her teasing him that he had used sad eyes on him to make him like her. Because, despite what had happened between them, she wasn't sure that he liked her very much at all.

Which was a dangerous spiral to start down as she stewed in her thoughts, looking around until she found a small water pouch and a cloth that she could use to wipe off her face. She was careful not to get the water in her eyes or mouth but she couldn't stand the drying blood on her face anymore. Then she wiped down her chest, glancing in the Ghoul's direction before making herself look away again. "I didn't mean to insult you."

[assjerky]

He liked her quite a bit. That was the problem. If he didn't, he wouldn't be fucking up so bad.

"Ain't sure what the fuck you did mean, then, Vaultie," he replied starkly, whistling for Dogmeat and taking his pistol out as he eyed the hound slinking behind them. "Now unless you want another group of Legion on our ass when they find these shitheads dead, we need to fuckin' move."

[okiedokies]

But that was the silly thing about it because she felt like she was the one fucking up.

Pressing a hand against the base of her throat, she swallowed gently before speaking again. Her throat ached and she could feel the heat of the marks beneath her palm but she tried to explain. "I was trying to make a joke to lighten the mood and it didn't work. I wasn't trying to imply that I used anything to make you like me or that I was trying to save you."

She hesitated as she looked at the dog. "If you...want to leave him, we can." She didn't want to but she didn't want to push her luck.

[assjerky]

"Far be it for one mongrel dog to judge another," the Ghoul drawled sarcastically, then heaved a sigh. "Just--stop talkin' so much Vaulite, you're makin' it worse." He meant her injury, mostly, but if there was double meaning, well, so be it. "The dog's either gonna follow or it won't, you done fed it and showed it a kindness." More double meaning?? Certainly not. "Just let it be. We need to make Searchlight 'fore nightfall if we can."

[okiedokies]

Lucy could recognize that he wasn't going to accept her apology right off or that maybe this was as close as she was going to get to it. She knew that sometimes people weren't comfortable with apologies, so she nodded without saying more just as he had pretty much instructed her to do.

Once they had gathered their new possessions, complete with some radiation medicine that she had found, they were on their way. Their new dog even followed when she gave a little clicking noise with her tongue like she had seen The Ghoul do plenty of times with Dogmeat. She didn't want to keep walking but she knew the Ghoul was right as they didn't need more of those guys on their heels. Not only that but the bodies would draw in any predators from nearby.

So she forged ahead without complaint or noise with their new companion on her heels.

[assjerky]

The Ghoul pushed them to keep going past sundown, powering through the drop in temperature until they spotted some lights in the distance. He'd have preferred reaching the NCR outpost on the other side of Searchlight, but it was late, cold, the Vaultie wasn't doing great, so the trailer park on the outskirts would have to do. He picked the most stable looking, unoccupied and unlocked one, climbed up the handful of steps and held the door open for Lucy. The fuckin' hound didn't seem keen on following when he was in sight, so he heaved a sigh and waited until Lucy could hold the door open herself bedore he moved further in with Dogmeat.

[okiedokies]

By the time they had reached the place he was looking for, Lucy was drained, feeling like each step was like slugging through mud but she kept pushing herself. It was getting easier to keep going over time but the fight had done a number on her, so she was relieved when he found a place to stop for the night. Following him, she stopped at the door as he went in, glancing over her shoulder to click her tongue so the new dog would follow her inside.

Shutting the door, she looked around while pulling out a bigger piece of jerky she tore in half. Offering one piece to the dog, she pointed to a spot and urged him to go lay down. After that, she trailed off in the direction the Ghoul had gone. "Are we stopping until morning?"

[assjerky]

The Ghoul had gone into the kitchen and was messing with the sink to see if the water was working. It was--cold as shit, but it was. Honestly, cole as shit might be better. "Yep." He reached behind him and dragged a metal chair closer. "Sit."

[okiedokies]

Lucy walked over to the table that was tucked in the corner of the room and set down the bags she had been carrying. A little sigh of relief escaped her almost as soon as she set the weight down, rolling her shoulders to relieve some of the aches until he instructed her to sit. Giving a curious look, she wandered over to the metal chair and sat down. "What are you doing?"

[assjerky]

"Does talking make your crushed windpipe feel better, or have you considered, I don't know, shuttin' the fuck up," the Ghoul drawled, only half serious, wringing out a water soaked towel. He turned to her and layed the cold cloth carefully over the bruises, encircling her neck. "Ice'd be better, but I ain't got it. Can't remember the last time I even seen it. This and a shot of Med-X will have to do."

[okiedokies]

There was a flicker of something akin to hurt before she pursed her lips, lowering her gaze again. She wanted to point out that she had been quiet during the walk, probably quieter than she had been since she had met him but maybe he was still mad at her?

She drew in a breath through her nose when he laid the cold cloth against her bruised neck but it did feel good, calming some of the heat. Then she nodded as she glanced towards the bag, silently asking if she should get the shot or if he wanted to.

[assjerky]

He wasn't mad at her. He was mad at himself. And he was, in the only way he knew how to anymore, trying to take care of her.

The Ghoul was already digging through his saddlebag and the growing collection of chems he'd been squirreling away. He came up with a single dose syringe, thumped the side and squeezed out any air bubbles, then unceremoniously tugged her sleeve up and stuck it in her bicep. Bad news, it stung like hell. Good news, the sting lasted for about two seconds, and the effects were almost instantaneous, soothing all throbs and aches.

"There." He pulled the needle out and tossed it carelessly in the sink. "Should let you get some sleep at least." While the chems did their thing, he started sorting through the bags they'd liberated from the Legion, whistled softly as he unearthed some sort of flat meat pies wrapped up in butcher paper. "Guess there's upsides to being in militant cults," he observed, passing her one and hungrily tearing into one himself.

[okiedokies]

Maybe he was being a little rough around the corners about it but Lucy recognized that he was trying to take care of her. Despite the harshness of his words, his touch was surprisingly gentle.

However, the way he gave her the needle wasn’t and she hissed in a way that made her throat hurt but in comparison to what had already happened to her? The needle wasn’t that bad and she noticed how it eased the discomfort as well as the pain almost immediately. Relieved, she closed her eyes until he tried handing her a meat pie which she immediately shook her head to. She whispered as she started to stand. “I’ll eat later if you don’t want it.”

She wasn’t hungry at the moment, just tired, and so she picked up her pack before heading to the back of the trailer. She found the master bedroom where the mattress was surprisingly cleaner than the last one they had been on. Still, she took off her jacket and laid it down before she crawled onto the mattress. She had no idea if he was going to sleep with her but she left the right side, the side closest to the door, open as she curled up on the left side.

[assjerky]

The Ghoul frowned after her, because all things considered this was the best chow they'd hunted up in a while--as much as he could taste, anyway. He'd figured the chems would've eased the pain enough to let her eat. Still frowning, he wrapped the breaded concoction back up and stowed it away securely, away from curious hungry dogs, polished off the rest of the one he'd started.

He'd have left her in peace to sleep, but the temperature continued to drop, when it wasn't like they could start a fire in the middle of a trailer. He checked on Dogmeat and the hound, who were laying in opposites sides of what he figured was the living room, eyeing each other warily. "Yeah you keep an eye on that fucker," he murmured to Dogmeat, before stepping quietly into the bedroom and shedding his duster. He draped it over Lucy's still form, then tried to ease onto the other side of the mattress without disturbing her. Just making himself something warm to curl against. If she got cold.

[okiedokies]

It was true, the chems had helped with the pain she had been in but it was more the tiredness and the events that had made her feel not hungry at the moment. She was sure she would be hungry in the morning but all she wanted was sleep which was clear as she was pretty much out as soon as her head hit the mattress.

But the cold did start to seep in and she could feel it even in her sleep, making her tense until something soft laid over her. A little sigh escaped her as the heat that clung to his duster started to seep into her but she didn't feel truly better until she felt him lay down beside her. Then, without opening her eyes, she turned to him in her sleep. Not only did she turn to him but she immediately inched closer, tucking herself against his side as she slid an arm around his middle, shifting some of the duster over him as well.

[assjerky]

The Ghoul made a quiet, soothing sort of sound and wound an arm around her, tugging her half on top of him, and tipping his hat down to cover his face. This close to the NCR base, he felt confident enough they didn't have to worry about Raiders or Legion, and with two dogs posted up by the door, they had an alarm system and first line of defense in place for any other intruders.

So fuck it. A good night's sleep wouldn't kill them.

[okiedokies]

She seemed to register the sound and he would get a humming sound in return as she slid a hand up to his chest, almost half petting him for a second before her hand stilled and she seemed to sink back further into the darkness of sleep. She felt safe with him and the dogs there, so the exhaustion won out.

She couldn't be sure how long she had slept as it was still dark when she finally opened her eyes a few hours later. If she looked out the window through the tattered curtains, she thought the edge of the horizon might look a touch lighter but she wasn't sure. Instead, she lay there for a while, still half wrapped around the Ghoul as she stared out at nothing. The pain in her throat was gone but she imagined the bruises were there still unless the meds could take care of them too.

She was considering going back to sleep when she heard her stomach make a soft noise of complaint.

[assjerky]

The Ghoul never slept that heavily, usually, but he'd been taking the lion's share of the watch every night, and it was starting to catch up with him. Even so, he stirred a bit when she did, eventually rolling onto his side, facing toward her with his arm flung around her waist and his leg tangled in between hers, hat knocked askew in the process. Very cuddly of him. Much harder for her to disentangle herself from him now though.