Ad Victoriam ~ Elder Maxson x reader - Part 3

4 - Lies

Arthur collapses into his desk chair feeling positively worn out. He had expected the celebrations to be relaxing, but has found them anything but. Of course, he enjoyed himself, but keeping up a kind face to the locals has taken more out of him than one would expect. A shower has helped ease some tension; but he still has reports to sign off before he can so much as think about sleep.

"Hey, Elder! I got a surprise for you!" Uri distracts him almost immediately. What a surprise... With a grunt he heads to the door; where she is stood carrying a tray piled with food. Tired eyes immediately brighten.

"However could I resist?" he drawls, which draws a chortle from the guard.

"Before you start those reports you need to eat. I'm getting a shower, so you best save me some mashed 'tato or I swear I'll end the Maxson dynasty here and now."

"Duly noted."

The Prydwen's food is usually terrible but, with Garvey's help, they have been able to establish actual, functional trade routes. In return for simple laser turrets, the Brotherhood now have fresh meats, fruits and vegetables to actually feed their small army. It has certainly boosted morale - Arthur feels that now as he sits loading his plate with smooth mash, freshly boiled carrots, roasted radstag and a generous helping of corn. By the time Uri's finished with her shower, he has almost finished.

"I'll never be over how much better food quality is," she sighs, "we have the Cabot's to thank. Their tips for dealing with settlers have saved my palette a number of times."

"God bless the Cabots," Arthur toasts with the remnants of his whiskey. Uri taps her water to his glass. "So, what's on the agenda for tomorrow? Now that you are free of your General duties?"

"Honestly? I am tempted to go and see Quinlan. I know - you don't need to give me that look - but I'm curious about these archives of his. And he is super smart; maybe his huge brain will rub off on me."

"Doubtful," Arthur smirks, "Besides, your education is far more extensive than anyone on board."

"Not likely! I barely made it to graduation. Everything went in one ear and out the other - it's not like I expected atomic annihilation to make me realise my long list of high school fuck-ups," Uri glares at her food. "I wish I'd gone to college, or done something useful like construction. Instead, I wasted my time scraping by until the weekend. Stupid, stupid Uri..."

"I thought the threat of atomic annihilation was glaringly obvious?"

"Yeah, but when you're living in luxury you fool yourself into thinking it will never end." She pauses to chew her food, then adds: "this is America! Nothing bad ever happens here!"

Arthur merely snorts. He can't pretend to understand such ignorant logic, but he can sneer at its ridiculousness.

"You'd have done it to, believe me. I bet you'd have been one of those assholes who couldn't wait to do their duty for our great nation."

"This is a personal attack that I will not stand for--"

"You'd have army posters all over your bedroom-- wait, no, your ancestors were literally top army guys. Oh my God," She starts laughing, "you'd've been an army suck-up."

"Leave me be," he mutters, but his lips twitch as he fights back a grin of his own.

"So - stop judging me for my stupid past, 'cause everyone here would've been the same. The only people who saw the damn war coming was conspiracy theorists - and they hardly managed to get to their useless bunkers in time, never mind save the world. Even Vault Tec didn't actually expect it."

"Really?" his brow furrows as he wipes his mouth. "What was the point in the vaults-- oh," he pauses, realisation dawning on him. "They just wanted to carry out their experiments."