Daisy greeted us warmly as we entered her shop. "MacCready! I haven't seen you in a while. You haven't been avoiding me, have you?" She gave me a wink as he sauntered up to the counter, grinning flirtatiously at her.
"Now how could I stay away from someone as cute as you, Daisy?" Oozing charm, he placed a genteel kiss on the back of her extended withered hand.
Daisy laughed a low, delighted chuckle. "You're a lousy liar, but I'll just play stupid and pretend I don't know that. So, what did you need?" Instantly, she was all business again, leaning possessively on the counter.
"I got it, Daisy." MacCready's voice cracked with emotion. "I found the cure to Duncan's disease."
Daisy's face lit up with unrestrained joy. "Oh my god! That's wonderful news." She lowered her voice inquiringly. "How did you do it? Last time you tried, the ferals almost chewed you to bits."
MacCready tugged on his cap, giving me a sheepish look. He'd tried it by himself? He was desperate. "I didn't do it alone this time. My friend here got me through Med-Tek." Placing the precious canister on the counter along with the folded note he wrote that morning, he pushed them both across towards Daisy. "Now all I need to do is get the cure into Duncan's hands. Can you help me?"
She smiled warmly, "Of course, MacCready. You've saved my behind more than once, it's the least I can do. I'll get the sample on the first caravan leaving the Commonwealth. The driver owes me a few favors and he's reliable." Placing the items in a small metal container for safekeeping, she stowed it behind the counter. "It will arrive at the homestead in no time."
"Thanks, you're a doll." With a broad grin, he stepped over to Kill or Be Killed to barter with KL-E-0.
Daisy watched him go with a smile on her face before turning to me. "Looks like friendship agrees with him." She gave me a sly wink. "And you're looking a little less bewildered as well." Gesturing for me to step closer, she clasped my hand warmly and whispered to me. "Hey, do me a favor. Take care of MacCready for me. He's one of the good ones."
I met her conspiratorial smile with one of my own. "I will, Daisy... and you're right. He is." He really is. I don't know how I'd survive without him. Giving her hand a quick squeeze in gratitude, I left to rejoin MacCready, who was just stepping into the street.
"Let's try to find Hancock while we're in town," I suggested, catching up with him.
"No need," a raspy voice spoke in my ear as the Ghoul himself sidled in seemingly out of nowhere for a hearty hug, startling me for a moment. "Hancock found you first, Sunshine!" With a cocky grin, he snaked his arm out to drag MacCready into a three-way embrace with himself in the middle. "Hey, MacCready, how's it hangin'?"
"Hancock!" my companion replied in a hearty tone. "How's the coolest Ghoul in the Commonwealth?"
Hancock chuckled, steering us towards The Third Rail, "Perishing for a drink, some Jet, and the company of the two people I most wanted to see today. Let's take over the VIP room and celebrate your return to town, shall we?"
The VIP room was tucked around the corner from the main bar area. I found out that MacCready usually hung out there when he was looking for clients, and he surveyed the area with an almost proprietary air. "Still the same dump it always was," he commented humorously, "ah well, at least the drinks are plentiful." He took a seat on one of the couches as I perused the room, curiously inspecting the knickknacks in the glass-fronted cabinets and decorations scattered about the walls.
A few moments later, Hancock entered the room, arms full of bottles, trailed by a couple of attractive ladies in outfits that looked like the poor girls would freeze to death if they stepped outside. Each of them also carried a selection of intoxicants, which they set up on a small table.
"Where's Fahrenheit?" I noticed Hancock's glowering bodyguard was nowhere to be seen.
"She's off taking care of a little... mayoral business for me." Hancock replied, handing his armful of bottles to the ladies. "Speaking of business," an orange and white disk file was placed in my hand, "this came for you while you were out. It seems like Dr. Amari's group has a message for you. Ah-ah," he admonished when I would have immediately played it, "save it for later. Tonight we're going to relax!"
Grabbing one of the bottles from the collection on the side table, Hancock pointed me towards the liquor. "All right," he announced happily, "looks like we can get this party started!" He pulled out his ubiquitous inhaler and took a puff. "Pick your poison, Sunshine. It's all on me tonight."
I made my way over to the table to make a selection. Everything was alcoholic to varying degrees, and I inwardly wished he had brought over some water. Spying a beer, I grabbed that instead. "MacCready, what do you want?" When I turned to address him, I noticed that he already had an open bottle in one hand and, to my complete stomach-twisting surprise, a girl on either side of him on the couch.
"Don't worry about him, Sunshine." Hancock had taken residence on another couch and was beckoning me to join him. "Trudy and Mona know what he likes, and they've missed his... presence." He followed that statement with a lewd chuckle. "Anyway," he continued, taking a pull from his own bottle, "how about giving your mayor here some company. I'd love to hear about your exploits in the Commonwealth."
Spearing one more glance at the already-occupied sniper, I gingerly sat down next to Hancock. He pulled me close with his free hand draping across my shoulders. "So," he rasped, his voice a low sensual whisper, "Tell me all about your adventures out there. I heard you've helped a settlement or two." He chuckled and shifted his arm to give my ribs an affectionate squeeze. "It's a good start to paying me back. But if you really want to erase the debt..." accompanied by his wandering fingers and a sultry grin.
"Uhhh..." I sat up and pushed away from him, glancing quickly to see what the occupants of the other couch were up to. MacCready had one arm across the back of the couch, the other tipping his nearly empty bottle back as he took a long drink. Both girls were draped against him, one hanging off his shoulder, the other tracing his thigh in a way that brought a knot of unexpected jealousy to sit, white-hot, in my stomach. Stop it, I told myself fiercely. You're only his combat partner, not his keeper. It didn't help the twisting in my guts, and I gulped my beer to try and calm down. The incipient buzz helped to distract me, and I decided to not care, not even a little bit.
Hancock rasped another low, knowing laugh, twisting me around to rest against his side, gently taking the empty beer bottle from my hand and setting it aside. "Shy?" he muttered, a wry grin cockily teasing his features. "No, I get it. You're still getting used to the way things are out here." He hugged me close in a friendly manner, and I relaxed a little. He was warm, and personable, and it seemed he was perceptive enough to not push the boundaries of my emotional confusion. I tried to focus on the relaxed atmosphere, the sound of jazz music playing in the main room, the beer that had appeared in my hand, the buzz of murmuring conversation.
With the alcohol relaxing my normal hesitance, I was able to chat with Hancock about our adventures, catching him up with the goings on we witnessed in our travels. He was cautiously pleased to hear about the Minutemen's rescue, but decidedly less than happy about the appearance of the Brotherhood of Steel. "Yeah, I heard that flying junk heap monstrosity as it flew by." He downed his bottle. "I don't trust them, not after your buddy over there told me what they were like in the Capital Wasteland. However, I'm not one to judge hastily. If they play nice, I'm willing to let bygones be bygones."
"Tolerant of you." I approved. "MacCready was picking fights with them."
"Ah, he's young," Hancock chuckled, "and opinionated, and deeply emotional for all that he tries to hide it behind a professional façade like Fahrenheit's. He's also had direct experience with them, so he has his reasons." Pulling me in closer, he whispered in my ear, his raspy tenor warm. "Looks like the two of you are getting along well. I definitely made the right decision hiring him to protect you, hmm?" He chuckled.
"He's been great." I hedged, not wanting to admit to too much. "I'm learning a lot. Thank you very, very much for hiring him on my behalf."
Hancock grunted in satisfaction. "It also gets him out from underfoot around here. You should have seen his bar tab!" He leaned in again, withered lips just brushing my ear. "So... you two done the deed yet?" The low chuckle left no doubt in my mind what he was referring to.
I went to jump up, but Hancock's arm kept me in place. "Ah-ah. No need to cause a scene, Sunshine." He grinned at my offended glare. "I'm just askin'."
"I don't see how that is any of your business." I said coldly, with as much dignity as I could muster.
"I'll take that as a 'no' then," he laughed slyly. "Why not?" came the innocent query, black eyes wide with feigned guilelessness. "You're cute. He's young, attractive, and none of my girls can even catch his attention for a night, much less for weeks at a time."
And he has his own reasons. I am not going to betray MacCready's secrets if Hancock doesn't know. "The only reason we've been together for weeks now is because he's under contract." I retorted, trying to put a rational spin on our partnership. "He's a professional, even if you apparently duped him with a vaguely worded stipulation; 'escort her home' is taking longer than anyone could have realized."
He laughed heartily at this, giving me a full-on hug and a quick kiss to the top of my head. "Oh, Sunshine, you're adorable." He patted my head like he would a small child, glancing over at the other couch. "You keep telling yourself that."
"What?"
"Never mind." He released me to give me a push towards the alcohol. "You need a beer. Go grab one from the table." As soon as I had stood up, he brought out his inhaler again.
Horndog, I thought in irritation, only has one thing on his mind. The problem is that once he brought up the thought of, well, of my relationship with MacCready, the prurient corner of my mind seized on it and wouldn't let go. Damn it. I stalked over to the table to make another selection. Yes, he's attractive. I'll admit it. But he's not interested in me that way. Snatching up another beer, I pried off the cap to take a drink. Even if I'd like him to be.
Did I really just think that? I was not going to look over at the other couch. Instead, I very deliberately examined the labels on the bottles in front of me. Huh, good selection I guess, if I knew anything about hard liquor.
Behind me, Hancock called out, "Bring a bottle over, would you, Sunshine?" And, "Ladies, ladies, you're getting nowhere! If you want a little fun, why not treat yourself to the mayoral experience?" Twin sets of giggles moved from one couch to the other as I breathed a silent sigh of relief. Picking a bottle at random, I turned around to bring it back to Hancock. "Care to join in, Sunshine?" The girls had already claimed the rest of the couch, one running her fingers up and down the Ghoul's chest to his obvious delight, and the other...
I nearly tossed the bottle on the couch in my haste to leave them to their own devices. The second girl had unbuttoned Hancock's trousers in record time, apparently, treating him to a preview of the evening's later activities. I really, really did not need to see his dick, no. My face burned with embarrassment and a little hint of drunkenness. Without a second thought, I hastened out of the VIP room with Hancock's sexually charged chuckle following me. Damn it, that was too much.
Reaching the street, I charged out into the center of the square before stopping in the freezing air to take several bracing breaths. Only then did I notice the light drift of snowflakes falling from the sky. Staring at the floating flakes helped soothe my embarrassment and calm my mind. They caught the lights, twinkling in a variety of colors like minuscule jewels sweeping the air. My breath floated up in clouds of steam, fogging my glasses and giving the view an almost ethereal feel. It's Hancock's place, I thought with a rational detachment. If he wants to have a threesome in the back room, who am I to judge? I was still irritated, though.
I felt, rather than heard, the approach of someone behind me. "Hey, lady," a harsh deep voice inquired, "looking for a place to stay and some good," a lustful chuckle, "company?" A tall, warm body pressed against mine, arms wrapping around my chest in an overly intimate manner, preventing me from moving. "It awful cold out here. I can offer you shelter... for the right price," the threat in his voice hinted unmistakably in my ear. "So, you gonna be nice and pay up?" The sound of familiar footsteps echoed in the square behind us, and I felt my antagonist turn his head. "MacCready? Just keep movin', this lady and I are..."
I had had enough. Emboldened by the beer buzz, irritated and wound up by Hancock's prurient teasing, my hand snaked down to grab the soft, yielding flesh between my unidentified paramour's legs. With a grip strengthened by years of brass repair work, I squeezed viciously and twisted out of the man's hold as he gasped out a pained squeal and tried to drop to his knees. The man was dirty, wearing tattered old clothes, dark hair and scraggly beard unkempt. He was half-crouched, hands desperately waving for balance as the tenderest parts of his anatomy were in my angry, unrelenting grip. His mouth opened and closed frantically, but only the occasional high-pitched whine emerged. My entire attention was focused on him, ignoring my silent bodyguard..
Stepping forward, I unbalanced him enough that he fell backwards onto the freezing ground, my hand still clenching as tightly as I could grasp. "Leave me alone." I snarled, leaning over him to stare furiously into his agonized face. The man's eyes were crossed, and a tiny bit of drool leaked from the corner of his mouth. "Don't touch me ever again." I twisted my hand slightly back and forth, pulling a pained moan from his throat. "If there is a next time... from you or anyone else, I won't be so nice about it. Got it?"
Tiny frantic nods were all I was going to get from the man by this point. Moving quickly, I released my hand, but aimed a vicious kick to his groin to hammer my point home. I left him curled into a fetal position in the middle of the bricked courtyard, stalking angrily towards the Rexford and the privacy of my room. Disgusted, I vigorously wiped the hand that had been grasping between the man's legs against my jeans, trying to rid myself of the feel of soft flesh under my fingers. Faintly, I heard the familiar footsteps of my bodyguard following at a distance.
Clair took one look at my face and simply shoved the room key at me with a, "No one's been in there since you left. It's all yours." I stomped up the stairs and into the room, making for the window. Tearing the curtain aside with a shower of dust, I watched the snow falling lightly, trying to calm down and release my adrenaline high. The man was no longer in the square, a trail of several footprints leading away telling a story I didn't care to read.
From the doorway, I heard MacCready's comment. "Huh, Clair was right, no one has been in here since we left... not even to clean." Whirling around angrily at the interruption of my attempt to calm myself, I noticed he was staying well away from me, eyes slightly glazed. He plopped down on the couch with his usual careless grace, giving me an even look. "I would've stepped in, but you handled yourself quite well." He chuckled a bit drunkenly, "I suppose that was one way to get your hands on a dick, though I know Hancock wouldn't have complained if you had stayed instead."
At the reminder of why I left the Third Rail in the first place, I marched over to him before he could scramble out of the way. "Is that all you men think about? Getting your dick serviced?" Hovering over him, I realized I was a bit more drunk than buzzed, and my frustration was hard to control. He met my drunken gaze with his own glazed blue eyes, wisely not making any moves. Flexing my fingers threateningly, I snapped, "Would you like your own personal demonstration?" Oh my god, did I just say that?
"Ah, no" he replied soothingly, slowly holding his hands up in a placating gesture. "I would much rather stay on your good side, angel."
As if those quiet words severed a knot deep inside, I relaxed, sighing ruefully. "I think I'm a bit drunk. I'm sorry, MacCready. You didn't deserve that." Moving slowly, I sat gingerly on the couch next to him. "I just wasn't expecting to see..."
"Yeah, Hancock's parties can get a bit heavy if you're not ready for it." He straightened up, placing his arm across the back of the couch behind me in an unspoken invitation. "You rushed out pretty quick. I figured he took you by surprise." A chuckle floated up to the ceiling as he leaned his head back.
"That's putting it mildly. He'd been respectfully friendly up to that point, and I was actually enjoying the conversation." Leaning back into the cushions, I felt his arm drape lightly across my shoulders. "I was not expecting to see the beginnings of a menage a trois, and I was definitely wasn't expecting to be invited to join in." I shuddered slightly. "I hope he's not mad, but I just couldn't take any more."
"Mad?" MacCready shook his head. "No. He lives in the moment, and was quite happily distracted by the time I followed you out the door. Don't worry about it. Or him."
"All right." I sat for a moment, just enjoying the quiet and the feeling of privacy. "Hey, Mac?"
"Yeah, Boss?"
"Does the Rexford have showers?" I dearly wanted to wash off the evening's activities if I could.
"You're asking me?" he laughed. "I don't like getting wet, remember?" He thought about it for a moment, giving my shoulder a friendly squeeze. "I doubt it, though. If they did, they certainly wouldn't be hot."
Thinking a little too comfortably about the attractive sniper I was sitting next to, I muttered under my breath, "Maybe I need a cold shower."
"What was that, Boss?"
"Nothing." Standing up, I went back to the window. MacCready stretched out on the couch, lazily cleaning his fingernails with his combat knife. Watching the dusting of snowflakes swirl around, I focused on calming down enough to think about sleep. The rest of the evening was spent in a companionable silence.