“I know about the dangers.” Vincent let go of the chip in his pocket and pressed his lips together as he crossed his arms. “And I cannot be sure about your doubts, as justified as they may be. But it is the only lead I have, so what choice does that leave me?” “Vincent...” Arcade cleared his throat. “I know that this is maybe a bit of a sore spot, but...” “You want to know why she was out there in Outer Vegas alone?” Vincent held Arcade’s gaze levelly. “Because I was asleep. After coming back from the celebration, she said she needed a bath and told me not to wait up. Yet she never went to bed, and when I awoke in the morning, she was gone.” “She probably needed a moment or two of breathing space, of peace.” “I fail to see how my presence would have disturbed her peace.” A small smile flitted over Arcade’s face for a second. “Maybe she just wanted to be alone with herself and her own thoughts for a while? It’s called privacy.” Vincent’s gaze hardened for a second. “I know. But she is the leader of these people, their queen, and she can have all the privacy she needs within the Lucky38 if she just asks me. Such luxuries are not hers to...” “Vincent, please. She’s only human, you know.”
Vincent didn’t reply, and Arcade sighed while shaking his head. After another moment of him looking at Vincent who silently stared at the tent wall, the doctor leaned forward to pull the sheet over Cobra’s body again.
“The events may not even be related, you know”, Arcade said thoughtfully. “Raiders or some wasteland punks with looted weapons could have killed Cobra and Tara might have…” Vincent looked up sharply, and Arcade shrugged and looked away. “Is there anything I could do to help you?”, he then asked. “There is.” Vincent rolled his shoulders and looked at the doctor again. “But primarily I need a Legion attire as a disguise.” “As disguise?” Arcade pushed his glasses up again. “They can’t have more than a few hours’ head start?” “Have you ever tried to follow a trail of footsteps through a desert?” Vincent tilted his head. “The slightest breeze obscures any footprints in the dusty earth, and whatever trail they might have left is long gone by now. I have no way of knowing the way they took, but I have a founded hope of knowing where they will bring her.” “And where would that be?”
Vincent shrugged. “The Legion had a camp, as a bridge head, in Kingman. I do not know if it still stands, and if so, if it is still manned. Maybe they will bring her to Flagstaff. Anyway, if I catch up with them on the road or find out where they will bring her, attacking will only result in getting me killed, and endangering her further.” “I understand.” Arcade cast a thoughtful look at Cobra’s shrouded corpse. “But… alone?” Vincent narrowed his eyes. “If you know of someone else intimately familiar with the Legion’s customs, discipline and language I am eager to know.” Arcade opened his mouth, found he had nothing to reply and shook his head. “Sorry.”
Vincent nodded slowly ,and crossing his arms he then rested his eyes on the shrouded corpse once more, wondering yet again what the two of them had been doing outside the city walls. They might have accidentally run into each other, or he might have followed her upon noticing her walking the streets alone. He might have wanted to protect her, or he might have wanted to make a move on her. But since he was dead now, Vincent felt inclined to give him the benefit of doubt and assumed the former; any detail about this was impossible to find out before he hadn’t spoken to Tara herself anyway.
Jealousy was a feeling both unfamiliar and most uncomfortable for him. In all the months that he had been sharing Tara’s bed she had been happy and satisfied enough with what he had given her, but he was well aware of his shortcomings and couldn’t imagine that any woman, even a virgin who didn’t know exactly what was missing, would not at one point want to know a real man for a change. He couldn’t even hold it against her. He knew he should not let his feelings get the better of him to such an extent and was fully aware he was maybe doing Tara great wrong with thinking that, yet help it, he could not.
Turn Wounds into Wisdom 3b/?
“Vincent...” Arcade cleared his throat. “I know that this is maybe a bit of a sore spot, but...”
“You want to know why she was out there in Outer Vegas alone?” Vincent held Arcade’s gaze levelly. “Because I was asleep. After coming back from the celebration, she said she needed a bath and told me not to wait up. Yet she never went to bed, and when I awoke in the morning, she was gone.”
“She probably needed a moment or two of breathing space, of peace.”
“I fail to see how my presence would have disturbed her peace.”
A small smile flitted over Arcade’s face for a second. “Maybe she just wanted to be alone with herself and her own thoughts for a while? It’s called privacy.”
Vincent’s gaze hardened for a second. “I know. But she is the leader of these people, their queen, and she can have all the privacy she needs within the Lucky38 if she just asks me. Such luxuries are not hers to...”
“Vincent, please. She’s only human, you know.”
Vincent didn’t reply, and Arcade sighed while shaking his head. After another moment of him looking at Vincent who silently stared at the tent wall, the doctor leaned forward to pull the sheet over Cobra’s body again.
“The events may not even be related, you know”, Arcade said thoughtfully. “Raiders or some wasteland punks with looted weapons could have killed Cobra and Tara might have…”
Vincent looked up sharply, and Arcade shrugged and looked away.
“Is there anything I could do to help you?”, he then asked.
“There is.” Vincent rolled his shoulders and looked at the doctor again. “But primarily I need a Legion attire as a disguise.”
“As disguise?” Arcade pushed his glasses up again. “They can’t have more than a few hours’ head start?”
“Have you ever tried to follow a trail of footsteps through a desert?” Vincent tilted his head. “The slightest breeze obscures any footprints in the dusty earth, and whatever trail they might have left is long gone by now. I have no way of knowing the way they took, but I have a founded hope of knowing where they will bring her.”
“And where would that be?”
Vincent shrugged. “The Legion had a camp, as a bridge head, in Kingman. I do not know if it still stands, and if so, if it is still manned. Maybe they will bring her to Flagstaff. Anyway, if I catch up with them on the road or find out where they will bring her, attacking will only result in getting me killed, and endangering her further.”
“I understand.” Arcade cast a thoughtful look at Cobra’s shrouded corpse. “But… alone?”
Vincent narrowed his eyes. “If you know of someone else intimately familiar with the Legion’s customs, discipline and language I am eager to know.”
Arcade opened his mouth, found he had nothing to reply and shook his head. “Sorry.”
Vincent nodded slowly ,and crossing his arms he then rested his eyes on the shrouded corpse once more, wondering yet again what the two of them had been doing outside the city walls. They might have accidentally run into each other, or he might have followed her upon noticing her walking the streets alone. He might have wanted to protect her, or he might have wanted to make a move on her. But since he was dead now, Vincent felt inclined to give him the benefit of doubt and assumed the former; any detail about this was impossible to find out before he hadn’t spoken to Tara herself anyway.
Jealousy was a feeling both unfamiliar and most uncomfortable for him. In all the months that he had been sharing Tara’s bed she had been happy and satisfied enough with what he had given her, but he was well aware of his shortcomings and couldn’t imagine that any woman, even a virgin who didn’t know exactly what was missing, would not at one point want to know a real man for a change. He couldn’t even hold it against her. He knew he should not let his feelings get the better of him to such an extent and was fully aware he was maybe doing Tara great wrong with thinking that, yet help it, he could not.