A burst of wind carried across the desert ground, kicking up dust and whipping through Simon's hair as he pressed forward. Maybe he should have left a note, he was reflecting now. Left with more than a short farewell to Arcade, the only other conscious person in the Lucky 38 at the ungodly hour of his departure. But he was at a loss for how to explain why he was setting out, or where he was going, and why he needed to go alone. Why there was only one person he wanted to see right now.
And in truth, he had very little by way of ideas on how to proceed. His current notion was to go to all of his regular haunts, the places he usually stopped along the road, knew the most people at. It wasn't much, but it was as good a plan as any. If nothing else, maybe seeing so many people he knew and liked would help ease some of the lonely ache that had been building in his chest over his past several untouched nights.
The road was sacred to him. His line of work was little more than an excuse to travel constantly. The wastes with all its paths, both defined and hidden, held a sort of wisdom that had a way of knitting itself into Simon's bones. He hoped it would provide him with some kind of clarity, even if it didn't lead him to his stranger.
He headed south of Freeside, stopping at Camp McCarran. He navigated the main courtyard, the tarmac, the concourse. He sat in the mess listening to his overflowing tableful of eager soldiers exchanging lively stories and politely pretended it wasn't just for his amusement, all of them good-naturedly warring for his attentions under the guise of a sudden base-wide attack of nostalgia. He sat in the ground floor office with Hsu, who welcomed his offered distraction of peaceful, companionable conversation. "You look exhausted," Simon told him sympathetically.
"Speak for yourself," Hsu replied with a sort of sad kindness.
He lost two rounds of Caravan to Betsy and won one against Bitter-Root. He took a hit from Boyd's hip flask, met her private wink with a secret smile. And then he moved on.
M!Courier/? - Remain Nameless [2a/?]
A burst of wind carried across the desert ground, kicking up dust and whipping through Simon's hair as he pressed forward. Maybe he should have left a note, he was reflecting now. Left with more than a short farewell to Arcade, the only other conscious person in the Lucky 38 at the ungodly hour of his departure. But he was at a loss for how to explain why he was setting out, or where he was going, and why he needed to go alone. Why there was only one person he wanted to see right now.
And in truth, he had very little by way of ideas on how to proceed. His current notion was to go to all of his regular haunts, the places he usually stopped along the road, knew the most people at. It wasn't much, but it was as good a plan as any. If nothing else, maybe seeing so many people he knew and liked would help ease some of the lonely ache that had been building in his chest over his past several untouched nights.
The road was sacred to him. His line of work was little more than an excuse to travel constantly. The wastes with all its paths, both defined and hidden, held a sort of wisdom that had a way of knitting itself into Simon's bones. He hoped it would provide him with some kind of clarity, even if it didn't lead him to his stranger.
He headed south of Freeside, stopping at Camp McCarran. He navigated the main courtyard, the tarmac, the concourse. He sat in the mess listening to his overflowing tableful of eager soldiers exchanging lively stories and politely pretended it wasn't just for his amusement, all of them good-naturedly warring for his attentions under the guise of a sudden base-wide attack of nostalgia. He sat in the ground floor office with Hsu, who welcomed his offered distraction of peaceful, companionable conversation. "You look exhausted," Simon told him sympathetically.
"Speak for yourself," Hsu replied with a sort of sad kindness.
He lost two rounds of Caravan to Betsy and won one against Bitter-Root. He took a hit from Boyd's hip flask, met her private wink with a secret smile. And then he moved on.