“What about you?”, Steve asked while tapping off his ash. “I actually don’t really know.” Amanda brushed a strand of hair behind her left ear. “I only remember travelling. I must have been born in some nameless little Wasteland nest, or maybe even Richmond. We hit that town quite often, but after James died, my parents travelled north. Said they needed new hunting grounds. That’s how we got to Rivet City in the end.”
“I guess scavenging in the Capital Wasteland isn’t as profitable as they imagined it would be.” “No.” Amanda shook her head with a soft snort. “Of course not. They just wanted to leave everything behind that reminded them of James. We’ve been close to starving more than one time, but it didn’t make them turn back. It was just because my father had paid the two guards in advance that they stayed, and at least we had been lucky a couple of times before we reached Rivet City, so we could pay them again.” She sighed. “See what good it did them.” “Well, that’s what they signed up for”, Frank gave back. “When you’re a merc and a caravan guard, death is part of the business.” “I know.” Amanda pressed her lips together and felt her eyes burn. “I know. That doesn’t make it any easier, for some reason.”
In the following silence, the crackling of the campfire was the only sound. A log broke and sent a shower of sparks into the air.
“What’s Boston like?” Frank shrugged. “Like any other armpit of a town in this godforsaken Wasteland. Full of drunkards and good-for-nothings.” “And whores”, Steve added with a strange undertone that made Amanda look up again. The two men exchanged another glance before Frank shrugged and lit up another smoke. Steve turned to Amanda with a half-way grin. “See, when we met in Boston...” “You sure she wants to know this, buddy?” Amanda suppressed a grin. “I can’t help feeling that this has the potential to be an interesting story. I’m a girl, remember? I love gossip.” Frank snorted under his breath and shook his head, but with a lopsided smile. Steve, in turn, chuckled out a cloud of smoke and stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankles.
“See, I had a girl in Boston”, he said. “She was... she could be a bit of a bitch, but she also could be a real sweetheart, if she wanted to. She’s the daughter of a weapons merchant. Well; I guess she still is.” “If she hasn’t succeeded in finally getting her throat slit, after all”, Frank fell in with an unmoving expression. Steve emitted an amused snort and took another drag of his smoke. “Anyway, one day I walked in on her sucking faces with another guy. See, I should have been out of town that day, but the merchant who’d hired me had to go and break his leg, so he nullified his contracts and I was stuck in town again. So I went to see her to tell her I wasn’t gone after all. And here she was, getting at it with someone else.” “And what did you do?” Amanda crossed her arms and leaned back. While Steve seemed rather amused by the whole story, Frank’s face showed no emotion at all.
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timeasmymeasure
Stronger than death itself 9b/?
Date: 2012-05-18 07:56 pm (UTC)“I actually don’t really know.” Amanda brushed a strand of hair behind her left ear. “I only remember travelling. I must have been born in some nameless little Wasteland nest, or maybe even Richmond. We hit that town quite often, but after James died, my parents travelled north. Said they needed new hunting grounds. That’s how we got to Rivet City in the end.”
“I guess scavenging in the Capital Wasteland isn’t as profitable as they imagined it would be.”
“No.” Amanda shook her head with a soft snort. “Of course not. They just wanted to leave everything behind that reminded them of James. We’ve been close to starving more than one time, but it didn’t make them turn back. It was just because my father had paid the two guards in advance that they stayed, and at least we had been lucky a couple of times before we reached Rivet City, so we could pay them again.” She sighed. “See what good it did them.”
“Well, that’s what they signed up for”, Frank gave back. “When you’re a merc and a caravan guard, death is part of the business.”
“I know.” Amanda pressed her lips together and felt her eyes burn. “I know. That doesn’t make it any easier, for some reason.”
In the following silence, the crackling of the campfire was the only sound. A log broke and sent a shower of sparks into the air.
“What’s Boston like?”
Frank shrugged. “Like any other armpit of a town in this godforsaken Wasteland. Full of drunkards and good-for-nothings.”
“And whores”, Steve added with a strange undertone that made Amanda look up again.
The two men exchanged another glance before Frank shrugged and lit up another smoke. Steve turned to Amanda with a half-way grin.
“See, when we met in Boston...”
“You sure she wants to know this, buddy?”
Amanda suppressed a grin. “I can’t help feeling that this has the potential to be an interesting story. I’m a girl, remember? I love gossip.”
Frank snorted under his breath and shook his head, but with a lopsided smile.
Steve, in turn, chuckled out a cloud of smoke and stretched out his legs, crossing them at the ankles.
“See, I had a girl in Boston”, he said. “She was... she could be a bit of a bitch, but she also could be a real sweetheart, if she wanted to. She’s the daughter of a weapons merchant. Well; I guess she still is.”
“If she hasn’t succeeded in finally getting her throat slit, after all”, Frank fell in with an unmoving expression.
Steve emitted an amused snort and took another drag of his smoke. “Anyway, one day I walked in on her sucking faces with another guy. See, I should have been out of town that day, but the merchant who’d hired me had to go and break his leg, so he nullified his contracts and I was stuck in town again. So I went to see her to tell her I wasn’t gone after all. And here she was, getting at it with someone else.”
“And what did you do?” Amanda crossed her arms and leaned back. While Steve seemed rather amused by the whole story, Frank’s face showed no emotion at all.