One Woman Army

Wish Upon a Star

I stared up at the starry night sky from where I lie in my leather duster on the old road pavement, my empty power armor standing sentinel nearby. Firelight from the small campfire reflects in the bare metal scratches in the paint job of my armor, sending little pricks of light cascading into the shadows. The dim light is enough to see by with my current night vision as Deacon walked over to me, the fire not diminishing the view of the agent.

"Hey, ya got a second?"

I patted the spot on the concrete next to me with only a glance in his direction, my grin wide.

"Of course. What's up?"

The Railroad agent and disguise king extraordinaire sat down on the concrete, lying down next to me. Deacon was a hell of a good looking man, and I was kinda glad he hadn't changed his face yet. He was silent for a minute as we both stared up at the sky, star lights like diamonds winking in the black velvet above.

"Huh. This is nice." Deacon's cheery tone was completely at odds with what he was saying, his words dripping sarcasm as he made himself comfortable on the pavement next to me. "You know, it is AMAZING how you seem to have the balls of a Deathclaw when it comes to lying in the open. It's a gift. Really."

I tapped the earpiece currently attached from the Pipboy to my ear.

"VOSS is on standby. Anything gets within 100m of the camp and I'll know it."
The wind blew warm from the south, and I marveled at the constellations seen so crisp and clearly as if they were close enough to touch. It was really warm for February, but nuclear war has a tendency to play haywire with the weather. I continued where he left off my tone light, the easy camaraderie between myself and Deacon bringing me to tease him just a bit.

"A gift, huh? Just remember that the gift that keeps on giving is usually sexually transmitted." I didn't have to see Deacon to hear the disgust in his voice.

"Ewww. Well, I don't know what you're plans for the future are, but mine don't include rotting genitalia."

"Agreed." I watch a meteor streak across the night sky, and pointed it out. "Oh, falling star!"

"You realize that it's most likely space trash finally falling back to earth, right?"

I put my elbow to his ribs, not hard, but enough to get his attention.

"Ow! Come on. You beat me up too?" His throaty chuckle was infectious, and his voice playful when he continued the conversation. "What you wish for?"

The laughter in his voice was definitely welcome, and I was overcome with a pang of nostalgia. Which was probably why I answered him the way I did.

"I want to see Paladin Danse in a 'Grognak the Barbarian' costume."

Shocked silence stretched wide as my grin before Deacon finally recovered.

Deacon burst out laughing, his grin from ear to ear, and I couldn't keep the straight face, bursting out into giggles myself as Deacon took it over the top.

"Really? Danse!? The Tin Man himself??" Deacon turned his head to look at me, almost doubling over with restrained glee. "Man o' man I'd like to see that. Can you imagine the look on his face?"

He lie back down next to me, the smile plastered across his face. I protested voicing my frustration at the situation.

"You know, I swear, the man never gets out of his armor."

"Have you even seen him without it?"

I almost pouted.

"No, but that doesn't matter."