An Early Morning

Thank god Sole recruited Deacon for the most recent mission.

Deacon poked sleepily at the smoldering fire, adjusting logs and pushing in dead leaves from around the sides. The bigger the flames got, the faster his simmering pot of coffee would be ready. They'd almost entirely run out of the now stale, 200-year-old grounds; a precious commodity out in the wastes when you sleep with one eye open. If Deacon hadn't spotted the obnoxious yellow tin on a pier while he and Sole tried to rescue Vault 81's resident cat, Ashes, he was quite sure the Red Rocket all Sole's companions stayed in when off-duty would have gone up in flames.

    Hearing quiet footsteps from the gas station's service building behind him, Deacon turned his head just in time to see an exhausted MacCready stumble out the low door. He watched as the small man scrubbed the thin scruff on the side of his face and yawned deeply, stretching his arms up and straining the muscles taut, before dropping them to pull his tatty coat closed around himself. His breath trailed away from his lips in wisps of white smoke as he sleepily stared at the road, still half asleep.

    "You know, if you're chilly, I've got a nice warm fire going over here," Deacon called to the weary man. MacCready jumped, having only just registered Deacon's presence before scowling and trudging over, grumbling under his breath.

    Deacon grinned as the younger man grumpily plopped down beside him and crossed his arms. He tossed the stick he'd been prodding the small coals with off to the side in favor of messing with MacCready. "Good morning, sunshine! I can see someone got a great night of sleep." MacCready scoffed, his eye's focused on the flames in front of him, rather than the grinning man beside him.

    "Sole woke me up in the middle of the night to tell me she was taking Cait with her to Vault 81 or something, and that I had to take over guard duty for her," MacCready muttered, his voice still rough from sleep. "I didn't end up getting to sleep until about an hour ago. I think Preston felt bad for me, so he offered to trade off." Deacon's shit-eating grin wavered as he stopped to think.

    "Wait, didn't you have late night guard duty last night?" Deacon watched, concerned, as the man smiled humourlessly.

    "And the night before that, and the night before that." MacCready turned to face the Deacon, the bags and dark circles under his eye's suddenly much more prominent in the light of the fire. "I think Sole must have it out for me or something," he chuckled dryly before redirecting his attention to the large metal pot propped up over the fire. "You making coffee? I thought we were out."

    Deacon glanced back to the pot and noted that it was just about ready. "Yeah, I found another tin of it the last mission Sole and I went out on." Deacon stared as MacCready nodded, his eyes slowly shutting as his head settled more heavily on his palms. "Do you want any? It might help you stay awake." MacCready nodded again, his eyes still shut, too tired to respond with a sarcastic quip.

    Deacon, concerned but now with a task at hand, stood and carefully pushed the least hot places of the spit forward until it was completely off the fire. "Hey, pal?" Deacon turned back to MacCready, who didn't respond. Deacon sighed and headed to the gas station's service building. "I'm going to go grab mugs, be right back." Nodding to a passing settler, Deacon headed inside the concrete building, treading quietly as he passed bodies shrouded in darkness, resting in their sleeping bags. Evidently, he and MacCready were up early.

    Reaching the counter, he quietly went around to the back and crouched down, rooting through the cracked and chipped bowls and cups until he found two clean-ish mugs. Holding one in each hand, Deacon exited the service station and returned back to his and MacCready's fire. The younger of the two hadn't moved, eye's still shut and breathing still slow. Deacon felt a little guilty shaking the sniper's shoulder gently and coaxing him awake. "Hey, RJ, I got mugs. Do you want to make yourself some coffee?" MacCready blinked awake, his brow creased in confusion.

"What?'

    Deacon chuckled. "Coffee. Do you want any?"

    "Oh. Yeah." MacCready grabbed the mug Deacon handed him, and they both walked over the large pot, no longer boiling but still very hot, before dipping their mugs in and filling them. They returned to the dying fire, and both began to nurse their drinks. Glancing up, Deacon watched in amusement as MacCready took a sip and recoiled almost immediately, his face screwing up in disgust. At that, Deacon laughed out loud, covering his mouth with his hand to try and stifle his giggles as MacCready scowled at him. "What?!" MacCready snapped, his glare having no effect on the older man who continued to snicker.

    "You- You could have-" Deacon desperately tried to finish his sentence through his laughter. "You could have just asked for sugar!" MacCready continued to scowl at the older man as he broke down into laughter.

    "I didn't think we had any," RJ muttered, red beginning to dust his cheeks. Deacon tried to calm his giggling as he reached into his pack and pulled out two packets of sugar, handing them both to MacCready.

    "Here, here, sorry pal," Deacon said, his laughter calmed down to a grin. The two finished their drink quickly, the need for caffeine overwhelming any other emotion. Once both the mugs were empty and washed out at the water pumps, Deacon tapped Macca's retreating shoulder. He turned to face Deacon, confused. "Hey bud, I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to take over watch duty for you tonight, okay? Get some rest." MacCready opened his mouth to protest, but faltered, feeling how heavy his limbs were. Even if they were attacked, he wouldn't be very useful this exhausted. He smiled.

    "Thanks, Deacon." MacCready leaned in and kissed his cheek before hurrying off to the service station. Deacon stood frozen, his eyes wide, a blush spreading across his pale skin. He touched his cheek gently, still feeling the ghosting of RJ's lips.

    "Anytime."