The Knight and the Paladin - A series of Oneshots

13 "What do you think about Scribe Haylen?"

Knight Kay and Paladin Danse were on a cleaning mission which Knight Rhys asked them to do. They shot down the last feral ghouls in College Square and it's train station. Kat was wiping away the beads of sweat in her face, accidentally smearing blood all over it. "Knight, you've got something on your face." Danse chuckled as Kat rubbed her face frantically, smearing it further. "Here, let me help you.", he then said pulling out a handkerchief from his power armor and began to gently wipe at her face. He was too concentrated with cleaning her face to realize how Kat stared at him, unable to move.

She still couldn't believe that a human being wearing power armor could be this gentle. She swallowed as he took a closer look at her and then he suddenly smiled. "All clean again.", he simply said, stuffing the blood stained piece of fabric away. Kat's cheeks flushed, she still wasn't able to even move an inch, still staring at the Paladin. "Are you okay, soldier?" She blinked. "I... I'm fine. Thanks.", she stuttered. She shook her head and scolded herself silently. Her whole body shuddered as she felt how the air between them was changing.

She was part of Reconnaissance Squad Gladius for a few months now and the bond between her and Danse grew strong over the time. She even got him to crack jokes from time to time. They had a lot of fun and grew to be very good friends. A few weeks ago they had a very personal talk about Danse's feelings towards bonding with the people around him. That he never had such a strong one to someone like her, after Cutler... "It's a good feeling, but it frightens me all the same. Having a bond with someone then losing them...it changes you.", he said to her back then. She told him that it wouldn't be the same with her, that she cared too much for him to let it happen. His eyes widened and he told her that he needed to think about it.

Back then, the air felt exactly the same, Kat thought. Somehow she knew that he wanted to talk to her about something. She heard him clear his throat before he spoke. "If you have the time to talk now, I'd still like to know what you think about Scribe Haylen." Oh, that again... He tried to talk about Haylen with her before.

"Haylen? Why, is something wrong with her?"
"No, not at all. She's doing well. I simply wanted to talk to you about her, but I wanted to know what you thought about her first."
"She's as dedicated as they come. A real team player."
"I couldn't agree more. But I wasn't looking for an evaluation of her performance as a scribe, I wanted to know what you thought of Haylen... as a person."

So this is where the wind was blowing from... Kat felt a pang in her guts, knowing that this wouldn't be an easy talk.

"'As a person?' It's not like you to ask me something like that."
"No it's not. The truth is, I'm worried about her. Since you and I are getting along so well, I felt like I could confide in you about it... to get your honest opinion."

And then Danse told Kat about how he had to order her to administer an overdose of painkillers to a fellow soldier. He got shot pretty bad from raiders and Haylen was by his side for two days and two nights, fighting for his life. He also told Kat that Haylen came to him later that evening while he was on watch. That she collapsed into Danse's arms crying. First Kat felt sorry for the young scribe. Danse then told her that he held her for a while before Haylen kissed him on the cheek, thanked him and that she then walked back into the police station. Kat's stomach clenched, just like her fists. Was she jealous?

He kept talking, not noticing the change in Kat's behavior. He said something about pushing Haylen too hard and that's the reason he was worried about the people under his command. She sighed.

"Haylen will be fine. It's you that I'm worried about."
"Me?", he asked surprised by Kat's answer.
"I see what you're getting at. I guess I never thought of it that way."
His face hardened.
"Look, four soldiers... over half of my team, are gone. Each one of them died because of decisions that I made." His hands clenched into fists. Kat suddenly wanted to hug him. She could feel how bad he must be feeling, having such doubts.
"How can anyone have confidence in me anymore? Hell, how can I have confidence in myself?"