The Knight and the Paladin - A series of Oneshots

18 The Squire, the Knight and the Paladin feat. Elder Maxson

A/N: This is a special one. Thanks go out to @KingDavidDobrik for lending me Squire Arcade. Hope you like what I wrote.
Love you <3

________

Loud music rang through the Prydwen. The Paladin followed the sound down to the squire's quarters. His eyes rolled and he sighed, already knowing who was responsible for that ungodly noise. First he wanted to knock, but given the circumstances that no one behind the door would hear him he just opened the door. His jaw dropped when he discovered that his subordinates were heavily headbanging to heavy metal music. The paladin stood there, crossing his arms in front of his chest and tapping his foot on the floor, half-patiently waiting for the music to come to an end. He cleared his throat loudly between two songs and startled both the knight and the squire.

"Paladin, Sir!", the squire exclaimed as he stood to attention. He snapped his feet so hard together that the crush of bones was audible. He jumped and fell down onto his rear. The knight next to him couldn't control herself and laughed until she cried tears, clutching her hand to her stomach and hitting herself with a fist onto her knee. The squire stood up and rubbed his butt, head red as a tato. The music roared again and his eyes beamed. The paladin just shook his head and mumbled "I'm so done with this shit...", turned around and walked away.

The paladin walked back to his quarters, facepalming himself and wondering why he agreed to take this young man under his wing. Well, the reason just walked in front of him with a cocked eyebrow. "Elder Maxson, Sir!", he said, face stoic and greeted the younger male with a fist over his heart. "At ease Paladin.", he said. "Where does this music come from?", he then asked. The paladin quirked an eyebrow. "Music?", he then questioned. "Why, yes, music.", the young elder was wondering how the paladin meant that. The older man shook his head and just mumbled "Squire quarters."

The younger man nodded and dismissed the paladin and went on to the squire quarters. He bobbed his head to the tunes which were more audible by every step he took in that direction. Soon he hummed and then he stood in front of a vibrating door. He chuckled and smiled. He loved that kind of music. He opened the door, the sounds of electronic guitar, bass and drums and screaming voices. The knight and the squire froze in their current positions which looked damn hilarious to the elder. Both the knight and the squire looked at him like he was a ghost while he stood there bursting out in laughter.

"At ease you two.", he said wiping away a tear and clutching a hand to his stomach. The elder perked even more up when a special song came up. He closed the door and began to band his head in madness. The knight and the squire joined him and they threw a party. When the refrain of the song came up the elder roared with it "Searchiiiiing... SEEK AND DESTROY!" They were laughing and having the time of their lives. A click was audible and the music stopped. The elder catched his breath "Come on, the drinks are on me." And then he walked out of the room and to the command deck.

The knight and the squire followed him, wondering what happened to their stoic and ice cold leader. In the end they stopped caring. Free booze was always very welcomed. The trio sat down and sipped on their drinks. The elder gave a "Ahhh" noise after his first chug of Whiskey. "Thank you", he then said in a more serious voice. His subordinates looked at him questioning. "For?", the knight the asked. "Making me feel like an ordinary human being. That was my favorite song by the way." He chuckled and took another sip.

The sound voices of laughing startled him out of his thoughts. Was that the elder laughing? He shook his head and thought that he was hallucinating. But there, again. He needed to find out what was up. He stood up and walked towards his door. Another wave of laughter ran to his ears. The command deck? He slid down the ladder and found himself gawking at the trio. Elder Maxson, Knight Kay and Squire Arcade all sat together, drank alcoholic beverages and laughed? "You know Arthur, we should do this more often.", the paladin heard Knight Kay say. "That is a very good idea Kathryn.", Maxson then said.

"Oh, hey Danse. Come over and grab a beer.", Kathryn then said with a smile. He swallowed when Arthur and Arcade also looked at him. "Come on... don't let Daddy wait." Wait what? "Did you just call me 'Daddy'?", Arthur huffed and Kathryn laughed. She slapped her hand on Arcade's shoulder. "Aw man, that's a classic. You alright there Daddy Maxson?", she then said clutching her hands to her stomach and laughing. Paladin Danse, stoic as ever stood there not believing what his ears were hearing. Arcade wanted to offer him a place on the red couch and stood up, and failed. He tripped over his own feet, his drink flying across the command deck where it shattered in front of Danse and sprayed him all over.

Arthur's face turned bright red while he tried to stifle his laughter behind his hands. Kathryn on the other hand slipped from the couch and rolled on the floor like a turtle on it's back, crying tears of laughter. While these two tried to regain their composure Arcade stood up and picked off pieces of glass from his hands. A worrisome brow shot up on Danse's forehead. "Are you alright?", he asked the young man. Arcade looked up from his hands, face red, the corners of his mouth hung low and tears pricked his eyes. Oh god no, not again... Danse thought. He knew that the squire often cried like a little kid in such situations. Before Danse was able to step aside Arcade came flying into his arms crying and sniffing.

"My, my, Arcade. Everything's alright. Come here, let me look at your hands." Kathryn was herself again and took over and Danse sighed. She walked him into the infirmary and took care of his wounds. Danse finally sat down, smelling like a distillery. He grabbed a beer and gulped it down quickly. He distorted his face and suppressed a burp and huffed. "You should relax a bit more." Danse looked up into the face of Arthur. A small smile visible on his normally stoic face. "I was Arthur. Until that ungodly sounds echoed through the Prydwen..."

Arthur chuckled. "That, Danse, was heavy metal. And it definitely is not ungodly." Another huff. Gladly Kathryn and Arcade came back. Arcade's hands were bandaged and he smiled. "Thank you Kathy.", he said to her and placed a smooch to her cheek. She laughed and sat back down on the couch and drank her beer. It was a comfortable silence and all four were drinking. "You know Danse, the affiliation with the Brotherhood of Steel must have roots to heavy metal. Why else would a military group call themselves like that?", Kathryn exclaimed, leaving the paladin to wonder.