Deuces Are Wild

6

When he awoke the next morning MacCready was alone. Just as well. He felt like death, probably looked it, too. He stared up at the ceiling for a time willing himself to move. His throat ached for water and his head begged him for more rest. Sleeping in the same bed would save them money. Thank goodness Zelling wasn't the hysterically modest type. She was a soldier and likely shared sleeping accommodations with others all the time.

Guess I overdid it. He drank some water and before he could greet her Zelling dragged him out of the Inn by the elbow.

"Aerosmith." Travis said in a bit of awe."These guys were huge in the 20th century. This tape is a remaster. Probably a museum piece." Turing the tape in his hands he smiled a bit. "If you let me make a copy I'll see if I can dig up more info. Maybe some old music magazines, more tapes and the like."

The tiny trailer was feeling cramped and MacCready was eager to leave but Zelling stayed, chatting with Travis until it was time for his report.

"Well looks like we have another scavenger hunt to go on." Zelling said as she stepped down closing the door behind her. "That is, if you want."

He smiled at her. "Sure, I'm down."

Her eyes lit up. "Really?" She gave him a mock frown. "Is it because I'm paying you, splitting the loot?"

She was generous, to be certain. Piling his arms with cartons of cigarettes and boxes of sweets. The tech she gathered for the Brotherhood of Steel she kept even though sometimes they were pinched for caps.
"Partly." MacCready said truthfully "Party because I'm curious, too. Who knows, maybe a collector will pay for what we find. Unless you found yourself no longer in need of an extra gun."

Zelling wagged her hands. "No, that's not what I mean. I'd like you to come."

He scoffed and she grinned. They lent the holotape to Travis who promised he'd make the copy in haste so the original could be returned to its owner. On the other hand he reasoned the original should be preserved. But Zelling insisted on keeping the original. She found it after all and only a vast sum could possibly make her part with it. Money enough to buy land, a home in a large settlement like Diamond City and she said frankly there was no way Travis could offer her that much.

MacCready silently commended her for her unwillingness to part with something knowing its true value. And somehow he felt the holotape was also his, at least a little. It was their tape. They whiled away many long hours with that music. Neither of them could carry a tune nor could they match the singer's vocal performance but it was fun filling the dull stretches of road with his tenor and her breathy faulty soprano. MacCready could tell her head was aching from the same pain as his and he felt remorse for letting her drink moonshine, for her eyes already narrow in shape were mere slits against even indoor lights. But why, he argued with himself. She was free to make her own choices. But there was something innocent about Zelling, something about her that made him want to protect her, not just because she hired him to do so. Not just protect her from Raiders and super mutants or feral ghouls or giant bugs but from a cruel uncaring world. No one had protected him, he reasoned. Usually that thought was bitter as gall but it was simply a fact of life. The cunning took advantage of the trusting.

It was plain she didn't need or want this protection. The way she didn't let Travis coax her out of the holotape, the cutting words she spoke to traders when she knew the value of things and knew she was being swindled. Yes, Zelling knew how the world worked but she didn't understand how people worked sometimes. She fumed for days over a comment another female soldier had made and had sat blushing at their camp later that evening.
When MacCready was foolish enough to ask her what was the matter she exploded. Having grown up alone with no female influence she knew nothing of how upon maturing the body has its natural cycles. The most unpleasant of which stained her pants crimson sending her into hysterics. She thought she was dying.

"I went to Knight Captain Cade." She'd said, arms folded tightly. "He told me it was natural and don't worry. And he gave me some...things to help with it. But then Scribe Richards said 'don't bleed everywhere' and it was just so mean!"

MacCready cursed himself for his amusement. She was clearly upset and he didn't feel the need to explain then that it had been a joke. An off color joke but not meant to be mean. He struggled to maintain his composure. Zelling had been afflicted with malnutrition for most of her life and after joining the Brotherhood of Steel she had gained a healthy amount of weight, therefore starting her body on its natural course, something she had never before experienced and that her mother had died before she could tell her about it.

He did not envy woman's lot. Lucy had been utterly miserable while pregnant with Duncan and MacCready frequently walked on eggshells around her, trying to be patient and attentive as possible as the months dragged on. Without painkillers, only his and Victoria's hands to crush while shouting curses Lucy labored for a day and a half to bring their son into the world. But after seeing the little pink treasure wrapped in a blanket Victoria had made Lucy melted, said it was worth it, then passed out for some well deserved rest.

Nor did he especially envy Zelling being in the Brotherhood of Steel. She never spoke of them to him apart from a few relevant anecdotes for she at least had enough sense to read the room and realize his low opinion of the organization. The caravan which he'd joined to come to Commonwealth said something about the Brotherhood, some old saying about locusts likening the Brotherhood to them. They couldn't be too bad, Zelling had reasoned for they took her and any number of wastelanders in, trained them, sheltered them and provided a sense of purpose. Best of all, the most they provided was in the name: brotherhood. For all her awkward shyness Zelling had impressed enough that she was certain Proctor Quinlan -by her description a thin stuffy old man who was so fastidious he drove everyone crazy even though that was pretty much his job- had his eye on her to join his order of scribes.

They had little need for her stealth for the Brotherhood did not believe in stealth- they believed in kicking down the door. Her engineering skill was fine but the Prydwen and power armor was beyond her, as were biology apparently evidenced by her lack of knowledge of how her own body worked and vertibirds just made her dizzy.

There were knights and paladins, the soldiers you usually saw wearing power armor. Lancers who piloted the vertibirds. The scribes, though, Zelling had said proudly, did everything else and were essential in keeping the Brotherhood running. From logistics to data retrieval, tactics, planning, you name it the scribes did it. What was more, they maintained the Prydwen, the giant airship that had arrived in force to hover above the Boston Airport as the Brotherhood's base of operations.

"Initiate Kallisto Zelling."

The firm voice made both of them look up to see the power armor, the Brotherhood insignia painted on its chestplate.

"You're coming with me. Now."
MacCready looked at the armored figure, then at Zelling. He opened his mouth to speak but she held up a hand for silence.
"Rhys, you know I can't do that. Not until I clear up this misunderstanding."

"I don't give a damn about that. Paladin Danse ordered me to find you. Move out."

Zelling sighed in relief. "The paladin? Not the Elder?" She glanced at MacCready. "Can I just have one minute?"

Rhys made a sound of profound annoyance. "Fine."

MacCready turned to her, his confusion growing. She pressed a holotape into his hand. "This is goodbye I guess. But here, keep this." She closed his fingers around the tape.

"But you just made a big deal out of keeping this."

She shook her head. "It's not important. You can have it to remember me by."

"We're gonna see each other again, right?"

Zelling said nothing but her eyes were intense. "Unlikely." She said, and left him there.