The Bridge Between Man and Krubkind

I drew the cast of @o-rusted-heart‘s Fallout NYC Table Top. From Left to Right we have Sabel (Ghoul Fighter), Rich Cooperstown (Reporter Rogue), Nathan (Wasteland Beastmaster), Luna (Crab), and Renee (Followers of the Apoclypse Artificer).

Nick Valentine Kirby:

The thought that Nate wasn’t perhaps pulling her leg for a laugh was far from her mind. She wove a good thread herself, and appreciated being told one. The fact it was a firsthand account only made it better. It was clear on Nate’s face the way he told it that he truly did believe it. That made her want to believe in it, too.

She smiled, thankful the story had a happy ending. That was, until his obvious lure into another story, one that Six was happy to fall into.

“Really?” Her brows rose as she tilted her head, near incredulously, “An empress – bigger than a Mirelurk Queen? We ain’t got either back west. Can’t imagine somethin’ so huge.” And hopefully it would be a good jumping off point for his next story.

“They called it an empress just because it was too large to be a queen. But the sea is endless, Ms. Six. No doubt there are greater beasts lurker down beneath. This ‘mirelurk empress’, she was stood the size of the old Broken Shore lighthouse. My companions and I had just commandeered the old submarine when the beast made itself known.”

“The beast knocked Luna and I off the ship into the water. That’s when I saw the mermaid’s once more. They swam with Luna and I, over to the beast. I scaled it shell. When I get to face of this thing-” Nathan paused, almost giggling, that subtle laugh when you remember a ridiculous detail.

“My friend, Rich, he is reporter. When I reach top of Empress, he throws me his camera and says, ‘Take a picture, it’ll blind it!’” Nathan chirped, in an imitation of his higher pitched friend, “So I take picture, the Empress is confused. So I take opportunity and stab it in both eyes. From there, we made short work of the beastie.”

If Deacon met Boone.

Six listened intently, trying her best to imagine it. She had seen old pictures in comic books, so that wasn’t hard. She wasn’t as quick as Nathan was at the task, but she was still trying her best. She did pause though to look at the fisherman that she might study his expression closely.

Watching people believe in the things they talked about was something special. Six didn’t have much of that herself. At least mermaids actually existing was a step ahead of everything else she had heard about.

“Do they got scales still? Wear those clam lookin’ bras? Is any of it true? How’d you see one?” Her exuberance was childlike, really. The thought of it all was quite mystifying. Not a moment after did she realize just how inappropriate that was, “Sorry – you ain’t gotta answer any of that. Just… find it kind of platinum that there’s somethin’ real out there, you know?”

Her enthusiasm brought a smile to Nathan’s haggard face. One important trait in a fisherman was their ability to spin a yarn, and Nathan had a few stories worth telling under his belt. 

“No need to apologize, Ms. Six,” he said, raising a hand, “I love to tell an old sea story. Luna and I were in Broken Shore, traveling with an old group of friends. The mirelurks had become emboldened, invading our shores on a more regular basis, so we went out to investigate the mermaids.”

“Something was wrong in the ocean, something upsetting the mirelurks and mermaids alike. One of my companions fell off our fishing vessel, when I went in to save him...” Nathan trailed off for a moment, his gaze drifting off into the ground. “Mermaid was there, and she gave him to me. She’d kept him from sinking further. She just looked at me, smiled, and swam away. That was first time, at least.”

“Come on.” Nick sighed and walked over to try and reach for her. “Get down from there, you might hurt yourself.”

“And really– I need that. Come on.” Don’t dethrone him if he’s already sitting there. 

Through her excellent powers of deduction, she found there was only one thing keeping her from asserting herself as the greatest detective to ever live. Such an advanced title would require not one, but two hats.

@brokenshoreman​

“Luna.”

“I only have two hats. Please give it back.” 

The mirelurk hatchling had somehow found her way to the top of Nick’s armoire, his second hat already in claw. She waved it around for a moment before plopping it on.

HE TAKES A PAUSE as the small mirelurk approaches, tri-corn hat donning its head as Duke curiously seems to approach, sniffing at her with ears perked. Jamie refrains from ACTION for the moment, clearing his throat as hands find his pockets, canting his head to the side. When the man approaches over the horizon, Jamie stands tall and firm as he draws in a quiet breath before leaning back, resting on his back heel as the man approaches.

All the while Duke seems to slide down back into his laying position before continuing to inspect the mirelurk before him. Jamie was still unsure of how he felt about a MIRELURK on Castle grounds, but as long as it wasn’t a hostile entity he saw no harm in letting it go. Especially consider the troops behind him seem to perk up upon seeing her.

“Well…this is peculiar…”

Nathan hurried along after Luna, poking his head out from behind the stack of cases. He saw the unenthused officer and placed the cases down. 

Social customs were never Nathan’s specialty. The fishermen of Broken Shore were a bawdy bunch. Powerful warriors that they were, one would not look to them as an example of a structured military. Nathan did his best to keep up with titles and ranks among the Minutemen, but more often than not found that ‘sir’ and saluting worked.

“Hello, sir” he spoke, striking a rough salute, “Do not worry, she is plenty friendly.”

Luna buzzed about between Duke and Jamie for a moment, before finding her place back at her Dad’s side.

Six returned the smile, and, since idle hands were the devil’s workshop ( she thought she could remember her dad saying as much once, even though she didn’t know what it meant entirely ) she joined Nathan to help him untangle the net best as she was able.

“What did they look like?”

Nathan hesitated for a moment, not sure how to respond. 

“They look... different, than I would’ve expected.” He moved a bit further down the net, nodding in appreciation for her help. “There are many paintings of Mermaids in Broken Shore, from the Old World. They have beautiful hair, fair skin, with long fishy tales. They are always incredibly beautiful, so much so that many believe a mermaid could lead a sailor to his death in the sea.”

“They are still beautiful creatures, just not in that way. They have a grace about them, they move the way you wish you would move through water, that easy ebb and flow of the fish, but still very much a person.” 

Six was reverent about opening the bottle once she managed to find some drinking glasses, one shallow enough for. She was used to top shelf liquors thanks to the time capsule that was the Lucky 38. House was very particular about his tastes, and had often waxed poetic on how he enjoyed a glass of whiskey and other such drinks time and again.

Gently, Six slid a shallow bowl over for Luna to enjoy. Her own glass she was currently gently spinning. Legs, House had called them.

“Alright, ain’t about to give you too much – I’m sure somebody’d kill me if they saw me giving whiskey to a li’l angel like you.” She said it with a laugh, but she meant it, “Couple o’ old world fellas have taught me about drinkin’ – give it a sniff first darling… don’t think you can rightly swirl it very well, so you can do it from mine.”

With a croutch down, Six offered the mirelurk a sniff, “And then open your mouth and give it another one. You catch all the notes that way.” Apparently, at least.

While the tasting lesson felt belittling given her learned pallet, Luna followed Six’s notes to a t. The old note of aged wood, a blast of smoke that stung the back of her nostrils, truly, this was whisky that only a small mutated crab could appreciate. 

She slurped up the bowl in a few sips, doing her best to savour this magnificent treat. When finished, she looked back up at her drinking partner, gently nudging the bowl closer to her with a claw. 

The reporter had no expectations in getting any answer from Luna.  As was her usual she was only venting her initial feelings out first before answering in a more friendly manner.  The only difference now was that she vented them aloud rather than on paper. 

I must be crazy talking to this thing like she understands every word.

However all thoughts regarding that vanished as the mirelurk left the couch to make a beeline over to the printing press.  That was practically her baby and nobody but Nat was allowed to touch it.  If it broke there were few ways she could fix it.

“Hey!  Don’t touch that!” 

She shrieked at Piper’s shouting, the audacity! Luna was simply a fan of the written word! The young mirelurk scurried away from the printing press, bumping into an adjacent table. A bottle of ink wobbled for a moment before crashing down onto the floor.