lamplight matriarch

@prewarprincess​

said:  Question for Lucy! If the Sole Survivor offered a safe place for Duncan so he's close by - would she take it?

Yellow eyes turned up to her face, opening in a different way; he was scanning her now, checking for the little strings of information dangling in front of him that a honed detective knew how to follow. 

His expression softened a bit more, and he glanced back down to his hand. “McDonough’s a shady guy, yeah, but if you have the right friends you can usually give the squeaky wheel the grease. I’ve been around longer than McDonough, and the fella before him. I… could help, if you want.” 

“You’re from– ow– the Capital…?” His fingers flexed, but this time he could feel them. They were tight and coiled. 

Lucy’s eyes lit up as the other said that he could help her if he wanted, but that was followed suit by a wave of dread. She needed a better job, and Diamond City would make her a lot more profit than patching up needle damage and chem addictions, but... she needed to come back to Goodneighbor to give Daisy supplies to send to Duncan.

❝ I’d appreciate your help, Mr. Valentine. I have a child to take care of, and I don’t think that McDonough would be too kind of me leaving Diamond City and going to Goodneighbor ever so often to send stuff to my kid. ❞ She smiled. Duncan mattered more to her than what some dumb fat bastard told her, and she would risk being called a synth to help what is hers.

      Another settlement, another collective group of people to help - Arcade could definitely claim to always be appreciative of those ones that didn’t seek to immediately open fire on a lone, non-hostile traveler. This place was definitely considerably more organized seeming than the last place he’d stopped in, though that said there was also just… more people in general too. Go figure. “I’m definitely not from around here.” Glad to know it was obvious. “I’m Arcade Gannon - a representative of the Followers’ Mojave hub.”

                    Mojave. The man was far away from home. A nomad much like Lucy was, it seemed, something she could resonate on a personal level. She felt an aura of safety and comfort within him, an aura lost around Goodneighbor, ever since people from the place, as nice as they turned out to be to Lucy, could change in the matter of seconds. Aggression was their way of speaking, and Lucy wasn’t one to resort to violence for anything. With a smile, she wrote down everything, pointing out the group the man mentioned.

Nick kept glancing between his hand in hers and the far walls, like they would save him from having to look at the way she tightened screws in his hand. He could hardly feel the thing, but still there was a little bolt of electricity that shot up his arm every now and then when she hit the right place, drawing twitches and little jerks of his fingers.

Not much pain, though, despite the little winces he gave every now and then. 

“Better, or more fulfilling? Amari’s a good woman, but her kind of work ain’t for everyone.”

“…Something you’d rather be doing?” 

❝ Don’t get me wrong, I love working for Amari and I love what she does, but... Curing chem addictions isn’t what I dreamed of doing. Especially after I left Washington. ❞ A sigh left her pursed lips, as sweaty palm managed to screw it the last bolt, moving the synth’s fingers to see if they all bent correctly, watching as he did it himself. She smiled pridefully, as another talent could be added to her arsenal of talents.

❝ I’ve been curing life threatening diseases since I was 11. Being paid 20 caps to give someone a Fixer and tell them to stop doing chems around here doesn’t help. Most people are fond of their addictions here. I just want to aim for someplace bigger. Like... Diamond city. ❞ Lucy moved her hands as one would do to show off some place’s name with enthusiasm, dropping her arms quickly and laughing.

________________________________

The look on Nick’s face had gone very quickly from sarcastic to embarrassed, though it was hard not to be with a display like that. He really had to stop waiting until the last second to get necessary repairs. 

“Oh. Oh, I was– you don’t have to–” But she’d already settled down and sat him in a chair. Nick obediently offered his skeletal hand, a pensive look on his face. “Depends on what you do, I suppose…”

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to derail your schedule.” 

Lucy let out a light chuckle, hands fumbling with the tools and the synthetic hand in front of her. This shouldn’t be that hard, right? Screwing some bolts into place was something she had done before when she was younger. Little Lamplight wasn’t going to keep itself up without a few repairs.

                    ❝  ‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒  Don’t    say    that,  ❞        Valentine  was  quick  to  refute,    lifting  a  hand  as  if  in  asking  for  silence.    An  unusual  brightness  to  his  neon  eyes.        ❝  What  happened  to  you  three  was  nothing  you  deserved.    I  promise  you  that.  ❞      

                    Karma  was  not  something  he  put  much  stock  in  at  the  best  of  times,    but  to  believe  that  there  was  something  she  could  have  done  to  deserve  losing  her  husband,    permanently  or  not  ‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒      much  less  over  something  as  stupid  as  sneaking  around  a  Brotherhood  tollbooth  ?    No,    he  couldn’t  tolerate  that  even  in  mere  phrasing.    He  shook  his  head  accordingly.    The  heart  of  his  had  already  made  up  its  mind  about  her.

                              ❝  I’ll  take  th’    case.    Head  down  there  an’    see  what  I  can  find,    alright  ?    Is  there  anything  else  can  you  tell  me,    help  me  narrow  it  down  ?      An’    how  do  I  get  in  touch  with  you,    Miss  ‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒  ?  ❞    

                       She knew she couldn’t blame herself for what happened, but her inner thoughts were clouded with regret, grief and anguish, screaming at her constantly that, if they had just paid, if she knew how to hold a gun back then, MacCready would still be with her to this day. She shuddered, trying her best to keep those memories at bay, as she snapped back once more. Rummaging through her backpack, she found a drawing of the wooden figurine she made for her husband.

____

stay with me while the storm is strong

we all need someone sometimes, and you often don't feel like you are worth someone remaining. you are, though. i know that you crave for someone to be there and rest their hand against your back during the bad times. for a loving voice to lull you to sleep with a cadence of compassion and a desire to remain. you just want someone to remain. through and past the bad parts when you know it is difficult. you want to fall asleep to their voice and wake up to them still there in the morning. you want them to know the way that you take your tea and keep a box of your favorite flavor in their pantry in case you have a bad night and need to come over. you want to trust someone enough to give them a key to your house. and you deserve it, love. you deserve for someone to linger. you deserve to place your trust in another and know that they'll help you brush your hair if you're just too tired. you deserve for someone to remain.