#lucy thread;

The funny thing about knowing you were about to die, while everyone around you still had no idea of what was about to happen, was that it gave you time. Or at least it made her feel like time had slowed down, and gave her time to look at Cooper, at her violent, protective, rude, funny, ghoul who had not only accompanied her far longer than he needed to, but had kept her safe - and yes, sometimes held her at night, even if they hadn't talked about that - and she knew she couldn't watch him die. It was the one thing she just would not accept in this hard but free life. She couldn't lose him here, she couldn't take him away from his own mission either. But they were out of stimpacks, their temporary comrades were also pinned down, Dane and Max upstairs, the rest of the Brotherhood was late, the others who had joined them when she has asked her to pay her back for her past help were fighting the robots, so it was up to her, the only one with high enough science skills. It was up to her to get to the console, and she was never going to see Cooper again, because running away wasn't an option to her. "Dang, this is a sticky situation," she piped up, looking at the door that would lead her to the console room. "...'Waste not', right, Coop?" Protected by the pillar they were using as a barrier from the bullets, Lucy brought a hand to his shoulder to pull him close and pressed her lips against his. Besides him being hot, it just felt like kissing a man; a man who made her feel confusing, positive but distressing things, and Lucy took the little time she had left to allow those feelings to be there, her lips moving slowly but with the hunger of someone who wasn't going to be having a second one, and her hand gently touching the rough skin of his cheek. Enough.

Lucy had been nervously clutching at her little bouquet while Overseer Jackson stepped in to discuss the exchange with her dad, happy to reunite with a friend. "So... who am I marrying?" she asked playfully, but with a hint of nervousness, and the Overseer moved aside to let her future husband come in. Oh. He was a charming looking man, now that was sure. Older than her, which raised a few questions - had he chosen to not marry? had he not been given the chance before because there was something wrong with him? He was married and divorced or widowed? - but she noted with relief that there was nothing scary or immediately displeasing about him. He was not a cannibal or full of tumors either, no matter what Norm said. She hadn't seen his butt yet, to finish refuting everything her brother had suggested. Plus, since he was handsome, it would not be difficult to do her part in repopulating America, and that was great.

It had taken Lucy a couple of days to feel like talking again: seeing her mother as a feral ghoul, learning that her father was behind that and Shady Sands, leaving Maximus behind, and everything else that Moldaver had told her was simply too much to digest. Everything about her life had been one lie after the other, or at least it felt that way. Still, there was a part of her that refused to believe there was only misery in this world: Norm had nothing to do with her father's choices and was waiting for her in the Vault, Maximus was still breathing, and there had to be hope for a better life now that cold fusion was active.

She was still quiet, besides a few words here and there to the Ghoul and to a few merchants they met on the road, but what truly snapped her out of her silent sadness was the dog, finally sitting close to her during a break to eat. It was a rather adorable animal when it wasn't consuming cockroaches, one she had only seen in old movies and journals, and she found herself rubbing his back, at first with caution but then more comfortably as the dog seemed all too happy to receive attention. See, hope.

This wasn't the reunion she had been thinking about the day she had left the Vault, but had become the only possible option after speaking to Moldaver. Of course after that Lucy, with the ghoul and the dog, had chased her father for answers, and had gone through more trials, more violence, that had convinced her sometimes killing people was inevitable, that she'd have to fight to make the world a better place, get involved, and most importantly find allies to take down the Vaults. But before any of it, she needed her brother out of there. She needed Norm somewhere safe, and she also couldn't tell everyone about Vault 31 without risking terrible repercussions on the other vault occupants. So Norman out first, then more plans. Which was how she had found herself at the door, with her father at gun point, speaking to Betty through comms; dirty, bloodied and with half armor on her, she felt almost like a raider when the door was opened.

It had all begun when the Ghoul had turned around the corner to buy a few supplies, and Lucy had asked a frantic woman what was wrong. It had ended a few minutes later with several raiders bleeding on the ground, some people missing limbs, the market burning, the yao guai coming from outside the border to eat, and a knife in the very same spot Moldaver's raider had stabbed her; though she had managed to find a rifle, for once, and had given up on pretending she couldn't shoot.

Also, the frantic woman was thanking her profusely for reuniting her with her child before running away, through people screaming and looking for weapons or to loot all over the place. She looked at the Ghoul, wavering but knowing she had to keep moving away from the yao guai before removing the weapon and using a stimpack. "I think-I think it could have gone worse, if you really think about it."

@x-hollywoodghoul-x the second kissy thread for Coop!

There were very few people in this world who could get under her skin the way the Ghoul had, no people, in fact, it was just him, who may not have been as aggressive and cruel as when they had first met, but by existing tempted her to behave in some very not nice ways. And while a part of her was questioning everything she was, because Moldaver had made very clear they had been shaped by what Vault Tec managers wanted for their future wives and husband, and Lucy could even start pintpointing all the little ways she could see it in herself, at the same time she also didn't want to become an entirely new person. Some of the things she had been taught, some of the personality traits she had, were good. She didn't want to be mean. She didn't want to be sarcastic, short with people, jaded. She didn't want to be mad. But oh, she was furious. She was torn apart. She was beyond angry at her father, she was disgusted by Vault Tec, she was heartbroken over her mother. She was all sorts of negative things that she didn't want to be, and suppressing it only worked so much. Still, gritted teeth and all, Lucy had forced herself to be polite, at least when she wasn't lost into one of her involuntary silent times, so busy being sad or rimuginating that she forgot to talk, and she had also forced the Ghoul, as long as he wanted to keep traveling with her, to get sidetracked a few times so she could help people in need. The way that made her feel told Lucy that yes, it was a real part of her, that need to not abandon people to their destiny was not something forced into her head.

The last guy in need was one the Ghoul hadn't trusted one bit, felt just too innocent, and he had been telling her she was wrong to the point of betting on it, betting he'd kiss her booboos, that absolute butthead, except that for once, just for once, her instinct had been right, the man had been telling the truth, and they had taken out a few slavers - talking them down had been useless, and once again she knew she had been far too violent when forced into hand to hand combat, something she prayed he'd just let pass without commenting on it - which had also meant getting their hands on their supplies, a win for both of them. She had been right. And she really, really wanted to be the bigger person, she should be, it was the correct way to handle their relationship, considering they had to keep traveling together and hostility would bring nothing good to the table-"I thought you'd say you'd kiss my booboos if I was right?" And so, bad instincts had won.

"Cooper, stay with me, okay?" Lucy didn't care how likely it was that her presence may help, that her words may keep him there, but if there was a tiny bit of truth in repeating their own names to stay lucid, then she wanted to believe that ghouls could also use other people to do the same. Maximus had to be coming with the medicine by now.