Megaton Dreaming

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

The sun cut through the damaged atmosphere over the subtropical desert with all its usual relentlessness, pouring through windows that had last seen glass two hundred years ago (if that) and shabby curtains to fall precisely into everyone's eyes as they slept. The room was full of battered, dried out mementos of another age, mostly toys and books, all cracked and crumbling. A slight humming came from somewhere underneath them, almost drowned out by a staticky radio playing Cole Porter. The air was still and heavy, touched with a scorched, chemical smell that hung over everything, a strangely inorganic smell that seemed to overpower any hint of living things. No hint of anything green, of sweat, even of decay, just that smoky, biting trace in the air. Someone with an unnaturally heavy step was moving in the house, and the sheet metal that made up most of the place softly squealed its protests. The very air hummed with a strange energy, like it was about to storm, though it was so dry it didn't seem like rain was the remotest possibility.

In other words, home. Indrani shifted in bed, head pillowed on her copy of The Wasteland Survival Guide, two ancient stuffed bears and Dogmeat curled beside her, and was perfectly content for a moment. Then she realized it was months, maybe a year, since she'd woken in her own bed, and she hauled herself upright, looking around hurriedly.

Comments

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

She paused, debating internally for a moment, and tried to put it in a way that wouldn't sting his ego. "Okay, Thing and you with a gun could probably take out a lot of the big monster threats. I wouldn't worry about you and a coyote or a mole rat, maybe even a mirelurk or a yao guai, once you got a little practice in. But that's not the only problem. FEV monsters don't play fair. There are people out there who'll try to kill you, and I don't went you to have to try to kill them back." Trying to deal with being upset in a way she usually wasn't, she put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into a hug. "Also traps and explosives and feral ghouls and stuff," she added, not very good at tender moments.

[catchingflies]

It was still appreciated, awkward or not. Todd looked over at her in mild surprise, but then slithered an arm around her, back. His tone was less reluctant than the words might have sounded, otherwise: "Okay, okay, I'll be careful and stick with you. I don't really wanna try to kill anybody, either." Animals were one thing, especially when you were doing it to feed your beloved pets, but people? Even horrible, evil people trying to kill him first? If it were anyone back at the Brotherhood who suggested it, he might have tried to act like it wouldn't bother him, but this was Indrani. He really didn't know if he could do something like that. He might just be more inclined to run away than even try.

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

She gave him an extra tight squeeze for being a good boy. "Thanks. I promise I won't let you get too bored." Though they had no video games. Hmm. "I'll take you on a tour of town once you're done eating, and maybe we'll get drinks and some iguana kabobs from Gob tonight. Let me get you out some walking around money, just in case..." She turned to a half-collapsed cabinet and dug through it as she kept talking. "And we'll get you some of your own guns. Moira should have stuff in. Here." She tossed him a sock that looked more like it was full of garbage than money. There were a few crumpled bills that looked more or less like cash back home, but it was mostly old fashioned bottle caps, a few loose cigarettes, and one large and menacing looking tooth. "I'll put on the radio, see if there's anything fun going on." She was a little manic.

[catchingflies]

"Guess you're excited to be home, huh?" All of that sounded okay to Todd, though, so he didn't protest, he just kind of grinned at her. But then he couldn't help but peek into the sock curiously. "They, uh, use bottle caps as money here?" Cigarettes he could kind of see, didn't he see a movie once where that kind of thing worked for getting favors and stuff? But the bottle caps-- and the tooth-- were definitely weird.

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

"Around here, and it travels pretty well," she said, fiddling with the dial. The radio began to play what was to Todd decidedly golden oldies, some scratchy old blues from the fifties back on his earth. "Portable, sturdy, and there's a more or less limited supply. Barter works too, and most people'll take prewar money. Ooh, I should have you read the Survival Guide..." Still a little bit manic, definitely.

[catchingflies]

If she was looking for someone to tell her to calm her ass down, she was looking at the wrong mutant. Todd not only saw nothing wrong with a little hyperactivity-- he's sixteen-maybe-seventeen, come on now-- he was too busy being boggled by everything. Like the blues and the idea of a survival guide. "It's not anything like that pamphlet we were gonna make for Salvation, is it?" he asked, eying the radio. "And is that all they play? I figured the future would have, I don't know, different music than the stuff the Wolverine would like."

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

"That's where I got the idea for our pamphlet. Moira and I wrote the Wasteland Survival Guide for here. My copy's around somewhere. Actually, I was using it for a pillow for a while. Might be in the bed. It's a pretty big book." She leaned against the wall and glanced around, but since it didn't immediately materialize, she left it for later. "And yeah, Three Dog only really has a few prewar records. It gets kinda repetitive, then annoying, then it comes out on the other side all amusing again. Plus it's about all that's on. I blew up President Eden, so that broadcast doesn't work, and you probably don't wanna listen to violin lady."

[catchingflies]

"Uh, no. This is better than violin lady. You blew up a president?" He's heard a lot of littler stories about her time here, in the time he's known her, but that's one he's missed out on, so far. He looks impressed and a little taken aback, all together. "How come?"

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

"Cus he was a genocidal bag of dicks. ...And he was the kind of president who's actually an AI in charge of a couple idiots in a bunker. I get the idea that presidents are supposed to be more about, y'know, justice and stuff than the idea of apple pie. Conceptually. Like... Lincoln." He was the only president from the past she'd given much thought, unless she'd encountered a robot who played him in a museum.

[catchingflies]

"I don't know that the actual presidents were all that much better," Todd shrugs. "They're just people, and people pretty much suck most of the time. Though I'm pretty sure most of 'em were actually people and stuff," he adds, wrinkling his nose at the idea of a computer for a president. Sounds dumb. "Come on, why don't you show me around?"

That'll give her an outlet for all her energy, and he's anxious to find out about this new place he's landed in. At least he has a friendly native guide.

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

"Sure, let's do it. Fawkes, back in a while. You wanna go to the bar first for snacks and meeting people, or head up to the walls so you can kinda get the lay of the land?" Not that the view was exactly striking, but it might help him get a sense of where he was. And possibly scare him a little bit. She opened the door and Dogmeat came bounding over to nose outside.

The down was dusty and everything seemed to be rendered in shades of brown and gray and rust, the odd splotches of faded pastel from old advertisements that covered parts of the walls just making the whole thing more drab. The sun was brutal, glaring off the old metal that made up a lot of the building material. Megaton was mostly made out of spare parts from an airport, and it showed. It was busy, though, with people wearing Indrani's sort of drab and old fashioned clothes, plus weapons and bits of armor on most of them. A tall, handsome man in a leather duster and broad-brimmed cowboy hat that Wolverine would have envied waved as he walked by, and a couple of kids ran by shrieking happily.

[catchingflies]

"Hey, we can do the wall thing and then go get snacks," was Todd's suggestion, as he trailed out after her into the light.

The sun was the worst part. Todd was used to New York or, at worst, Verdana, where the heat was muggy when it got hot at all. This kind of desert searing was uncomfortable. He kept close to Indrani-- and Thing One followed amiably behind, panting like a dog, himself-- while watching the people around them more than the scenery. The scenery was mostly chalked up to "weird", "slightly less weird", and "appropriate for climbing on". Many things fell into the latter category.

He squinted at the Wolverine-hatted guy suspiciously. "Does that guy know you?"

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

It was definitely appropriate for climbing on. Even Indrani, lacking Todd's arboreal habits, was as comfortable walking on the roofs. She led him up a rickety set of stairs, and it became clear that there were paths on multiple levels. While certainly providing possibilities for Todd, even the old lady currently crossing a bridge between a house and the bar at rooftop level seemed comfortable.

"That's the sheriff. Lucas Simms. He's pretty cool. We'll have to talk to him about you. Maybe be easier if we tell him you're from Little Lamplight or something." She looked around for points of interest, but compared to Verdana, her adopted home seemed a little... drab. "On your left you'll see the giant unexploded atomic bomb, and here we are at shoot the raiders point," she announced a bit lamely as they reached the narrow top of the wall. The Wasteland stretched in all directions, dotted with ruins and scrub, the river a flat, black line in the distance, a few moving shapes to break up the dusty expanse. "Huh, looks like bloatflies are moving in again off vaultways. That might be one you could help me with."

[catchingflies]

It wouldn't be hard, considering Todd had quickly resorted to hopping rather than just walking.

Actually, the unexploded atomic bomb got a craned neck and an interested expression. The impromptu title for the wall made him snicker and hop up onto the edge to peer down. Falling didn't really bother him, since he'd just bounce right back up again, or else grab onto the wall halfway down, anyway. "Are they like the bugs back on Verdana?" he asked, snapping his tongue out-- and probably startling anybody else who happened to be nearby, unless they really were as used to mutants as Indrani seemed to think-- at the idea of more giant bugs to make dinner out of. They'd probably be tastier fresh... not that he necessarily tasted much of what he ate, anyhow.

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

"Kinda. They're big enough to eat anyway, but, well, in a radiation-y way." She'd had time to take a long look at the Verdana species, and they had a more wholesome, natural look to them, like every other animal there. Even the dinosaurs, compared to Wasteland creatures, were healthier and better proportioned. "They shoot nasty little stingers at you." She'd heard they'd been known to actually kill people, but she was sure they must have been either very unlucky or singularly unprepared. "On bug hunts I usually don't even use guns. Get out there with a stick and you're pretty set. Hmm, wonder if Moira would mind if I let you use the mole rat repeller..."

[catchingflies]

"Mole rat repeller?" Todd felt a little like he was repeating everything she said, out here, but it was all so unfamiliar, he couldn't help himself. At least she answers him, usually. "Is that, uh, actually for mole rats? Or is it just called that and it's actually for the bugs?"

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

She was starting to feel that way, too, and it couldn't be fun. She took a deep breath and tried to reign in some of the enthusiasm and energy. She was proud of home and wanted to show it off, but the poor guy needed some time to breathe. "Nah, only works on mole rats. Kinda explodes them. I'll show you later." Another deep breath, and she didn't plow ahead to the next idea. They didn't need to keep running all day. Indrani stepped closer and slung an arm over his shoulders, giving him a little squeeze. "If we turn out to have a while, I'll show you some prettier views, but I think this one's kinda nice."

[catchingflies]

He leaned over to return the gesture with an arm around her waist and his head on her shoulder. "It's not bad. It's no New York--" He was a city boy, he couldn't help it. "--but it's not bad. We can go fly hunting, sure. Or mole rat hunting. I wouldn't mind seein' something explode. I bet it's gross." There wasn't a lot of relish in his tone, but that was because, honestly, he was more thinking about how she was hugging him and they were together on this weird world, than actually imagining things exploding.

And worrying a little. He had that going on, too. And since it was Indrani, he voiced it. "You don't mind I'm stuck here with you for a while, do you? Or, y'know. For longer than a while, if Salvation doesn't come back for us or whatever."

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

"If you really miss the city and we do end up here for a long time, maybe we'll take a field trip up to the Pitt," she said chirpily, trying to answer both concerns. Though maybe she should take him up there. Even if she could somehow be sure he was safe the whole way, she wasn't sure how much everyone up there liked him, and the trogs might freak him out. She hugged a little tighter and added, "We'll get you all set up here. It's cool. And doesn't explode very often, in town. Well, unless you stand too close to Moira's."

[catchingflies]

"Heh, we had a lot of explosions back in Bayville, so that's okay," Todd admitted with a little grin. "Okay. Long's you don't mind me taggin' along on all your hero stuff. Cuz you know I'm gonna." It was one thing when she was just one of many cool people back on Verdana (the coolest, of course, but there were still other people who saved worlds and whatever), but here she was actually the only local hero. And now she had a tag-along who usually screwed things up. If that wouldn't change her opinion of him, she'd have to be some kind of saint.

Maybe he'd just have to try not to screw anything up, this time, if it were possible. "So you kill robot presidents and swat giant flies and explode mole rats. Sounds like fun."

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

She wasn't thinking about that too much now. More the challenge of keeping him safe and healthy. She'd have to try and talk to the doctor, see if he had any ideas about people who had come from vaults or something, and weren't as used to ambient radiation. And she didn't want him to worry about it now, so she covered it with a smile. "Come on, let's go down to the bar. I'll buy you a drink."

Uh-oh. What drink? Nuka-cola was popular, but damn radioactive, if tasty. Alcohol wasn't much better. Pure water was actually a treat around here, but he might not see it that way. She'd have to play it by ear. "Come on, we'll go over the roofs." He might like that, at least.

wow I have no idea how I left this for this long :< so sorry

[catchingflies]

"Oh, cool, they won't yell at us here for that?" That perked him up again considerably, though whether it was the idea of not getting in trouble or for roof-hopping was up in the air. Probably a bit of both. He hugged her hard, for a beat, then let go to hop up onto the wall's railing, gather up, and launch, aiming for the nearest roof that he figured Indrani could reach, too. His idea of Indrani's leap-length might have beeen a little over-stated.

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

Indrani snorted at him a little and took the longer way around. While Todd was going to beat everyone handily on speed and agility, the city was built with multiple levels in mind, and when she skipped over a bit of scrap, pushed off the wall, and balanced for a few quick steps on the flat extension of a roof, she didn't risk falling as she tried to catch up. "Well, try not to go through anybody's ceiling, but besides that, sure, who cares?"

[catchingflies]

"I've never gone through anybody's ceiling," Todd sniffed, which was only partly true, waiting for her to catch up. "Unless they got really thin roofs around here."

As soon as she'd caught up, though, he took another leap across to the next building, not bothering with the planks of wood obviously meant there for the purpose of crossing, and sprang from there up onto a smokestack. Or antennae. Something that stuck out a little higher than the roof itself, whatever the buildings around here actually had.

[iwanttosettheworldonfire]

"You never know," she said as she hurried after him, amused at having to scramble after him for once. And she was pretty good at navigating the walls and roofs of this multilevel city. Kid was gonna do okay, at least in Megaton. "It's all scrapped airplanes. Sometimes a weakness in the metal pops up after a couple hundred years, y'know?" She caught up for a moment and nudged his shoulder playfully. "But nah, you're probably okay. Bar's that one over there." She pointed a few buildings down to one that stood on the edge of the semi-open center of town.