Chapter Text
Kellogg
Kellogg dropped his bag to the floor of the small shack, dust rising up all around them. A rad storm had formed and Kellogg had tried to warn the vault-dweller but she had brushed him off like he was speaking complete gibberish to her. To be fair she had been frozen for 200 years so she had probably never seen a rad storm before but it still pissed him off that she pretended he hadn't said anything. She completely ignored him. He understood, he did! She was pissed. He was pissed too when that bastard raider group had kidnapped Mary and murdered Sarah in cold blood. He had killed every last one of those raiders. Nora though... well... Nora didn't have a choice. She had to work with him. Director's orders. He knew she didn't like having him around, though.
Nora
Nora groaned as she dropped her own bag on to the floor. She crossed her arms letting out a huff as she collapsed on to a nearby bed. After the glowing green clouds had gotten a little too close for comfort Kellogg had tugged on her arm and pointed to a nearby sturdy-enough looking shelter stating that although he was a cyborg and just barely human he still took radiation damage if presented with it. Nora let her eyes fall shut as she ran a hand through her hair. Stress came off of her in waves. She threw an arm over her face, the other one pointing out and dangling off the edge.
She could feel her life spinning out of control before her. It almost felt as if Shaun was in control of her life at this point, not that he wasn't already the moment she had woken up 60 years after he was kidnapped. If only I knew then what I know now. She let out a sigh and rubbed her eyes. They were sore. Just like the rest of her. Sore and tired and if she was being honest she just wanted to give up. Not give up on Shaun, or the Commonwealth, or even this horrible new world that she was forced to live in, to just give up in general. On everyone and everything. She wanted to just stop. But she knew she couldn't. She was already in too deep. In too deep with the Institute, with Shaun, with the Minutemen, and Preston, and... and with Kellogg.
She hated him, she hated him so much. She hated being forced to run ops with him even more. Shaun said it was for efficiency, for safety, and in case one of their relay chips failed, there was a backup. Nora just thought Shaun wanted to torture her. He knew how uncomfortable she was around the man who killed his father and his reasoning behind why he was fine with it was "He wasn't kidnapping me, he was saving me." Nora honestly wasn't entirely sure that the Shaun she was presented with now was her Shaun. The Shaun she had given birth to oh-so-many years ago. She'd like to think he would have been better than this Shaun. But she knew that it was the Shaun from way back then. He was, in fact, her son. The story added up, Kellogg-- although she didn't trust the mercenary one bit --seconded the story and she almost felt like she could believe him seeing as he was there for it. Genetic tests also proved that he was her son. He was her son. She just didn't feel like his mother.
Back to Kellogg, she hated him and made no secret of it, especially in front of him. He challenged her, made her think, and the worst of it all, he seemed to understand in some unspoken way how she felt. He knew she was uncomfortable around him and right from day one of being forced to work together had told her they didn't need to be friends and that they just had to work together. He said it in a very rude yet standoffish sort of way and although Nora hated to admit it, it sort of made her insides twist into a confusing mess like the way she had felt around Nate before... well... before.
"I, uh," Kellogg said rubbing the back of his neck, Nora could just barely see him from under her arm, "Well, I can take the first watch... if you want."
"No," she said sitting up suddenly, she had to force herself to do it, she was in all truth exhausted, "I can do it. I'll be fine." she said, her face betraying nothing although it was clear that there was a large amount of strain and force in her voice.
"No, no, really, I insist. You... you look tired." he said mimicking her and showing no emotion.
She studied him for a second with pursed lips and he felt incredibly vulnerable, like she was a deathclaw and he was a raider. A weak one at that. One that acted like all that but really, was very very scared inside. He looked... kind of cute as he avoided her gaze if she was being honest. He was the only human, not ghoul, human, that she had ever met that was as old as she was... or at least close enough anyways. Sure, it was because of all of those cybernetic implants of his he had, but he was still a person. Still a human beneath his cool smooth-voiced sweet talking exterior. He was incredibly attractive for his age, as much as she hated herself for realizing it. No, he was definitely not a bad looking guy. She had dreamt about him on more than one occasion.
"Okay." she said suddenly.
His brows shot up and his eyes darted back to her quickly, taken aback. Habits like that could get you killed in the Commonwealth, Connie.
"Kay." he said sucking in his cheeks, his nerves flooding through his usually silky-smooth voice, "I'll, uh, I'll get on it then." he said seemingly holding back a sarcastic comment. How gentleman-y. Nora thought.
He kind of just stood there for a few seconds staring at her before quickly looking around and grabbing a mostly intact blue-green plastic chair. He dragged it over to the door, settling down looking just as lost as he had before. He unholstered his revolver letting it rest against his inner right thigh between his legs. A position he usually sat in that Nora found oh-so distracting. He rolled his neck back and forth, he was just as sore as she was and was trying to pretend he didn't see her staring at him out of the corner of his eye, her eyes burning against his entire right side. He could almost feel it as her eyes wandered down from his face to his neck, then his chest, then... lower regions... back up again. He was... confused. Was she sizing him up in case he turned on her? Had she taken a sudden interest in him? Did he look as ridiculous to her as he felt right now? Why was she staring at him? He felt his insides twist as the second thought repeated in his mind. Why is she staring at me?
. . .
Nora
"Close your eyes." Nora said making Kellogg jump slightly. He had been doing that a lot lately.
Kellogg muttered something inaudible under his breath but did as he was told. Nora stripped from her armor, each piece falling to the dusty wooden floor below them with a thud. Then she began to strip from her vault suit. She could've sworn she heard Kellogg's breath hitch as he perked up a little before freezing in place. He was so still she was kind of concerned as to whether or not he was even breathing. She quickly stripped out of the suit and into a pair of blue and white plaid pajama pants and a burgundy oversized t-shirt in case he wasn't.
"You can look now." she said with no emotion as she adjusted the pajama pants to a more comfortable position.
She watched as he relaxed and sighed while rolling her eyes. She crawled on to the bed making a low noise in her throat at the uncomfortable well-past-warranty condition of the mattress. She attempted to get comfortable and eventually settled on laying on her side facing away from Kellogg and towards the wall. It wasn't particularly comfy but it was more comfortable than any of the other positions she had tried so she stuck with it. She almost sort of hugged herself as she wrapped her arms around her chest. She was cold. Great. She didn't even understand how. The air burned against her skin from the rads seeping through the cracks in the walls but she was still somehow cold. Damn Kellogg and his ability to know about things before they happened.
Before they had left the Institute for the op they were currently working on, Kellogg had told her to bring a blanket. He had said that ops such as the one they were assigned to always took longer than they were supposed to. She had snapped at him in response. She believed her exact words were, "This isn't my first rodeo, dipshit. I know what I'm doing. I also know that I'm not gonna need a blanket." he had let out a frustrated sigh and wandered off for a while before returning once more. He hadn't even uttered a single word before she had said "Don't you have anyone better to bother, Connie?" she had spat his nickname in which he looked at her, closed his eyes as he inhaled sharply, turned on his heel and walked right back out the door. Not coming back until they had to walk to the relay together.
She felt kind of bad about it thinking back on it. She usually had a rude tone when talking to him but she felt like she had gone too far that time. She wasn't entirely sure why, she just knew that it didn't sit well in her stomach when she thought about the way she had said it and how he didn't even hesitate (except to take a deep breath, probably to calm himself down before he did something he regretted) before turning around and walking out.
Eventually, when she was about half out of it, a shiver went up her spine and a few moments and approaching footsteps later, she felt a blanket be laid over her. It smelled of cigars, whiskey, and some other scent she couldn't quite place but very much liked. She snuggled into it almost immediately on instinct, grateful for the source of warmth. Although she was half awake and her eyes were closed she felt as though she owed Kellogg a thank you at the very least. For a lot of things, of course but in his eyes he'd see it as her thanking him for the blanket.
"Kellogg?" she said sleepily, not bothering to open her eyes.
"Yeah?" the mercenary responded.
He was closer than she had thought but it made her feel warm inside.
"Than--" she let out a small yawn, "Thank you."
"Don't mention it, kid. Just remember, I'm gonna wake you up in a few hours so you should probably get some sleep while you can." he responded.
She let out a small groan of protest. Whether it was because of the idea of waking up in a few hours probably feeling more tired then than she did now or because he called her kid despite the fact that she was older than him by at least 50 years, she made no attempt to move or speak up besides the small groan that had left her mouth. Her muscles ached too much, her brain was begging her to give in to sleep, and the blanket she was underneath was far too intoxicating like its owner for her to be able to properly form a response anyway. She instead gave into what her body wanted.
. . .
Nora
Nora's eyes fluttered open, peering up at an unfamiliar ceiling.The scent of cigars, whiskey, and something else filled her nostrils. She groaned as she ran a hand over her face and yesterday's events came crashing back to her. She had been stubborn enough to ignore Kellogg's warnings of an incoming rad storm and because of this they had ended up stuck in a barely sturdy shack. Wait... she paused, narrowing her eyes at the ceiling. She quickly turned on her side to see Kellogg still staring at the door while rocking his heels up and down silently. He seemed... nervous. Like he was awaiting something inevitable and not something good. He looked back towards her and... was he blushing? He quickly looked away, his face flushed slightly.
"Morning." he grunted, his voice not portraying at all what his face did.
The rocking of his feet stopped. Maybe he was embarrassed about a nervous habit? He looked back over to her as she let out a long yawn, stretching her arms upwards revealing part of her stomach as her shirt lifted involuntarily. He let out another low grunt as his eyes moved away from her once more. Then something hit her. He said he'd take first watch but she couldn't remember being woken up at all last night, let alone sitting and staring at the door for several hours before eventually swapping out with him again. Had he been up all night? Nora's heart fluttered at the thought that maybe... just maybe there was a heart in that metal clad chest of his after all.
"Did you... did you sleep at all last night?" she asked curiously as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and rubbed her eyes.
"I almost drifted off a few times, if that's what you're asking. But as far as for real sleep? No."
"Aren't you tired?"
Kellogg contempelated this for a moment. Tired? Yes. Would sleep fix it? No.
"I'm... not sure how to answer that."
Nora cocked an eyebrow at this as she slowly rose to her feet. Her legs felt shaky as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes before making her way over slowly to the door standing in front of him before pivoting her body to face him. She knelt down as he seemingly tried to avoid looking at her. Frowning she grabbed him by the chin forcing him to stare into her eyes. She could feel his breath hitch, this time. She chose to ignore it, instead frowning an even frownier-frown and furrowing her brow at him, releasing his chin after a short while.
Kellogg
He felt his breath go back to normal although his heart was still racing at the touch, a cold feeling biting at the skin where her fingers had met him. He felt his core tighten, holding back a shiver. Oh yes. He was touch-starved. He had dark purplish circles under his eyes and although he didn't act the part, she knew he must have been exhausted. Still, she didn't mention it again and neither did he as they packed up and prepared to leave the small shack.
. . .
Nora
"The Commonwealth, throwing curveballs at every corner since 2077." Nora exhaled jokingly trying to break the awkward silence and emit a response from the slightly-younger-than-her-man behind her.
He didn't respond. Just gave her a blank tired rundown look when she looked back at him. She let out a small huff before turning the handle he noticed her fingers were so intricately wrapped around and opening the gates of hell once more.