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You and Raul had been wandering the wasteland for the last who knows how long. Just, helping those you came across, fucking up the legion, and surviving. Eventually though, being out in the wastes is just, tiring!
Glancing back, you turned to Raul and said,
“Please tell me I’m not the only one who wants to sleep in an actual bed right now.” Raul chuckles and nods.
“Trust me, Boss, There isn’t much I wouldn’t give to sleep in a nice bed right now.” Raul sighs and looks around before continuing. “Although, it doesn’t seem like we’ll find one out here.“
You sigh, and agree. The two of you were in the middle of the waste land, no way in hell would there be a nice convenient hotel out he-
"Well, I’ll be damned. Would ya look at that.” A shady looking hotel, just outside of your vision a moment ago, now fairly visible. Raul laughed, all scratchy and sweet.
“I’m not sure who to thank, but you know what? Thank ‘em. Let’s go Boss. This old ghoul is damn tired.” You chuckle and mutter a small thanks to the air, before the two of you head off in the direction of that sweet sweet hotel. Well, now that you’re closer, hotel seems a bit *too* nice. Shoddy motel is a much better term for it.
“it’ll have to do.” you mutter under your breath and head inside. Raul, once inside grins and turns towards you.
“Hey Boss, whad'ya think? Pretty fitting for an old ghoul like me?” He winks at you, tiredly grinning with that silly grin of his. You lightheartedly tell him to knock it off, and head up to the desk. The lady glances up and then smiles widely at you.
“May I help you?” she asks, maybe a little too deviously. You become a little skeptical of her but brush it off as paranoia and sleep deprivation.
“Room for two, if you please. Something cheap, but still has a functioning shower/bathroom.” You had made the mistake of asking for the cheapest room once and regretted it immensely ever since, considering it had been nothing but a room with a bedside table, a bed frame and a mattress. It was horrid. Cass had never let you live it down.
The woman at the desk smiles, a little too happy to being doing this at 2 in the morning, but again, you brush it off as paranoia and sleep deprivation.
“Right away!” She turns and grabs a key off the hooks from behind her and hands it to you, “Here, room 202! That’ll be 75 caps if you please! Has a fully functional bathroom, shower and tub included, and a kitchenette!” the FAR too cheery woman says. You begin to think something is up, but decide to keep quiet about it. Raul pays for the room and you both head upstairs.
“Enjoy your stay, you two!!” The woman shouts as you disappear down the hall. Yea, definitely too cheery for this. Raul mumbles about her creeping him out and you quietly agree. The two of you arrive at room 202 and open the door. Looking around, you quickly realize there is only one bed. You get the distinct feeling the woman planned this.
Raul sighs, “Welp, guess this old man’s sleeping on the floor. Buenas Noches Boss.” You immediately protest,
“Hey! No, You are sleeping on the bed!” You drag him up and sit him on the bed. “You’ll sleep on the bed.” you say definitively. Raul raises an eyebrow at you and asks
“Boss… where will you sleep? Cause you aren’t sleeping on the floor.” You stop and realize you hadn’t exactly though of that. Trying to save face, you state -matter of factually,
“Simple! We’ll share the bed. Easy.” Raul looks shocked for a moment before he asks you,
“You sure Boss? Gettin so close to me, you’ll end up needing a rad-away before you even fall asleep.” You grumble a small “yea” and gently wack him with a pillow before you start to get ready for bed. Raul yawns, turning to get undressed. You glance over your shoulder and eye him up, noticing the old and new scars littering his back. A few of them must have been from his vaquero days, right? Running around, saving people, being a badass cowboy? You fight the urge to ask him, hoping to not bring up any bad memories. You liked Raul, a whole lot actually, but you were afraid. Afraid of what he’d think of you. Afraid of ruining your friendship with him. Afraid he wouldn’t accept a messed-up courier like you.
“Boss? You okay? You’ve been standing there for a few minutes now, staring at the wall.” You jump at Raul’s voice, snapping out of your thoughts before awkwardly laughing it off and saying you were fine. He seemed skeptical but accepts it nonetheless.
“Well! I’m gonna hop in the shower. Goodnight, Raul.” Raul nods in response mumbling another “Buenas Noches Boss” before climbing into the bed and laying down. You turn towards the bathroom, letting out a puff of breath and shut the door behind you.
Thirty minutes and a nice hot shower later, your clean and ready for bed. You notice Raul hasn’t moved an inch so far and are worried for all of two seconds before you hear the telltale sound of snoring. You smile to yourself, knowing he probably fell asleep the moment his head hit the pillow. You take a second to look around the room before yawning and climbing into bed. You lay down facing away from Raul, comfortable and happy that you can finally sleep in a proper bed.
You groan quietly, moving to cover your eyes from the assault of light. You huff a little and snuggle closer into the chest in front of you.
“whathefuck” you mumble to yourself, squinting upwards to see who the hell you were cuddled up to. Raul. You were cuddled up to Raul. Hell, you were pressed against his chest! Hell! He was holding you there! You breath out quietly, deciding to take the chance to look at him. Really look at him. His eyes were closed in a peaceful slumber, and he was snoring softly. It was cute. His face was old, and a little decayed, but it was still handsome. Still strong. You wonder what he must have looked like before the war, before he became a ghoul. Would he still be as handsome? As Fascinating to watch? You smile to yourself and realize that it didn’t really matter. You had him here. Now. What he was before wasn’t important, not when you had the current him to love. You bury your face into his chest and smile before whispering,
“I hope you know I love you more than anything.” You don’t expect a response, or even any movement, so hearing a soft but sharp inhale was startling. You barely expected the words that came next.
“And I hope you know that I’ve loved you for a long time, querido. And that I plan to keeping loving you, long, long after you are gone.” You gasp slightly, before chuckling.
“Thank you, Raul. Let’s go back to sleep, Hmm? Deal with the world later.” Raul hums happily, and nuzzles closer to you, content. The two of you slip back into a comfortable sleep, finally saying what you both had always wished to.