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It's early evening in Appalachia- at least Von thinks they're still there. She's been blindfolded almost since their vertibird landed, so she's not exactly sure where they are or why he's brought her here. But it must be big, because why else would he make her follow him all over the place with her eyes covered?
"Come on, Whisper," Deacon says, and she smiles as his voice seems to wrap itself around her like a hug. "It's not much further, so don't let go of my hand, okay? And no peeking."
Suddenly, they stop. A few minutes later, he removes the blindfold, and Von blinks as her eyes adjust to the light. The sky is a lovely orange, and several feet in front of them is a forest made entirely of bright-pink hanging plants.
Von lets out a deep breath as she takes in the scenery. "What is this place?"
Deacon opens a tattered magazine- Scouts' Life, according to the cover- and puts on his best tour-guide voice. "This," he says, gesturing around them with one hand, "is Appalachia's one and only Cranberry Bog. And these pink tentacle-looking things are sundew plants. Maybe don't touch them, though. I hear they're highly toxic, hence why I brought us these."
He pulls a pair of gas masks out of his pocket and hands one to her before putting one on himself- the vault suits they're wearing under their clothes will protect the rest of their bodies. Then, he takes her hand again and leads her deeper into the grove. Von's green eyes are aglow with childlike wonder, her face taking on a strange and innocent beauty as she glances around, mesmerized by the sea of pink and orange.
"Deacon, it's... it's beautiful."
He smiles. "You're beautiful."
They stand in silence for a few moments, admiring the view before returning to their vertibird, hand-in-hand. But it's not until she's heading to bed that night that she finds the rumpled sheet of paper that's been stuffed into her backpack.
Nuka Cherry is red,
and Quantum is blue;
the Wasteland sure sucks,
but at least I have you.
She turns to Deacon, who's already asleep, snoring away. She considers waking him up, but decides against it and instead curls up beside him, draping one arm over his waist before the world around her fades to black.