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“Aren't you tired, Six?” Vulpes’ voice purred as you buttoned up your shirt. Watching you as he stood up at the end of your bedroll. He was supposed to be leaving already. But in Vulpes fashion, he always has something else to say.
“It's not that late,” you mumbled, fixing yourself as best as you could. You were equipping your leather armor when Vulpes pushed you back onto the bed.
He smirked, you could notice his short buzzed hair was messier, but only because you knew where to look. You could notice a lot of things about this man, you knew him more intimately than it was appropriate for one to know their enemy and it killed you on the inside.
“Tired of hiding, I mean. Tired of pretending,” he said, his voice raspy, he caressed the side of your face then brushed his thumb across your lower lip. “You wouldn't have to, were you to stand by my side. Stand with the Legion.”
You scoffed and met his calculated gaze with your defiant one. He knew you despised the Legion, despised everything he stood for and every one of Caesar's teachings.
“As a slave?” You shot at him. You were acutely aware of women's place in the Legion, there was no such thing as a free woman in their camps. You pushed him off you and sat back up, resuming your redressing so you could get out and resume your night watch over your camp.
He wasn't giving up, he reached for you chin and turned you gaze back to him
“As a wife,” he proposed instead.
You had hoped that having interacted with the frumentarius more often than you should had allowed you to catch the telltale signs of his lies and manipulation. You wanted to believe that this was some sort of high intelligence tactic on your part, to gather information on Frumentarii methods of espionage.
But as Vulpes said the most manipulation heavy things, you couldn't help but notice how powerless you were. How much you wanted to believe his words.
“The first one to exist? Doubt it.”
“Delivering the Platinum Chip and winning us Hoover Dam would earn you a distinguished position. One by my side, if you so desire,” he leaned closer and you maintained your glare.
“Even if that was the case,” you conceded and shook your head. “I have morals. Ones that the Legion go completely against.”
He caressed your cheek softly, these same hands that had choked and bruised you countless times.
“Six, haven't you missed out on enough? Lost enough? Why must you bear the responsibility for the greater good? Why can't you just follow your heart?”
“At the expense of the Mojave?”
“At the expense of a small bunch of degenerates, scum, and criminals, who call themselves a "civilization". We could bring true civilization to the Mojave. We could restore order to these wastes. We could bring peace to the Mojave,” there was fire in his eyes and venom dripping from his words.
Times like this when Vulpes showed his true fanatical, unadulterated regurgitated Legion propaganda, never failed to send shivers down your spine. Bringing flashes of the atrocities committed in Nipton. Committed by the very man you laid with mere moments ago.
“Leave,” you said the words so quietly he almost didn't catch it.
Vulpes stared at you, the intensity in his eyes was unwavering. He leaned in, attempting to assert his presence once more, to insist and encroach himself more into your thoughts, but you swiftly drew your revolver, shooting the floor next to him.
"Leave," you repeated, your tone firm and cold. The gunshot echoed in the quiet of the night, your heart was racing but you kept a straight face.
Vulpes took a step back, a mix of surprise and calculation on his face. The tension lingered, thickening the air between you two before he scoffed and smirked with a shake of his head.
"I have given you something to think about, Six, make use of it,” he said with an expression you couldn't quite decipher and finally relented, retreating from your tent and leaving the camp.
As he disappeared into the darkness, you holstered the gun and took a deep breath. You shook you head, running a hand through your hair before stepping out into the night to resume your watch.