Chapter Text
The radscorpion had attacked out of nowhere.
One moment they were walking in the Mojave desert, the sun licking the skin at the nape of their necks, the next he heard a scream and turned to see a stinger in Vaultie's leg.
Getting rid of the pest was no biggie for him, really. With a flick of his hand, he pulled the trigger, and the scorpion was buried in the sand. The problem was, he watched as the girl's knees gave out and she fell right after.
Fuckin’ smoothskins.
He cradled her on his lap, while rummaging her backpack for the antivenom. Her face was pale, as he gently tilted her chin up with one rough hand, tipping out the medicine onto her tongue.
He decidedly wasn't panicking until her eyes glazed over.
“Eyes on me,” he patted her cheeks. “C'mon, sweetheart, keep those pretty eyes on me.”
He briefly wondered if he'd miss her if she died right there. What was another death in the grand scheme of that wretched world?
“Don't you die on me, Lucy,” he absent-mindedly tucked a sweaty strand of hair behind her ear.
Her eyelids fluttered open and the weight on his chest eased a little. She stilled, looking up at him, eyes half-closed.
“You're handsome,” she muttered under her breath.
Some long-forgotten old-world part of him perked up at her words. He smirked at the sentiment.
“Now, sweetie, we promised to be honest with each other, eh?”