Tales from the Wastelands

2nd Tale: Campfire Stories

by

Silver-Eyed Rukia

Rated: T

Pairing: Piper x F!Survivor (Jordan Shepard)

Note: Please ignore any mistakes. Or point them out and correct me, whatever you prefer.

The campfire was crackling away quietly as she tossed another branch into it, making the flames lick at her hands. Piper flinched away from the sudden heat while making an unhappy face at the miniature version of hell still spouting embers everywhere before she eyed the woman sitting opposite of her, seemingly oblivious to the spectacle that was their damn near nightly routine of staying warm when out in the field.

"Hey Blue", the reporter said as she kicked away some pebles and shoved aside some lose planks and larger rocks before laying out her bedroll on the wooden floor of the damaged shack they were currently resting in.

A hum was all she received as an ackowledgement of her having said anything at all and the smaller woman knew to not take that as an offense but rather as an encouragement to continue whatever she was about to say.

"I know I already asked you about that during your interview, but...how do you deal with all this?"

Shepard wiped the last stain of blood off her shotgun's machete before tossing the now soaked rag into the flames, watching them scurry away from the wetness before engulfing it completely, scorching it and leaving a smell of burnt skin in the air. It didn't bother her much, but Piper's scrunch of her nose gave her distaste of the smell away.

"Cleaning my weapons?", the older woman innocently replied as she stripped off her armor pieces, starting from the bottom and making her way up to her torso and arms. Her gaze caught that of her opposite and she couldn't contain the chuckle rising in her throat at the almost pouty look on her companion's face and she shrugged apologetically before sitting back down on her own makeshift bed.

"I know, bad joke. But I don't really have anything to add to what I already told you back in Diamond City."

The wind picked up in strength for a moment, strengthening the flames and making them illuminate the now nostalgic expression of the vault dweller. "Hope."

Piper paused her movement of lying down and instead opted on sitting there cross-legged, boots neatly placed atop her coat, and lit herself a cigarette out of pure habit. She took an absentminded drag, eyes resting on the scar running over the redhead's lips before she blew out the smoke and focused on the distant looking sapphires in the woman's face.

"Hoping for what?"

"That in the end, at least one thing I have done will change someone's life for the better."

The ex-soldier rid herself of her boots and tossed them over to where the rest of her gear was lying before placing the shotgun in arm's reach if she would ever need it in the middle of the night.

"This world's already suffered enough. The people have, too. Despite all our advantages and technology humanity ended up perishing due to the same hand that once nurished them to the peak of their existence. The only people that still remember the life before the war are the Ghouls, and everyone shuns them, simply because their appearance isn't physically appealing. What stories they could tell you. What it feels like to smell the salty air from the sea without risking catching some serious rads. How to play real baseball. The old traditions us Americans used to celebrate like Thanksgiving or Christmas."

She paused to look at Piper, who's cigarette had died without a second drag during the conversation, and smiled faintly when she saw the curiosity and eagerness in the reporter's eyes.

"You mean there is another way to play baseball than that dude from Diamond City always tells us?"

Shepard nodded before poking some life back into the campfire and made a gesture with her hand, wordlessly signalizing that Piper should probably get at least a few hours of sleep before their mission tomorrow.

"Yeah, I can show you one of these days if we manage to get our hands on some gloves, a bat and a ball. Now try to get some sleep, I'll make sure the fire stays lit."

Piper's euphoric imagination was interrupted by a violent shiver from her body as yet another gust of wind swept through the damaged shack and she huddled deeper into her sleeping bag after tossing the butt of her cigarette into the dark, mind coming up with numerous ideas of what real baseball would even look like.

"Darn cold", she muttered as the fire continued crackling in the background, not doing much to keep the woman warm in the dead of this late fall night. She closed her eyes and it didn't take long for her to fall into a light slumber, a habit she had picked up on due to her travels with her redheaded lover, and vivid images of pre-war baseball filled her mind. Or at least what she thought it would look like.

She was standing out in the field, the grass dancing around her feet as the breeze swept a familiar scent into her nose, a scent she couldn't quite put her finger on. Her hands were firmly gripping the wooden exterior of the bat and she felt how worn it was from exessive use from whatever time period it originated from. Clueless as to how she should properly use it she tried turning her head to look at her mentor when calloused fingertips gently directed her head to face what was directly in front of her, keeping her gaze straight forward.

"Gaze always straight ahead, never leaving the target", a voice whispered into her ear as strong arms started covering her own, hands placing themselves over hers to guide her into the correct posture. She felt heat spreading over her back and arms, seeping into her bones and filling her chest as the familiar voice continued whispering into her ear, now uttering soft confessions of love rather than giving proper advice on handling a wooden bat. It was then that Piper woke from her slumber and realized that she just felt the transition from sleeping to being awake and tried turning around only to feel the same arms as in her dream hold her in place, wrapped around her form securely and keeping her warm against the still biting wind.

"Blue?", she sleepily mumbled and smiled when she felt soft kisses being pressed against her neck. "What are you doing."

The older woman hummed and nuzzled Piper's dark tresses. "Keeping you warm. Sorry if I woke you up but you were shivering like a leaf and I couldn't bear the thought of you getting sick just because I drag you all the way out here." Shepard grinned and Piper felt the curl of her lips against the back of her neck, making her shiver again but this time it was a pleasant one, especially because she could also feel the woman's arm travelling further south than they needed to be to keep her warm. "Plus you were mumbling the cutest things in your sleep. "Teach me how to do it?" My, I wouldn't have taken you for the naughty kind."

The journalist was glad that she wasn't facing her love so that she could at least hide her from embarrassment reddened face.

"That's not what I-I was dreaming of you teaching me how to play baseball, nothing dirty you pre-war relic", she mumbled before she felt her girlfriend's hand rest on her hip, the other reaching up to pull her frame closer against the taller woman's front.

"I'm just messing with you Piper. Even though I wouldn't be entirely against the idea of another way of teaching."

The survivor tried her best to stiffle her laughter when she felt Piper burrying her face deeper into the fabric of her sleeping bag and sat up slightly before pressing and apologetic kiss to her lover's cheek. "Alright, I think I teased you enough for once night. Come on, try to sleep. I'll be there when you wake up."

A muffled thanks was her reply before the redhead resumed her earlier position of having one free arm and one arm wrapped tightly around the reporter. The fire continued providing both warmth and light, giving an occasional crackle when a branch fell deeper into a pit or when a new one was added to the flames. A good ten minutes passed and Shepard had been sure that Piper had fallen back asleep when suddenly the now unmuffled voice of her love entered her ears and this time those words left her speechless and her mind filled with numerous ideas and visuals the longer she thought about them.

"You can teach me whatever you want when we get back home, Blue."

So...yeah. Long time no update. Sorry about that but I've been kinda in a blue period (Haha, puns cause blue and Fallout 4 Piper's nickname...? Shutting up now.) and so I didn't feel like writing, but I got over it, mostly, so here have another tale from our Survivor and her beautiful reporter girlfriend. Stay tuned for more my dear readers, and have a nice day!

Phrase of the Day

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.

~Desmond Tutu

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