Fallout Halloween Word Update

2850 words. Claw Heart? In Heart and Claw? Oh I like that one. With Heart and Claw? Patent Pending but anyway, enjoy.

****

After a bit more walking, the fading light soon reached a tipping point, the snowy hills plunging into shadow, Pearl watching as he clicked on his headlamp. Cooper had done plenty of long walks in his time, and so had Pearl apparently, his companion not uttering a single complaint as they trekked late into the night. When the parting clouds eventually revealed the twinkling carpet of stars, Cooper decided it was time to rest.

“Let’s get a fire going here,” he declared, setting his pack down between two trees.

“Won’t the flames attract predators?” Pearl asked, looking around as though she could sense the wildlife. “The pack will see us if they’re nearby.”

“Animals are scared of fire, and if the pack comes… I’ll have you deal with them.”

“I’ll take the whole reward if that happens,” Pearl said. “No joke. I’ll go get some kindling, I saw a dead brush over there.”

Cooper set a ring of stones on the ground after clearing the snow, and before long, Pearl returned with a pile of sticks in hand. The little branches poked into her cloak, and it took a bit of effort to free the bundle, but she soon succeeded in tossing them into the pit, Cooper flicking his lighter on once everything was in place.

“You hungry?” he asked, blowing on the embers until they were blazing healthily. He fetched a strip of salted mirelurk from his pack, chucking it to Pearl.

“Thank you,” she said, catching it in a sleeve, the two going quiet as they had their dinner. Once she was done, Pearl extended her arms above her head as though she was yawning, Cooper noting her orange eyes were shining in the gloom, almost seeming to sparkle as the firelight caught on them. “About ready to hit the sack myself,” she said. “You?”

“Guess so,” he said, swallowing down the rest of his meal. The servos in his suit whirring, he fell on his rump, his helmet tapping against the tree behind him as he settled in. “G’night.”

“You’re going to sleep like that?” Pearl asked, Cooper opening an eye to look at her. “What about your bedroll there?”

“Too small for the armour,” he explained.

“So take it off, it can’t be comfortable lying down in that thing.”

“And if something sneaks up on us while we’re sleeping?” he shot back. “I need to be ready.”

“Suit yourself,” she said. “No pun intended.”

Dropping onto her side, Pearl bundled up the excess rolls of her cloak as she splayed out on the snow. Once she was still, the cloak draped across her stout midsection, conforming to the curve of her chest and hips. Cooper took a shameless eyeful, the helmet saving him from being caught staring.

“Where’s yourbedroll?” he asked. “You know, you’re traveling pretty light for someone going all the way to the Abbey in the middle of winter.”

“We Super Mutants don’t need to carry hundreds of things around like you humans do,” Pearl replied. “That being said, I couldn’t imagine you lugging around this robe, even with that armour on. Thing ways a ton.”

“What’s with the cloak anyway?” he asked, lifting a gauntlet at her. “Looks like you’re walking around in a giant ass curtain.”

“Robe,” Pearl corrected. “And I learned the hard way that people tend to start shooting when they see a Mutant on the horizon. I had to hide what I am, hence the disguise. Stitched it together over the years with every bit of cloth I could find or buy.”

She began to brush and pick over the fabric, clearing it of stray snow, Cooper noting the series of stitches located around the shoulders. The robe was actually several smaller cuts of cloth, he realised, the slight discoloration forming squares in the outfit, joined together by either giant, knitted threads, or lengths of tape.

“You made it yourself?” he asked.

“A little, usually I pay a tailor for when it gets tattered. The kind men at the Abbey do it for free, but I’m not always in the area.”

“You ever take it off? You’ve had that hood drawn all day now.”

“Trying to get me out of my clothes, huh?” Pearl joked. “Tell you what, I take mine off, you take off yours.”

“Nice try, but I’ll pass.”

He thought he could see disappointment in those glowing eyes, but Cooper soon closed his, clearing his throat as he settled into his metal bed. “I’m turning in now. Good night.”

“I thought sleeping out in the open isn’t good for humans,” Pearl said, Cooper sighing as he once again opened his eyes. “Perhaps I should come over there, share our body heat? The cold could kill you.”

“I’ll be fine,” he insisted, but the metal backside of his armour was already starting to go frigid, the snow working its way through the cracks in his armour. He wrapped his arms around himself, but that did little to ward off the cold, and just made him more uncomfortable than he already was.

Pearl didn’t add anything more, the silence allowing Cooper to drift into sleep.

***

Cooper awoke to the sensation of his teeth clicking together, his already groggy vision made dimmer by the powered helmet he was wearing. He felt like he was encased in ice, every inch of his skin numbing as the cold permeated his core. He extended a stiff arm to pull himself towards the fire, but the dammed pit of stones was just a pile of burnt wood, not even a single plume of smoke trailing from the embers.

He breathed out a sigh of icy air, turning his eyes towards the dark mass piled up on the other side of the firepit. Pearl looked like a bundle of discarded clothes, the occasional shift of a limb and her heavy breathing giving her away. He didn’t know how she could survive such temperatures with just that cloak, and lying against the snow no less, but she was his only option if he didn’t want to risk going into hypothermia.

He shuffled along the snow on his hands and knees, finding that the cold had frozen his legs solid, his whole body developing a nasty case of pins and needles. When he reached her billowy cloak, he gave it a tug, his companion grumbling to herself as her hood turned to peer at him.

“Mm? Cooper, what is it?”

“P-Pearl, I need your cloak. I’m freezing,” he complained through gritted teeth. He didn’t need to tell her twice, he was hunched over, his armour clanking about as he shivered in the frame beneath it.

“You poor thing,” Pearl cooed, holding her arms up like someone about to deliver the biggest hug. “Come here, give Pearl some sugar.”

Before he could protest, she seized him by the pauldrons, turning him round so that his back was to her. She splayed out her cloak, creating enough room that he could lay down without touching the snow, the material already a hundred times warmer than his previous spot against the tree.

He felt her hand on his arm encourage him down, and the next thing he knew, Pearl draped her cloak over his helmet, the world beyond his visor blocking out and turning to wool.

“Hey! Quit it!” he complained, trying to free his helmet from the cloak. It was in vain, though, Pearl grabbing at his arm and keeping him still as she shuffled around behind him. Even with the servos in the suit, her grip was so much stronger than his own that he couldn’t break free.

“Keep still,” she demanded. “I’m making some… readjustments. Ah, there we go.”

He felt more of her cloak drape over his midsection and legs, already the warm confines blocking out the cold, the material as plushy as a quilt. After a minute, his shivering ceased, the body heat they made creating a cozy pocket of warmth inside the cloak. She pulled off the part that was obscuring his vision, Pearl chuckling as he frowned at her over his shoulder.

“You’re making me cold with that tin suit of yours,” she murmured, her chest pressing up against his back as she scooted closer, Cooper just able to feel steely muscles through the armour pressing up against him. “We’ll need a little more insulation if you’re not going to take it off. Let’s see…”

She reached behind her, and when she turned back, his bedroll was in her grip. She shook it out to its full length, then placed it on top of the both of them like a blanket. It wasn’t much, but they needed every bit of help if they wanted to trap the heat in. Soon the feeling in Cooper’s hands and feet returned, his body relaxing as he pulled the cloak tighter against his chest.

“No wonder you keep this thing on all day,” he said. “You could cook a steak with all this heat you’ve trapped in here.”

“You’re doing most of the work, actually. You humans can push out a lot of heat with those tiny bodies of yours.”

He could feel even the armour start to warm up as the temperature inside the cloak rose, Cooper feeling her warm breath on his neck as she settled against his rear. He wasn’t alarmed by her presence, they’d been traveling for a fair while now that he didn’t see her as a threat, but her presence, her sheer size, was enough to inspire a touch of alarm in his chest. Armour or not, she was twice the size of him easy, and strong enough to overpower him, even if his muscles hadn’t been frozen.

As he started to drift off, her felt her hand roam down his arm, picking at the segments in the armour, apparently intrigued by their design. “What are you doing?” he mumbled.

“Checking out my sleeping-buddy,” she replied, oblivious to his discomfort at having his personal space invaded. “I wonder if you’re as big as you are now, under all that getup.”

“Well wonder another time,” he said, jerking his arm away, a useless gesture considering he wasn’t about to leave anytime soon. “I can’t sleep with you getting all… touchy.”

“Are you always this grouchy with women you sleep with?” Pearl teased.

“I’m taking you up on your earlier offer,” he defended. “I’m not… sleeping with you.

“Oh yeah, that’s right, you haven’t paid me for my services. My mistake.”

He was too flustered to form a cutting reply, and once again Pearl laughed at him, so close he could feel every huff resonate through his bones. He shuffled as far away from her as he could without leaving the cloak behind, resting his helmet on his arm as he tried to steady his breathing. He could feel Pearl’s legs resting against the back of his own, her huge thighs resting against his armoured rump. The texture of her body was lost behind their respective clothing, but he could tell she was as tough as rocks, her muscle mass appropriate on such a large creature. He wondered if she could toss him like a softball, armour and all.

She seemed to constantly shift back and forth, despite her slow, deep breaths suggesting she was already dozing off, but Cooper wasn’t in the position to look, and he didn’t want to be rude and ask her to stop, not after she’d been kind enough to offer him warmth. He closed his eyes, tiredness soon taking him.

***

Cooper awoke to the sensation of being buried, opening his eyes to see a long, cloaked arm draping itself over his chest. He followed the limb along with his eyes to see Pearl was practically spooning up against his flank, her body must have been drawn to his natural heat during her sleep, as he was practically boiling after spending hours underneath her insulated clothing.

He reached out and gingerly removed her arm, being careful not to wake her as he scooted away. When he rolled off her cloak, Pearl muttered something in her sleep, shifting onto the spot he’d just been sleeping on, then switching to her side as she wrapped her arms around herself.

His pack was nearby, and he reached inside it to pull out his breakfast, munching on a piece of salted brahmin meat as he contemplated his next move. He had to admit, despite his freezing wake-up call, he was feeling quite refreshed after last night. Sharing a bed with someone was good for the mind, even if said someone was a Mutant.

He glanced over at his sleeping companion, chewing slowly as he examined her physique, or at least the outline of it. With most of her robe rolled out in front of her, the rest of the garment clung to her figure like a second skin. Her thighs were as thick around as his chest, joining into a beautifully wide set of hips, the curve rising as high into the air. Her hips tapered into a slightly pinched waistline, then curved into a slim stomach, her robe sliding across a flat torso that expanded as it reached her chest, Cooper’s imagination convinced her abdominal muscles were full and developed. The robe concealed the rest of her, but that only seemed to entice him further of what her true physique entailed. Her pose reminded him of the Old World model magazines he’d picked up over his travels, her curves purposefully silhouetted against a brighter background. There was definitely a woman under all that fabric.

He had to admit, he was curious as to what she looked like underneath all that fabric. He’d heard tales of Super Mutants of course, giant green humanoids built like trucks, but stories were one thing, and the curiosity was nagging at him.

He reached out a tentative hand, praying the little sounds of the motors wouldn’t wake her up as he drew closer. Her hood was riding high on her face, the fabric roiling as her deep breaths crystalized the air. He’d just have to pull the hood up an inch or two, and he’d see her face. He could probably pass it off as him waking her up if she took offence.

As his fingers hovered inches above her hood, he hesitated. She’d said that she’d created her cloak to hide her true form from others, maybe she was a little conscious of what she was, and that’s why she’d hidden herself from him so far, afraid he might take offence. He couldn’t care what she looked like, but he didn’t want to invade her privacy…

He drew his arm back, giving her outstretched a hand a gentle pat, then a harder prod. “Hey, Pearl, wake up.”

“Whassat?” Pearl slurred, her glowing eyes peering up at him from beneath the hood. “Oh, morning tin man, how’d you sleep?”

“Great, thank you. We should get moving soon.”

She sat up, stretching her long arms over her shoulders, bundling her excess cloak about herself as he fetched her another of his rations. She replied with a sweet thank you as he passed over her breakfast, Cooper making conversations as she ate.

“You should really pack more food if you’re going to and from the Abbey so often,” he said. “Especially when it’s winter, you’ll burn twice as many calories if you can’t keep warm enough.”

“I guess I’m lucky to have the best hunter around to teach me,” she replied over a mouthful.

“Best?” he chuckled. “I wouldn’t say that, I’m good enough to eek out a life, but…”

“Don’t be so modest. You’re out here hunting big game by yourself, oozing confidence from beneath that armou. I don’t think you’d have been hired to do this job if people didn’t know you were pretty good.”

“I have earned a bit of a rep in NCR, I suppose,” he replied. “People I don’t even know have heard of my nickname, like Hendrix for example.”

“What’s your nickname?”

“Promise not to laugh?”

“Pinky promise.”

“It’s… tracker.”

Pearl snorted, then lasted about two seconds before breaking her promise, Cooper shooting her a glare at her bobbing hood. “Th-That sounds like a character from the cheesiest movie ever!”

“Hey I didn’t pick it,” Cooper complained. “What’s a movie anyway?”

“It’s a thing from the Old World, think of it like a… a bunch of images projected onto a screen, all blurred together to make it look like the pictures are moving. They used these little slips of paper called film, which are projected through another thing called a camera, which is full of magnifying lenses that… You have no idea what I’m on about, are you?”

“Sounds a little far-fetched for me.”

“If you actually read some books that aren’t about skinning animals and drying their guts, you might actually know a thing or two about Old World technology.”

“You ready to get going?” he asked, noticing that her breakfast was all gone. She nodded, and the two rose to their feet, setting off in the direction of the tracks once again.