❛ʟᴇᴛs ɢᴏ suɴɴιɴɢ❜┋ ＦＯ⒊ ┋「1x1」

[AirPoof]

tab * ◣♔.　　 ＆ HIGH STRUNG◞ 　 ━ ❛morphine x　" ..blind eyes ˟
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀


so━ ■ RILEYHAMMING.˟ ██⋮
　　　　* ░░ ♡ happiness is a warm gun 　━━ !
tab tab 　　　　　　HAPPINESS BANG BANG, SHOOT SHOOT •　•　•



What a curious little predicament to be in. As Joel gently placed his hand atop Riley's shoulder and asked if he could join, she stared intently at him for a long while. Gauging him. The girl knew the world did not accept her kind; to be a cannibal was to accept a life of secrecy or seclusion. The last thing she wanted to do was to end up in a gun fight with Mr. Leonhardt in the middle of the dining room, should he know the truth. Still, that carnivorous appetite of his had a chance to be persuaded; human flesh was a meat comparable to no other. After a few moments of hard thought, Riley shrugged.

"Of course you can." replied the girl. Linda raised her eyebrows in surprise at Riley's change of heart. Was the ranger even aware of what he would be eating?

"Your friend is going to be joining us? Well, isn't that lovely! I'll pull up another seat right away!~ We have a rule at the Smith family home: no weapons at the table! Riley, will you show Mr. Leonhardt where to store his handguns?"

"Certainly."

Slinging the strap of her rifle over her shoulder, she beckoned Joel to follow her inside. Mrs. Smith excused herself politely before dutifully returning to the kitchen. A pleasant, mouth-watering aroma wafted around the air of the house -- it smelled wonderfully of pot roast and buttery baked goods. Linda was quite the homemaker; truly, she was a picture of the perfect housewife, had it not been the nuclear apocalypse. Without missing a beat, Riley showed Joel to the coat closet that sat across the front door. Aside from a collection of dirty, pre-war clothes, it remained relatively empty. There was more than enough space to accommodate their gear.

"You can set your duffle bags, shot guns, and hiking backpack here," said Riley before pulling out the drawer of a small compartment that sat in the closet, "And you can stash your revolvers in here. The Smith's aren't too fond of strangers slinging weapons around their home -- they've got little brats running around." That, and neither of them wanted Joel to draw his arm at them if he wasn't too fond of strange meat. To keep from rousing the young man's suspicion, Riley stashed her sniper rifle and Beretta into the coat closet as well. Truthfully, she never went anywhere unarmed. The girl needn't mention she had concealed weapons on her person.

"Come now, let's take a seat at the table."

It wasn't long after they'd taken their places next to one another at the dining room table that Linda and Jack did appear. Mr. Smith took a seat next to Joel and flashed him a lively grin. He shook the ranger's hand firmly before giving him a friendly pat on the back. A warm, freshly baked haunch of meat sat in the center of the table, accompanied by Linda's signature meat pie. It all looked absolutely delicious; to die for, really.

"It's good to meet you, stranger! My name's Jack Smith, you could say I'm Andale's patriarch! I'm glad you've decided to join Linda and I for lunch. We usually don't get many visitors, but it's their loss. After all, Andale is the greatest town in Virginia!"

Just then, Junior came running down the hallway before taking his usual spot. Once everyone had been seated, Linda looked up over at Riley. She cleared her throat before flashing a gentle smile.

"Riley, since you so kindly stop by to visit, would you say grace? Everyone grab hands now."

The sheer irony was astounding. Riley? Leading a prayer? That had to be some sort of really tasteless joke. Oddly enough, the girl did not object. In fact, she seemed to revel in the idea, wholeheartedly doing Mrs. Smith the favor. What the hell? She gently held Jack and Joel's hands in her own before sitting upright, wiggling her shoulders cutely. Clearing her throat, Riley closed her eyes before reciting her idea of a wholesome, family-friendly prayer.

"Thank you Lord, for the delicious food that Linda has prepared for us, and thank you that I found a job that paid so nicely in Rivet City. Thank you Lord, for all the fancy weapons I have at my disposal, and thank you Lord for the safety only a bullet can bring. Oh, and thank you Lord, for you have made me strong and my enemies weak. Please bless the food we are about to eat today, amen."

◢┊ COMPANY ❛ Joel & the Smiths ❜ xxxx◢┊ LOCATION ❛ Smith family home; dining room ❜ xxxx ◢┊ THOUGHTS ❛ I can't wait to eat!~ ❜ xxxx ◢┊ OOC ❛ How not to recite a prayer: by Riley Hamming ❜

Wolf of Death09

[EinsZweiIncursio]

JOEL LEONHARDT━━━━━━━━ ✖
█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║
　　　　˟ ❛& the stranger there among them 　━━
tab tab tab 　　　　　　HAD A BIG IRON HIS HIP　 •　•　•
tab tab tab tab tab tab tab ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ big 　iron　 on　 his　 hip❜

Riley and Linda seemed surprised that Joel wanted to eat with them, suspiciously even. Nevertheless, they accept his intent on eating with them. Riley urges that he puts his bags and weapons in storage before the meal. He obeyed as to not be rude, he takes out his lever actions out of their holsters on his back and places them and the drawer, then takes off his belt, housing both his revolver, next. He then joins them at the table, sitting next to Riley and Linda. To his surprise, Riley insisted on praying before the meal, it's very odd indeed, but then again, there's a lot he doesn't know about Riley. He holds the merc's hand and Linda's as Riley begins the prayer and closes his eyes.

"Thank you Lord, for the delicious food that Linda has prepared for us, and thank you that I found a job that paid so nicely in Rivet City. Thank you Lord, for all the fancy weapons I have at my disposal, and thank you Lord for the safety only a bullet can bring. Oh, and thank you Lord, for you have made me strong and my enemies weak. Please bless the food we are about to eat today, amen."

After the prayer, he was eager to eat, his mouth watering. He waits for Riley to serve him his share of the meal. She cuts off a piece of meat and places it on his plate, oddly, it doesn't seem like any animal meat he has eaten before, but nevertheless, he takes a bite out of it, then exclaims.

"Woo, that's some good meat, Mrs. Smith!!!"

█▐ ██ x `xｔｈｏｕｇｈｔｓ┊❝ I can't wait to eat more. ❞ x `xＯＯＣ┊x ❝ Sorry for the delay, Biddy. >.< ❞

[AirPoof]

tab * ◣♔.　　 ＆ HIGH STRUNG◞ 　 ━ ❛morphine x　" ..blind eyes ˟
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀


so━ ■ RILEYHAMMING.˟ ██⋮
　　　　* ░░ ♡ happiness is a warm gun 　━━ !
tab tab 　　　　　　HAPPINESS BANG BANG, SHOOT SHOOT •　•　•




"So you like it, then..?"

Maybe it's best to keep the truth a secret from Joel -- at least, for now... But when would he ever be this vulnerable and unarmed again? If there was a time to let him know he'd just eaten human flesh, it would be now. Riley was more than strong enough to tango with Joel hand to hand; hell, she'd beaten the brains out of Super Mutants with a lead pipe one too many times. Restraining him would be more than easy, but if he had a concealed weapon that was a different story. The girl narrowed her eyes, trying to visually gauge any hidden firearms on his person. There were none she could see, but that didn't mean he wasn't packing iron. 'Hm... Play it casually..' Pushing the worry from her mind, Riley turned to face her food. The entirety of her attention was focused on one thing: eating. Her hunger was ravenous, and sating her appetite came before all else. It wasn't long until her plate was meticulously licked clean. Pointedly clearing her throat, she turned to face her employer. Riley caught glimpse of his surprise when she said grace. Boy, did she have a story for him.

"Culvert was close to some ruins by the name of Calverton," she started, tucking a stray dreadlock behind her ear, "It's a small abandoned town with a Chapel southwest of Jury Street Metro. Tons of scriptures were left behind, in tact. Needless to say, some Culvert scavengers found them and decided to bring 'em back. It wasn't long after that we, as a town, then adopted the word of the Lord. The decision was influenced by our settlement founder, from what I was told."

It was most certainly peculiar. Spirituality and religion was not a common practice in the wasteland. At least, not in Virginia. However, it wasn't unheard of. It was a while before the mercenary spoke again.

"Hey, Joel," begun Riley, "Do me a favor. Come with me to the kitchen for a moment."

Riley stood up abruptly from her seat, carelessly tucking the dining room chair back into the table. The mercenary didn't even give Joel a chance to catch up as she made way for the kitchen door. Riley's back remained turned on the young man as she walked away without even so much as a second glance. However, she rose her hand and beckoned Mr. Leonhardt with her finger to follow suit. Sure, her approach with people could come off as a bit cold and clinical, but Ms. Hamming wasn't necessarily a well-socialized animal. It was just the two of them: Joel and Riley, alone in the kitchen. An unnerving position to be in. The only sound that could be heard was the faint hum of the oven baking yet another meat pie. The merc remained silent.

'Heh..'

It seemed like in an instant, Riley had Joel pinned roughly against the wall. Though her employer towered over her, she was more than capable of keeping him still. The look on her face, oddly enough, seemed to soften. Despite his confusion, not a single word escaped her lips. Prying hands began to feel his body up and down, running eagerly across his chest, the sides of his torso and hips. Nothing. He was clean.

She didn't buy it.

'There's no way this paranoid, overly-prepared a*****e walks around with nothing on his person.'

The bizarre, seemingly out-of-the-blue groping continued. Pressing up against the young man, her eyes met his own, dead center. Riley's gaze never faltered -- not for one second. She frisked his groin and ran her hands along his thighs before making way for his rear. Still, nothing. The side of her ankles ran alongside Joel's boots. 'A bump..?' Without warning, she clenched her fingers into a tight fist and held an iron grip on his mane, bringing him close to her face.

"Got a snake in your boot there, Sheriff?" muttered Riley, speaking directly into Joel's ear. Any trace of jovial camaraderie her voice had once before at the dinner table vanished. She could feel him get goosebumps, if only for a split second. The female's eyes quickly darted downward to his feet before looking Mr. Leonhardt in the face. "What's in that shoe of yours?"

He needn't answer; she already knew. Releasing him from her grip, Riley tucked her hands in her pockets and walked about the kitchen before stopping at the basement door.

"Why don't you go take a look at what you've just eaten, cowboy." said Riley as she unlocked the door using a spare key the Smith's had given her. It swung right open, and a dim, flickering light bulb lit the staircase below. "Go on. I insist."

◢┊ COMPANY ❛ Joel ❜ xxxx◢┊ LOCATION ❛ Smith family home; kitchen ❜ xxxx ◢┊ THOUGHTS ❛I hope I don't regret this.❜ xxxx ◢┊ OOC ❛ gaia_kittenstar ❜

Wolf of Death09

[EinsZweiIncursio]

JOEL LEONHARDT━━━━━━━━ ✖
█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║
　　　　˟ ❛& the stranger there among them 　━━
tab tab tab 　　　　　　HAD A BIG IRON HIS HIP　 •　•　•
tab tab tab tab tab tab tab ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ big 　iron　 on　 his　 hip❜
"You darn tootin' I do!"

Joel happily ate his serving of the meat pie, he's never tasted something so good before. He always liked keeping a small caliber gun hidden in his boot just in case something goes awry. He listened to Riley's story of Culvert while eating his meat pie. Before he gets to finish, Riley asks him to come with her to the kitchen. He silently got up and gently tucked in his chair, unlike Riley.

"Excuse me, I'm going to see what Riley wants, if y'all don't mind."

He gives the Smiths a warm smile before following Riley to the kitchen. Before he can speak, the next thing he knew is that he was pinned on the wall by Riley. 'Why is she pinning me against the wall?' Joel thought to himself. The situation only became more awkward when Riley begin running her hands up and down his body, top to bottom. She even went to go as far as groping his groin which was not comfortable, at all. Her ankles rubbed up against his boot and his eyes widened when she felt his .22LR pistol hidden in his boot. She inquired him on what was in there but knowing her, he didn't tell her since she is a mercenary and all. She finally lets go of him as Riley saunters over to the basement and asks him if he wants to see what he's been eating, she opens the door with an almost devilish smile.

"Why don't you go take a look at what you've been eating, cowboy."

Joel gulped, hesitating for a moment trying to compose himself. He knew he didn't have much choice than to go down there. He takes a deep breath and gives Riley a confident look.

"Okay, I will."

█▐ ██ x `xｔｈｏｕｇｈｔｓ┊❝ Oh boy, this is gonna be bad. ❞ x `xＯＯＣ┊x ❝ Sorry for the delay, I just got home. >.< ❞


AirPoof

[AirPoof]

tab * ◣♔.　　 ＆ HIGH STRUNG◞ 　 ━ ❛morphine x　" ..blind eyes ˟
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀


so━ ■ RILEYHAMMING.˟ ██⋮
　　　　* ░░ ♡ happiness is a warm gun 　━━ !
tab tab 　　　　　　HAPPINESS BANG BANG, SHOOT SHOOT •　•　•




"Okay, I will."

Very few things made Riley Hamming an excited girl. Joel descending down the basement staircase was one of them. She watched with predatory eyes as he gulped nervously and took a moment to keep his cool. The very way he drew his breaths inspired great amusement in the dreadlocked girl. He was sweating bullets; Riley could see through his inauthentic confidence. Something about watching him squirm, become disgusted, and feel afraid... It gave her a sick jolly. As Joel slowly stumbled down into the bowels of the house, she followed and shut the door behind her. The air was stuffy. Dusty. A strong odor of copper clung to the wood of the stair rail, but an oddly sweet aroma wafted in the basement. The scent was a dead give-away of what lurked below the staircase to one with the instincts of a carnivore. Riley watched Joel's boot like a hawk, paranoid about the firearm hidden in his shoe. Once he reached the very last step, the girl stood right behind him, playfully covering his eyes with her hands.

"No peeking. Not yet." teased Riley.

Ever so slowly, she reached for the .380 micro desert eagle tucked away behind her utility belt, wrapping her finger around the trigger. A victim, bound and gagged, mutilated -- and very much alive -- on the counter in the basement. It may be much too macabre for Joel to see them breathing like this. Riley would spare him the memory. A loud 'BANG!' bounced and echoed off the walls. Mr. Leonhardt visibly flinched, but the girl reassured him with gentle 'shush'-ing, reminiscent of how one would soothe an agitated animal. The victim lay dead with a bullet lodged in the center of their forehead. It was only then that the mercenary did step away and let Joel take in the sights for himself.

"Try not to vomit, would you?"

The scene would shock a jaded wastelander to the core. It was a sight to behold indeed: sinew, ligaments and gore -- all propped up on display like brahmin in a meat locker. Torsos hung on metal hooks, organs lay sprawled about and mutilated corpses in cages decorated the basement. Rusted surgical tools and several rippers sat tucked away neatly on a metal tray near the dissecting table. Riley walked over to the schmuck who took the brunt of her shrapnel; looks like a dumb a** raider strayed too far from the pack and ended up here. She merely shrugged before taking a seat on the counter and helping herself to some of the 'strange meat' that was recently butchered. Extending her arm and wordlessly offering Joel a skewer, Riley's brown eyes took in her employer, trying to read him.

◢┊ COMPANY ❛ Joel ❜ xxxx◢┊ LOCATION ❛Smith family home; basement ❜ xxxx ◢┊ THOUGHTS ❛ Let's see how this plays out... ❜ xxxx ◢┊ OOC ❛ n/a ❜

Wolf of Death09

[EinsZweiIncursio]

JOEL LEONHARDT━━━━━━━━ ✖
█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║
　　　　˟ ❛& the stranger there among them 　━━
tab tab tab 　　　　　　HAD A BIG IRON HIS HIP　 •　•　•
tab tab tab tab tab tab tab ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ big 　iron　 on　 his　 hip❜

He slowly descended down the stairs, as he does, he can hear Riley closing the door and locking it. He knew there was no turning back. He can only continue. The air had the all too familiar smell of human blood and flesh. A kind of smell he was greeted by when he was sneaking through the remains of his vault, sinew of his fellow vault dwellers strung up on the floors and walls. Plasma goo piles and ash piles made by laser rifles were one thing, but the Enclave sent in these massive reptilian beasts with claws the size of his forearm. The Deathclaw. They shredded through his fellow vault dwellers with ease since the security were only armed with lever action rifles and revolvers. He gets to the last step then Riley covered his eyes, teasing him not to peek. What's the point? He already realized what was down here. The next thing he knew, a gunshot went off near him, he jumped a bit at the sudden discharge. Riley must have shot something. She then released her hands from shielding his eyes.

"Try not to vomit, will you?"

"Don't worry, I won't."

He just walked about the meat locker as if he didn't care it was human meat. He's seen his fair share of gore and morbid scenes like these. The moment he stepped into the basement and took a good waft of air, he knew what was down here and he's already accepted that he's a cannibal. No reason to deny it now that he ate it upstairs. He takes the skewer Riley offered him and ate it casually, savoring the meat. He looks around and sees the man Riley shot. A fresh gun shot wound embedded in his forehead. At least she put him out of his misery. Joel has always been one to put his prey out of their misery before taking their meat. Be it Yao Guai and soon..... human.

"So this is the secret to those delicious meat pies, eh partner? Why deny something delicious when I find out where it came from, right?"

He finished his skewered meat and gently places it on the counter before walking over to one of the mutilated torsos and took a ripper. He revved it up and cut off a bit of flesh from the shoulder and threw it in his mouth. He's not used to eating meat raw but it's nice none the less.

"Why not show me all the best cuts while we're down here?"

█▐ ██ x `xｔｈｏｕｇｈｔｓ┊❝ No going back now, there's no more denying that I am a cannibal. ❞ x `xＯＯＣ┊x ❝ gaia_kittenstar ❞


AirPoof

[AirPoof]

tab * ◣♔.　　 ＆ HIGH STRUNG◞ 　 ━ ❛morphine x　" ..blind eyes ˟
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀


so━ ■ RILEYHAMMING.˟ ██⋮
　　　　* ░░ ♡ happiness is a warm gun 　━━ !
tab tab 　　　　　　HAPPINESS BANG BANG, SHOOT SHOOT •　•　•




'Oh Joel, just when I'm about to think less of you, you prove me wrong.'

Riley would not lie: she was surprised. He took the news well. Remarkably well. He knew what would be down here before she even showed him. How curious! She figured Joel was a sheltered little vault brat who'd thump his chest like an ape if someone offended his sense of righteousness. Looks can be deceiving. What more was there to her employer, she wondered? Perhaps she should be wary of that charming southern persona of his. Who knows how they grow 'em in Texas? Still, his callousness intrigued her. It was clear he was no stranger to this sort of violence... Riley took delight in it.

"So this is the secret to those delicious meat pies, eh partner? Why deny something delicious when I find out where it came from, right?"

"Something tells me it wasn't much of a secret. You ever feast on a man before or are you just a natural sick ********]" retorted Riley, sneering all the while. Her tone was rather good-natured, and she spoke not to offend but to jest with the ranger. Holstering her micro desert eagle back into her utility belt, she continued to snack on more of the freshly cut pieces of flesh that lay scattered over the counter. It looks like she and Mr. Leonhardt now had some common ground. Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't fashion a noose out of that long a** hair of his and hang him from a tree. The sound of a ripper starting up snapped her from her thoughts.

"Why not show me all the best cuts while we're down here?"

And now he was going so far as to carve into the corpses themselves; not many had the stomach to be a butcher. Now that caught her interest. So eager to delve into debauchery. The female licked her upper lip slowly before biting her lower one, much like when Joel first challenged her to a gunfight. 'Cowboy, your behavior truly disgusts me. I like that. I like it a lot.'

"Take your pick -- they're all just as good as the next haunch or flank. Personally, I find the best parts to be the innards. Stew the ******** out of someone's guts; it tastes absolutely killer."

Growing tired of meandering around in the basement, Riley hopped off the counter and dusted her hands off. Readjusting her fingerless gloves, she casually began to make way for the staircase again, remaining unconcerned with Joel's new found appetite. The girl glanced over her shoulder at the ranger before shooting him a rather sharp glance.

"Take some bones and meat with you, hmm? That way we can make soup when we set up camp tonight. Dump all the preserved food you decided to bring along, too. I don't think either one of us wants to eat expired Pork n' Beans." spat Riley as she turned her head away from Joel once more, "Let's get out of here. I've had my lunch and I'm quite ready to leave. As much as I enjoy Linda's cooking, her cheery attitude gets on my last nerve."

◢┊ COMPANY ❛ Joel ❜ xxxx◢┊ LOCATION ❛ Smith family home; basement ❜ xxxx ◢┊ THOUGHTS ❛ So Mr. Leonhardt has seen the light, huh? ❜ xxxx ◢┊ OOC ❛ You goob. gaia_kittenstar ❜

Wolf of Death09

[EinsZweiIncursio]

JOEL LEONHARDT━━━━━━━━ ✖
█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║
　　　　˟ ❛& the stranger there among them 　━━
tab tab tab 　　　　　　HAD A BIG IRON HIS HIP　 •　•　•
tab tab tab tab tab tab tab ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ big 　iron　 on　 his　 hip❜

Joel studied the torso for awhile. He didn't mind getting his hands dirty, after all, he beat several Enclave soldiers to death with a pipe when they were asleep and vulnerable. He vividly remembers the grey matter that splattered the area when he smashed their faces in. The attack on his vault has changed him a lot. On one hand, he learned how to survive on his own. On the other, it brought out a darker side to him. Something more..... Sadistic. He revved up the ripper, hovering it over the torso. Still trying to pick out where to take his cuts.

"Riley, how good are human ribs?"

Joel always had a love for eating ribs. Now that his cannibalistic side has awakened, he can't help but get curious on what human ribs taste like. He licks his lips and his mouth waters just thinking about it. Human meat may be immoral in the eyes of others, but it sure is a hell a lot better and just as plentiful as expired pork n' beans. With his cannibalistic side, he feels that he'll get along better with Riley now. Way better.

█▐ ██ x `xｔｈｏｕｇｈｔｓ┊❝ Human ribs..... ❞ x `xＯＯＣ┊x ❝ You know you love this goober~ heart ❞



AirPoof

[AirPoof]

tab * ◣♔.　　 ＆ HIGH STRUNG◞ 　 ━ ❛morphine x　" ..blind eyes ˟
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀


so━ ■ RILEYHAMMING.˟ ██⋮
　　　　* ░░ ♡ happiness is a warm gun 　━━ !
tab tab 　　　　　　HAPPINESS BANG BANG, SHOOT SHOOT •　•　•




"Riley, how good are human ribs?"

"Very. Tender as sin, fall off the bone good. Help yourself. Linda and Jack wont mind."

"Get those spurs moving, big guy," said Riley as she stopped dead in her tracks. She was actually going to wait for Joel to finish harvesting what he would, and walk by her side. Huh, she was starting to warm up already. The joys of shared interests. The female slipped her hands back into her pockets before turning on her heel, "Let's get out of here. Raven Rock awaits."

After Joel cut himself a generous portion of ribs, the two made their way back upstairs and into the dining room. Linda flashed that same warm, caring smile of hers. That iconic, artificial and borderline disturbing grin. It looks like the Smith's finished up lunch while they were gone; the serving trays were licked clean of any scraps. 'Waste not, want not' as Jack would say (he was just as obnoxious as his wife).

"Mr. Leonhardt and I will be on our way now, Linda. Thank you for lunch, it was delicious, as always."

"Aww, alright Riley dear. Have a safe trip! Stop by and visit whenever you can!"

"Yep." Riley was most certainly terse, no doubt about it. It was a relief to finally exit the Smith family home, with weapons and all. Though the food was scrumptious, there was only so much neighborly spirit the mercenary could take. It made her sick. Her employer, as usual, pulled a cigarette from his coat pocket and lit it as it dangled in his mouth. Riley stared at him for a while... It was funny: he really did look like a cowboy, straight out of one of those old, pre-war spaghetti western films... 'Tch.' The pair wandered out into the wasteland for about an hour until the female did speak again.

"From what I can guess, it's a little past 4. The closest rest stops from here would be Tenpenny Tower, the Dunwich Building or Jacko's Pop & Gas Stop. If we don't park in any of those locations for the night, we're going to be buckling down in the wasteland somewhere around Evergreen Mills and the Charnel House." said Riley while looking out towards the horizon with her binoculars, "You probably don't want to go there. Doesn't make for a good night's sleep."

Unless you liked getting shut-eye with a coven of raiders looming over your back, you stayed the ******** away from Evergreen Mills. Personally, Riley wouldn't mind, but the call was ultimately up to Joel. He was the one signing her paycheck, after all. The way Riley saw it: what the hell was a raider campsite if they're going to storm Raven Rock in a few days time anyway? It was good target practice, and practice made perfect.

"I keep forgetting you're not from around here. Let me bring that back for you: Tenpenny Tower is pretty much a 5-star hotel for stuck-up assholes. The Dunwich Building is an abandoned corporate office... I.. I don't want to stay there, so I'm not even sure why I brought it up. Just a point of interest, I guess."

She stammered nervously, even if only for a brief second.

Yes, children: you heard that right. Riley Hamming was afraid of ghosts and demons. The building was allegedly haunted, and the female didn't want to verify whether or not it was true. Having quickly recomposed herself, Riley cleared her throat.

"Ahem, and Jacko's Pop & Gas Stop is just that. A gas stop. So what's the plan, Mr. Leonhardt? How long are you itching to travel by foot before we have to stop?"

◢┊ COMPANY ❛Joel ❜ xxxx◢┊ LOCATION ❛ Somewhere, out in the wastes ❜ xxxx ◢┊ THOUGHTS ❛ Am I really trusting a foreigner with our sleeping arrangements? ❜ xxxx ◢┊ OOC ❛ dunwich 2spoopy4Riley ❜

Wolf of Death09

[EinsZweiIncursio]

JOEL LEONHARDT━━━━━━━━ ✖
█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║
　　　　˟ ❛& the stranger there among them 　━━
tab tab tab 　　　　　　HAD A BIG IRON HIS HIP　 •　•　•
tab tab tab tab tab tab tab ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ big 　iron　 on　 his　 hip❜
Joel quickly cut a rack of ribs from the human torso before going out of the basement and catching up with Riley, they bid the Smith's a farewell and go back out in the Wasteland. It's late afternoon and they'll have pick out where to stay for the night. He listens intently as Riley goes over some potential locations to stay in,'Tennpenny Tower eh?' Joel looks over the horizon and sees a tall hotel building jutting out from the landscape. He decides that he doesn't want to deal with a bunch of stuck up assholes and continues to listen to Riley's suggestions. When she mentions the Dunwich Building, his ears perked up as Riley seemed.... Scared to go there. A mischievous grin crept along his face, his mind is set, they're staying in the Dunwich Building tonight.

"Dunwich eh? Sounds interesting...."

He kicks up some dirt, making his spurs spin for a few moments. He checks his weapons if they're fully loaded before holstering them back. He looks around the horizon and sees an office building of sorts,'That must be Dunwich.' Joel thought to himself. He smoked a cigarette as he continues sorting out everything in his mind. He'll probably just have him and Riley stay near the entrance if it really is as scary as they thought. The sun is going down quickly, if he doesn't make up his mind now, they'll just be staying out in the wilderness with who knows what, radscorpions, raiders, maybe a malfunctioning sentry bot if they're unlucky. He looks over at the mercenary and clears his throat and tossing away his cigarette butt before speaking to her.

"Ms. Hamming, you don't mind staying at Dunwich, right?"

█▐ ██ x `xｔｈｏｕｇｈｔｓ┊❝ Let's see you tough this one out, hehehehe...... ❞ x `xＯＯＣ┊x ❝ No dying this time, promise. gaia_kittenstar ❞



AirPoof

[AirPoof]

tab * ◣♔.　　 ＆ HIGH STRUNG◞ 　 ━ ❛morphine x　" ..blind eyes ˟
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀


so━ ■ RILEYHAMMING.˟ ██⋮
　　　　* ░░ ♡ happiness is a warm gun 　━━ !
tab tab 　　　　　　HAPPINESS BANG BANG, SHOOT SHOOT •　•　•




"What! Uhh.. I mean, ah -- no. No, I don't mind."

From what she could see, Joel had a stupid looking smile plastered on his face. What a smug, self-assured p***k. If that wasn't the biggest s**t-eating grin Riley'd ever seen, she didnt know what was. A rotten scowl soured her expression. He was doing this on purpose! He wanted to squat inside the Dunwich Building for the night? Fine! She extended her arm out with her palm pointing in the direction towards the corporate office. It was a polite, wordless way of urging him to lead the way.

"Dunwich is somewhat far from here but, ah," Riley said dryly "It's the only building in that direction. I trust you'll see it over the horizon..."

The only reason Riley didn't tell Joel to ******** off right then and there was because she wouldn't be sleeping there by herself. Good God, she would be in bad company to wallow around there alone; her mind would start to dawdle on unsettling thoughts and it would distress her needlessly. Rumors floated around the wastes about Dunwich: people that go in that building don't come out.

The building proved to live up to its... Otherworldly reputation. The exterior was decrepit and ruinous, but it didn't compare to what lurked behind its doors; inside lay a darkness that seemed no light could pierce. A lone, dimly-lit and flickering ceiling light revealed mere glimpses of the lobby. It barely illuminated the cracked, peeling walls and decaying floorboards. Tables lay flipped over, and dried splotches of blood stained the ground red. It was eerily quiet -- quiet enough to make out one's own breathing. Outside of their immediate surroundings, the room was pitch black. A lingering feeling of being watched began to nag at the girl. It made Riley's blood run cold. Why the ******** did she let Joel talk her into this? 'I don't like the look of this place...'

Riley begun to follow behind her employer closely, purely out of instinct. The girl was practically ghosting his shadow, and when he suddenly stopped, she bumped face-first against his back and gripped onto the coat of his armor. Quickly stepping back, she dusted herself off before pointedly clearing her throat.

"We're here. It's just as great as you imagined, isn't it, Mr. Leonhardt? Can we ******** leave now?" spat Riley, her words laced with much resentment. She knew he only wanted to come here because it would get under her skin.

◢┊ COMPANY ❛ Joel ❜ xxxx◢┊ LOCATION ❛Dunwich Building ❜ xxxx ◢┊ THOUGHTS ❛ I can't see a thing..! ❜ xxxx ◢┊ OOC ❛ sorry for the delay. I keep getting side tracked by IRL stuff crying ❜

Wolf of Death09

[EinsZweiIncursio]

JOEL LEONHARDT━━━━━━━━ ✖
█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║
　　　　˟ ❛& the stranger there among them 　━━
tab tab tab 　　　　　　HAD A BIG IRON HIS HIP　 •　•　•
tab tab tab tab tab tab tab ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ big 　iron　 on　 his　 hip❜

The whole way to the Dunwich Building, Joel had a stupid mischievous grin on his face. He thought taking Riley to a place where she's actually scared would be nice payback for her shooting off his spur the first time they met in Megaton. Dusk was quickly approaching and Joel is practically speed walking to the decrepit office building. They finally get to the outside of the building, just outside the front door.

"We're already here, so why not go inside?"

Joel opened the door and it opened with an eerie creak. As with any Pre-War building, the whole building is practically rotting away. Chipped paint, assorted pieces of rubble, ruined furniture, but something is definitely different about Dunwich. It has some sort of supernatural force kind of feeling here. Joel activated his Pip-Boy 3000's light to try to illuminate the way but it barely lights up three inches in front of him. Joel spots the faint green glow of a Glowing One around the corner, making him stop suddenly and Riley bumps into his back. He slowly pulls out Dawn and turns around to speak to Riley in a quiet whisper.

"There's a Glowing One up ahead, that means there's bound to be more ferals in here, let's get out of here while we still can. Quietly."

He spun the mercenary around and urged her to take the lead out of the building, Joel placed his Pip-Boy arm on her shoulder to help her see as they made their way back. No one Joel is fighting ferals in a dark a** place like this.

█▐ ██ x `xｔｈｏｕｇｈｔｓ┊❝ Let's hope we didn't alert them. ❞ x `xＯＯＣ┊x ❝ Sorry for the delay, I got too immersed in Tera yesterday! crying ❞


AirPoof

[AirPoof]

tab * ◣♔.　　 ＆ HIGH STRUNG◞ 　 ━ ❛morphine x　" ..blind eyes ˟
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀


so━ ■ RILEYHAMMING.˟ ██⋮
　　　　* ░░ ♡ happiness is a warm gun 　━━ !
tab tab 　　　　　　HAPPINESS BANG BANG, SHOOT SHOOT •　•　•




"There's a Glowing One up ahead, that means there's bound to be more ferals in here, let's get out of here while we still can. Quietly."

As soon as Joel spun her around and instructed her to take the lead, Riley stopped dead in her tracks, digging her heels into the ground. Oh no, that wasn't happening. This was all his idea -- he was the one that wanted to come to Dunwich in the first place. Besides, she couldn't lead the way out even if she wanted to; the dim lighting conditions of the building made her already failing eyesight worse. Quite literally, everything was a complete blur. Ms. Hamming was a prideful girl: she'd never admitted her myopia to anyone. To her, it was a weakness; it was something that could be taken advantage of. Most never even had a clue that there was anything wrong with her vision. As much as she liked to keep it that way, it wasn't smart to withhold that information now.

"Joel!" Riley roughly whispered, "You take the lead. Please! I can't see anything, as in, I have terrible eyesight..."

The obnoxious pip boy light that blared in her face didn't help either. The sudden blast of bright light left her seeing star bursts and phosphenes, and before she knew it, the girl had stumbled on her feet. Grabbing a hold of Mr. Leonhardt, Riley assumed her position behind him once more -- all while clinging onto his coat closely. She was not going to get left behind in this darkness. No way.

A low rumbling noise emanated from the bowels of the hallway.

What sounded like furniture skidding across the floor could be heard faintly in the distance. A few muted thumps... Water pipes. Footsteps.

Stillness.

"Go already!"

It was not long before Riley and Joel hightailed it out of the office building. Once outside, the female snarled and roughly pushed her employer away, then stomped off towards the edge of the parking lot. The mercenary roughly kicked the fender of a derelict Corvega, leaving a nasty dent behind in the process. She was livid -- why the hell did he insist on staying at Dunwich? Riley was about this close to shooting Joel's ******** balls off. If it weren't for the fact that he paid her about 10 grand, she would have left him fruitless, that piece of s**t. The sun had set, and the twilight sky dimly illuminated the wasteland. It was going to get dark, fast. They had little other choice than to sleep in the Dunwich parking lot; albino radscorpions and Deathclaws liked to roam about in this part of the Wasteland.

"It would be wise to set up camp now, Mr. Leonhardt."

◢┊ COMPANY ❛ Joel ❜ xxxx◢┊ LOCATION ❛Dunwich Building; parking lot❜ xxxx ◢┊ THOUGHTS ❛I hate you, Joel... ❜ xxxx ◢┊ OOC ❛ sooo salty ❜

Wolf of Death09

[EinsZweiIncursio]

JOEL LEONHARDT━━━━━━━━ ✖
█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║█║▌│█│║▌║││█║▌│║║█║
　　　　˟ ❛& the stranger there among them 　━━
tab tab tab 　　　　　　HAD A BIG IRON HIS HIP　 •　•　•
tab tab tab tab tab tab tab ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ big 　iron　 on　 his　 hip❜

Riley insisted that Joel take the lead, claiming she had terrible eyesight, he sighed and lead the pair out of the decrepit building with his Pip-Boy's light and Dawn aimed down sights in case any ghouls want to make a surprise visit.

"So you have terrible eyesight eh? Why not get glasses or contacts to help you see better, maybe then you can see my handsome face~"

Joel chuckled and before they know it, they're back outside. It's a little pass dusk and Joel agrees with Riley's suggestion to set up camp now before they get attacked by who knows what. He pitches up the tents and rolls an empty metal barrel in the middle of their campsite and fill it with wood before setting the wood on fire to give them warmth. He pulls out the rack of human ribs he took from Andale and looks over at Riley.

"Hey, after dinner, I'll take first watch again?"

*He sets up a metal grill over the fire and prepares the meat for cooking. He doesn't know how Riley likes her meat but Joel likes having his cooked. He tears the rack in half, placing his half in the fire to grill*

"Do whatever you'd like with your share, I don't know if you like your meat cooked or not."

Joel kept his pistol close at hand. He can never shake the feeling that their being watched. As if there's something in the Dunwich building that's watching them as they settle down into their camp. He intends on using one of the derelict eighteen wheelers as a view point once he takes first watch after dinner.

█▐ ██ x `xｔｈｏｕｇｈｔｓ┊❝ I'm glad we got out of there.... ❞ x `xＯＯＣ┊x ❝ Sorry for the late post....! crying ❞



AirPoof

[AirPoof]

tab * ◣♔.　　 ＆ HIGH STRUNG◞ 　 ━ ❛morphine x　" ..blind eyes ˟
▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀▀


so━ ■ RILEYHAMMING.˟ ██⋮
　　　　* ░░ ♡ happiness is a warm gun 　━━ !
tab tab 　　　　　　HAPPINESS BANG BANG, SHOOT SHOOT •　•　•




"So you have terrible eyesight eh? Why not get glasses or contacts to help you see better, maybe then you can see my handsome face~"

"Shut. Up."

If looks could kill, Joel would have been eviscerated. Riley shot him one of the dirtiest looks she could muster -- the hate was strong in this one. Grumbling under her breath, she watched with spiteful eyes as the ranger set up their tents and bed rolls. Her only consolation was that Mr. Leonhardt brought a stack of ribs with him; at least they didn't have to eat another God-forsaken can of Pork n' Beans. The fire inside the metal barrel glowed brightly in the coming darkness. As the moon and stars took their place in the night sky, a chilly wind nipped in the air.. Riley shivered. She wasn't exactly wearing the warmest of outfits. Reluctantly, the girl walked over to the camp grounds and took her seat next to their make-shift fire pit. The flames staved off the bitter cold, and Riley began to warm her hands. 'Get glasses, he says. They'll help you see, he says. Then you can see just how attractive I am, he says. What a tool -- I bet his face looks like it ran through a wood chipper.' The sound of Joel's voice snapped her from her thoughts.

"Hey, after dinner, I'll take first watch again?" asked Joel.

"Yeah, whatever." said Riley, huffing all the while.

There was little sense in holding a grudge against her employer -- what was done was done. At least they didn't have to sleep inside Dunwich. The parking lot was still sort of eerie, but it was nowhere near as bad as what loomed inside the building. Still, she couldn't help but feel bitter. 'Ah ******** it, who cares? An idiot like him wouldn't know what all the fuss around Dunwich is about. Dumb a** Texan...' Still, when he offered her half of the ribs, Riley softened up. She sighed in defeat and averted her gaze, quietly having taken her share of food from him.

"Do whatever you'd like with your share, I don't know if you like your meat cooked or not."

"I like it raw." muttered the mercenary. She pulled out the combat knife from her boot and began to cut the flesh off the bones, slurping it down right then and there. It had a wet, slimy texture to it... Soft and palpable; perfect to eat all on its own. Blood from the fresh cuts stained her lips and teeth red. Riley ran her hand over her mouth, smearing the blood onto her philtrum and the outside of her nostrils; It looked as though she were punched in the nose. The girl casually examined the smudges on her fingers for a while before sniffling. Smelled coppery. Her favorite smell: metal. She smiled.

"You can feel it too, I can tell. Like something is watching you. Well since we're here, I've got a story that's perfect for this sort of atmosphere. I'm going to do you a favor, and let you in on a little secret, Joel. Okay?" started Riley. The girl shot the ranger a sideways look with hollow eyes. Her expression seemed to darken, but that empty grin of hers never left her face, "We got folks like you running around the Wasteland, a bunch of wannabe cowboys. They're called the 'Regulators'. Regulators hunt people like me down; you know the type -- real scumbags. Rumor has it that a pair of them went into Dunwich for a bounty once. They were looking for some a*****e taking refuge inside the building. Needless to say, they never found him. In fact, no one ever found the regulators either. It left their base quaking in their boots about the place for a while; from what I heard, they weren't slouches with a gun. Some of their best. All that was left behind were some sort of ******** up holotapes. That's not the only story floating around about paranormal s**t happening in that building. Nobody around these parts goes near Dunwich, nobody. Not unless they've crawled straight out of a vault, like you. You might think it's funny, but a night alone in there'll wipe that s**t eating grin off your face, cowboy."

The girl shuffled about in her seat for a bit, itching to get comfortable. Riley grumbled in irritation. Leather armor wasn't the most comfortable thing to lounge around in -- it was stiff and didn't allow much in the ways of breathability. It was definitely very, very stuffy... What she wouldn't give to have spent the night at Tenpenny Tower. Sure it was full of racists and elitists, but at least she could lounge around in a sleep shirt and not freeze her a** off. She hated wearing armor to sleep. The mood between the two was rather dour, and the mercenary figured she'd try to lighten up the mood by shifting the direction of the conversation. The last thing she wanted was the both of them to be paranoid and not get an ounce of rest.

"Say, what does that ugly mug of yours look like anyway, Cowboy? Why don't you come here close so I can get a look see."

◢┊ COMPANY ❛ Joel ❜ xxxx◢┊ LOCATION ❛ Dunwich Building; parking lot ❜ xxxx ◢┊ THOUGHTS ❛ Don't tell me this a*****e is getting spooked, too. ❜ xxxx ◢┊ OOC ❛ It's okay cat_redface ❜

Wolf of Death09