Chapter Text
“I can’t believe you burned every single bridge in the Upper Stands in one evening,” Preston laughed as they headed for the door to the Prydwen’s command deck.
“I’m surprised it took that long, actually,” Nora sighed. “Usually I’m a patient woman, but that evening just made me want to scrub myself clean.”
“Hopefully your friend E isn’t too traumatised by Diamond City,” he teased.
Nora elbowed him in the ribs, her cheeks burning even as she smiled. “So long as we stay away from the snobs.”
“You know they’re gonna make things difficult for you, though,” Preston sighed.
“Yeah, well, they can’t compete with higher wages and better facilities,” Nora shot back.
“Right,” he snorted. “God forbid the Codmans ever shell out to upgrade those rusty shacks they make all their workers sleep in.”
“Welcome aboard the Prydwen, General Pendleton. I’m Lancer-Captain Kells. It’s a pleasure to have you here with us.” The greeting was given as soon as they reached the door. “Elder Maxson is just inside, he’s been expecting your arrival.”
Nora held out her hand. “Thank you for agreeing to meet with us, Lancer-Captain. This is my colonel, Preston Garvey.”
Kells shook both their hands. “We’ve heard a lot about the Minutemen. It’s quite a militia you have going for you, very impressive.” He opened the door for them; the sound of Arthur barking orders flowed through the opening.
Nora paused. Odd; the voice sounded familiar, and she took a few steps closer, into the command deck. “Yeah,” she knew she sounded distracted, “we’ve done a lot of work.”
“Elder Maxson,” Kells called as he stepped into the command deck, standing at parade rest, “General Pendleton from the Commonwealth Minutemen has arrived with her second-in-command, Colonel Garvey.”
“Ah, General,” Arthur greeted as he turned to face everyone. But as soon as his eyes landed on her—her—he froze.
Nora stiffened at the sight of pale blue eyes, a thickly-beared jaw, and a heavily scarred cheek. “…right, E for Elder,” she murmured.
Preston cleared his throat. “Is this what I think it is?”
Kells was glancing back and forth between the two, eyes narrowed, until he aggressively sighed. “Permission to speak freely, Sir?”
Arthur still hadn’t taken his gaze off Nora, but he cleared his throat. “Permission granted.”
“How many times will your sexual proclivities get you in these situations?”
The Elder winced. “That’s—“
Nora cleared her throat. “Could we have a moment alone, please, Lancer-Captain? Colonel?”
“With all due respect, General—“
“Kells,” Arthur interjected. “Just a few minutes.”
The Lancer-Captain tipped his chin up. “Very well, Sir. I’ll be just outside,” he said, then marched out of the room.
Nora glanced behind her at Preston.
He made a conceding face. “Nice to know you pissed off all the snobs in Diamond City,” he said, before following Kells out of the room, shutting the door behind him.
“So,” Nora finally said, “how was the rest of your evening?”
“Mm,” he turned his back to her, facing the large window. “Less eventful. And yours?”
“I had a very long, hot shower.” She made her way over to him, her arms folded over her stomach. “I’m Nora,” she said. “I… think you can call me that after… well. Everything we…”
“Arthur,” he replied, glancing at her. “Nice to officially meet you.”
Nora laughed softly, meeting his eyes. “Same here.” She turned to face him. “So. How do you want to proceed with this?”
“Well,” he crossed his arms over his chest, “What are my options?”
She hummed softly. “We could acknowledge that we had an excellent time at an anonymous party that worked in our favour, but now knowing our true identities makes continuing this as a means of- stress relief- difficult.” She shot him a small smile. “…I don’t really like that one.”
“I’m not sure I like it, either,” he agreed. “What else?”
Nora shrugged even though her face was burning. “We… carry on the stress relief. And figure out how to… mesh our two armies.”
“Mesh them? Meaning?”
“You don’t like ghouls, I don’t mind them, you probably have certain expectations, I have others,” Nora explained. “Once we figure out our differences, we work on the similarities.”
He hummed while running his fingers through his beard. “That does sound intriguing, I will admit.” After a moment, Arthur turned to face her while leaning against the railing in front of the window with his hip. “And what if it doesn’t work?”
“…then it’s hate-sex,” she muttered.
The corners of his lips twitched. “I could live with that. If necessary.”
Nora chuckled. “So…would you like to… start trying to… mesh?”
He studied her face for a few moments. “I suppose we could.”