[Jitter Bug & Jurinjo]
 

New York city after being fictionally put to ruin hundreds of time finally faced it in reality. The sprawling metropolis is in ruins- many of the buildings threatening to fall upon you after weathering 200 years. A popular place such as this deserved a Vault or three. Our two heroes, or whatever, ventured to search one for any treasure it could hold.

Name: Ricky
Age: 19
Appearance: link
Bio: Young and full of adventure he has taken the wasteland by storm...or really just surprised it. His skill with a gun is fair and has grips on survival but he is inexperienced. How he remained alive against the odds against him could be called luck. Ricky of course knows better than to rely on that. His past though is a bit foggy and he avoids it. Not unusual in the wastelands but something is off...
Weapon Preference: two Sawed-off Shotguns, .44 scoped magnum, combat knife
Skills: Gun expertise and repair, lock picking, and minor skill in explosives

Name: Fen
Age: 55
Race: Ghoul
Appearance: The majority of his face is covered by a scarf, his tattered hair looks more human under the beanie but the ski mask was ridiculous. The rest of the ghoul's clothes is a motley of brown and black fabric thrown in tandem with black leather. In all he probably sewn it together from what he had around him.
Bio: EDIT: Fen is a vault dweller who during the conflict in his vault was trapped in a room and exposed to high radiation. Instead of dying he became a ghol trapped within that vault until Lea and Ricky inadvertently saved him. He's a little rusty with his skills but can be quite deadly despite that and lack of wasteland knowledge.
Weapons: Chinese Officer's sword, 10mm gunCustom Deathclaw Gauntlets, smoke and flash bombs, throwing knives
Skill: Stealth, computer hacking, demolitions, and unarmed combat

NOTE: Fen's current weaponry might change to the original ones I had planned with time...but might not. -shrugs- =\

My Character

Name: Thalea Leonie (Pronounced Dalieah)
Age: 18
Appearance: link
Bio:Bossy and moody, she can be unpredictable at times. She's been on her own since a young age and learned to survive only by knowing where and when to hide and what to take and what to leave behind. She is somewhat of a thief when she's not making do with what she's gathered from destroyed museums and or looking for supplies.
Weapon Preference: 7in Joker Mount Antilope knives, a Fallkniven knife ODIN, a Knuckle Crusher Guard Butterfly Knife, and several throwing knives including two Raptor Shuriken. Also less often used is a wooden crossbow.
Skills: Melee expertise, stealth (stealing), and medical skills

"Agh Dammit!" he swore rubbing his knee. Being quiet was hardly a concern anymore after brining down that shelf. Someone opened to the door into the Vault before him...or judging by the worn metal and disarray of all the objects- the inhabitants left. But if it was open, and he had found it, someone else had likely done the same. Ricky wouldn't have shared any loot if he could help it and he knew for a fact he didn't exude any ruggedness in his youthful features.

He pulled out one of his shotguns with ease holding it ahead. His eyes swiveled around the room as he listened and looked for someone. Ricky remained tense for a few more seconds before relaxing slightly and cautious moving through another hall. Two things he kept in mind was first clues of danger, and second treasure. If he didn't suddenly feel the need to worry about a threat Ricky would've paid attention to anything to hint what madness gripped the Vault Citizen's last days. But that was not important right now and he stepped over a long deceased corpse.

Thalea quietly and quickly rummaged through safe she'd found and opened, finding a new set of throwing knives, adding those to the one's already in the leather pouch at her waist even with the knowledge that they were . She moved on to find several more things of interest before she heard crashing from somewhere in the vault, her face swinging around towards the doorway of the room as the glint of a seven inch silver blade appeared in her hand.

Someone had to have just come in since she had already been through the Vault once and was just making the second sweep to make sure she hadn't missed anything so waiting was the game now. She silently made her way behind the door of the room and listened for footsteps, watching through the crack between the door-jamb and the door, glad for her small size.

Ricky moved quietly, sticking to the walls and agonizing over every breath and step. The silence seemed to amplify every little sound despite all the crap on the floor that should've been keeping his soft steps from bouncing around. Maybe it was just his paranoia making that up though.

Whoever was, or still was here, did a good job cleaning things up. It looked like all he'd find left was bare materials. Which was considerably harder to sell of as it was time consuming and not high on wastelander's list of priorities. They could live with the same underwear for months but they could not live without ammo to shoot potential enemies, or whatever else this place probably now lacked.

The hall remained clear, with several open doors. The closest was only slightly open though. Tensing again he moved towards the door, crouched and shotgun ready to fire...

The footsteps grew in volume as Thalea glanced behind her at the room, spotting several things she'd missed the first time but as the steps slowed then stopped outside the door she tensed, eyes widening as she saw it was a young man, about her age, holding a shotgun.

Her hand tightened on the knife as she scanned the room for another place to hide. If this person was trigger happy she'd be shot before a word could be spoken. A door leading into a storage area provided her with a place to hide until whoever was outside the door was deep enough into the room for her to run. Silently she made a dash for the door to the storage room but her eyes caught the things she'd missed the first time and she slowed without realizing... Just that canteen, and the bolts. She needed those bolts for her crossbow.

No sooner his quiet taps of his footsteps stopped at the door did he here a quick patter beyond the door. Ricky quickly put his back to the wall next to the door. The person panicked the last thing he wanted to do was incite them to pull the trigger. He just had to hope there weren't more in other rooms...raiders. He shuddered at the thought.

"Hey don't fire! So you got the treasure first. I promise not to shoot if you don't." He chuckled

" 'sides I put demo charges all around the exit of the vault you won't be leaving easily." , that was a bluff. And not a bad idea to use the next time he raided a treasure trove.

The small young woman didn't answer immediately but rolled her eyes as she left the canteen for the bolts and began to make her way silently back to the storage room. Don't shoot. Right, like she'd ever gotten her hands on a functional gun. There was her crossbow but that couldn't hold an eye to a shotgun or explosives. Nonetheless she sheathed her nife and dropped all but three of her bolts in a seperate pouch from her throwing knives, "Okay then, I won't shoot if you keep your weapon pointed to the ground." She honestly didn't expect this complete stranger to heed her request but she was only speaking to cover the sound of her setting a bolt in the bow.

Just in case she took out more than several of her throwing knives, "There's nothing left so you might as well let me go.

Words- that's all they were. It was difficult to ever trust another person. Leave yourself open and they'll kill you. He just had to hope this was one of those rare honorable people than one to kill without regret. Ricky knew he could use a friend to watch his back at some point. So he complied. Peaking first then rounding the corner of the door we walked in with the shotgun facing off down to his side. Each step he took was careful and cautious. The woman was fairly young as well but perfectly in her womanhood. He eyed her crossbow cautiously. Ancient or not he did not want that bolt in his leg or worse.

"Actually I have the advantage in the first place." He gave a warm smile, "Only I'm tired of barely surviving encounter because I was alone." Ricky gave her a look that said he was offer a friendship or at least a partnership. The way he saw it the best course would to accept it for now. There was always the chance she had some wildcard in her hand to use against him...

Her eyes watched his hands as he came in, never once looking at the rest of him until he spoke, her expression darkening as he stated the obvious fact of his advantage, the metallic click of her crossbow's safety switching off was a passive warning that she didn't much care for his advantage. Surely it was ancient but it was still fully functional.

When he continued she was cynical and silent as she considered, taking time to look at him. He was much taller and built stronger than she, her own size already smaller than average due to malnutrition years ago which gave her her speed. It was possibly the reason she was hard to catch and was able to hide so easily when she wasn't cornered like she was now. At least he wasn't much older than she was.

Size, strength, weaponry, not to mention that he had her trapped, the odds were impossible so finally she nodded, switching the safety on again, "Alright." She put the two bolts in her hand back in their pouch but kept the throwing knives in her hand and the last bolt in the crossbow. "Fine, if you can keep thugs off me then I'll help you." her tone made it clear that she wasn't interested in being friends right now.

((wow I really like your last post))

Inwardly he sighed relief, the only visible sign he gave was relaxing his shoulders. His shotgun remained in his hand but it had its saftey on. Ricky wasn't going to take many chances. If his assessment of her was right she was good at close combat and very fast. He wouldn't give her the opportunity to use that speed to kill him.

"Sounds like a fair deal. Hope deciding who gets what loot will be as easy." Ricky ran his hand through his hair looking around for anything useful then bending down to grab a canteen. Inspecting it careful he seemed satisfied and put it in a shoulder bag he brought with him to carry such things.

"Which parts of this place haven't you already been through?" The dark halls were oppressive and garnered all kinds of nightmarish thoughts the further you went in. Ricky was sure after a certain point he'd have been reluctant to travel further.

((Thanks. I've been giving thought to this one since I haven't been able to use this character in so long.))

Thalea took note of his reaction but when he spoke again she simply pointed to her pack, abandoned by the safe. There was nothing in it she could live without and she always made sure to keep anything she planned to keep for herself out of the pack when she was raiding places like this. "The decision will be easy. You keep your canteen and I'll keep everything I found."

Pointing out the pack had two purposes, one was to bring it to general attention that she'd already gotten most or all of what was in the vault and the second was to wordlessly warn him that she was simply retrieving what was hers before she moved for it.

His question made her pause as she pulled ties to close the pack before she moved on to button the brass snap, "I've been through all of it." A pause as she grabbed her bow again and stood, the throwing knives never having left her hand and her back never having been to him, "Twice." The woman didn't even take her eyes off him as she mopped sweat from her brow with her shirt sleeve, leaving behind a smear of clear lightly tanned skin.

"I won't go through it a thrid time but you're free to go look on your own. S'not like I can go anywhere."

"Really?" he asked inquiringly. Not to be condescending but she made it sound like there was nothing valuable left and would gladly let him look alone. That she was in fact biding her time for when she could use those knives on him. "Most vaults have 3 levels, and the ones with the really good stuff have 4." They could of course go deeper but he doubted that if one of them existed in New York it would've been opened. People would notice when a bunch of vault-dwellers came up and none had for a long time.

He just shrugged. "Mainly as long as I don't have to worry about you or anyone else killing me I'm fine. But I'd like some company anyway. The halls and the bodies littering the place give me the creeps."

Ricky refused to believe there was no more here. There simply had to be something. What he was looking for was probably better to discover alone but just as he admitted to her he didn't want to travel that far all alone.

The woman frowned, nodding, "I've been coming here for several days. I didn't try any doors that were barred or locked, I didn't have time for that." A partial lie and partial truth. She'd indeed been going back and forth for several days but she had had time for the locked and jammed doors. She just didn't have the strength to force the stronger doors open.

She cocked her head to the side and narrowed her eyes, "I'm no one to worry about. I only fight if I'm cornered, other wise I run." jerking her head at the door to make a point. "You, being a rather good-sized guy don't need to worry about strange men chasing you down and catching you for things other than killing or robbing when they realize you're all alone." She hadn't promised anything but she was essentially letting him know the exact reason why she'd agreed to the partnership and she wouldn't kill him without reason if he held up his end of the deal. It hadn't been just his advantages over her.

After a slight moment she glanced down at her feet and nudged the hand of what looked to have been an older man before he'd passed on, "The bodies won't do nuthin' to you..." Then looked back up at him, "Anyway, before I go with you I want to decide how we're going to split things if we find anything else. I'm not going to be over powered and robbed." They could split it by what's useful to who and then split the left overs but she wouldn't suggest that unless he couldn't come up with anything.

"Were there people who came before you?" he asked only somewhat caring. "I'm good at picking locks and our combined strength can open the other doors if we want." he did a quick look through this room. She really knew how to clear it out there were some useful things but not worth the trouble at the moment. His hand glided to a pen which he tested and put in his pocket.

Ricky sighed. "Whatever is more valuble to the other person I guess. I'm looking for weapon, ammo and medicine. Especially shotgun shells, and .44 cal bullets. We can split stimpaks and the sort evenly. Sound good to you?" The young man took a few long strides out the room towards the hall leading to the steps that went to the next level down. One thing he left out was the documents he was looking for. Ricky didn't know what it said for sure himself but searching for what happened in this hole would be a good start.

((sorry my posts are bare and plain right now))

"If there were they were terrible at scrounging around." She answered, carefully sliding her thumb up and down the edge of a throwing knife, "Alright then." She said after giving his suggestions a moment of thought, having to run after him when he left, "Fine." she said again, her steps louder as she tried to keep up with him.

She was fast but her short height was a disadvantage to her at the moment and she stopped short to kick at the floor and place the crossbow back over her shoulder, the leather strap across her chest holding it against her body, "If you want company you're going to have to be more mindful of how short your company is." She didn't want to be running after him for however long it took him to decide to leave.

((Perfectly alright. ^^ I think they're fine.))

"Then they could be the stupid raiders. One explanation for the disfigured dead. I'd like to find out what happened...food for thought. But you're probably eager to leave I bet." Ricky spent a lot of time alone and consequently had said that without really noticing he had. Ricky decided to follow suit and put his shotgun away as he went down the steps.

"Oh sorry about that...by the way I'm Ricky." he was cordial and pretty much no longer being suspicious of her despite how dangerous that could've been. They came out to a room with a large ceiling with at least half a dozen bodies littered through out the first and second floor of this room. "Energy weapons...hey and in good shape too! Want a gun?" he offered it to her not knowing whether she preferred what she had over one of these babies.

((I have a plot idea for what's in the Overseer's office that's on this level))

The young woman's brow furrowed as he spoke and she shook her head with a sound of annoyance. When he spoke again she relaxed and put her throwing knives away. No need to have weapons out if he had none in hand. "Thalea." The name pronounced with a D instead of the Th sound, "You can call me Aly, Lea, or Thalea, you can't call me Doll." It aggravated her and her brother had always done it to tease her.

When he found the guns she approached slowly, seeming almost unsure when one was offered, "I'm no good with them..." She admitted, picking one up as if it were plagued and carefully setting it down. "I'd like to have one but I've never found a functional one nor do I know how to use them. It's different from using a crossbow, I know that from the broken ones I found. You keep them." She shook her head, preferring smaller weapons that she could hide easily. "I'll carry a couple for you though."

((Ooo! I had to go look that up. XD and the energy weapons. I forgot what they looked like.))

He tsked, "only broken guns that's rather unlucky. I'm sure you won't have trouble shooting it though. The saftey and reloading is something else." Ricky picked up the gun she put down as if it was something gross. "heh, pleased to meet you Lea"

FF>>
The tension between the two still existed but he felt fairly comfortable around her. They had gathered a lot of good things too. There were a surprising amount of weapons about. The citizens had fired on each other for some reason but there was no obvious relation between the two sides. Not gender, rank, or age were consistent with the bodies dead across from each other. It was a curious thing. On the way to the Overseer's office though they passed the infirmary and gathered things there. Ricky willing gave Lea a little more med because of his large stock of weapons.

The room was a very large square with a window overlooking the 2-floored room they were in before. In the middle was a vaguely round desk made completely of metal and attached the floor. Ricky was already looking at the computer resting on the desk. Unlike the one on the wall it ran on its own power source rather than the generator that had once powered this whole place.

"Damn it's password protected. Is there anything in the lockers?" As he stepped out from behind the desk he stepped on a dried finger.

"What the-?" he whispered to himself. Upon inspecting the spot further he noticed other bits of dried flesh and blood coming from under the desk. Only it was attached to the floor. 'wait the floor's pattern!'

"Hey Lea I think this floor actually opens up to another room." he said a little excited and and terrified about what could be down there.

Lea shook her head, "No, I scanned them before and there was nothing." She looked to the ones above her head but as he spoke about the floor she spun to face him, more relaxed around him now but still unwilling to trust him, "Neat. How do we get to it?"

She walked over to see what he was looking at and then looking at him. She'd never encountered a room that the floor opened up to another and if she had she never noticed before.

"The people who built this place loved relying on their computers." he said but without much pause he went into one good thing. "But they also developed a backup plan for everything important. And I'd say this door is important. There would be a way to open it, however I'm worried about why he tried so hard to escape that only part of his hand got out." Ricky sighed, there wasn't any lower levels they could access from other areas of the Vault he was sure it. One thing he was also sure of was that if the other rooms didn't contain what he sought then this is probably where it was.

"You've been a great help, I'm glad you came with me to this dreary place but....I came here for information above all else." Ricky paused trying to think if he should tell her what.

That question might've been inevitable so he did. "My dad was one of those who escaped from this very Vault when he was probably about my age. He didn't talk about it too much but I'm a curious soon. Eventually I found out that they kept a terraforming device here!" The implications of being able to create fertile ground was huge. A big secret to share with her. His body language didn't changed but he readied his mind for any kind of betrayal that could come from this kind of information. Whether it was immediate or once they found a solution.

((the terraforming device is known as G.E.C.K.))

Thalea shrugged and stood as he spoke, "I've never really had the time to stop and poke around at the computers before." She tugged at the leather around her thighs, readjusting it so it didn't pinch. When he expressed that he was glad for her presence she laughed, "I had no choice. I'd rather not test if you were bluffing about the explosives or not." She crossed her arms, raising a brow and cocking her head to the side as he continued on.

"That's amazing." She stayed calm, hiding her shock from him as her hip popped out with her shift in stance, "You never found out where in here they kept it?" She turned back to wondering about the door, "Whatever the reason he was so desperate to escape it's bound to be dead if it was biological, correct?"

He chuckled at that. Ricky could've not had time either but he made the time to practice picking locks and disarming explosives. "I wish I took the time to learn but it was so boooring. Unlike mines or locks you can't actually touch and manipulate with your hands."

Ricky looked up at her from where he was crouched as to keep her in his sights now that she had gotten a little closer. "A terraforming device wouldn't be so special if everyone knew where to find it. Dad only knew that this vault had two of them. Told me he lost a friend who tried to retrieve it." Ricky nodded. That was a very comforting thought but what if the beast was mechanical? No these people were armed to the teeth and fought with themselves not any robots.

He circled round the desk looking and more importantly feeling it int he dim light for something. Anything significant or subtle on its surface. Ricky slowed down at the seat of the desk. Just as he suspected there was a switch there. When he pressed it nothing happened...then a barely audible click was heard in the desk. He felt around once more for a latch the pulled. What happened next broke the silence that continued through out the vault since he had crashed the shelves above an hour or so earlier. The floor mechanism grated for a moment then the desk began to rise. Not surprisingly a skeleton lay at the top of the steps that lead down into perpetual darkness. It reeked worse than the stale air he'd been breathing the entire time.

Something around the air felt odd... "Radiation!" he screamed running around the hole and picking his bag up on the way. "We gotta get out- SHIT!" The small nagging doubt of some monster became just somewhat of a reality as the next thing he saw looked like a corpse and it ran straight out of the abyss. In second he had the shotgun and was fumbling with the saftey. The creature had already turned on the heel of its boots towards the desk itself. By the time he was ready to fire the desk was receding back into the ground.

"Don't shot! Please! I mean no harm..." it spoke dropping to his knees and surrendering his hands. His voice was deep and sounded beyond cracked with age. Despite the desk door being closed he backed up a couple steps more. The radiation would have dissipated quickly but he didn't want to be to close to the source of it.

"A ghoul..." he said still putting his mind around as he was in shock. This was not at all something he expected. Ricky never hated the ghouls like some people seemed to but he always kept his distance. They always looked like they should be dead, understandably that made him extremely uncomfortable.

The young woman silently watched Ricky as he fumbled around for a switch but as she heard the click she stepped back toward the door, bolting out when he started shouting about radiation. She might not know much about the vaults or the people who had lived in them but she did know what effects radiation exposure could have on the body and wasn't keen on having any. His cursing made her turn to see the creature coming toward them and in an instant she had throwing knives in one hand and a mount knife in the other.

When Ricky stopped she did, peering around him at the goul, mumbling, "I take back my previous statement about the dead doing nuthin." She quickly stepped away from her... partner to empty her hands, all items back where they belonged when she realized just how close to him she'd stopped. If a shotgun didn't stop it then knives sure as hell wouldn't.

"How long have you been down there?" she asked, glancing at the desk then back to the goul as she stepped into view. The dead no longer made her uncomfortable after having spent many nights in places containing bodies of varying stages of decay, including a few crypts, but this goul, this moving corpse was upsetting her veiws on how more or less harmless the dead were.

((You editted the last paragraph didn't you? ;p))

The ghoul seemed to not be used to light even weak as a lamp as he squinted the whole time. He wore a simple outfit of a white t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of military grade boots. They were all about in a good condition as he looked so not the greatest. Ricky noticed for the first time though a bag not belonging to him or Lea.

Speaking softly but in no way way whispering it Ricky answered her first question."Ghouls were humans once. But they somehow survive the radiation and instead of dying start to rot. Ugly, but they're still just as smart as any person."

Sensing it was now time for him to speak he made a short chuckle. "Well kid I have no idea how long I was down there. But if you know how long this place has been abandoned I'd say that much." No longer fearing a shot without provocation he stood up just as any man would despite his decrepit appearance.

"I tried to...do something heroic and stupid. I've been trapped down there and you've read me. I'm thankful, any longer and I'd of gone feral." he shook his head. "I brought a bag. Other than the clothes I've been saving for this occasion you can have it...though I warn you it might be a little be irradiated."

Ricky turned his head slightly whispering, "Do you think we should give him a chance?"

((Yeah, I edited it all actually. I was more than half asleep last night and didn't like it when I reread it earlier. haha. I just noticed that my iPod kept respelling ghoul incorrectly too.))

"Uh-huh. I got that." She replied to him, hands on her hips and brow furrowed. It had been more of a sarcastic comment rather than a question, merely meaning that she hadn't expected to find anyone else but themselves in the entire Vault, much less a ghoul.

Her attention left Ricky when the other man spoke, her expression darkening when he called her kid but she made no comment towards it, only listened, nodding that she understood when he fell silent.

She had to think about Ricky's question, judging by his actions as he came out of the hole he didn't seem to be a threat especially when they were two healthy youths. After a moment she nodded but knew he wouldn't see it, "I don't see why not." She whispered back, still a bit unnerved by the gruesome appearance of the man before them. "He's out numbered anyway. He'd have to be an idiot to try anything."

The ghoul mustered what Ricky would assume was a smile. "I appreciate getting more credit than an idiot." He quickly grabbed some clothes out of his bag and went behind the desk. "Just a moment I need to change."

It took a little long for the ghoul to change tehre. Ricky was starting to get concerned. The only thing that assured him that the ghoul was still there was his occasionally swear at the clothing for not cooperating. Feral he was not, insane he probably was. When he emerge the majority of his face was covered by a scarf, his tattered hair looked more human under the beanie but the ski mask was ridiculous. The rest of the ghoul's clothes was a motley of brown and black fabric thrown in tandem with black leather. He looked a lot to Ricky like some desert nomad but this guy was from an air-conditioned vault. Whether or not he had lived in hell for the last three decades didn't mean he knew how to make clothes for the wasteland above- sometimes freezing cold or freaking hot.

"Alright if that is all let's get moving ghoul...no weapons for you though so if you got some in your bag leave inside." The ghoul for a moment didn't seem pleased but quickly resigned to the much younger person. He trailed behind with his bag in his hand and keeping a respectful distance to them.

"My name is Fen" he told unconfronting. Curiously he observed his two saviors from behind. The boy reminded him of someone he once knew...but he could not for the life of himself remember. The girl had no gun that he could see. Someone he could imagine besting him in hand to hand combat.

((It's a good name. I like it at least.))

Thalea was silent even as they began to leave but her gaze kept darting back behind them at the ghoul, her gaze almost suspicious even when she was the one who'd said they should give him a chance. It was the feeling of someone behind her, regardless of who they were.

Finally she stopped when the paranoia got to be too much for her, moving out of the path of Fen and waiting for him to pass with a motion of her hand to tell him silently to keep moving before she followed him. She'd been imagining all the missed weapons he could stumble upon and gather.

She began to wonder if Ricky was going to expect her to rest in his shelter when they left or if he even had a place to hide from the elements. If he was going to allow Fen to rest with them or not.

((EDIT-->oh jeeze the first paragraph was confusing *fixes*
and lol GECK has 4 letters not 5. I'm an idiot xDD))

Trip up was quiet. Ricky shared in Lea's paranoia, which fortunately she acted on it first. The ghoul, Fen, complied like he had since they've known him. But Ricky wasn't letting his guard down, not just because it was the smart thing but because there was no way he could imagine feeling any kinds of comfortable with a living corpse as company. The armor Fen wore covered him up but Ricky knew...plus Fen had obviously not showered in a long time. It was something to hear a wastelander complain about someone else's B.O.

The GECK seemed like a lost cause now. He wanted to ask the ghoul, it was his best chance afterall. But he just felt all hope slip and didn't want to bother with the great idea he had in his mind at that time. It was surprisingly Fen who spoke up first. "The exit is not much further, what's the plan? I understand if I'm not welcome but I've no where to go."

Ricky didn't pay mind to the tone or the pity Fen was trying to muster from them. "I know where I'm going...and Lea I wouldn't mind if you came with me. Fen just go west, eventually you might find more like you." Fen flinched a little at that. A ghoul he may have been but these two were the first to lay eyes on him since that transformation and the slight rejection hurt.

"Fine have it that way then!" Fen's temper flared a moment then suddenly he quieted. "Boy, er- Ricky you remind me someone I once knew. It bugs the hell outta me I can't figure. But...I want to give you something that I feel I should giving you."

Throwing caution to the wind he reached into his bag without regard of their paranoia and pulled out what looked like a suitcase...only hit had four bold letters printed on it: G.E.C.K. Completely dumbfounded Ricky stared at it before even a thought crossed him mind to reach for it.

Thalea crossed her arms when he told the man he wasn't welcome, not angry in Fen's defense but angry that Ricky hadn't asked her first when they were partners. She began to speak, "Hey If we're-" But was cut off by Fen's movement, silver glinting in her fingers before his hand was all the way in the bag. She waited, her breath and pulse still calm until he brought out the item he'd been reaching for.

The case. The one Ricky said he'd been looking for.

It gave her all the more reason to tell Ricky off, "If we're going to be 'partners' getting my opinion before doing something like kicking away a potentially useful person would be nice." She made sure to give Fen a look that told him that she was in no way defending him, that her motives for saying what she had were purely selfish as she motioned to the case.

She didn't want to get stuck in a sticky situation because he made some sort of comment or decision that would affect them both without asking her.

Ricky sighed. 'Damn now you've upset a woman! Is there any use arguing here?' he thought to himself. He didn't care too much how useful Fen could be- he was a ghoul! At least Fen was giving the terraformer to them for free. It was just a matter if she actually wanted to keep him along.

"You're right, so would you prefer to keep Fen with us?" Ricky caught Fen looking to her with hopeful eyes. Even for selfish reasons they had he did not mind. His best chance of survival in a world he knew nothing of was with these two.

((Okay I typed this twice already and it was longer before I lost it those times... Time for the short plain bare bones one.))

The young woman's face went slack with shock when he immediately obliged. She'd expected his pride to force her angered words into an argument, the lack of said argument left her speechless for less than a second before her expression turned thoughtful.

Fen would slow them down but an extra pair of eyes and hands as well as his knowledge of the Vaults could benefit them. He could tell them of places to look that people might not normally know of and the functions of some things that they wouldn't otherwise know. Also, judging by how depserate Ricky seemed to get rid of Fen, the man would help deter strangers they wouldn't want to meet.

"As unpleasant as you find him it'd be beneficial to keep him with us." She said, listing none of the reasons she'd found as she turned to Fen, pointing the knife in his face, the sharp tip less than an inch from his face, "But you have to earn the right to stay with us and continue to stay with us."

Fen nodded his thanks. "Good good, I have skills yes...computers and demolitions. I can also fight with a sword I brought but....I haven't used it for so long." he admitted.

This was surprising turn of events. Fen happened to have skills that made up for what Ricky didn't know. But it was still only a claim not yet proven. "Yeah that sounds fair to me. You don't get to stay in any group if you don't have something to give back anyways." he said simply stating a fact rather than trying to drive a point home but Fen took it all in a serious stride. "This suitcase...is a good start. You know what this is right?" he asked after accepting it from Fen.

"Yes, it is for Terraforming." Fen could see the young man somehow knew about it. Was this a good thing? So long he had been away from other people he wasn't sure how to read Ricky's words or face. "But I don't recommend using it till it's properly inspected. The GECK uses a cold fusion reactor and if that is broken we all go kaboom!" They were at the open gate out now. Ricky stepped out with ease forgetting how he lied to Lea about the demolition charges which should've gone off about time Fen dramatically said "kaboom".

((I'd been losing them a lot before and forgot twice in a row to copy paste.))

Thalea followed along with the two, cleaning her knife and beginning to put it away as they walked but when the ghoul uttered the dramatic sound she jumped with a soft cry, the clatter of metal ringing against the floor as her knife fell from her hands.

She too had forgotten about the charges but her mind threw the memory at her in the instant she heard the unexpected sound. When she discovered that the charges had been a lie she glared at Ricky, bending to scoop up her knife, wanting badly to stab him with it but resisting the urge though blood began to drip from her fingers as her hand tightened around the blade. "You lied to me?" She asked angrily, her voice barely controlled, "Did it ever occur to you to say as much?!" She snapped at the tall man.

It seemed she had a hot temper and was quick to anger. She knew she lost her temper often but never bothered to change it when she could remain calm when the situation demanded it completely and wholly.

Ricky's senses hit full alert and he turned to his now acclaimed 'partner'. "What-?" She cut him off with anger. Deadly intent burned in her eyes.

"err...no I completely forgot about that bluff heh..." he took a step back waving his hands slowly and nervously. "Bright side though you got more than we could have hoped for."

Fen spoke up though not exactly for Ricky. "P-please calm yourself Lea. You're bleeding."

The young woman blinked when her bleeding hand was brought to attention and she seemed more worried about the knife than her hand, only shaking some of the blood off her hand before carefully cleaning the blade, a disgusted sound leaving her mouth. She slipped the blade back into her pocket and closed her hand into a tight fist to put pressure on the wound. It wasn't a particularly a big wound but it was deep at the base of her index finger which was why it had bled as it had.

"I'm fine." She said to Fen, shaking her head and taking out a square of fabric and wiping her hand, watching the blood well up again from the wound before wadding up the fabric in her fist and holding it. "I suppose it's too late to warn you that I have a temper with a short fuse." She directed at no one in particular.

"As long as I'm no where you or your blades when it flares I think I'll live." Ricky joked lightly thinking of the kind of hell he'd be in when she had PMS. "Since Fen is now travelling with us I was planning to head southeast. Hopefully no animals found my cache there. If they do it'll be radroaches so only harm would be less good food."

"I wish to be helpful in battle since it seems inevitable to happen at some point. Could we spar later Lea?" Fen pulled out his Chinese officer's sword from his bag enough to be seen still in its sheath. "I'm very good at being unseen but used up my daggers cutting meat."

Ricky didn't need any hints as to the source of where he got that meat. No doubt the first couple days in whatever hell he spent his time in had caused his primal instincts to show its ugly head. "haha out of sight but not out of smell you stinky ghoul." he said giving an exaggerated expression. For the first time in forever Fen finally laughed. he and ricky could maybe get along after all.

"Your proximity to me when I'm angry, blades or no, make no difference if you don't aggravate the situation or you're not the source of aggravation." she said after allowing a smile in credit to his joke. She unfisted her hand and stretched it experimentally but it no longer bled though she knew it would if she held something tight enough so she placed the fabric back in it's respective pocket and pulled out some gauze to wrap around her hand.

Thalea eyed the sword then Fen, "If you use something blunter than that or you keep it in its sheath while we spar. I've never fought against a sword before and I'd rather not risk injury if I turn out to be bad at it. I have some knives I found a week back that are for practice." Which reminded her, "If I'm to be staying with you Ricky then let's take a detour to my shelter so I may gather my things."

Fen nodded about a blunter edge "I agree, I don't want to get cuts either."

Ricky meanwhile never turned the face them. He was paying attention for any opportunist who may have stumbled upon the entrance to the Vault. "Sure no problem. A shack is more welcome than a cache to rest at anyway." he said noting that while it was still clear daylight the shadows told him the sun was now descending along its arc in the sky.