Stumble
All she wanted was a cold beer.
At least that's what she tells herself as she walks past Ham for the second time that evening. The first time being with Nora as they searched for some flighty woman named Emogene for some strange, alien obsessed shut in. She certainly wasn't spying on a certain Vault Dweller. She was simply craving a beer and a few people to interview. Piper was not focused on how close her friend (because that's all she was, if she was honest with herself, and that was all she would ever be, if she was brutally honest with herself.) was sitting to a certain leggy, blue eyed lounge singer. She tries to keep her eyes trained on Charlie as she motions for a beer, remembering to say please, she tries not to notice how the singer's fingers trace over Nora's thigh like it had been there a hundred times, like it had a claim to the skin that lay just beneath the fabric of her clothes. She tries to ignore how much it hurts, how it feels an awful lot like being socked in the stomach, punched through the heart, knowing that it really shouldn't hurt because they were just friends.
Even if she would spend many a late night at Publick Occurrences staring at the ceiling as she willed herself not to remember her smile, the dimple in her left cheek and the way her eyes lit up for a few brief moments.
Even if she would spend many a late night in shacks, in tunnels, in caves, watching Nora sleep instead of watching out for Raiders.
Even if she was currently sitting slightly down the bar from her, quietly stewing in her own emotions, trying to tell herself that the whole reason why she probably liked Blue so much was because she didn't run around threatening to kick her out of her home, she never mistrusted her, because she was her friend. That it had nothing to do with the way the corner of her eyes crinkled when she laughed, or the way she tended to give more than she took. Or how her voice sent subtle shivers down her spine when she would say Piper's name.
God, she was fucked.
She sighed, pulling an ashtray towards her as she lit up a cigarette, she inhaled, shutting her eyes against the sudden rush of nicotine. When she opens them, Nora is right there next to her as the singer sways back up to her stage. She has this dopey, goofy, half smile on her face and Piper has to bite her tongue to keep herself from saying something she'll regret. She has to remind herself that she's not a jealous lover, she's Piper. An entertaining, snarky sidekick at best and a nosy snoop at worst. It hurts, she thinks, but it's much more simple than admitting that she wants more.
"Well fancy seeing you here." Nora's voice soothes her thoughts even if it's slurring and it takes her a moment or two of watching Nora sway in her seat to figure out that she's drunk.
If she wasn't so miserable, she might have found it funny.
"We came into this city together Blue, it can't really be that big of a surprise." She says dryly, "did you find anything out about Emogene?" The taller woman's smile gets even wider as she shakes her head and not for the first time Piper is wondering how she gets her teeth so white. "Yeah, I don't know why I thought you would. Given your ah...current state." Nora lets out a low, tipsy chuckle and Piper jumps as the other woman's head hits her shoulder. "Jesus Blue, how much did you have?" Piper can feel her shrug, can barely hear her mumble against her shoulder and she lets out another weary sigh. "What am I going to do with you huh?" A weight gets lifted off her shoulder and she can feel her eyes widen as Nora looks at her, blue-green eyes red-rimmed and bloodshot but filled with light.
"Love me." The Vault Dweller states it as if the words came naturally, as if the thought was almost common, as if the thought wasn't some monstrous behemoth that Piper had been wrestling it for the greater part of a month. If Piper had been chewing any, she just might have choked on her bubblegum.
"I-What?" The journalist gives her head a shake, (She's drunk, she doesn't know what she's saying, she doesn't know what she wants but if she did she sure the hell wouldn't want her), "Look, let's just get you back to the hotel before you can embarrass yourself even more." Nora nods absentmindedly and gets to her feet, surprisingly steady on drunken legs. She never ceased to amaze, that one. Piper looks after her, slightly amused as the taller woman shuffles towards the stairs, she places the money on the bar before following after her.
"God." They're stopped just in front of the steps and Nora is looking at the top of them with a type of hazy admiration, she whispers more towards herself than to Piper, "they're so tall." Piper rolls her eyes and nudges her arm before climbing up the steps.
"C'mon Blue, let's get a move on." She says it without looking back, trusting Blue to be steady enough on her feet to make it up a couple of steps with a handrail.
All it takes is a stumble. Piper's body jolts a bit as arms wrap around her waist and she can feel Nora's breath, warm and soft on her neck. She freezes completely on the spot and she hears Nora let out a small, quiet laugh, murmuring a small, quiet apology.
"I'm just gonna stay like this a while if that's okay with you." She mumbles into her neck and Piper laughs to cover up her nerves.
"Uh yeah." She cringes as her voice cracks, she panics for a split second before covering it up with a joke "Can't have you falling and breaking a hip can we." That earns her a huff and she laughs as she inches her way up the stairs.
Eventually Nora stops leaning on her, the reporter almost misses her warmth but can't deny just how entertaining she is as she walks down the street, although saunters may be better. All swinging arms and large steps in a coat that's a size or two too big, it's almost endearing and for a moment she can't believe that this is the same woman that used to take down Super Mutants with nothing more than a barely functioning pipe pistol and an awful lot of well placed head shots. Piper spares a glance at the large rifle strapped to her back and cracks a smile, the only thing that changed was the gun.
"Officer." Nora's voice breaks her out of her thoughts and she looks up to find her saluting the neighborhood guard. She doesn't know whether to laugh or to groan, but she does know that Nora has to be this type of drunk more often. It was more....expected as opposed to the way she would stare into glass after glass of whiskey, the way her shoulders would slump as though she was finally feeling the full weight of all her problems. (Because with the way her eyes are, you know she's got them.)
Piper approaches them with a smile and tugs at the sleeve of her coat. "C'mon Blue. We gotta get inside." She looks over at the guard who seems to be trying to figure out whether to be amused or offended. She can feel her smile turn sheepish as her looks over at her. "Sorry, she uh....she doesn't get out much." Nora scoffs at that and before she can go into her lecture of how of course she gets out much, somebodies got to fight for the damn Commonwealth and it sure as fuck isn't them, Piper is guiding them up the short amount of steps to the Hotel.
It's when they get to the door to the room when Nora stumbles again, over her own two feet, arms going back around Piper's waist and the reporter jumps yet again, she doesn't dare turn back to look at her. She knows her face is as red as her coat. "Problems walking again huh?"
Nora grumbles in response, her face pressed somewhere between her jaw and her shoulder. She can feel her lips move against her pulse and suddenly she can hear her heart beating like a bass drum in her ears. It's so loud she barely catches her next words.
"What'd you say?" Nora's mouth moves from her neck to the edge of her ear and Piper has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from making a noise she knows she'll regret.
"I said you smell nice." Her voice is a raspy, whiskey edged whisper and she shivers slightly against the breath on her ear, hot and sticky and making her stomachs do flips and she could hate her, she really could for making her so dumbfounded for making her heart skip beats without even being sober. But then again, being sober was never Nora's strong suit. The reporter stands there for a moment, fingers searching her pockets to keep from reaching back behind her to thread fingers through hair that she'd been dying to touch. She was supposed to be finding something. She knows she is.
"Thanks...I uhm....I bathe." 'Good job idiot, very articulate.' She thinks to herself and she can feel Nora's arms tighten around her waist, lips still hovering just over her ear and she doesn't know whether to be mad or not but she knows she feels very, very hot, she can't think over the fog that's slowly clouding her mind with every breath Nora takes, with every rise and fall of Nora's chest against her back, all she can think about is how nice her arms feel and how the rest of her body might feel. She lets out a shaky breath as she thinks about how her mouth would feel, how her hands wou-
"Aren't you supposed to be finding the key?" Nora's voice breaks her out of her thoughts and she lets out a curse or two as her fingers clasp the key in her pocket, she brings it up to the lock and forces it inside with trembling hands. Twisting the door knob almost violently they stumble inside, falling to a heap on the floor and Piper swears that if she wasn't the same color as her coat before she most certainly is now. Her heart beating wildly in her chest as Nora lets out a groan, and she hopes to whatever god is out there that she doesn't notice when Nora pulls away. Her auburn hair disheveled as she sits up, blue-green eyes suddenly clearer, brow furrowing just enough for the scars on her face to deepen. She looks down at her for a moment and Piper wonders if it would be possible for a mirelurk to show up, or maybe a radscorpion because either of those two things are much less terrifying then the look that Nora has in her eyes like she's just realizing something that Piper has been trying to keep quiet about for the last several weeks. Like she might actually, maybe likes her too.
But Piper shakes the thought away as they both stand up, Nora dusting off her jacket before shooting her a slightly roguish grin. It wont happen, she's just drunk, or at least that's what Piper tells herself as she watches the Vault Dweller wander off to the couch, slipping her rifle off her shoulder and shucking off her boots while she gets settled into the bed. She's fast asleep and curled up into a ball, cocooned in at least two different blankets when Nora's voice sober and silent, mutters a quiet "I love you."