Questions, Answers, and Cheesecake
I had fun writing this commissioned story for @thedorkyastra!
The sun was high and the radiation was low, the perfect day to move to the center of the commonwealth. Piper was filling out the final paperwork in the mayor's office. Her ears were sharp, ready to grasp on any sign of a story.
“It’ll be nice to have something to new to read for once.” A man’s voice said. Piper turned around to see something she only ever shot at. A synth. But this one was different he was wearing detective clothes, and was smoking a cigarette.
“Nick, please no smoking inside.” Geneva said, Piper could hear a flirty tone in her voice.
“Oh sorry Geneva.” The detective took a final deep breath crushed the cigarette in his hand. “Now you don’t need to look at me like I’m a three headed Brahmin. Names Nick Valentine. I met your sister down stairs nice kid.” He flicked the cigarette out the large window, and reached out to shake her hand.
“ Piper Wright.” She took the hand slowly. There was only one way for her to describe the feeling. Weird. Because it felt like metal, but at the same time felt like genuine act of kindness.
“Now I’m sure you have questions. But I have some business to attend to with Mcdonough.” As he spoke the doors to the office opened, and a large cheery man walked out. The second Piper saw him she heard alarms go off in her head. Something wasn’t right about him.
“NICK! So good to see you my friend. Did you get that information I sent?” McDonough forcefully grabbed both of Nick’s hands and shook them roughly.
“Yea yea. Sent me on a wild goose chase. Next time you should try fact checking everything.”
“What’s this now?” Piper asked intrigued.
“Now Now Miss Wright, was it? While having a paper in town will surely be appreciated by everyone. Try to realize, personal matters should stay personal.”
“Oh of course Mr. Mayor.” Piper said, mocking Geneva’s tone.
“Now then, Nick if you please.” McDonough motioned towards his office, and the Synth nodded and went on in.
“Nice to meet you again Piper.” He gave a final wave as the doors closed behind him.
“Now let's finish that paperwork shall we?” Geneva wasn’t in a flirty mood anymore.
A few days passed and Piper and Nat seemed to final moved in. The previous tenant left behind books upon books. Some well kept over time, some newer self published books. The two of them were organizing them. Trying to figure out what to keep, to sell, or to donate to the school. “What’s this?” Nat held up a leather bound book. It simple said New Testament.
“I think it's a bible. Put it on the table we’ll see it the pastor across the street wants it. So, that Valentine character. What do you think?” Piper asked.
“I donno. I mean he seems nice. Gave me a Nuka Cola.” Nat said as she sat the bible down. “You got an itch?”
“You know it. I did some digging. He’s some kind of local legend. He saved the last mayor’s kid. But still, he’s a synth.” Piper fingers were tapping on the book she held. “But he acts human?” She looked at the book she was messing with. Wizard of Oz. One of the few books their dad would read to them. “Maybe he’s like the tin man.”
“Why don’t you just talk to him?” Nat fell back on the bed. “Worst he can say is no.”
“Nat Nat Nat. You gotta know the target. He’s a detective. He knows people, knows how to use his words to get what he wants. Nick may be a synth, but he’s charismatic. If I go up to him, he could read what I wanted from a mile away.”
“From the sound of that I’d say you to are a lot alike.”
“Hmm. I’m going out. You should get to bed. School starts tomorrow.” Piper grabbed the bible on the table and headed out the door. The last thing she heard was her sister groan.
“Thank you Piper. This will be helpful if anyone wants to know more about the christian god.” Pastor Clements took the book. “Now I have a feeling this isn’t just a social call.”
“Hey just trying to be a good neighbor.” Piper said.
“Right. I already know you’ve been digging for info on good old nick.”
“Can you blame a girl for being curious?”
Clements laughed. “Listen. Nick, he’s a good man. He never tries to hide who he is, and well. Sometimes I think he’s more human than the rest of us.”
“But he’s not human. He’s. a. Synth.”
“Listen. Piper. You gotta think more with your heart than your head. Everybody and everything has a chance to live and do things. They can be good, they can be bad. Nick is one of the good ones. You may think him being a Synth makes him evil. But I’ll tell you this, I think the only other person around here who is bothered by him being a synth, is Nick himself.”
The words the pastor spoke ligerned in Piper’s head. She took a drink from the beer in her hand. Maybe he was right, maybe she was digging too much into this. But she couldn’t get rid of the itch. In fact, the itch was getting worse by the minute.
“Heard you’ve been asking about me.” Piper jumped a bit when Nick sat himself at the stool next to hers. “Vadim. Beer please, and you better not replace it with moonshine again!” Nick narrowed his eyes at the troublemaking brother before returning his attention to Piper. “You know, you could have just asked the source.”
“Well, you can understand why I didn’t.”
Nick laughed as he opened the beer with his hand. “Of course I do! You think your the first person I’ve done this song and dance with. Everytime a new person moves into the city, they think there gonna be the one to dig up all my secrets.”
“So you do have secrets?” Piper smirked.
“You don’t?” Nick took a deep drink from the bottle. “Secrets are secrets for a reason. We don’t want people to know them. Sure, some secrets are dangerous. But some are just secrets for a reason others won’t understand.”
“You going to spill any of them?”
Nick tapped his fingers and smirked. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you one question a day. We can meet up, you can come to the agency. I’ll be hundred percent honest. Detective’s honor.”
“I expect the same from you.”
Piper considered the offer. She remembered what she told Nat. It seemed like they were both true. Nick was trying to work that charm of his. But she didn’t get that feeling she got with McDonough. “Alright Nicky you got a deal.” The two of them shook hands. “Alright, How the hell are drinking that?”
“Same as you. With my lips.” Nick smirked. Pipers eyes narrowed at him. Nick laughed. “Right right. Sorry. I’m not like those hunks of junks you see digging around the wasteland. Whatever the institute shoved in me they wanted to try to make me human as good be. But, as you can see.” Nick gestured to himself. “Didn’t work out.”
It wasn’t a good answer, but it was an answer. Piper sighed. She needed to think about this. “Now then I do believe it’s my turn to ask a question.”
Nick gave her an annoyed look but ignored it.“If you could try any food to ever exist what would it be?”
“Excuse me?” Piper almost laughed. Was this a joke to him?
Piper shook her hand. “I guess I would wanna try.” Piper trailed off. She remembered a cookbook she found in her new house. “Cheesecake.”
“Good choice.” Nick said. He chugged the last of his beer. “Oh and in case you're wondering, I can’t get drunk.”
“Depends on who you ask.”
A few days had passed and they learned things about each other. Piper learned how Nick had the memories of an old detective, Nick learned Piper liked Jazz music. When Piper asked about how he found his way to Diamond City, he told her the story of living with a settlement, then when he decided to leave he ran into some raiders who kidnapped a young woman. She almost laughed at the stupidity of the raiders who believed Nick was a bomb. Nick wanted to know if she was more of a cat person or a dog person.She couldn’t choose between the two.
She knew what his plan was,and she didn’t mind that it was working. Nick just wanted her to be his friend. But she still wanted to know about the institute. Sadly she wasted one of her questions asking about what it was like there. Only for him to say he didn’t remember. Piper told him her favorite season was fall.
Piper was walking back into the city with a bag full of ink she managed to get from local stores. All of it was expired. But it would work. She brought it into her house and sat it by the printer. “Nat? You home?” She should have been back from school by now.
Piper walked into the street to see if she could find her sister, it didn’t take long because Nat was sat at Power Noodles waiting as Takahashi sat down two bowls of noodles. When the robot moved, the other one was revealed to be sitting next to her.
“Hey Piper! Did you find the ink?” Nat said with excitement. “Nick fixed the printer. We can finally post a story!”
“Oh really Nick?” Piper asked.
“Hey I told you, I’m looking forward to reading something new.” Nick said. “We need another bowl Takahashi.”
“I was thinking Piper! We should look into Sheng Kawolski. He’s real shady. I mean how is a kid running a water purfaction center?!”
“Just like your sister huh?” Nick chuckled. “So you got a question Piper?”
Piper thought for a minute. Before she answered Nat spoke up. “Can I ask one!?”
“Yea you can have this one.” Piper took a bite of the piping hot noodles.
“So your last name is Valentine. Can you love?” Piper almost choked.
Nick laughed. “No it’s fine.” Nick stopped and thought for moment. “I think I can. I mean it’s just another emotion. I don’t know if I can feel the love a husband feels for a wife, mostly because I couldn’t put anyone through that. But the love you two got.” He pointed his chopsticks at the both of them. “I know I can feel that. Because that kind of love doesn’t mean giving half of yourself. It means you already share something. Something no one can explain. Science may try to say it’s because you share DNA. But I say it’s something more. Maybe it’s a soul, or maybe it’s just a need. A need to have somebody to care about other than yourself. I know I have that feeling. Because if I didn’t, well I would have you take me out back and take care of me like the other synths.”
Piper stared at the synth sitting there. She had spent the first weeks of her new life trying to ruin his. She finally got what Pastor Clements was telling her. Nick was human, even if he didn’t think so. “Your quite the poet Nicky. I’ll give you that.”
“So, you got a question for us then?” Nat asked excitedly.
“Yea.” Nick bent down to his side and pulled up a cooler. “You want some cheesecake.”
“HECK YEA!” Nat screamed happily. Nick started to open the cooler.
“Where the hell did you get that?” Piper asked.
“I have a buddy who lives in Vault 81. Had to rush over there early this morning, and he hooked me up. Consider it a housewarming gift, sorry its late.”
Nick started pulled out folks and plates. He cut a piece and placed it on the girl’s plate. “Wait.” He reached his hand into the color and pulled out a glass jar filled with a red gooey liquid. “Strawberry jam.” He placed a spoonful. “Gotta hand it to Vault 81, they got the good stuff.”
Nat took a big bite of the cake, her eyes seemed to sparkly. “It’s so good! Nick aren’t you gonna eat any.”
“Sadly dairy never wants to work with my system. Go on Piper have some.”
Piper took a bit and it was as delicious as she could have ever imagined. “So what does it taste like?”
“Taste like Home Nicky. Taste Like Home.”
