i know it's been said a million times, but there should be a mod where you can bury your spouse. It'd be even better if there were unique interactions where your follower helps you either by offering or you asking them once your affinity is high enough.
or it's a mission that can trigger after saving the quincy group and you can ask Preston/Sturges to help you dig the grave because you helped them settle in sanctuary (takes way longer as one person then you'd think, there's a reason it's a full time job). Or even if you return to Sanctuary while Codsworth is there, after finishing the main questline, and he asks if maybe you think it's time to bury sir/the missus for closure, and then he offers to help you.
it could even be more heavily scripted/fade to black like some of the missions from far harbor and then there's a grave with a little scrapped together cross or headstone or some hubflowers or something.
bonus points if you can leave things around the grave marker like a teddy bear or letter blocks or the holotape or anything you want within an appropriate size range and there are slots that it clicks too so they can't be kicked or picked up by settlers.
maybe if it's an institute ending, even an option to put up a plaque honoring the spouse or something, like a little side table alter of things that remind you of your spouse. It could even be like pre generated stuff that spawns into the quarters.
anything more then leaving them frozen underground, alone in the place that took everything from the both of you, forever.
playing fallout 4 as the female mc is so funny bc it’s so obviously geared towards the ex-military male mc, meanwhile nora fallout ESQUIRE was a fucking lawyer and now has to navigate a post apocalyptic with seemingly no survival skills handy (girl worked a desk job don’t blame her) and on top of that SHES ONLY A FEW MONTHS POSTPARTUM LIKE????
personally, i think with her backstory it shows a lot more resiliency compared to her husband who was better equipped for the situation but that’s just my opinion🤷♀️
Fic Summary: Nick Valentine has never felt like a real person. Mostly due to the whole synth business, but having another man's memories in his head certainly wasn't helpful. Yet, despite that, whenever Nora's around, he feels like a real man, whether that be emotional turmoil or the way she treated him.
Rating: General Audiences
Relationship(s): Nick Valentine/ Nora
Nick Made his way towards the Museum of Witchcraft. Given its already dubious reputation of harbouring dead people, it seemed like a good place to start. With that, it finally gave him a second to himself, a moment to think about it all.
So, what? The original Nick Valentine knew Nora? Elenore? Why on earth did he call her Elenore? He didn't even know her full name was Elenore. Hell, she even knew Jenny from the sounds of it.
She seemed to know all about Eddie Winter too. Going as far to say she helped Nick investigate all those years ago. Getting forensic investigators to give her classified files just for him. So, she must've known about the case. Was she just pretending when he told her all about him? About what he's done to the man personally? She already knew?
Nick noticed a trail of a familiar bright red substance leading up the road, he decided to follow.
And what? She didn't tell him a single thing? Or did she not remember him? Nick couldn't tell which was worse. It seemed like they were close. Nick seemed to know Nate, from the looks of it, the two seemed to be friends as well. Even if they were just work friends, why didn't she remember that?
Is this why Nora was so familiar to him?
He already knew her.
He's known her.
So, she didn't want to tell him? But why? Doesn't he deserve to know? Doesn't she want to reconnect with the man she apparently already knew? Or did she see him as some worthless copy of her friend?
Nick continued to spiral as he followed the trail of blood.
The alone time was giving him time to get stuck in his own thoughts, hypothesising every and any possibility. He was about to blow a gasket.
He could barely acknowledge his surroundings. He walked mindlessly as he was caught in his mind. No deathclaw could possibly rip him from his train of thought.
Nora on the other hand was investigating a dead brahmin beside the church in Salem. It wasn't gutted, and Barney's turrets would have shot down any hostile in the area. So, it certainly couldn't have been mirelurks, a yaoi guai or any of those pesty bugs.
Salem was desolate, what was once a bustling community was filled with only the eerie sound of the wind gusting through the rickety houses. Nora thought to herself that she should send some scouting parties up this way. It'd make it significantly safer, not to mention a safe place for a settlement.
Those ideas were short lived, because one thing was on her mind. Plaguing every thought, Nick.
She continued to probe the area as she thought about everything going on.
She thought about Nick. Aside from her usual 'impure' thoughts as Hancock called them, she also worried about him. Terribly worried.
He was prone to getting caught up in his thoughts, overthinking and over analysing everything, it upset her, it really did. When he'd get lost in la-la land, he'd become quiet, which was something she was used to. He'd be back to his usual wise-cracking self within a day or two, but now it was different.
He could be quiet, that was fine, but he was cagey. He used a tone he had never used with her before. All of that gentleness she loved so much was now gone.
She wanted her Nick Valentine back.
She noticed a trail of blood, it was fresh and it led down through the town. She followed suit.
She listened to the water below. Sometimes she wished that Sanctuary was on the coast. The sound of the sea would drown out the long nights of her mind running through every thought.
They both followed their own trail, but they both ended up at the same place. The Sandy Coves Convalescent Home.
It had been a pre-war nursing home. A place of comfort for the residents, now an abandoned waste of a building. The waves crashed violently on the shore nearby, the sun had started setting, but it was darker than average to see, on account of the rain clouds that had rolled in. Loud cracks of thunder could be heard in the distance.
Nora noticed Nick and her had found themselves together again.
She looked at him, giving him a teasing smile.
"Detective." She said playfully.
Nick had only become more withdrawn with every idea that permeated his mind. "Nora."
Her smile faded.
"Well, I guess our search leads us to uh-"
"-Sandy Coves Convalescent Home." He said flatly.
"Yeah…"
Nick turned the knob on the door, and opened it.
Suddenly, a dozen or so generation two synths noticed the duo, turning to them.
A myriad of repeated voice lines along with lasers were thrown at them.
They quickly hid behind the door frame as Institute pistols shot at them.
Nora drew her ten millimetre and shot back. "Synths?! I thought we took care of The Institute??"
"They must be acting on old orders. Kidnapping people to replace 'em." Nick pulled out his own pistol, his bad hand shaking.
She grumbled something under her breath that Nick could barely hear. "Tired of…. old family business…"
On account of generation two synths being close in intelligence to a toaster. Getting rid of them was plain and easy. They wouldn't even leave the building to pursue the two, in an attempt to protect whatever was in the building.
They both shot at them, some of the synths took cover, which made it difficult to to land a hit on them. Nora made the potentially unwise decision to head inside, seeking out the synths herself.
In the moment she didn't really think of what Nick had said to her about her well being, but based on the way he was acting, she assumed he wasn't either.
She body slammed one of them into the wall, destroying its fragile frame.
The last synth hid behind the counter. Maybe acting out of fear, or out of instructions to not 'die'. Nobody knew. Nora took the last shot, drilling through the skull of the synth like butter. The synth went down like it was nothing. It was nothing.
Once the coast was clear, Nick swiftly turned the corner of the door frame, investigating the inside, not paying any attention to Nora.
He went past the initial doors, walking into a hallway.
"Check out the rest of the building. We must be close." He yelled from the hall.
She grumbled as she searched for keys in the reception area. She found nothing, except for some worthless files.
She stood back up, taking a swift glance around the room.
It was boring, absolutely nothing stood out. Wrecked furniture, torn wallpaper, exposed walls. Aside from a very small trail of blood. Splatters of it led into the hallway.
Nora was surprised Nick didn't notice it.
The Mr. Handys that would usually litter the home were destroyed, presumably by the synths. So, asking them for any information was entirely out of the question.
She turned into the same hallway Nick did, following the blood, with him being nowhere to be seen. She couldn't even hear his footsteps despite the eerie silence. She felt alone.
When Nora first left the vault, she travelled a bit on her own. Searching long abandoned buildings for any kind of resource that could be useful to her. Without the hustle and bustle of the city, the world felt so big, and so alone.
She wouldn't like when Codsworth came along with her, the idea of the last person she has possibly getting destroyed tore her apart.
So, when Nick came around, she was relieved to have someone Commonwealth savvy. Not to mention the company, having Nick around felt like hanging out with an old friend.
The harsh wind could be heard from outside, blowing through small cervices in the building. The heavy rain made its way to them and was pounding on the windows, along with the thunder shaking the earth. Lightning causes different rooms to be lit up for a fraction of a second. Nora dreaded walking home in the pouring rain.
She walked around in the endless corridors, she would scan each room carefully, looking for any hint of sentient life.
A few cats wandered the building, after they came out of hiding from the synths. One of them rubbed up against Nora's leg, she picked the cat up and hoisted it gently over her shoulder.
"You don't think you could point me to some missing people, minou?"
She scratched its chin as she wandered the halls of the building. The blood trail she was following disappearing.
The handful of cats wandering around causing the wood boards to creak. She finally heard Nick upstairs, he hummed lowly in response to something. She found it odd how she couldn't hear his footsteps of all things.
Unfortunately, she continued to find absolutely nothing.
"Nick!" She yelled.
No response.
What could she have possibly done to make him act this way? He's never this way with her, even in his angriest moments, his rage was never directed at her.
Nora's heart dropped to her stomach.
Could it have been…?
No, he would've said something.
The very faint last few drops of blood let down one more hall. Nora made her way to the dining room.
In the corner, was a large pile of bodies. Of caravan traders.
Nora couldn't help but scream. She's seen gory sights such as these before, often in raider camps or super mutant holes. In here, in this home that was supposed to be comforting and a safe haven, it was unexpected.
In the pile of corpses, a body stared directly at her, it was terrifying.
She let the cat go, reaching for her pistol and backing up out of instinct.
She heard Nick run down from upstairs, "what happened?" He sounded concerned for the first time in a while.
He stopped dead in his tracks.
"Jesus." Nora covered her mouth, she felt nauseous. "Fuck."
Nick turned on his heel and started walking out.
She rushed over to him.
"Where are you going?"
"Out." Nick said sternly, his whole demeanour changing.
"Out? What do you mean out?"
Nora followed him closely.
"Outside."
Nick nearly busted the door down exiting the building, completely disregarding Nora.
It pained him to be like this. He didn't want to be acting foolish but he couldn't help it. He didn't want to treat Nora like this, he loved her for God's sake. He couldn't help it, he was just so… angry.
Angry because she never told him.
Angry because she didn't remember him.
Angry because she never bothered saying anything.
Sometimes he had wished he was one of those emotionless brain dead synths created just to serve, like the ones they just killed. Maybe that way he didn't have to go through the terrifying ordeal of feeling.
Nora was tired, she was fed up. She'd had a long two days of getting the shit kicked out of her and her dearest friend being incredibly cagey. Not to mention rude. She didn't understand why he was being so closed off, so quiet, so antsy. They've been through hell and back together, and this is when he breaks?
"What the hell is going on with you?!" She screamed from the porch of the Sandy Coves Convalescent Home.
Nick swiftly turned his head in surprise, his fresh cigarette resting between his two lips.
"What the fuck has been going on?! You've been so withdrawn, and for what?!" She continued yelling, she didn't care who could hear her, not one bit. "What did I do for you to act like this?!"
Nick clenched his jaw, he wanted to keep it all inside, he wanted to completely forget all about this, but he couldn't be bothered to hold back his thoughts anymore.
"What's wrong? What's wrong is you!" He yelled back.
Nora's expression for a second flashed to pained, then back to anger.
Through gritted teeth, "You! You've been keeping something from me!"
Nora scoffed, "and what could that be?"
"You KNEW me!"
And all of a sudden, Nora had this knowing look on her face.
"What do you mean." She said, lowly.
"You know damn well what I'm talking about." He took a long, hard drag of his cigarette before discarding it, then immediately pulling out another.
"You knew the original Nick Valentine. Hell, you didn't just know him, you two were the darndest of friends apparently." He was so so angry. His coolant pumped the same way it did in scuffles with Commonwealth scum.
Nora had nothing to say.
"You KNEW about Eddie Winter, you KNEW about Jenny, not only that, you were friends with her too for God's sake!" He wanted to stop yelling, he needed to, but he couldn't help it, "everything I told you about the old Nick and his life, you KNEW."
"Nick-"
"-Don't 'Nick' me, Nora." He said, hate pooling in his mouth.
Nora's expression fell back to anger, "what did you WANT me to do?! Tell you you're an exact replica of my best friend I lost two-hundred-some-fucking-years ago? 'Oh what a funny coincidence, you and my long gone friend are actually the SAME person.'"
"It would've been nice." With a rasp and grit in his voice.
"Have you considered how traumatic it was to meet you- to HEAR Nick again!" Nora screamed. "It's like they pulled him out of his grave and propped him right in front of me for some sick game."
She was stomping up to him. Not like she needed to, he could hear her perfectly fine.
"Have YOU considered that I'D like to know. He is me, don't I deserve to know about this deeply impactful friendship he apparently had?!"
"You AREN'T him." Nora was in his face.
Nick was speechless. He could hear her breathing, it was heavy and laboured.
"WE never had what Nick and I had." She pointed her finger at him, "you and I? It's completely different."
"What? You care about the old Nick more than me? Only see me as a cheap copy of the man you once knew?"
Nora's face twisted into rage.
Nick had only seen her like this before. In front of Kellogg. It reminded him of those old world book heroes. A destructive, divine, and violent rage. Her body held an anger only seen in gods. He prayed he'd never see her like that again, for her sake, but here she was, in all her glory.
"I never loved the original Nick like I loved you."
Those words alone could kill a man.
They echoed in his head over and over again.
Without anything else said, Nora took one last look into his eyes, and started walking off.
Nick was frozen in place, speechless, but he couldn't just let her leave, not like that.
He tried to say something, but only a garbled croak erupted from his throat. For a man with a voice box in place of vocal chords, he was terrible at saying what needed to be said.
Sweet Treat My first fic on AO3 had to feature Magnolia, the songstress is just so much fun.
A lil’ snippet below
Nora hadn’t had a cold beer since before the war. Shit. She was almost scared to take a sip, but the longing for the familiar taste won out in the end.
Her first eager swig shocked a hiccup out of her from the strength of the icy cold hoppiness. A wave of sadness and nostalgia washed over her as she held the bottle up to look at the label - things were so different now.
Before she could sink further into the dark comfort of her old life, Nora’s ears perked up at the sound of a sultry voice over the microphone.
Nora stops at the Third Rail for a drink and some relaxation and gets more than she bargained for when Magnolia takes to the stage.
