#railroadblues

[everythingisspaceship]

“ The Dusk “

Gemünden am Main, november 2019

>> L.L.R <<

[notraffik]

#throwback to what use to be called Railroad Blues for Battle of the Bands #throwbackthursday #curlyhair #singer #songwriter #music #notraffik #hardrock #rock #alternative #railroadblues 📷 @speedy.photo Always takes sweet shots

[railroad-blues-blog]

[chascamusic]

Tonight! #Chasca and #AdrianConner wrap up the West Texodus Tour at #TheDeadhorse in #SanAngelo. #jesuschrist #unicorns #rainbows #dinosaur #westtexas #marfa #alpine #losthorsesaloon #railroadblues (at The Deadhorse)

[chascamusic]

Our makeup artist @novanix is very talented. He took this pic last night in Alpine at Railroad Blues. #Repost @novanix with @repostapp #chasca #railroadblues #makeupbynixnova #makeup #stagemakeup #chascamakeup #alpine (at Railroad Blues, Alpine, Texas)

[chascamusic]

@adrianconnerguitar killed #RailroadBlues tonight. It's dead now. Sorry, #Alpine. #guitargod (at Railroad Blues)

[maggie-the-ghoul]

A Girl’s Troubles

Thank you @monstersanosa for the prompt, @bestghoulfriends for being awesome and supportive, and a huge thank you @railroad-blues for letting me write Avery! I hope I did him justice :)

Opening the door of her room, the sleepy ghoul shuffled out slowly, yawning and rubbing her eyes. She made a beeline for the counter, where Charlie was at his usual spot. Normally she'd smile and say good morning, but there was nothing good about the morning so far. Instead she glared at her boss. “How long are they going to stay?”

“For as long as their caps last, love.”

Maggie groaned and buried her head in her hands. It was nearly noon, and she was exhausted. One of the townsfolk was getting married today, and his friends threw him a bash the night before. Even though the groom and his wedding party had left hours ago, about five of his drinking buddies were sticking around, spending every cap they had on drinks (after buying all the chems in Goodneighbor, from the looks of it).

Charlie had finally dismissed her at about six in the morning to get some rest, but the gang had been so loud she could barely doze off, getting maybe two hours of sleep before giving up. She emerged from her room, hair disheveled, wearing the same clothes as last night, and now she sat at the bar, sagging into the stool as she tried to keep her eyes open. “Well don't even think about asking me to start early,” she grumbled as the robot set a plate of food in front of her.

“That's the good thing about us Mister Handys, my dear, we don't need sleep. Take the day, maybe get some fresh air. Last thing I need on my hands is a tired waitress.”

“Thanks Charlie,” Maggie said, mouth full as she scarfed down her breakfast. She cringed as a loud peal of laughter was followed by raucous banging on the table. Rolling her eyes, she took her plate and got up. “I'll finish this in my room.”

“Oi! Robot! Where's our breakfast, eh?” The inebriated group had noticed her sneaking away, and one of them, who had an accent similar to Charlie's, felt the need to say something about it.

“I'm very sorry my good chap, we don't offer meals at this establishment,” he replied.

“Well why does she get to eat here?” Another one asked. Maggie scowled. “Because I live here,” she answered testily. She didn't feel like explaining her access to food to a bunch of drunk morons.

“Oh, so you uh, have a room in the back?”A third man stood up, stumbling towards her and waggling his eyebrows. “Can I join you?” She could smell the smoke and alcohol on him from halfway across the room. Cringing, she took a step back, not liking where this was going. Charlie emerged from behind the bar. With his experience as a bartender, he had a knack for sensing trouble. His desire for good business was second only to his desire for avoiding damages. “The Rexford offers a wonderful breakfast and lunch menu, I'm sure they'd be more than happy to-”

“I wasn't talking to you, you floating toaster. Be quiet.”

“Hey, Bill! Leave the tin can and the girl alone.” One of the other drinking buddies, a small and bespectacled man, threw a bottle at the one called Bill, which missed him by a wide margin and smashed to pieces on the ground.

“Mind your own business,” Bill snapped.

The last member of the group, who had stayed quiet so far, now chimed in. “Screw you Bill! You've gotten us kicked out of every bar from here to New Vegas. Why don't you fucking behave for once?”

Bill scoffed. “Behave? You weren't asking me to behave when I hooked you both up with that mutant stripper at-”

“Shut the fuck up!” The smaller man lunged across the table and tackled Bill to the ground. Within seconds there was a dog-pile of men on the ground, wrestling each other and yelling like maniacs.

Charlie whizzed forward, begging them to stop, but he was ignored. “HAM!” Maggie shouted, not even knowing if the bouncer was still around. If he were, he'd have heard the disturbance by now anyways. Still hungry, she took a bite of her meal as they watched the brawl play out, staying as far back as possible. There wasn't much else to do, neither of them had the ability to hold their own against a bunch of drunk belligerents.  

While the others were distracted with fighting each other, Bill broke away and scrambled to his feet. Maggie saw him take a switch-knife out of his pocket. “Hey!” Without thinking she dropped her plate and ran towards him, grabbing his arm before he could stab anyone. He reacted by taking her arm with his other hand and turning on his heel, drawing her back against his chest in a tight hold, and she yelped as the motion twisted her shoulder.

“Whoa, take it easy Bill!” The one who initiated the fight looked scared, and the brawling stopped momentarily. Charlie buzzed around them, panicking. Maggie struggled, but she couldn't break free of his grip, and her arm was in a painful position.

“Fuck you! Fuck all of you!” Bill brandished his knife carelessly, nicking Maggie's cheek as he waved it around. “I hate you, I don't know why the fuck I've kept the gang going, you just hold me back. I should take out every last one of you assholes-”

The sound of a gun cocking made everyone freeze. With the chaos, no one had noticed a lone figure enter The Third Rail, and now the barrel of a .45 was aimed squarely at Bill's face.  The wielder of the pistol held a dying cigarette in his other hand, which he took one more drag of before flicking it to the ground. “Y'all need to calm the hell down.” The gravely voice was cool, but serious.

Maggie's eyes widened. She recognized the man before them; he was an infrequent patron, but a ghoul dressed in a poncho and cowboy hat was a conspicuous sight. She felt Bill tense up behind her, before he finally loosened his grasp on her and she could wiggle away from him. She kicked him in the shin out of spite, snarling at the scumbag as she held her arm against her chest.

Footsteps rushing down the stairs caught her attention. Fahrenheit appeared, armed to the teeth, with Ham and two of her crew behind her. “Bill, you shit disturber, what the fuck are you doing? The mayor's already had a conversation with you about the trouble you cause. Do you recall the details of that conversation?”

Bill's eyes widened in fear. “Y-yes but-” “Then you're coming with me, now. Don't say you weren't warned.” She nodded at the armed ghoul, who lowered his weapon, and with that she grabbed Bill by his collar and shoved him towards the stairs. Before heading up she turned her head and glared at the others. “Don't let me catch any of you in here again.”

One by one everyone filed out until Maggie, Charlie, and the mystery cowboy were left.  Holstering his gun, he fished a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it, inhaling deeply. He blew out a smoke ring on the exhale, watching it dissipate before turning to her. “You okay kid?” he asked gently.

Maggie gingerly rotated her shoulder, hissing at the sharp pain. Pulled muscle, most likely. She'd have to be careful with her arm the next few days. The cut on her face stung, but it would heal easily. Considering she was just held hostage in a bar fight, she was relatively unscathed. “Yeah, I guess,” she answered shyly, eyes cast downwards. “Thanks.”

“Mister Avery, thank you so much for your timely intervention,” Charlie said, greeting him warmly. “I assume you're early to set up for tonight. Can I get you your usual? On the house, of course.”

“Yeah Charlie, thanks.” The cowboy looked at her again, like he was evaluating her. Maggie met his gaze for a moment before turning away quickly. The burst of adrenaline she felt from the fight was already wearing off, and now she was even more tired than before. She sighed, wishing the day was already over. Moments like this were when she evaluated what she was doing with her life. She didn't want to fade into the background and lead a normal, boring existence, especially now that she had a ghoul's lifespan. But that didn't mean she wanted to deal with drunks, addicts and loudmouthed idiots every single day. Due to her limited experience and sheltered upbringing, she had no idea where to go or what to do. So she was stuck here, for now.

“Charlie, I'm going to bed,” she called out as she headed to the back, avoiding the robot as he tried to reply.  As she entered her room she heard the first few notes of a song playing on a harmonica. She left the door open a tiny crack, letting the music help her drift off to sleep.

*

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