#my mother is getting a bandana in bright colors that suit nothing she wears

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

and so begins the making of christmas presents

[cursed-saphire-hart]

One of my better earlier stories ♡

(An old pic Im still proud of)

-

Title: If We Had Met In Another Life

Chapter: N/A

Au: 20s

Word Count: 1,853

Rating: T

Summary: N/A

She had been riding awhile, it was morning when she left, and now as she was sitting in the seat of the train, the cool morning, turned into a warm afternoon. Hours passed, and she had fallen asleep under her fathers old jacket, it smelled of pine wood bark dust, and cigar smoke, it made her feel less afraid and lonely as the train traveled further from her home, the vibrations from the wheels below had rocked her to sleep, and the soft music playing lulled her into the world of dreams, as the soft cushions of her seat held her body in place. For a dream that seemed like only minutes, more hours had passed, and the announcers voice over the intercom awoke her.

The train stopped at its destination with a screech as metal on metal slid to a stop, and the announcement along with the sound of the train whistles, and the patter of feet echoed through the station as a young girl stepped off the train. With her, she carried a suitcase and an old carpet bag, both in which had experienced years of use during they're previous owners travels. As she walked through the area, which was all so new to her, she bought a paper which was dated July 1st, 1924, Friday. Thneedville, only 3yrs ago it was named Greenville, and was now a big city, music poured out of every building and shop, all so wonderful, all the bright colors and lights, with the scent of baked goods, grilled food, and perfume to fill the air as it road the soft breeze that flowed through the buildings and streets, it was like a dream.

That's why it was this girls destination, she was 18, and out of house for the first time. As she walked through the town that was as bright as day in the middle of the night, the young girl read the news paper, she had always loved reading the daily paper, on the front page was vibrantly colored print announcing the grand party that would be held on the forth of July. This was defiantly a first for the girl, the papers back home were all black and white, was everything in this city just that amazing, it was defiantly catching her attention, that was for sure.

When she did manage to look up from the paper she saw how many girls were wearing colorful small dresses and expensive furs, while she was wearing plain brown pants that were baggy and hid her other wise pencil thin figure, they were pulled up to her waist and were held by black suspenders, she even wore a plain white baggy button up shirt with the too long sleeves rolled up to her elbows with worn black boots.

She was a lovely young bae, but she stood out among the other flappers in her fathers old clothes. But she liked it that way, she didn't have the need to show off her figure, if she had one, so she wore any clothes her father would hand down to her. Her long hair was tied back and was at least 2 feet past her shoulders, while all the other girls had there's cut short in a bobcut, long and pulled back was just the way she always liked it, with a bright red bandana to hold her thick locks.

Instead of feeling like an outcast, she fallowed her mother's words and held her head high, and walked through the streets, proud to be the girl she was. Now why is a small town girl like her in a big city, you may ask? She was working on a book of course, and the bae had two years to get it done, if it was good enough, it would be published, that was deal she had made. They said she had talent and creativity, but she lacked the writers experience, and if she could write a good novel in a 2yr time period, she would finally be living her dream.

As happy as the girl could be in the big city, all the walking around was getting tiring, the small town of Green Meadows was nothing compared to this huge place. The young bae soon found a place to rest for a moment, and was well relieved, the girl walked through the doors of the club, and took a seat at the bar seats, finally able to set down her bags, and rest her aching feet.

She sighed softly and leaned forward on her arms, she closed her eyes, and took in the smooth music, the soft spoken words between people as they chatted, and the soft pitter patter of feet against the tiled floor.

The old clock in the lounge struck 8 pm, and its loud gong like sound vibrated through the air, just as the soft jazz music did as it was played skillfully by a colored group. It was peaceful, and soothing to the young girl, she finally had a moment to calm herself from all her excitement. Her heart was still pounding in her chest like a drum, and her hands where a little twitchy, this town had so many new things, and so much inspiration, anyone of them could be her writing muse, how was she going to pick just one..?

She let her mind clear, and soon a new sound flowed through the air, it's soft ring, it could only have had been the bell of the door.

She could hear someone walk closer to her, for reasons unknown to her, she drowned out everything else, she focused only on that other person. The bae didn't open her eyes, she didn't move. She took a deep breath, letting go of the breath she had been holding, she could smell whine, cigar smoke, and perfume, but there was something else, something sweet. It smelled like freshly made cream, honey, and wild flowers, the only thing she could compare it to, the only title it could go by, and suit it well enough, was the sweet scent of butterfly milk.

"Can I buy you a drink Miss?" said a calm, mesmerizing voice, with a sly tone.

The girl opened her green eyes and her heart skipped a beat, her cheeks bloomed with a soft blush. Sitting next to her was a tall man, at least 7 foot 8, he had a young face, and peach colored skin, he couldn't be more then 25.

"Oh uh.. sure... I-I suppose.." she squeaked out blushing more, she really hoped he hadn't noticed her staring. "What would you like?" he asked resting his chin on his gloved palm with his elbow rested on the bar table. "Uh... Dr. Pepper I suppose... I don't drink..."

"Alrighty," The bar tender took a bottle of Dr. Pepper out of the ice chest and popped the cap off before giving it to the green eyed girl. She was so nervous to take a drink, she could feel him watching her behind dark blue tinted lenses, "What's your name..?" He asked sitting up right, he reached into his green tailcoat, and pulled out a cigar box and a golden cigar cutter, this man had money to burn. "Desiree Evergreen," she told him gripping the cold bottle in her hands. The fizzy elixir inside was ice cold, cooling her already clammy hands. Her heart was racing, and her face felt so hot, but at the same time, but her blood felt so cold, a new feeling swelled in her heart as it drummed.

"Desiree... sounds kinda French..." he said lighting his cigar, "It is... it means to be desired... and is also the name of a pink potato..." the man tried to suppress a laugh, he balled his hand into a lose fist and held it to his lips as a failed attempt to keep the laugh from escaping his lips,"So... your a desired pink potato?" he teased letting out a small laugh, Desiree pouted, she wasn't nervous anymore, just a little mad, she didn't really like being razzed, especially by a guy like him. "Mind if I call you Desi?" he asked adjusting his tall top hat that was placed over a mop of ebony black hair. "...I suppose," she said finally after taking a swing of her soda. "So what's a girl like you doin in a place like this, an all alone..?" he asked taking a long draw from his tobacco stick, "I mean, you look more like a country hay seed instead of a city slicker," the smoke poured out of his mouth a he talk, and Desi had to wave her hand to fan it away.

"I just got to this city actually," Desi said with a small hope filled smile, "I'm here because I wanna be a writer, and the publishers are giving me 2yrs to write a good novel, if its good they'll publish it." she gripped her soda, with a hopeful glint in her big green eyes, he could see how brightly her green eyes shined even through his tinted lenses, so much hope and wonder, so innocent, he blew the smoke out of his lungs, and sighed.

"Sounds like they're pulling your leg," her smile fell when he said that, with a blunt tone. "Heh... maybe..." she chuckled at the thought, it was there pushed to the back to her mind, the thought that they weren't really serious, or the possibility they might not live up to they're promise. "Then why are you going through with it...?" he asked blowing out more of the tobacco smoke. "Because..." she said sounding ready to cry, the thought hurt like a bunch of needles stabbing her heart like a pincushion, "I wanna believe that it's possible they'll publish if its good..." why was she saying these things to him? Why was she about to spill her heart to a stranger, she didn't even know his name, "I wanna go through with it because..." and yet, "...Its my dream..." she felt like he would listen, and he would care. So much self doubt filled her heart, and threatened to overflow into tears. "... If I cant at least have my dream... what else could I do...?" tears trickled down her cheeks are they burned hot, her throat tightened and she held back the need to cry out.

The mans face softened, he brought his gloved hand up to her cheek and with a gentle stroke, wiped away the hot tears, "Now now, and young girl like you shouldn't cry..." he smiled at her gently, and she couldn't help but smile back. Desi felt her worries begin to melt away, this man, he was like no one she had ever met. He was gentle, and kind, and she had only just met him, but he was being so kind to her, and this man dressed in green, was going to be her inspiration.

[jackyinzerplaysfallout]

The Truth Shall Set You Free

This is a reaction post to the question: “How would a companion react to finding out that they were a Synth copy of the Sole Survivor?”

This one is focused on Piper Wright. More may follow.

Background: Before deciding to release his surviving parent from Vault 111, Father had decided to use the DNA profile from the Vault-Tec database to have a Synth copy made of Nate/Nora to run simulated situations with Synth Shawn. This was partially to see how a Synth “family” would function, and although he won’t admit it, partially to get a glimpse at how life with his parent might have been.

Due to the instability of Synth Shawn, the program was a failure.

The Institute decided to have the Nate/Nora Synth’s memory wiped and put them in the Wasteland under a new identity to try to better understand the movements of runaway Synths that have had a memory wipe. With the original safe in cryo, There was no need to do reconstructive surgery.

The Synth woke up on the surface one day believing they were…

Piper Wright: The story about Piper’s father was true, to a point. Except the man that Piper remembered as her father died childless, and the raiders did raid the settlement, leaving no survivors.

When the Synth calling herself Piper Wright found an abandoned young girl on her travels, the mother instincts programed from Nora surfaced. She adopted little Nat as her own sister.

Years later: “DANNY, YOU OPEN THIS DOOR…..RIGHT NOW!” Piper banged her fist against the wall beside the intercom, then sighed. She briefly wondered if she could make it to Goodneighbor before it got dark. She wasn’t Mayor Hancock’s favorite person, but the ghoul never denied someone in need. She was about to start out when she caught a flash of bright blue out of the corner of her eye.

The vault dweller approaching the massive gate to Diamond City was wearing leather armor over her vault suit and an assault gas mask that covered her face and hair.

When she saw the woman in the red leather trench coat, the vault dweller appeared to freeze in confusion, and Piper thought for certain the woman was going to bolt in fear before she finally got her to finally come close.

The Vault Dweller, Nora, agreed to the interview, but refused to take her mask off. This annoyed Piper because those gas masks tended to muffle the wearer’s voice.

After the interview, Piper didn’t hear anything more from the masked Vault Dweller until after Nick Valentine returned from Skinny Malone’s hideout. The Synth detective sent word for Piper to meet him at his office. When she arrived, the first thing she noticed was how unnerved Ellie, Nick’s secretary, was and how she refused to make eye contact with the reporter.

“Piper. Please sit down.” Said Nick, giving Piper the hard stare usually reserved for suspects. “Nick…..What’s going on here? You two are starting to freak me out big time.” said Piper,

Nick paused, considering his words carefully. “We’ve known each other a long time now, kid. And I feel like in that time we’ve had a mutual trust, even though I’m…well… a Synth.”

Piper softened a bit “Nicky, of course! I trust you with my life…hell, I trust you with my baby sister’s life. What’s this all about?”

The old Synth gestured to a case file on the desk beside him. “I was rescued by the Sole Survivor of Vault 111. The same woman you interviewed some months ago. It seems the Institute had a special interest in her. Not only did they steal her son, but it seems they made a Synth of her too…and it’s been walking around the Commonwealth long before she was thawed out.”

“That’s incredible, but why would the Institute make a copy of someone locked in cryo?” Piper asked, momentarily forgetting about Nick and Ellie’s odd behavior.

“We were hoping you could tell us,” replied Nick evenly.

“Wait…. Me? But….How would I know?!” she asked in confusion, looking between her two friends.

“She really doesn’t know, does she?” Asked a voice from behind the partition closing off the sleeping quarters from the rest of the office.

Piper’s eyes flew wide at the sound of the familiar sounding voice. She stood up, whirled around, and found herself staring into her own hazel green eyes.

The Vault Dweller stood before her, wearing her face, her hair… a perfect replica; right down to the splay of freckles across her cheeks. She didn’t realize she had been backing away from her doppelganger until she crashed into the file cabinets behind her. Piper quickly drew her 10mm pistol and aimed it at the blue suited imposter.

“JESUS, NICK!!! HOW COULD YOU?! You can try to replace me, but I’m not going without a fight.” Piper spat angrily.

Nick quickly moved between Piper and Nora, hands raised. “No one is replacing you…. She’s HUMAN, Piper… We went to Doctor Amari at the Memory Den and plugged her into a lounger. Her brain scan read human.”

Piper’s face drained of color and she slowly lowered her weapon as the implication of Nick’s words sank in. She buried her face in her hands and slowly sank to the floor.

“We found a trader who used to frequent the settlement you claim to have come from…“ Nick said gently. “Constable Wright never had any children… and the settlement WAS wiped out by raiders.”

“That’s impossible…” Piper sobbed through her hands. “I remember everything….”

“Piper…” Nick put a hand gently on her shoulder. “Who is Nat? Who is she really?”

“I didn’t kill her parents and steal her, if that’s what you’re implying.” Piper looked up at Nick, her eyes puffy from crying and burning with indignation. ”It’s the only lie I ever told you, Nick. I found her hidden in the remains of a caravan that had been hit by gouls. I just couldn’t leave her behind… so I told everyone she was my sister…”

Ellie walked over and knelt beside the reporter, offering a hug and a clean bandana.

“What? You’re not afraid of me now?” She said to Ellie with a slight edge to her voice.

“Oh Piper…. I’ve been friends with Nick far too long to be afraid of a synth…. And I’ve known you too long to be afraid of you…. But…you gotta understand… We didn’t know how you would react to seeing Nora… We didn’t know if it would trigger some command or….” Ellie trailed off, looking up to Nick and Nora.

Nora walked over and extended a hand to her Synth double. Piper momentarily flinched away and glared distrustfully at her twin before sighing and accepting help up off the floor.

“Now what happens?” Piper asked shakily as she was helped to a chair.

Nora looked at the three of them in turn and said, “As far as I’m concerned, this changes nothing. You are still the same passionate, caring person who took in an abandoned little girl and raised her as your own sister. You’re the same person that cares for this city and fights for truth. You may have started as a copy of me, but you are still your own person. Everything that makes you Piper Wright is yours alone. No one in this town needs to know if you don’t want them to. We can work it out.”

Piper looked down at her hands in her lap for a long time, considering her situation. “I’d rather hear an ugly truth than a pretty lie… but I have Nat to think about. I’ll have to figure that out eventually… in the meantime, you remember my offer to go with you?”

“Yeeeaaah?” Nora replied hesitantly.

“Well, Blue, You don’t have a choice now. The Institute has some explaining to do, and I’m not gonna rest until we both get the answers we need.”

[hotel-hazbin]

How would Finn have died if she were a mortal?

                                           Death of Finn

  “Never venture into the woods.” Finn’s father would tell her, tapping away at his computer. Tap-Tap-Tap. Tapping all day and most of the night until Saturday, when he was able to take the weekends off and sleep in. The taps were background noise for Fionna, and whatever activity she was doing. All that tapping left no time for her, so she had to find her own fun.

 Video games kept her busy for a while, but she had played Sonic the Hedgehog to the point her eyes burned. TV never had anything good on anymore, just soap operas about having babies and affairs. She could take apart something again, but after her father replacing the fan for the third time he had forbidden it. The child sat in the windowsill with the family cat, a grey tabby named Bandana Jones, and watched out the windows as cars went by their house and around the corner out of view.

   “Daddy?”

   Tap-Tap-Tap.

    “Yes Finn?”

   “I am going to play outside.”

   Tap-Tap-Tap.

    “Don’t go into the woods.”

    “I won’t daddy.”

    Tap-Tap-Tap

    “I love you Finny.”

  “I love you too.”

Tap-Tap-Tap

And with his blessing, the child left the house with her favorite red raincoat on over her favorite red dress that matched her favorite red bow that was keeping her ginger bangs out of her eyes. Her lucky outfit for a lucky day! It was getting colder out now, but the cold never bothered her. Finn smiled as the fat cat slunk past her before she could close the door. “A nice day for adventure!” She declared, stepping off the porch. Her next door neighbor, a kind lady she called Mrs. Wiser waved from her garden. Finn waved back. She watched as the older woman put down her trowel and made her way inside, taking a break from her work.

A look around the neighborhood revealed lots of kids were out, lots of potential friends to be made! She saw the Holbrook twins playing with their pogs, and the Dawson sisters playing barbies on the porch. Three doors down the Sherman brothers were playing a rather rough game of football in their front lawn while their little sister brushed a toy cats fur. The Applewhite boys were playing Pokemon cards in their driveway, enticing Finn over to watch.

“Hi Finn!” The older brother, Linus, said. He smiled at her warmly.

“Go away.” The younger brother Martin, growled, not bothering to turn away from the game. He ran a hand through his messy blonde hair while he waited for Linus. When his brother refused to put a card down to resume the game, he scowled up at her. “Go away.”

Rudeness never bothered Finn, she simply brushed it under the rug as a bad day. However, Martin was typically mean to her, always giving her dirty looks and on multiple occasions had gotten rough with her. Why, last time he had even shot a BB pellet at her, missing her by mere inches. This rudeness bothered her. It wasn’t rudeness, it was outright dislike. She was sure that one day, perhaps they could be friends, but for now he was glaring at her with such intensity that she felt like she was going to melt in his dark blue gaze. Finn mouthed a word at him, a very bad word that she had heard her father mumble many times when he thought she had been sleeping, a word he used whenever the computer acted up.

His brother noticed this and quickly put another card down, continuing the game. Martin turned his attention back to the pocket monster cards. It wasn’t long before he lost the game and began throwing a fit over it. “YOU CHEATED. YOU CHEATED. FINN DISTRACTED ME SO YOU COULD CHEAT. YOU STUPID IDIOT, YOU MADE ME LOSE.” Martin howled, standing up and pushing Finn. She fell flat on her butt and sat there staring up at the wailing boy. Linus was able to restrain him long enough for her to run to the safety of her yard, locking the gate behind her. Martin began kicking at the cards and ripping them in his tantrum, but Linus did nothing, for his eyes were on something down the street.

There was a tall girl, with long black hair that swept down past her butt. She wore a black fishnet shirt over a black t-shirt. The neighborhood went quiet with her presence, gawking at the odd sight of the new girl. She wasn’t walking alone. A  boy walked alongside her, book bound with rubber bands held tightly in his fist. He was a scrawny thing, with spiked hair in different colors. He was wearing an outfit similar to hers, only his shirt had a red goat head. They walked past Finn’s house and stopped just outside the Holbrook’s house. The sisters just stared at them as their entire pile fell. The newcomers were only mere feet away, no fence to seperate them.

What happened next was a blur, punctuated with a scream. The older sister, Megan, watched in horror as her sister was carried off. She gave chase, soon joined by the Dawson twins and two of the Sherman boys. Front doors flew open as the kids shouted and chased. Parents, some running back inside to call the police, some grabbing their own children and dragging them back inside. Finn watched in silence as the teens jumped into a car at the end of the block with the crying, struggling girl.  She sat on her porch, safely behind a fence, and watched as the car took off. She watched as the Holbrook parents broke down sobbing as they held their remaining child. As the car drove past her house, she could have sworn she saw the driver staring at her.

“Finn!” Her father startled her into a hug from behind. “Oh God.” He carried her inside, fighting back tears as he pressed her head into his shoulder. All this cultist activity lately, he never thought that could happen in his neighborhood. It was because of his own father’s nagging that they even had a fence, the Holbrook’s were literally only one house over. He looked down at the child in his arms, the little girl staring up at him with her bright green eyes. “No more going outside, okay?”

Though dazed, she nodded. The experience had left her in shock, forced her into silence for the rest of the day. For the first time during a weekday, she didn’t hear the tap-tap-tap of the computers keyboard. She sat in the living room window, watching the police come to the Holbrook home, then family, church people, and lastly, men in suits. Finn couldn’t hear what they were saying, even what she could understand made no sense to her. Satanist, cults, sacrificial. The words made no sense to her, and her father wouldn’t tell her what they meant.

“Away from the window, kiddo.” Her father pulled her back and closed the blinds, wrapping her in another hug. “Come eat.”

“Hot Dogs?”

“Yeah, go scrub up first.”

Finn went to wash her hands in the bathroom, happening to look out the window. Bandana Jones was balancing on the shed, he slowly laid down and closed his eyes. She would have to remember to bring him in before bedtime. Though she doubted she would sleep. Especially not alone, she would not be sleeping alone. There was movement in the corner of her eye and she moved the curtains back a bit to see the Holbrooks mother, crying in her own backyard. They made eye contact briefly and Finn quickly backed away from the window. She dried her hands off on her dress and went back to the dining room. Dinner quicker than usually. Normally, there was some sort of conversation but tonight it was oddly quiet. No mentions of work, no mentions of Finn’s adventures today, just quiet. It was excruciating, giving them time to think about today’s events.

After dinner, Finn chose to just go to bed, to try and free herself from the anguish of today. Her dad came in and kissed her goodnight. She laid there for a long time, long enough that she heard her father go to sleep in the next room.Her night light illuminated her small room. She saw the drawings on her wall and the action figures on her dresser. Her stuffed Elmo laid in the cats bed. The cats bed was empty save for the Elmo. She had left Bandana outside.

She climbed out of bed and slid her feet into her slippers, wrapping a blanket around her shoulders. The child debated whether or not to wake her father,he would probably make her leave the cat out there all night if she woke him, a risk she would not want to take. She crept past his door and down the hall, all the way to the kitchen. The broom was laying against the back door, which was unusual since it was supposed to go in the closet. Finn moved it to the side before unlocking the door. She opened it carefully, as not to make it creak. It was colder at night, and the only sounds were the trees rattling as the wind blew them. Pulling the blanket around her shoulders tightly, she walked outside. A sound came from near the shed and crept towards it.

“B-Bandana?” She whispered, stopping a few feet away from the small building. “Bandana, here kitty kitty.” She called again.

“Finn?” The voice came from behind, startling her. Finn turned around to see Mrs. Holbrook, tightly gripping a large flashlight in her hand. “Oh Finn, you frightened me. I thought I saw someone out here.”

“I’m looking for Bandana, he got left out…..H-Have you seen him?” She tilted her head.

“Why yes, he was just in my backyard, here I’ll take you.”

“Thank you so much!” Finn smiled and followed the woman as they left the yard. It wasn’t until they were actually in the Holbrook’s last yard that she stopped. She hadn’t heard Mrs. Holbrook come into the yard, the only noise sha had heard was from the shed. There was a hole in the fence behind it, her father had done that intentionally so in case of emergency, they could get away from the house at both sides. The child noticed the vines on the side of the shed were disturbed. “…….I…..I think I should go back to my yard.”

“No, No, don’t worry.” The woman stepped towards her, reaching into her pocket. “Finn, he’s just over here.”

“I’m gonna go.” Finn turned to run, but found a sharp pain in her side. She screamed out loudly in pain as she saw the blade plunged deeply into her side. “Oh no….Oh no…Oh…….”  Mrs. Holbrook stared down at the knife handle in her hand, then slowly she made eye contact with the child. Finn’s eyes were wide as her dad ran out the house, screaming her name then screaming for help. People were coming out their houses and screaming as they noticed what was happening. The world around Finn turned red as the blade was forcibly pulled out and her body hit the ground. The last thing she saw was her dad’s face, then the old grey tabby in her houses windowsill behind him.

William Ralloway sat in the empty bedroom, staring at his beloved daughters lite brite. Her last project had been a cat, she had been so excited for it. Why hadn’t he played it with her? Why had he spent so much time working? Now she was gone and all he had was her old toys and room. No more laughter to fill these empty halls, no more hearing her stomp around in her red rain boots even when it wasn’t raining, No more Finn. All he had left were memories and pictures. The worst memory was cradling his daughter in his arms as she took her final breaths, the small smile she had on her face when she saw his face one last time before the life left her small body.

“Why did she do it?” Will choked out to the police officer in the doorway.

“Jealous.”

“What was she jealous of?”

“Sir, her daughter got taken and yours was still here. Ella claims that Finn smiled at her not long after it happened, mocking her.  She said her plan was to lure Fionna out and kill her then, but she came out before she could…..Do you know why Fionna went out?”

William thought back to that night. Finn had been fine all night, what had his daughter been doing? His eyes looked at the cats bed, where the Elmo still laid. A large sob broke through his lips and he nodded quickly. “The cat, I think the cat got left out. Finn, oh Finn…..” Will hugged her pillow to his chest. “We have a cat, Bandana Jones….Finn probably went out to find him, she was a good kid like that…..She loved everyone…..She should have woke me up.”

“Sir, can you come down to the station and make a statement?”

“Yeah…..Yeah….” William nodded, standing up. He took one last look at his daughters room before turning off the light and leaving.