alnifolia | open rp post 2.0

[ Nick chuckles a little; if Piper’s well enough to fear the wrath of her younger sister, then he figures she’s not too hurt. ]

You’ve got my sincerest sympathies. I’d offer you safe haven from the lecture you’ve got waitin’ for you, but I’d rather stay off your sister’s radar, if it’s all the same.

[ After all, he’s a good guy. He’s not a saint.

He sneaks over to the terminal built into the wall beside the door; being what he is, he’s always had a knack for maneuvering his way through security systems, and he sets to work, hacking into the program keeping the door shut. ]

What the hell compelled you to come out all this way, anyway?

[ Piper rolls her shoulders back as Nick gets to work. She has faith that he's going to crack that terminal and she'll get to walk away from this relatively unscathed. But as for his question... his breath hitches, and--look, Nat can already be pretty scary when she's mad, but the reason Piper has been so utterly unexcited to have to come back and explain what happened to her little sister isn't because Piper just screwed up while snooping around a bunch of raiders one night.

She had caught wind that Mayburn, the man responsible for killing their father, was gallivanting around with this particular branch of raiders. It appeared that the Captain joined up after being exiled from Piper's hometown for murder and collusion... and that's about as far as her lead took her, because she never actually found him here, never got a chance to--God, she doesn't know. Kill him? Have a few very stern words and maybe kick him in the nuts, too? She didn't think that far ahead--and that's the reason why she's in this mess, in the first place. She sighs. ]

I got a lead on a story that's been goin' on since I was a kid. Didn't get anything good, though.

[ Huh. That was a telling pause, Nick thinks, and there's the barest hesitation in his typing. He considers, for a brief second, probing into that more, digging deeper. Not that he's got a mind for rooting out secrets; he chalks it up to old detective instinct. Besides, now isn't exactly the time — not while they're skulking around in the lion's den.

A few more keystrokes and the terminal lets out a quiet click, which the door echoes as its maglocks disengage with a dull set of clangs. He eases it open — how ridiculous would it be to go through all this trouble, just to get caught out by a squeeling hinge? — and moves into the little security room. The light that slips in through the open doorway provides Nick a better look at Piper; his own eyes glow dully in the dark. When he notices the cuts, the bruises, that mar her skin, he frowns in concern. ]

You sure you're alright there, Piper?

[ She can see his eyes aglow in the dimness of the room, roaming over her face and seeing those cuts and bruises, and she reflexively scrubs at her face with a hand, as though to distract him or cover it all up. After that, she runs her fingers through disheveled hair, trying very hard at a smile and also failing very hard at a smile. She wants to be alright. But she's not, really--she's confused, angry, tired, all because a wound from her past that she thought had healed over all these years is suddenly open, gaping, and hurting again. ]

Nothin' a good ol' Stimpak can't fix. I'll be fine.

[ He seems unconvinced, and he gives her a long look. Even with the creepy, glowing eyes, his gaze is soft, concerned. He understands, though, that need to deflect and pretend everything's alright. Sometimes, when things got too hard, you just had to play at being normal until it feels true again.

So, Nick understands.

But then, the question of the hour: ]

Where's your hat?

[ She folds her arms, and purses her lips. She at least has the presence of mind to keep quiet, although her whispering does still read as annoyed. ]

Some asshole thought he'd look better in it than I do and took right before they shoved me in here. Pff. As if.

Now that's a serious crime if I ever heard one.

[ Still, he nods sharply to the door, backing up toward it. ]

C'mon. Let's get you outta here before these guys notice you're missing.

[ She nods in agreement. ] Yeah, let's split.

[ For a moment, she glances past him, out past the doorway. ] You didn't happen to bring anyone else along, did you?

[ He quirks an eyebrow. ]

You know I haven't had a decent partner in a while. [ In summation: no. ] Why?

Hey, I'm just makin' sure.

[ Piper isn't really ready for Blue to be all up in this, for instance. ]

Anyway, let's get going before my hair starts fallin' out without my hat.

[ If there was ever any doubt, she's not leaving until she gets her hat back. ]

[ Yeah, he was rather afraid of that. For a second he gives her a flat, unimpressed look, then reaches up to adjust his own hat, sighing.

—Ah, no hang on. He plops his hat on top of her head and says by way of explanation, ]

A stopgap.

[ before turning on his heel and sneaking out of the security room. ]

[ Piper stares at him, wide-eyed, and blinking a few times before she reaches up and brushes her fingers against the rim of the hat.

????

Before she follows suit. ]

Is this my first time seeing you without your hat? Pretty sure it is.

[ He peers around the edge of a counter — seems like the Raiders are still snoozing, for now — and says over his shoulder. ]

Not much of a sight, I know, but I'd wager I pull off the hairless look a whole lot better than you would.

Pfft. Don't be ridiculous, Nick, you're the most handsome synth detective I know.

[ slash the only one, but details. Piper kneels down to extricate a pistol and a few clips from the guard that Nick had knocked out on his way in, carefully and quietly ejecting the mag to get a quick look at how much it's got loaded currently before pushing it back in. ]

And I'd rather not find out which one of us pulls the bald look better, if it's all the same to you.

[ He gives her an approving nod when she takes up arms, though part of him hopes they can sneak out of here without a firefight.

Then again, he reasons silently, Piper is involved. When is anything ever easy with this girl?

Wryly, ] Only because you know I'd win.

[ He darts out from around the counter, and rather than leading them up the stairs to freedom, he slowly moves deeper into the facility, half-crouched. Piper's bound to kick up a fuss if they don't find her hat, and he'd rather she have company rather than try to go it alone. ]

You remember the mug of the guy who took your stuff?

'Course I do. It wasn't a sight for sore eyes, that's for sure.

[ Really. No one will ever get away with stealing Piper's hat--and maybe it's true that she has a spare or two back at home, but she wants this one. She knows she's making this job a lot more complicated for Nick by doing this, when they could be heading back up and to Diamond City instead of going further into the proverbial lion's den, but... hat.

Nat gave her that hat years ago.

She's just as careful as they stalk in, keeping her eyes peeled. ]

But I feel like that goes for majority of these guys. But he had dark hair, couple'a piercings on his nose and lips... hair was shaved pretty close... good thing he wasn't wearing a mask.

[ He drinks in the information, catalogues it away, and when he approaches one of the little shacks they’ve assembled in the tunnel, he peers in, scanning the sleeping thugs for one that matches the description. He comes up empty – but isn’t that just the way? It’s never in the first place you look. ]

You ever consider becomin’ a detective, Piper? You’ve got a good eye for detail.

[ She gives a shrug of her shoulder, and were they not trying to be sneaky, she'd make a dithering sort of noise. ]

I do wear this hat pretty well, don't I?

[ With her unarmed hand, she reaches up and tips the hat a little bit, letting the rim dip just slightly below one of her eyes, covering it ~mysteriously. ]

Piper Wright... private eye. [ A beat. ] Doesn't roll off as well as yours.

[ He huffs out an amused little laugh. ]

Imagine, though: Piper Wright, Investigations. Not so bad when you put it that way, eh?

Well, no, but we both know there's only room for one ace detective 'round these parts, Detective Valentine.

[ As they come in close to the second little shacks, Piper presses close to a... wall, if it could be called that, and peers around the edge for a gander. No dice. ]

I hope you don’t think that just ‘cause you’re buttering me up, I’ll feed you any confidential information.

[ He says it in good humor, at least, then peers into another nearby hut. Sure enough, he sees a familiar flash of burgundy, and waves Piper over. In the middle of the sleeping pile of Raiders (because when are things ever easy?) lies a man matching Piper’s description, still wearing the damn thing even as he snoozes. ]

That’s our guy? [ He asks it, just in case. Never know, after all – maybe newsboy caps are the latest trend in Raider fashion. ]

[ Piper moves in, peering around Nick's shoulder, and--it doesn't take her more than a few seconds to zero in on her precious hat in the sea of Raiders, and she nods. ]

Yep, that's the jerk. You got, like, a fishin' rod or something so we can get grab that hat without stepping over this pile of Raiders?

open rp post 2.0

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