A/N - Just a cute little story about a soft-spoken Lone Wanderer and her butch companion, Butch. Hope you enjoy! :)

"If you want to get closer to me, girl, all you gotta do is ask."

Butch Deloria leans over the girl for the third time today, halfway pinning her to a wall and grumbling his nonstop flirtings into her ear. She blushes slightly, as she always does, and nonchalantly pushes him away and continues talking. "Just stay closer. You're getting farther and farther away in every fight and at some point you'll be too far to get to if you're injured," she explains coolly, and starts walking through the Wastelands once again.

Butch smirks, having played this game many times before to no avail. He knew he would never get anywhere with Nosebleed, but it was fun seeing her blush anyway. He notices she's walking at a faster pace than normal, and has to jog a little to catch up. "Aw, you worried about me, are you, Nosebleed?"

Elani's small smile disappeared and she stopped walking to look him in the eyes. "Yes," she says simply. When he raised his brow in surprise, she was quick to elaborate. "If you died, I'd lose my backup. I don't want to be caught in a raider camp alone."

Butch looked at her skeptically, but started walking anyways, deciding to except the obvious answer. He wasn't as good a shot as she was, he knew, but it was nice to hear her admit that he wasn't completely useless to her. Of course, he never would admit to being lesser than her to her face.

They walked a while in silence, shooting down a few radscorpions on the way. The road was strangely quiet that day, but neither of them was complaining. They'd both still had minor wounds to attend to, and were grateful when evening came and they were allowed to make camp for the night.

They found an old, broken down bridge and camped under it. They walled up the open areas, built up a fire, and laid out their bedrolls. As Butch went to collect some canned foods for supper, Elani went to her pack and pulled out one of her most prized possessions.

She pulled out the old leather jacket, holding it close to her as she traced the lines of the snake embroidered on the back. Even though its previous owner traveled with her now, she'd grown accustomed to sleeping with it, reminding her of her old life - how simple it used to be. Where her friends were, where she shaped who she was.

She could hear the heavy footsteps of the Tunnel Snake coming back up to their campsite and hid the jacket under her bedroll. No, she hadn't told him how she'd kept his old jacket, and she didn't plan on it. Coping with him constantly pinning her against walls, breathing against her ear, saying sweet things... it was enough already to test her will. She couldn't imagine what would happen if he found out just how much he meant to her.

"So..." he said, sitting on his bedroll next to the fire, holding up the cans. "We've got Cram, Cram, Cram, Cram, or Boatfly meat. What'll it be?"

Elani mumbled softly, like usual, and took a box of Cram. Butch did the same, and set the remaining selections to the side.

Elani was quiet as always, silently eating her meal and not daring to look up at her companion. Just looking at him nowadays got her all riled up, though she didn't know why. Even back when they were teenagers living in the vault, she never felt that strongly towards him, though the crush had always been there. Maybe it was just because he was the last reminder of her old life, or it was because he just wasn't so... hostile all the time.

But even when she tried to ignore her feelings, she could tell he was doing the opposite. She was fairly certain he didn't harbor any intimate feelings for her, but he sure did like to act like it. He even put on a show sometimes. Like about a week ago, when they were about to hit the hay for the night, he deliberately took his suit in front of her, letting her get a good, long look at the more revealing underclothes. Of course, it had almost done her in, but she'd gotten good at hiding her feelings, and showed absolutely no interest. He'd had the decency to look a little disappointed.

But sitting, eating Cram... it was easy for her to tell there was something on his mind. Of course, she couldn't tell what it was, but it made her a little uneasy. She chanced a look at him, and instantly regretted it.

He was looking back at her with his eyes squinted, as if he were angry, or really thinking hard about something troubling. Normally it wouldn't bother her, but the fact that he was staring straight at her made her uneasy. "Butch?" she said quietly, even quieter than usual, if that was possible. Being a very softspoken person to begin with, it almost sounded like a whisper.

He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly.

"W-what are you thinking about?" she asked, preparing for the worst. He looked as if he was going to reach for his knife and slit her throat.

There was a long pause, and his thoughtful expression turned to slightly miffed, and he broke the eye contact, looking back at his food. "Nothin', Nosebleed."

Feeling a bit angered that he would keep things from her, she huffed and confidently stared at him. "What's your problem?"

He looked back at her again and scowled. "I knew you were gonna be a goodie-two-shoes. I just didn't think THIS goodie-goodie."

Her jaw almost went slack. THAT was what this was all about? Her not being bad enough to hang with him? "So you're saying I'm too nice to hang with."

Butch sighed. "No, Nosebleed, I'm not. I'm not gonna just leave you here all by yourself because I don't like you bein' nice."

Elani grunted. "Well then what's your problem?"

"I told you, it's nothin'. It isn't botherin' me enough to chase me off, so it shouldn't be botherin' you."

But it does. It bothers her so much. She isn't that nice, is she? She's saved a lot of people, yes, but she's also killed many. Just because she has a nice demeanor, doesn't mean she's the kindest person in the Wastes.

A bit angered at his statement, she stood up and walked over towards the river. She knew it was dangerous to be out at night, but she didn't care at the time. She listened to the stream for a bit, trying to calm her nerves. She didn't know what it was that bothered her so much. Maybe it was the thought that Butch thought she was too nice for him. Maybe she should be more aggressive about things.

But that wasn't her style. She wasn't a very forward person even, so being aggressive or impulsive were things she always tried to avoid. Of course she couldn't avoid it all the time, but it was always the course of action that brought the best results.

She glanced back towards the campsite, and saw Butch cleaning up the garbage around the area. Back in the vault, she never would've known that Butch was such a neat freak. Of course, she knew he was a hairdresser, or a "barber", but she never knew he loved it so much. Or that he sang quite well.

She smiled, remembering that strange conversation about his singing. She'd noticed him doing it a lot when they were in combat, often humming 'Come out, come out, wherever you are!' or something as idle. When she'd confronted him, he admitted to having an ear for sweet tunes. From then on, she'd always tried to have the radio going when in was quiet.

She sighed. Sometimes things were so simple with him - this was not one of those times. She tried to decide the best course of action: should she continue to let him think she was a goodie-goodie, or should she prove her worth to him? One was easy, but not enjoyable. The other would require so much courage, but might wield pleasant results.

Proving her worth seemed to present the best outcome, so she mustered up all her courage and started back towards the camp. What she was going to do, she didn't know, but she knew it had to be something she normally wouldn't do. Something impulsive. Something that demanded respect and attention.

A thought went through her mind, and was quickly discarded, only to be brought back again. It was something she'd never do in any other situation, something impulsive, something that demanded attention. But it was scary.

Fuck it, she thought, and kept marching with new determination.

As she neared the campsite, Butch looked over towards her. He looked as handsome as always, with that stupid greaser stance and that weird hairdo. Her heart thumped a bit at the sight of him so relaxed.

He seemed perfectly normal until he noticed that her pace wasn't slowing down as she neared the camp. She grew nearer and nearer, and passed her own bedroll. He looked more interested as she came directly towards him.

She didn't even slow down one second, marching right to him. She grasped onto his arms and pushed him, taking him with her when she finally made contact. His eyes widened at the full force of her literally backing him into a wall. The shock was plastered onto his face, and she couldn't help but feel a swell of pride just for getting that reaction out of him.

Without even stopping to breath, she roughly grabbed ahold of his face and smashed her lips to his with such force you could almost hear their teeth click.

She'd clasped her eyes closed, but chanced a glance at him to see his eyes still wide with shock. He seemed almost reeling from it.

The force of his hands against her shoulders wasn't unexpected, and she complied, letting him push her away.

She stepped back a few inches and let him take in what had just happened. "Elani... What?"

She smiled at him, genuinely happy with this result. "Yes?"

"What... Why'd you do that?" he looked a bit recovered, but was still having trouble putting the pieces together.

"Well, you doubted my awesomeness." She laughed, feeling totally confident in herself. Time to come clean, she thought. "And... I've wanted to do that for years."

Butch seemed to be knocked completely out of the surprise and looked down at her with a smirk. "Really? Years?"

Blushing slightly, she mumbled, "Mmm hmm" before bringing his face down to hers again.

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