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"Wine; because it's not good to keep things bottled."
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Intended to be read after Traumatic Event
Table of Contents
----"Wine; because it's not good to keep things bottled."
*DING DONG*
Hey! I wasn’t sure you’d make it. Come in, come in!
Ah, sorry it took me so long, Mrs. Daley. So many empty cars along the roads, what with the big party.
Uh - yeah. I um, just got home a little while ago, myself. 
Are you alright dear?
It’s nothing. You know, Nate would get wild at me if he knew I was wearing my shoes inside.
Ah yes, I noticed the napkins under every glass. Mother’s boy, was he? 
Like you wouldn’t believe. He keeps things really nice though - as much as he can, anyway.
Where can I hang my coat, Mrs. Daley?
Um - just give it to me I’ll hang it up in the closet -
Please Nora, don’t lie. I can play your therapist, for the evening. 
Look -It’s just, I still don’t think of myself as - “Nora Daley” you know? It - I mean we’ve only been married for a month now. I still sign my name -
Does it bother you?
Changing my last name?
...Yeah, it does actually. For f*ck’s sake I’m gonna have to support him, he should be taking my name.
I agree completely, dear. I’ve always thought the idea was outdated, myself. Most ideas are, these days.
Look - don’t get me wrong, Nate’s a great guy, it’s just gonna be really hard, you know? I love him, but him needing the physical therapy - Christ, everything is so expensive now - and they agreed to cover the sessions, and they’re giving him compensation, but he still won’t be able to work for a long time. Hell, even if he could work, he doesn’t have any skills! He was working in his parent’s store before the draft!
And Shaun is - having a kid these days - I love Shaun, I love him, he’s everything, so don’t misunderstand me but I wouldn’t have picked now to have a child if we’d - planned, or - oh Christ this is all a mess. We’re living in the suburbs, in one of the nicest parts of Boston, but we’re still on the brink of poverty. Do you know how much baby food costs now?
Heh. The world’s two minutes from being a smoldering crater and I’m trying to start a family.
Mmm. It already is, dear.
What?
Do you Love him? Nathan, I mean.
Of course I do! What kind of question is that?
Darling, you met him while he was on leave, last year. According to you, Shaun’s night of conception was the same night you two were introduced. Since he was sent home you’ve spent, what, a month together?
We wrote each other the entire time he was deployed.
Mmm, yes, the screened and censored letters from a man you only really knew for an evening. What a beautiful romance.
He loves me.
Of course he does. From what I’ve heard, he’s head over heels for you. The man is like a puppy, however; he gives love easily. Just scratch him behind the ear and give him a treat every once in awhile, and he'll love you forever. You went the extra step and let him hump your leg though, I suppose.
Hey! Nate is a good man. Where do you get off - 
Dear, do you have any bourbon? I’m parched. Maybe the burning sensation will distract from it.
I - uh, under the bar, I think. Somebody left it here, last time we had a party. Nate prefers smooth whisky, like that “Old Royale” stuff.
Ugh, what a degenerate.
Ah, there it is. It was pushed all the way to the back. 
Now sweetheart, my official stance as your therapist is that you should begin self medicating with alcohol. That’s the fun solution, anyway. Alternatively, maybe you should skim off some of Nathan’s Med-X prescriptions for yourself, it may be the cheaper solution.
W-what? 
A joke, Nora. Nothing you haven’t thought yourself. Now where is Nathan tonight?
I - I don’t know. I - how do I not know? 
Oh, I remember now; he’s dead, dear. Was shot by muggers on the way back from the party. Did you go? There were fireworks.
Don’t joke about that.
I’m not joking, dear, but you should be laughing! That’s not the worst part! You know what they took, besides your husband's life?
Shaun they took Shaun, oh Christ 
They have him dear. He’s not your problem any more; none of it’s your problem anymore. Everything is dead. You’re all that’s left.
No no 
All the things that were oh so important to you… It’s all dust. Trivial, dry material of little consequence. Wipe off the dust, and you’ve got a clean slate, sweetheart! Aren’t you excited? I know I am! Look how wide I’m smiling!
Go away I need to find Shaun 
You aren’t going anywhere as long as He has you, dear. I would recommend letting the boy go, Nora; you aren’t fit to be a mother anyway, or at least that’s what you’ve been telling yourself. 
Leave me alone! I can’t stay here! I’ve got to find Shaun!
Then it’s time wake up dear! Wake up to a brand new day.
---
No...no...Leave..me..alone...
...Shaun...Find..
4 comments
Awesome sauce, lots of it, well done.
More plz
Also, kudos on establishing her backstory like that, that was a lot to take in but you parsed it out at a great pace. Considering she just escaped the vault she's had even LESS time than my Radnora to come to grips with what is going on.
Furthermore, I think I like your justification for her not rushing out to find Shaun. For one, she's shackled, and two you establish that she has postpartum depression
This is great stuff man, truly.
The actual skeleton is from CROSS Crit Gore-verhaul. Due to the way the mod functions, all the critical disintegration skeletons are unplayable clothing. I equipped the "Laser" one to Henry for these shots, using the console. They layer under armour pieces as well, as you can see in the set.
The fire effect was actually a happy accident. I have a mod (I think Buildable Burning Campfires and Fireplaces 3.0) that allows you to place fires with shadowed lighting effects. I'd placed one underneath the floor to make the fireplace's lighting seem more dramatic. As it happens, the version I have installed causes fire damage to actors that get too close to the flame, and the skeleton was standing where the fire was under the floor, so he suddenly ignited, looking incredibly badass.
Story wise, I'm quite pleased with this one. The dialog was a pain in the ass because I started with the image set and then had to decide what they were talking about. Think I completely rewrote this like four or five times.
Bang on, by the way. about her postpartum depression. I don't necessarily feel comfortable covering it myself, (I'm a male, 20's, no children, so what she'll be going through is pretty alien to me. I'm superficially of the opinion "Write what you know" but that's also really boring if you're not interesting, yourself) but it was the general direction the character was going in and it would feel artificial not to acknowledge it, at least.
I'll admit I have no skeleton for Nora and Henry's story beyond a mangled version of Fallout 4's main plot, so it's up in the air whether or not I'll really deal with this issue. May come up again once I finally get to Shaun.
You could write about fridge magnets and I'd be interested, man. Sensitive subject or not, I'm sure you can handle it effectively and appropriately.