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Immerensis n. The maddening inability to understand why someone loves you
Lucy and Cooper were scavenging for supplies in an apartment complex when Cooper heard her exclaim loudly behind him. Immediately, he grabbed his sidearm and whipped around, pointing it towards Lucy, ready to fire at whoever was intending to cause them harm, but only found Lucy, holding what appeared to be a poster.
“A Man and His Dog!” Lucy said in astonishment, hugging the poster to her chest as tightly as she could without damaging the relic.
“Fuck,” Cooper said under his breath, and holstered his pistol.
“This is my favorite Cooper Howard movie! Have you seen it? You must have, you're pre-war and he's a very famous actor.”
“Nope, never seen it. Never even heard of what's-his-name. Super Coward, was it?” Cooper lied.
“Cooper Howard,” Lucy corrected with a frown. “Really? Never?”
“Never.” He continued with his lie.
“Huh… That's unfortunate. He's my favorite actor.”
Cooper had heard that line hundreds of times, and he was never sure if the people telling him that were being sincere or not, but with the way Lucy’s eyes sparkled as she stared at the old poster, he could almost believe it.
“Did you know he was a cowboy? He grew up and worked on a ranch, then he fought in the war, and became an actor when he came home.”
“Oh, really?” How the hell does she know that? Cooper eyed her suspiciously.
“Mm-hm.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“From his biography.” Lucy pointed to her Pip-Boy, alluding to it being saved on there.
‘Oh, that,’ Cooper thought. He cringed at the memory. His manager had hired someone to write his biography. He wanted to write it, make it an autobiography, make it real, but his manager outright refused, telling him that his art was his acting, not his writing. Granted, he did get to read over the drafts before it was finalized and published, to make sure everything sounded right, but that book wasn’t his.
“He probably wasn’t even a real cowboy.” Cooper mumbled, but Lucy heard him.
“He was! He was born and raised in Bakersfield.”
“Right.” Cooper was done having the vault dweller recount his own life back to him. He didn’t want to hear anymore about who he used to be. “We should hurry up here and get moving. It’s getting dark.”
“Okie dokie.” Lucy started to carefully fold the poster in half, but Cooper stopped her.
“No, leave that.”
“Oh, but—”
“No,” Cooper raised his voice, and Lucy flinched, “we don’t need it. Leave it.”
Lucy frowned, looking like she was seconds away from crying. Feeling like a real jerk, Cooper was about to apologize, but then the sound of Dogmeat barking down the hall interrupted him. Cooper grabbed his gun again and ran out of the room, following the sound of Dogmeat’s barking, only to find Dogmeat snarling at a Giddyup Buttercup. He sighed and hushed Dogmeat.
“Girl, calm down, it’s just a toy.”
Dogmeat stopped barking, but continued to softly growl at the yellow horse.
“Oh, I know, Dogmeat, I don’t like them, either.” Lucy said as she walked up to her traveling companions, a huge smile on her face. “I’m ready to head out whenever you are.” Lucy’s smile didn’t falter, and Cooper wasn’t going to admit that he kind of liked that she could still smile, even after almost dying a dozen times.
The three headed out, and searched for a place to sleep for the night. Luckily for them, there was an abandoned house not too far from the apartments. After making sure it was safe, the three went in, barricading the doors and windows. The house was small, it had no bedrooms, a tiny kitchen and bathroom, it was a shack, really, but it was a shelter, and it was enough.
As Cooper was starting a firepit in the middle of the house to cook the Brahmin meat they had collected, Lucy decided to search the kitchen. There wasn’t any food in the fridge or the cabinets, but she did find many resealable bottles filled with liquid. After choosing a random bottle and opening it, she took a whiff, and nearly gagged.
“Oh! Oh, that smells disgusting!”
“What is it?” Cooper called out from the living room. Lucy recapped the bottle, and tried not to vomit.
“I don’t know.”
“Bring it here.”
Lucy gladly gave Cooper the bottle, not wanting it anywhere near her anymore. Cooper did the same thing Lucy did, but when he sniffed it, he didn’t retch or wince.
“It’s just booze.”
“Just booze?” Lucy scoffed. “It smells like death.”
“Yeah,” Cooper didn’t deny it, but honestly, he didn’t understand why Lucy was so adverse to it. “Y’all don’t got booze in the vaults?”
“No. At least, my vault didn’t.”
“Huh.” Cooper nodded, then took a long swig from the bottle. Lucy’s eyes bugged out of her skull, she couldn't believe that Cooper was drinking that with no problem. He sighed pleasantly when he pulled the bottle away from his lips, like he had just drank the most refreshing water ever.
“Want some?”
“Oh, no. No, no, no.” Lucy shook her head quickly. “I think if I drink that, I’ll die.”
“Well, suit yourself.” Cooper shrugged and drank some more before setting the bottle down on the ground and went back to cooking the meat. Lucy sat next to him, and they all sat in silence for a few minutes, before Lucy spoke up.
“Have you ever been drunk?” Lucy spared a quick glance at the half full bottle.
“I have.” Cooper said, making sure to not burn their food.
“What’s it like?”
“It’s different for everyone, but you get a little dizzy, can’t walk straight, maybe make a few bad decisions.”
“That sounds awful. Why would anyone want that?”
“For a distraction, mostly, but it also makes you feel good, as long as you don’t overdo it.”
“I see.” Lucy stared at the bottle.
“You sure you don’t wanna try it?” Cooper asked again, and this time, Lucy couldn’t deny that her curiosity was getting the better of her.
“Oh, alright. Just a little bit, though. I don’t wanna get dizzy.”
Cooper grabbed the bottle and offered it to her. Lucy sniffed it again, and it still smelled awful, but she steeled her nerves, and took a small sip.
Half of a bottle later, and Lucy was rolling around on the ground, giggling her little ass off, while Cooper was completely sober. He wasn’t nearly as much of a lightweight as Lucy was, and at that moment, he was happy not to be, otherwise he would miss the entertaining show Lucy was giving him.
“Oh, my goodness, Cooper. I love being drunk.” Lucy, who was sitting on the ground and petting Dogmeat, started crawling over to Cooper.
“Oh, really?” Cooper asked amusedly, trying not to laugh.
“Oh, yes,” she slurred, and as soon as she was sitting next to Cooper again, she let her head fall into his lap, and he let her stay here. “This feels so nice.” She rolled onto her back, and her hands started to lazily wander over her body, and Cooper couldn’t take his eyes off of her soft hands, and how she was almost groping herself in front of him.
“Happy to hear it.”
Lucy continued to touch herself, staring off into space as she did.
“What are you thinking about?” Cooper asked, watching her fingers trace patterns on her stomach.
“Cooper Howard.” Lucy sighed happily and Cooper felt his insides twist hearing his name again.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
“Why are you so smitten with this guy?”
“He was my first crush.” Lucy whispered, then quickly added, “and my sexual awakening.”
“Oh.” Cooper felt a string of jealousy, then felt like a fool when he remembered that she was talking about him. But she wasn’t, was she? Lucy was talking about Cooper Howard, the cowboy, Cooper Howard, the soldier, Cooper Howard, the actor, not Cooper Howard, the ghoul.
“When was that?”
“I was fourteen.”
“Fourteen?” Cooper asked in disbelief.
“Kids can have sexuality.” Lucy shot back, feeling a little bit judged.
“I meant no offense.” Cooper held up his hands in defense, and left it at that. Lucy went back to touching her body, and fantasizing about her Cooper Howard.
“Goodness, he’s so handsome.” Lucy sighed happily.
“You keep talking about this man like he’s still alive.”
“I know…” Lucy frowned and her hands stopped moving. For a second, Cooper was worried that he ruined their fun, but then Lucy smiled up at Cooper. “But you never really forget your first. Also, he could have survived. You did.”
Cooper hesitated for a few seconds before agreeing with Lucy. “Yeah, I guess he could have.”
“Oh, could you imagine? Cooper Howard, a ghoul? I bet he’d still be a gentleman. Just as sweet behind the camera as he was in front of it.”
“Nah, he’s probably a stuck up asshole.”
“Oh, no, don’t say that, you’ll break my heart.” Lucy laughed to cover up how the statement upset her, but just like when she was sober, it was hard for her to cover up her true emotions. She looked like a kicked dog, and Cooper hated when she looked like that. Thinking on his feet, Cooper decided to distract her.
“Tell me more about his Cooper fella.”
“Oh, you don’t wanna hear about him.”
“Nah, I do. C’mon, I’m curious.”
“Well…” Lucy didn’t need much convincing, since she could talk about Cooper for hours. “What do you wanna know?”
“Tell me about your crush on him.” Cooper wanted to believe that he was asking her this to throw her off his scent, so she wouldn’t figure out who he really was, but another part of him knew he just wanted to be praised again. Cooper wasn’t an egotistical man, but he had to admit that he missed his adoring fans.
“Well…” Lucy’s hands started to roam over her Vault-Tec jumpsuit again, “like I said, I was fourteen, and I had just finished watching A Man and His Dog for the forty seconded time—”
“You watched it forty-two times?” Cooper wolf whistled. “You must have worn that holotape out.”
“Oh, absolutely, but anyway, I got to the part in the movie where the sheriff is shirtless and stitching himself up after a fight, and I’ve seen that scene countless times before, but…” Lucy paused and took a shaky breath in. “I don’t know… Something just… Clicked. My clitoris started feeling funny, kinda tingly, so I just unzipped my vault suit and started rubbing it. It felt so good. I kept imagining him watching me, telling me where to touch, and how to touch… Calling me a good girl.”
Cooper felt his cock twitch in his pants after hearing all of that. Lucy’s head was right in his lap, but she was too far gone to have noticed that her words were affecting him.
“Oh, really?”
“Yeah.”
“How about you show me?” Cooper growled, and started fiddling with Lucy’s zipper. Her hands quickly grabbed his, and for a moment, he thought he had taken it too far, but Lucy gently pushed his hand away, and unzipped her suit herself, wiggling her arms out of her sleeves and her legs out of her trousers. She was lying half naked in Cooper’s lap, only wearing a tank top and panties. Lucy didn’t hesitate as she snaked her hand into her underwear and started rubbing her clit.
“I did it like this,” Lucy gasped, and Cooper watched, not wanting to make a sound so he could hear just how wet her pussy was. “I touched it like this, and—” Lucy whimpered as she sunk three fingers inside of herself. “Oh, Cooper.” She whined for the man she had wanted desperately, and pumped her fingers in and out a few times before stopping.
“Oh, wait, no, I shouldn’t be doing this.” Lucy said, but she kept her fingers inside.
“Why not?” Cooper asked, not taking his eyes off of her crotch.
“I’m touching myself to another man while I’m with you. It feels like I’m two-timing.”
“We ain’t together, sweetheart.” Cooper said, feeling a little silly that saying that made him feel a little bit sad.
“Oh… Yeah, I guess we’re not…” Cooper could have sworn that Lucy sounded sad as well, but he shook off the thought. It was only his imagination, he was sure of it. “So, this is okay?”
“It’s more than okay.” Cooper grabbed his knife, and with two quick flicks of his wrist, he sliced through Lucy’s panties, giving them both easier access to her body. Lucy was too drunk to care about her ruined undergarments as she felt the warm breeze lick her wet cunt, and Cooper’s palm pressed against her hand, helping her push her fingers in deeper. “It’s perfect. Keep going.”
Lucy didn’t argue, and went back to fingering herself while Cooper watched.
“Did you fantasize about anything else?”
“Yes!” Lucy's legs shook as she spread them wider. “I thought— Oh, my god— I thought about him picking me up… Picking me up and just, um… Oh, I don’t know what the position is called, but he’s standing and he’s holding me up. We’re facing each other and he’s bouncing me on his cock.” Cooper had done that position a few times, it was fun.
“He’s such a gentleman, and he makes sure I feel good, too.”
‘I absolutely would,’ Cooper thought, and then pushed the thought from his mind, reminding himself that Lucy doesn’t want him.
“And he comes… Inside of me!” Lucy’s other hand comes up to her mouth, stifling her screams of pleasure as she comes all over her fingers. Cooper felt his cock start to leak pre-come, forming a wet spot on his pants leg, but he doesn’t move to touch it. Mostly because he’s too enthralled in watching Lucy, but also because he doesn’t want to disgust her by pulling out his radiation burned cock right next to her face. When Lucy finally calmed down, when she finally stopped twitching and panting and mewling in his lap, she yawned.
“Did you know that… The dog in A Man and His Dog was Cooper’s actual dog…?” Before Cooper could answer, he heard her softly snoring.
“Lucy?” Cooper called out, but she didn’t answer. Lucy was out like a light. Cooper waited a few minutes for his erection to soften before he gently moved Lucy off of him, and rolled her onto her stomach. He grabbed her vault suit, and used it to cover her mostly naked body, then he walked to the other side of the room, and lied down. Cooper sighed heavily, and ran his hands down his face in frustration. He thought about pleasuring himself, but when Dogmeat trotted over and snuggled up against him, he dismissed the idea and closed his eyes. He eventually fell asleep.
Lucy was the first to wake up. At first, she wondered why she was only wearing a tank top, and why her vault suit was turned into a makeshift blanket, but then the memory of last night came rushing back, and she quickly sat up. She scanned the room, and sighed in relief when she saw Cooper and Dogmeat sleeping. They were still here. Her relief was then replaced by excitement.
‘I touched myself in front of him,’ Lucy thought, and then her whole face burned scarlet and she grinned uncontrollably. ‘I touched myself, and he watched me.’ Lucy grabbed her clothes, and started getting dressed. ‘I hope he liked watching me.’ After getting dressed, she remembered the treasure she had snuck into her hip pouch and pulled it out. She had to fold it several times to get it to fit, but after unfolding it, Lucy looked at the sheriff on the movie poster, and sighed dreamily. She kept staring, admiring all of his features, and then something clicked.
“No, that can’t be…” Lucy's smile dropped as she whispered. She looked over her shoulder at Cooper, then back at the sheriff, back at Cooper, at the sheriff, and then the realization struck her. She gasped loudly, causing Cooper and Dogmeat to jolt awake from the noise. Cooper immediately looked over at Lucy, and when he saw that she was holding the poster, his expression turned to pure anger.
“Goddamnit, Lucy!” Cooper stood up and marched over to her. “I told you to leave it!”
“You’re Cooper Howard!” Lucy dropped her poster, completely ignoring his scolding, and pointed a finger at him, to really drive home that she knew who he was. He thought about denying it, but there was no point. Cooper sighed. The jig was up.
“I’m as much of Cooper Howard as I can be, looking like this.”
“Oh, my god… I… I…”
Cooper waited for Lucy to scream at him for lying to her this entire time, but instead, she laughed, her smile returning in full force. “I can’t believe it! I actually got to meet Cooper Howard! Oh, my goodness!” She cheered, grabbing Cooper’s hands, and started to jump for joy while Cooper remained standing stock still, confused that Lucy wasn’t mad at him. Then, Lucy stopped jumping.
“Oh, my god, I told you about my crush on you. I told you about how I used to touch myself to your movies.”
“That you did.”
Lucy gasped and let go of Cooper’s hands. “Ooooh…” She whined and ran over to Dogmeat so she could crouch behind the dog, whose body barely concealed hers, and buried her face in her fur.
“I’m so embarrassed.” Lucy said, her voice muffled by Dogmeat’s fur. “You must think I’m so horrible, having feelings for you for so long, even after your supposed death.”
“Nah, sweetheart, I’m flattered.” Cooper walked over to Lucy and hunkered down next to her.
“Really?” Lucy removed her face from Dogmeat’s back, her voice full of hope that she didn’t scare her idol away.
“Yeah, really. You’re like a girl waiting for her beau to return home from war so you two can get married.” Cooper laughed at the comparison and Lucy laughed along with him.
“So, does that mean you’ll be my beau?” Lucy’s heart was hammering in her chest when she asked, and Cooper sighed at the question.
“Oh, Lucy, you don’t… You don’t want me.”
“Yes, I do.” Lucy replied quickly. “I’ve wanted you for so long.”
“No, you want Cooper Howard.”
“You are Cooper Howard.” Lucy reached out and grabbed Cooper’s hand, bringing his weathered, dirty gloved hand to her lips and kissed it softly. She looked up at him, her lips still pressed to his glove, and pleaded with her eyes, begging him to let her in. He gently pulled his hand out of her grasp, and for a split second, Lucy was terrified that he was going to outright reject her, but instead he took her hand and kissed it, just like she had. Lucy gasped and Cooper could feel her hand shaking in his.
“Then… If you really want me, I’ll be your beau.”
Emotions running high, Lucy practically jumped into Cooper’s arms, and started peppering kisses all over his face.
“I want you!” Kiss, kiss, kiss. “I’ve always wanted you!” Kiss, kiss, kiss. “Do you want me?”
“Yes,” Cooper laughed from Lucy’s lips tickling his skin, “I want you.”
Lucy stopped kissing his face, and leaned forward, her lips inches from Cooper’s, but he didn’t move, he wanted Lucy to make the first move, and she did. She pressed her lips firmly to his. It started off chaste, and sweet, until Lucy nipped at Cooper’s lower lip, and stuck her tongue in when he moaned. Needing to touch her as much as possible right now, Cooper grabbed Lucy, and picked her up, just like how she described it from her fantasy.
“There’s my good girl.”
Lucy guffawed, and held onto Cooper as he bounced her off of his hips a little bit, grinning like a mad man when she hugged him close. The two were about to go back to kissing each other, when Dogmeat barked and they both stopped to see what made her yelp.
Dogmeat was staring at them, tail wagging as she barked at the firepit and skillet. She licked at the congealed oil and whined when she didn’t find any food for her to eat.
“Oh, she’s hungry.” Lucy suddenly felt bad that they were being intimate with each other instead of taking care of their furry friend’s needs in the morning. “We need to feed her.”
“Yeah. We should be heading out now, anyway.”
“Yeah.”
Cooper put Lucy down, and was sure she was going to go straight to feeding Dogmeat, but she instead grabbed him by his lapels, and pulled him down to steal one more kiss. “We’re not finished here, though. Once we have some time to ourselves, I want you.” Cooper was so stunned by her forwardness that Lucy assumed he didn’t know what she meant.
“Sex, I mean. We’re not done having sex. Unless you don’t want to, then that’s totally fine.”
“Nah, darlin’, I got it. You’re absolutely right, we’re not finished here.”
“Oh! Good!” Lucy gave Cooper a megawatt smile, and then ran off to feed Dogmeat. When she ran past the movie poster on the ground, Cooper called out to her.
“You forgot your poster!”
“I don’t need it anymore! I have the real thing!” Lucy turned around to quickly blow a kiss to Cooper, then went back to chasing after their dog. Cooper huffed out a laugh, shaking his head as he leaned down to grab his hat, and followed them both out of the house.