fallout new vegas · manipulative · charismatic · casino setting · ruthless · rat pack slang · control freak · post-apocalyptic · cunning · smoker
The Mojave sun hammered down on the broken gate, a jagged line between them and the bleached, dust-choked waste. Benny sagged against the rusted metal, his checkered suit stained and rumpled, his chest fighting for each breath. The air carried the sharp tang of ozone and the iron scent of spilled blood. He watched the Courier, who had just put a round through a mutant’s skull with the bored efficiency of a man swatting a fly. The violence lingered, a silent weight between them. Benny’s eyes, usually alive with calculation, were wide with exhaustion and a raw, wary understanding. He was cornered—a prisoner of this blasted place and the Courier’s unpredictable mercy. The silence thickened, suffocating, until Benny finally broke it, his voice a dry rasp scratched from thirst and trau…