[h3][center][color=00a651] Diamond City - Day One, Part One[/color][/center][/h3]

Piper’s sleep was broken by noisy hubbub coming from the street. Counting day. She groaned, pushed her head deeper into her pillow, and wondered for the thousandth time why she decided to run for Mayor. It’s not like she wanted to sit in that noodle-stained chair anyways. Then she heard Nat crying something about her ‘impending victory’ to the crowd. She grimaced inwardly. Nat shouldn’t have been up this early acting like a little dancing monkey… 

Piper threw off the blanket and got of bed. She wasn’t one to stay in bed when there was work to be done. Especially if that work involved keeping the knuckleheads in this city from running into each other. There was just enough light coming through the windows for her to stumble over to her pile of clothes, though she supposed she wouldn’t have to worry about the electric bill anymore once she became mayor. 

Her wardrobe had certainly been forced to improve. While she tugged on her new leather pants, her guts roiled at the idea of forcing herself to smile at everyone again. But come on. She had done this for a reason right? She slipped into her shiny new boots, selected a bra from the pile, and grabbed a clean white undershirt. Then she turned to her jacket, which was hanging on her one nice coat hanger. Becky Fallon had spent most of her time outfitting the glorious soon-to-be Mayor Piper on cleaning her signature jacket. The frayed edges were repaired, the dirt and stains had been purged, and the collar was crisply standing to attention. The ratty old jacket damn nearly glowed. As Piper put it on, she felt like herself again. As ready as she would ever be to take the place of that dead prick and give the people of Diamond City a fair deal…

Piper thew on her new Diamond City green newsie hat and scarf, grabbed her piece from the dresser, and walked down and out of Publick Occurrences. She was immediately confronted with a crowd of residents filling the street. People who scoffed at her articles for years were now surrounding her house, shouting questions and praise, and cheering her name and newspaper. Fortunately, the new guard captain Ralph Peterson was there with some of his boys. They went around her, taking up bodyguard positions as Ralph commanded every time she left her house. Piper wanted to say something to Nat before she left, but the men were already steering her to stage. She managed to give her an encouraging smile and mouth ‘be good’ before the crowd obscured her. 

“Good morning madame Mayor”, Ralph said without looking at her, scanning the crowd hawkishly instead. The grizzled former minuteman was more fit and capable than most of the young men in the guard, and had dedicated himself in the past months to making sure the transition of power went smoothly.

“Come on Ralph, we went over this. You can’t call me Mayor until Cooke runs back to his drug pushing”, she said with faux admonishment. 

The rare beginnings of a smile showed on his face, but quickly reverted to a frown as a dark thought visibly crossed the man’s mind. “There was another broadcast this morning. From the People’s Liberation Radio,” his face curled in disgust. “That idiot Jones is targeting you and the city now with his bullshit. You should let me lead some men to shut him up.”

Piper frowned too, but shrugged. “I handled McDonough. I can handle another noisy politician.”, but she could see his frown deepen visibly at that. She held up a hand before he said anything else. “I’ll listen to the broadcast later when I move into the office. I’ll send the Great Chairman a message back if it’s too feisty”.

Ralph nodded and was visibly relieved. They were closing on the stage now, with the crowd at their backs. Cooke was already onstage, but looked like he’d rather be anywhere else. Next to him were the vote counters, Pastor Clements and Abbot, who the city decided were the most honest and impartial people in the city. She climbed the stage and took her position on their left. Now all she had to do was stand all still and stately, while Pastor Clements helped the old painter count the rough slips of paper in the box. Piper stood as straight as she could and forced a confident smile to rest on her face, though she knew she didn’t have to do much to look better than Cooke, who was visibly slouching and failing to conceal his anger. 

It felt like hours before the last slip was finally counted. Even though she knew what was going to happen, she was still nervous. What if McDonough the second over there surged in votes somehow? Suddenly, all the murmuring in the crowd hushed as Pastor Clement gestured them closer. Her stomach fluttered as she obliged. Then she felt Abbot grab her arm, thrust it into the air, and shout: “Piper Wright swung for the fences!”. The crowd erupted. She only felt bizarre. People would call her Mayor Wright now. The nosy journalist who everyone used to hate was now running the city. While she reached inside her jacket for her speech notes, she wondered for the thousand and one-th time why she decided to be the Mayor.