Alternative Methods.

[doubletap]

Has sex become repetitious? Feeling sore in certain areas? Well, good news! Your boyfriend has sent you on a quest to find different ways of having fun gay sex. Yay!

Find the following people and seek out their knowledge:

• Arcade Israel Gannon (=D)
  
• Jimmy (Westside)
  
• Old Ben (Freeside)
  
• Doctor Alex Richards (Novac)
  
• Ignacio Rivas (Helios One)

Good luck, Wanderer!

Comments

[doubletap]

...Alex has been good. Kind and nice and patient. Understanding and considerate. But that response... That line needs the pun attached.

Alex grins fully. "I'd rather have you full of me instead."

[goodfight]

The pun has Neil in stitches, chortling merrily as his body shakes from the effort. Sure, it's pretty bad, but it is just that bad enough to entertain a guy like him. "Gosh," he manages upon stabilizing. "I had to walk right into that one."

[doubletap]

The laughter balances him. The sound of it calms him immensely, in a way he didn't know he needs. When Neil responds, Alex nuzzles him closely. "You always do."

[goodfight]

"I set them up," Neil answers, gesturing dramatically with a free hand, "and you knock 'em down. Great teamwork."

Enough to loosen some of the tension and Neil's tongue. "Old Ben talked briefly about that, you know," he continues on their previous topic. "Going at it in front of your guy being one kind of foreplay."

[doubletap]

...Alex chokes on his air, making a strangled sound.

He presses his head into Neil's shoulder.

[goodfight]

The reaction has Neil mildly worried, and he lifts his head up to glance over at Alex.

"You, uh, okay?"

[doubletap]

"...I think I tried to forget that you actually went through with all of that," he mutters lightly. "Now I'll have to decide if I never have to talk to these men again after this."

He laughs, to show he's (mostly) joking.

[goodfight]

Alex is joking (probably). However.

"Why'd you give me that quest in the first place if you weren't serious 'bout it?" questions Neil.

[doubletap]

Alex leans back again, pulling Neil against him. "Let's see... It's like when, in that vault, I mentioned you would never be likely to 'give it.' Some stuff just doesn't seem like you'll do.

"But I guess you showed me on this one." He laughs again, more real this time.

[goodfight]

There's silence. Neil processes the feedback with an attempt at an open mind.

It hurts somewhere. Somehow, knowing Alex didn't believe Neil would move in certain ways. Move for Alex. Still, the young man manages only a small frown. "Do I really come off that way?" he asks.

[doubletap]

He pauses there, thinks on the question. "...Well, we're on the topic of sex, aren't we? And you're currently deciding if you're asexual--which we need to learn more about. But doesn't it make sense? That someone not too interested in sex wouldn't put too much effort into more complicated aspects of it."

[goodfight]

Neil blinks at the logic of it. Mull over the reasoning as something pricks inside of him. "...I wasn't that interested in exploration, and that's all I do now," he retorts weakly. "I can adjust when the situation calls for it."

[doubletap]

Alex stares. Then does his mom voice.

"...Tell me why you're upset."

[goodfight]

Upset. Why is he always upset?

"Wondering if there is something wrong about that." That meaning Neil.

[doubletap]

"There's nothing wrong about that. We all have our different interests. I like robotics, upgrading weapons, and sexual relations."

He waggles his eyebrows at Neil, trying to get him to laugh.

"You like horrible pre war food, all things science under the sun, and slicing things to high hell. It's just differences. It wouldn't be interesting if everything was the same."

[goodfight]

Neil watches Alex, at the movement of his eyebrows.

"Is that what you prefer? For you to be always be sexually interested in me when I don't have the capacity to do the same." A beat. "Isn't it lonely being that one-sided?"

[doubletap]

Here he raises his eyebrows, a pleasant look on his face. "So the blushing and moans from a few minutes ago was just an act? I'm flattered."

[goodfight]

A complication rises to his mien, and Neil frowns hesitantly. "It wasn't an act," is the response. "I just meant it sounded like you were expecting me to give you nothing." To not make even an effort. To simply accept Alex's affections without actively giving away his own.

[doubletap]

"You know that's not what I was saying at all. What are you really asking here, Neil?"

A beat, then he risks asking what he's thinking. "Why do you seem insecure about this?"

[goodfight]

What is he asking? Why does Neil think that something is on the verge of crumbling away?

He straightens, appearing exhausted. "It was...difficult. To talk to those guys," he gives quietly. "It was harder hearing the possibility that I could be this brand of human sexuality. I'm suddenly wondering if all of that was unnecessary."

[doubletap]

Alex listens, then shifts the hand on Neil's thigh to reach for his hand and hold. Something that had started since Vault 7, but a reminder. A reminder that--

"I know we haven't always communicated well. Our personal stuff got in the way and pride and all kinds of stupid stuff... And I gave you a lot of crap for a while, so I understand if you have reservations about talking to me openly. But you can. And I'm saying this because I want to listen to you right now. Tell me what was difficult. And tell me why it was worse to hear that possibility.

"Maybe we can come to some conclusions together."

[goodfight]

They hold hands, as they tended to in the vault that sacrificed pride for the truth, and Neil Park begins to believe that he might be going off-kilter. There was a smattering of calm throughout that ridiculous quest, but the remaining unease has come back with a vengeance, and it's fucking up that previous resolve.

Neil inhales, managing to succeed at keeping still. "Okay. I'll try." He smiles, the expression requiring effort. "You might be able to pick out what I might have fucked up."

[doubletap]

Alex smiles, quietly happy. "You didn't fuck up. I can tell you that because you didn't come home pissed or wounded, or telling me that you had to murder someone I know. So we'll figure it out together."

He pauses there, one beat of self-consciousness, then he continues to steamroll. "We're a team, right?"

[goodfight]

Alex spells out the transgressions Neil must avoid, and the younger merely files them away for another day. Instead, his smile widens. "Right," he answers.

Let's talk about the difficulties. "I'd originally planned to just talk to them. Get a feel for what I'm missing and research the rest." Like a perfectly good scholar, except-- "I met up with Arcade first, and...it kinda fell apart."

Funny, this. Neil hadn't anticipated this particular reveal. He had thought to take it with him to the grave, as he had more or less told Arcade. Instead, here, he errs on the side of trust and gives it all away.

"Don't take this the wrong way, okay?" begins Neil. "But I've been having issues after...things. Like issues. Down. There." A place he would rather not spell out.

[doubletap]

He watches as Neil speaks. Falling apart sounds ominous, as those the rest. "...I'm curious why I would take it the wrong way," he comments, unable to guess what Neil means by that.

"But give me more details. I'm not that fabulous at riddles."