covers of a book.

[goodfight]

Somewhere in that long journey back to the Mojave, in that broken and dusty old road, Alex had mentioned a book. There was nothing particularly descriptive in his utterance, nothing that would have a guy running to the local rundown library for it, but it was enough to stick in Neil's thoughts.

Thus, when he "serendipitously" caught sight of the book in a merchant's stock somewhere in Nebraska, he snatched it up. He tucked it carefully away in his pack.

And now, a day later with the sun sitting highest in the sky, while Alex and ED-E are up ahead scouting the area, Neil slips the book into Alex's pack, in a place the other man would find easily. He straightens from his task, a small grin playing on his lips, before he notes that Dogmeat is staring at him in curiosity.

"Not a word," Neil tells his mutt.

Dogmeat wags his tail, as if excited about the prospect of a secret.

Comments

[doubletap]

The eyebrows lift instead. "Do you mean getting me hard, then apologizing and stopping? Because that's a debt I'll just forgive."

[goodfight]

His own eyebrows lift in turn. "Don't think I could do it?" he questions evenly. "Don't think I have enough hands-on experience?"

[doubletap]

"Well, you don't, do you?" He puts a hand to his chin, still sitting in Neil's lap happily. Job interviewer look on. "You have no references for me--probably including yourself, since you're not into that kind of thing. Is there an advanced technique that you know? Any... specializations?"

The grin he attempts to withhold but that doesn't work for long.

[goodfight]

Oh, boy. Neil, despite his appearance, is decent at these things and can probably wing it with the best of them. He smiles brightly in turn, enjoying the random moment.

"Glad you asked, Mr. Geer," he says. "See, handling a man's no different than playing baseball. You swing the bat just right, let that ball hit at just the right angle, and you're looking at scoring a home run. And I've scored a lot of home runs."

[doubletap]

Alex holds an expression between amused and confused. "...See, the whole swinging and hitting is the stuff that's worrying me. Doesn't sound too pleasant.

"Though..." And here he shifts to something more possessive in nature. "Those... lot of homeruns makes me a little annoyed. Who would have thought?"

[goodfight]

"Not in the hands of a professional," Neil insists, expression staying. "You'd be in the best of hands."

After all--

"I was Vault 101's Little League MVP for eight full years. Of course, I'd hit a lot of home runs."

[doubletap]

He laughs near hysterically, then grabs the front of Neil's clothes. He's grinning, but it's full of confusion on whether this means what he thinks or not.

"You tell me what you fucking mean right now, Neil Park. Are you talking about baseball or jerking off your whole group of teammates?"

[goodfight]

That reaction, that face... Everything speaks volumes, and Neil's laughing, laughing, and laughing. Seriously? Seriously? Neil Park, jerking off a bunch of fuckers like Wally or, god fucking forbid, Butch?

Oh, someone cleanse his brain from this blasphemy!

"Jesus, Alex!" he says, still laughing. "I was talking about baseball!"

[doubletap]

That makes Alex tilt his head forward to knock against Neil's. "So I'm slow," he growls good-naturedly, a grin stuck on his face at the laughter. "My blood isn't in my brain right now."

[goodfight]

Neil growls in turn, pressing against the other's head. "Just say the word," he replies, laughter sticking to every bit of his voice. "And I'll knock it out of the park for you."

[doubletap]

"Fucking hell," he replies, joy in his tones. At the interaction. At the attention. At this perfect moment of just being together without drama or reluctance. "Are all of my lines that corny?"

[goodfight]

"Haha, well, you be the judge," Neil suggests, a finger going up in the act of counting. "'All that movement is rubbing in all the right places.' 'You seemed to like being stabbed from the back.' You reclaimed the title of Destroyer of Assholes in Illinois. You also told me when I was complaining about being hungry last week that you could eat me."

He pauses to breathe. "Fuck, I could just go on and on."

[doubletap]

Alex listens carefully, then shifts back from their heads pressed together. "That's different," he insists with a grin.

"I mean all of those things."

[goodfight]

Neil scoffs, mildly amused and insulted at once. "And you think I don't?" he asks. "Cornball as shit or not, I try and make good on my word, old man."

[doubletap]

Alex reaches to thread both hands into Neil's hair, trapping him close. "Like undoing my pants to say, 'sorry.'"

[goodfight]

Complications arise and war within him, but Neil continues. "'Cause you looked like you were going to have some issues with that," he states blandly.

[doubletap]

"I was scared, probably," he replies in the same tone. "But I trust you."

[goodfight]

There is silence. There is Neil staring back with incredulous eyes. "You trust me," he repeats carefully, sounding out each syllable in his head. "Me."

[doubletap]

Alex's expression softens. With the hands entwined in Neil's hair, he pulls him forward, close. "You came back," he says quietly. "You trusted me with your life. You admitted you needed help," in that locked house. "And you let me try to help you instead of pushing me away."

Alex lifts his eyebrows, smiling slightly. "And you took care of ED-E in that goddamn swamp, lest we forget." Alex's only child.

[goodfight]

Reasons given are reasons enough, and they speak of a story of a stubborn fool who reworked some of his stubbornness. Neil supposes he can see Alex's viewpoint.

They're close as they are starting to become. The younger man quirks his lips in a lopsided smile. "More ED-E destroyed all the hillbillies and then some," he murmurs.

[doubletap]

"That's my boy," Alex says with amusement and pride. "Went from a little thing too big for his birches to a death machine."

[goodfight]

"You raised him well," Neil comments, dark eyes holding affection, subdued and light. "He's a good child." For reasons beyond death.

[doubletap]

"You mean upgraded him well," he corrects, smiling slightly. "He mostly raised himself though," Alex says, and know Neil would remember their conversation on Whitley.

And ED-E has been raising Alex as well lately. From the Memorial to even today.

[goodfight]

Neil remembers the circumstances of ED-E's life. He would have paid the same compliment to Whitley if he had been around. As it is, the man can only say so much.

So he will say this, "I care about both of you. You know that, right?"

[doubletap]

Alex's eyebrows go up. "I always assumed you were just dealing with him."