the story in which Alex Seattle Geer is right for hating enclosed spaces,

[doubletap]

and Neil Park is blamed for his knowledge of vaults.

---

Terminal Entries:

1st Floor, Vault Entry-Room Computer:
- Data Entry 1: Year 20XX, Month XX; There's no escape.
- Holotape Entry 1: Y#4@ SDhig^8705 H98 [data corrupted]; This is hell and I want out of it.

1st Floor, Cafeteria Luncheon:
- Holotape Entry 2: Private Recording; I've had better?

1st Floor, Cafeteria Supply Room:
- Inventory List: Inventory List; A list of food....
- Data Entry 2: Shift Notes; Maybe I should tear the walls down.

1st Floor, Broken Cave:
- Data Entry 3: Preparations; Everything's fine.
- Data Entry 4: Near the End; I'll tell you the truth, but I won't give up my soul.
- Data Entry 5: Finally, the End is at Hand.; This is far enough.

1st Floor, Office:
- Data Entry 6: Vault-Wide Public Service Announcement; Get back to work everyone.
- Data Entry 7: Locked Administrative Reply; You're reaching for straws.

1st Floor, Administrative Secretary's Office:
- Data Entry 8: Drama Hoes; It is sort of funny that people aren't able to lie, though.
- Holotape Entry 3: Bill Self-Log; Byron's access still works everywhere.

Comments

[doubletap]

"Apparently I have some self-worth issues," he finds himself saying easily, and decides to not be surprised. "It doesn't change anything at the moment."

[goodfight]

Honesty, as always, trumps all else, and Neil takes the other's words into consideration. He finally exhales, the breath leaving his lungs a labored stream. His eyes soften to dull points.

"I get it." It isn't hard to get. "I stand by my 'compliments,' but it's inconsiderate to cram them down your throat. Even if I wasn't trying to." To cram anything down Alex's throat. Such a behavior isn't really something Neil likes to touch.

He blinks, pained by something unknown, and looks away.

[doubletap]

The expression touches more than the words, and Alex reaches out, touches Neil's chin. "...Hey," he speaks quietly. "Tell me."

[goodfight]

There is contact, enough to slam his attention back to reality. It proves difficult to speak, what with that seemingly endless well of muddled emotions bubbling just beneath the surface. Still--

"Tell you what?" he mutters in question, attempting clarification.

[doubletap]

Alex watches him. Wonders what exactly he said to make Neil look this way. "You looked...off. Upset. I wanted to know why."

[goodfight]

Neil watches his hands for a moment, before raising his head to meet Alex's eyes. "Do you remember that day you got that book? Theoretical Robotics?" The one that drew out such an extreme reaction from the Courier. "I said something about being no good at kindness."

His hands idly make motions in the air. "You told me to not be discouraged. That being on the receiving end is new to you," Neil continues. "I'm trying to remember that. It's just difficult when I honestly thought I was saying something simple."

[doubletap]

He reaches out, ruffles Neil's hair. Smiles and tries to be kind. "You know me, kid. From the start, I've been no good at talking about myself. The only difference is now you know some of the reasons why. I'll try... to get better at it. But that's all I can say. Honestly."

He retrieves his hand, scratches through his own hair with it. The white at the corners of his eyes are distracting. "Other than I'm thinking of getting more augmentation. I'd like your opinion on that."

[goodfight]

Except being no good at both ends makes the whole thing pointless, but Alex offers a distraction hair ruffling and a want for opinion. Both of which Neil clings to without thought. He straightens, features subdued.

"What kind of augmentation?"

[doubletap]

This gets a genuine grin. "All kinds. I'm really into self-enhancement. The implants from Usanagi and the Big MT were one thing, but tech can really keep you going when you wouldn't otherwise. Plus--"

And it's because of the vault and it's because he's trying to balance things and it's because he's starting to get tired of secrets--

He slips a hand into one of the pockets on his chest, bringing out a shiny casino chip twice the size of any other and pure metal from the looks. "I really need to find a way to keep this on me permanently."

[goodfight]

"Self-enhancement, huh?" What a worthwhile hobby to undertake. Furthermore--

There is a metal casino chip in Alex's hand, far larger than those ceramic and clay types in the Strip. Neil watches almost impassively, eyes absorbing the details and admiring the shine on the thing called the Platinum Chip.

"You looking to prevent another attempted theft?" he questions, partially distracted.

[doubletap]

Alex flips the coin to Neil.

"I've made it worse and better for me with this. It's powering the upgrades on the Securitrons and the Strip, but it's a bit more hackable at this point if someone snags it. I have plans to get a couple of security methods in place, split the controls to go to at least two other areas that can be overwritten in times of emergency, but for now...."

Alex shrugs, a bit sheepish. "Haven't had a lot of time to work on it."

[goodfight]

Surprised at the motion, Neil swipes the object from the air. He lays it flat against his palm, eyes moving over the roulette wheel design and the inscription. Lucky 38, of course.

Meanwhile, his ears remain trained on Alex and his words. "Guess that's the downside of having a physical item be your damn key," he mutters, mostly to himself. "Question: You gave your crew 'platinum keycards,' right?"

Thoughts go to Arcade and their very unhappy talk whilst suturing side-by-side.

[doubletap]

Yeah, it really was. He really needs to fix that. If he could--

He blinks, looking utterly surprised. "Um. Yeah. I did. How do you know about those?"

[goodfight]

It would be a betray to a kinda friend, but they are in a vault equivalent to truth serum. And Neil Park is suddenly so tired of the past.

"Arcade. In an attempt to show me that you weren't the type of guy to royally screw me over," he responds, voice uncharacteristically solemn. "Those cards. They're based on this, correct?"

Here, he extends out the Platinum Chip to Alex.

[doubletap]

He can't say he's surprised. Maybe, actually, the only thing he's surprised about it-- "You guys actually became friends, huh?"

It's strange. And it makes him a weird kind of happy.

The explanation, complicated as it is to him, comes out simply. "They are. They give them free run in and out in case they ever need anything. There's a hidden function behind that one, that links with the Securitron mainframe. If there's ever a large scale problem and they see one of the holders in danger, their priority is the holder's life, after their search and secure functions."

[goodfight]

"I guess." On friendly terms, at least. "Though, I think he more gave the information away in hopes that I wouldn't hemorrhage on my own paranoia." Ah, the earlier days in the Mojave... Neil could just taste that stale tension right the fuck now.

That, however, isn't worth further thought. His attention stays on the keycards and their functions. "That sounds like a pretty elaborate system you created for your crew," he gives, smiling weakly. "You must really care for them."

[doubletap]

A hit of guilt runs through him, and he pulls one leg up on the bed, rests it against Neil's thigh. "He's a good guy. Better than most."

Which goes with the other statement. "They all are, really. Good people. And that's hard to come by. People who support you and are willing to follow you. It's fucking rare, and hell if I'm not going to try my damnest to keep them going."

[goodfight]

Contact pulls at his attention, but ultimately, it is the conversation Neil fixates on.

Good people. A concept he could get fully behind but was never given the chance. He nods once in acknowledgment. "Gotta ask," the man continues. "How did you manage to assemble a group like that?"

[doubletap]

Here, Alex smiles, a mix of affection and self-abasement. "At the beginning of all of this... Hoover Dam, help the Mojave, Legion vs NCR vs House vs everyone in the middle... I didn't give fuck all about anything. I wanted to pound the guy into sand who shot me and the rest could go to hell. There wasn't any plan. I wasn't looking for any people.

"I helped Boone kill the lady responsible for his wife and child's death--that finished, I felt like he would just off himself and be done with it, so I cajoled him into coming along. With Arcade, we bantered for an hour, then I challenged him to come with and he sorta stuck, and kept being a decent moral rail for everybody. Veronica invited herself along, and when everything with the BoS and the Followers went down, she had no where else to go. Cass I helped out, and to her that meant we were besties forever. Grandma needed a better life. Rex needed a new lease on life. Raul thought he owed me for saving him, so he's been paying it off by working at the 38. And ED-E is ED-E."

Alex sighs out, something long and heavy. "...People stick sometimes. Become family."

[goodfight]

The commonality in each encounter, in the reason each individual eventually stuck around, is Alex Seattle Geer. He helped, he pushed, he provided. Is it any wonder that they regard themselves as his, even if none of them would admit it outright?

But would Alex even accept that truth, the critical fact that he himself is the reason they're family? Neil...doesn't think so.

Instead, he settles for the next best thing. "They care for you," he begins quietly. "Just as much as you care for them. That much is certain. To me, at least."

[doubletap]

Neil is quiet, truthful. And Alex smiles quietly at him. "If I could be so lucky."

[goodfight]

"You are lucky," Neil starts instantly, "in some respects. What I've seen..."

Of the handful of them. ED-E, Raul, Rex, Arcade, and Boone. "They care, and it ain't just lip service. I would know." About caring in word but not in deed. About being so unlucky. "People like that are not gonna leave you when shit hits the proverbial fan."

Or throw you away in the name of progress.

[doubletap]

He replies, repeats. "I am lucky."

But Alex reaches, touches Neil's hand and where he would hesitate otherwise, does not here, and entwines their fingers together.

Raises that hand to his mouth. "You care, and you aren't going to leave me."

[goodfight]

Alex entwines their fingers together as they never would outside this vault, as though the act is perfectly normal. Where Neil might have flushed and flustered at the mere sight, however, the young man settles into a kind of melancholy, his dark eyes holding a degree of pain.

They are coming together toward something, and Neil doesn't know where that is. He only knows this truth. "That's right," he murmurs. "I am not going to leave you."

[doubletap]

Alex squeezes Neil's hand, keeping it as his own. "And neither will I," he speaks quietly, and realizes that this might be the first he's said it perfectly clear. "I won't leave you behind."