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]

[ Narrows eyes half-playfully, half-not. ]

Well, that's a way of lessening it, yeah.

[goodfight]

[He flusters, as if caught off-balance.]

Well, you're using the same definition Da-- Er, same one I was taught as a kid!

[doubletap]

[ Alex snorts, and in a fit of whimsy, brings Neil's hands up to his mouth to bite his fingers. ]

So you do end up comparing me to your old man in the end.

[goodfight]

[A groan escapes from his lips as he himself shivers from the touch. This is a severe step up from previous scenarios, where Neil might have punched Alex on the arm.]

You're not my dad.

[doubletap]

[ Expecting a slap or a sharp remark, both reactions catch him off guard. Blue-gray eyes flash in a familiar way at Neil's shiver. He keeps the other's hands near his lips. ]

...Apparently not.

[goodfight]

[Neil stares at him, watching the all-too familiar expression with something akin to horror and mild interest.]

...Does doing things include using that power of yours?

[doubletap]

[ Keeping the expression, he raises his eyebrows. ]

I thought that didn't work on you.

[goodfight]

...It doesn't.

[A pause before he mutters:]

But I also have no idea when you're actually being..."nice". Guys just seem to lose their minds for a second and do whatever you say.

[doubletap]

It's called listening, Wanderer.

[ He lowers their hands, though keeps them together. ]

If you haven't noticed, I'm good with people. Don't like a lot of 'em, but I'm good with them. I understand where people are coming from, and what they want and need. Most people just want that--someone to understand them.

[ He watches Neil for a moment. ]

Most people would give up a lot to have that.

[goodfight]

[He absorbs this for a good minute.]

...I get what you're saying.

[Makes a good deal of sense, really, even if that is not Neil's way.

Huh, now he can't help thinking about it, and his face shows.]

[doubletap]

Do you now?

[ He asks near playfully. ]

[goodfight]

[...Now he does. Kinda. There is just one thing he's missing.

Neil narrows his eyes.]

Are you talking about you or me?

[doubletap]

[ He wants to say, "who knows?"--wants to hold to the theme of teasing and lightness. He tries for it--and chokes on the words.

A hand on his throat, glaring at the floor, he spits out the truth instead. ]

Both of us, in my view.

[goodfight]

[The guy chokes in a not-funny way. A likely attempt in lightness.

It is this that has Neil looking on with veiled concern.]

Could you elaborate?

[doubletap]

[ It annoys him, and for some reason, depresses him as well. He lets go of Neil's hands fully, moves to open up a cabinet full of useless crap like duck tape and a wrench. ]

Who knows? Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe you're perfectly fine not having someone to try to understand you.

[ Maybe I'm just fooling myself. What's with the dramatics, Alex? ]

[goodfight]

[His hands are still shaky without another to press them together, but the detail isn't as noteworthy as Alex. His words and the emotion shown, specifically.

Neil watches the other watching the contents of a cabinet. It would be funny at another time.]

...You know, I never had someone try to understand me. It was always about something or someone else.

[doubletap]

[ When he turns to look, there's anger in the expression. ]

I know that! It pisses me off. You deserve better than that.

[goodfight]

[For once, something like melancholy touches his countenance.]

I don't know.

[Neil starts to press his hands together in an attempt to replicate the calm.]

Feel like it's my lot in life. For being born and all.

[doubletap]

[ He returns. Reaches for his hands again. ]

I always forget how young you are.

[goodfight]

[There, again, is that support. Neil cannot help but look again at the conjoined hands.]

Yeah, yeah. I'm a tiny tot, and I don't know my way around this fucked up world.

[He sighs.]

Wish it would all just stop.

[doubletap]

That's not it.

[ He rubs his fingers over Neil's knuckles, a natural motion not questioned as it was a couple of hours prior. ]

Your life is yours. Only yours. Your wants and regrets--those are yours, too. You being born, living in this world; that's yours to deal with. Yours to do what you want with it. You were born into this world and this world is yours for the taking. You're not a piece of it, lessening everyone else--you're one of the few that own it, that can change it.

The world moves for you. There's nothing lacking about your existence.

[goodfight]

[Ah, that descriptor. It sounds so much like--]

Like you?

[Alex Seattle Geer, the Courier. The man with his hand in every aspect of the Mojave Wasteland and his own life, even if the details elude Neil.

There is affection between them, and still, the young man is knee-deep in a funk.]

I don't know if I will ever believe that.

[doubletap]

[ He raises an eyebrow, then remains silent as Neil continues.

Then leans forward, and kisses the other man's forehead. ]

You can doubt. But I know. It has to be true, you know.

[ And he grins, ignoring his discomfort of this vault. ]

Or I couldn't say it.

[goodfight]

[The kiss sears against his forehead, and something shifts within his chest. Neil laughs, the sound trailing between bitterness and amusement, before wiggling a hand away to wrap his arm around Alex's torso.]

Your perception of me is something I will never understand, Courier.

[doubletap]

[ The open affection makes Alex feel like something in his chest is breaking. There is loss here--the chance of loss, because this being given to him means it can be taken away. ]

I'm only seeing the true glory of the savior of the wastes, Wanderer~

[ Teasing aside, he slips an arm around Neil as well. ]

...Are you going to keep doing this? After?