the pier.

[doubletap]

Let him just say it now--the kid had a lot of problems.

I mean, not really a surprise or anything--Alex had found him dried out in a desert, for crying out loud--but god damn.

Let’s recap.

Alex Seattle Geer found himself in love with a Vault brat from the Capital Wasteland with a daddy complex the size of Hoover Dam. Said kid loves him back--sometimes. Said kid would probably rather put another bullet between Alex’s eyes rather than spend time with him, and didn’t this just go to show it. Neil leaves to check up a rumor, said he’d be back shortly--shortly became two days and by then Dogmeat was back, meaning Neil took off somewhere he was worried the dog would get hurt at. Two days turn into two weeks and counting, and by then, Alex has tracked Neil’s steps, found the fucking pier, the fucking tool of a woman looking for her child, and all of the pieces are too easily placed.

Neil left for Point Lookout. And Alex, ED-E, and Dogmeat are left hanging in the wind.

Alex has been fucking camping on the dirty sand and shit next to that pier, waiting for that stupid kid to come back on that stupid ferry the woman told him about. Tobar the fucking Ferryman, and Alex feels like shooting the asshole just for submitting to Neil’s request. Probably not the guy’s fault, but-- Hell. Yeah. He didn’t traipse all over the goddamn country just to be left in the dust. Is the kid even coming back? Who fucking knows.

Alex will just.

Wait here.

Until Neil comes back.

Yeah, that’s not pathetic at all.

Comments

[goodfight]

The reaction he expects is pure humor. Alex, however, offers affection, and it throws Neil off-balance, an aspect he already needs at the moment.

Thus, instead of hitting the other man, Neil flushes to a beet red, eyes flickering to their surroundings for evidence of witnesses. Aside from Dogmeat and ED-E, of course, there are none others. Still--

"No, really," he stammers. "This is too much. It's almost--" Romantic, is what he doesn't say. "You should really let me walk to the damn pool."

[doubletap]

His body had loosened in preparation of any hits, and when Neil only acts nervous in response, flushes a wonderful color in turn, Alex just--

Forgets. Maybe that's it. Maybe he just forgets his intentions. Just for a moment.

He kisses Neil's temple and holds him closer. Maybe somewhere else Alex would note the flush, tease Neil mercilessly for his reaction. But here, he just-- "You make me regret that I can't be inside you, Wanderer."

[goodfight]

In that instant, from that singular response, Neil stops struggling. He ceases his protests long enough to watch Alex with his dark eyes, to consider the one question he often overlooked in favor of pride. Of denial, of justification.

What is this between them, exactly? He said he loved Alex, thought of him as a friend, but he doesn't think he knew what that meant at that time. And perhaps now he thinks that he should have known.

He stills completely, falling silent, eyes still fixed, unblinking, on Alex.

[doubletap]

Alex pulls back, the smiles still lurking at the corners of his lips. "...What?" he asks finally. "Too much?"

[goodfight]

Neil blinks, and the spell is broken. Left buried. He glances over at the door before again eyeing the other man. "It's fine," he says evenly. Almost kindly. "Let's just get on with destroying whatever dignity I have left."

[doubletap]

"Sure thing," he answers easily. "One thing, though."

That thing being a repeat of many times before. Alex ducking his head to take Neil's lips to taste him thoroughly.

[goodfight]

That one thing is an act known--occasionally tolerated, barely accepted. The mind wanders again as his lips are taken, and Neil knows. Beyond what has occurred, past and present, he will eventually have to choose how he will be. How exactly he will be to this man.

He's the first to break away, red still lingering on his skin. "Satisfied?" he asks lightly.

[doubletap]

Alex turns as Neil breaks, companions trailing behind. The man feigns thoughtfulness, then smiles again. "Never," he declares truthfully.

The word hangs there in the air, and Alex thinks to continue as he walks from the room-- "Not with you. You stir me up. But at least it's never boring."

[goodfight]

There's movement from all with Neil simply along for the ride. It's, as stated, quite humiliating, but right now, there is nothing else he can do about it. They leave the room as Alex continues.

"That's me," he replies blandly. "Never boring." Always stirring shit, in one thing or another. Not because it's all him, of course. No, Neil Park himself is quite boring.

This-- This is just a six-year habit he's nursing.

[doubletap]

"That's right," Alex says, not privy to the thoughts in Neil's mind. He wanders past where he had murdered men in the recent past--thinks he can still scent the discharge of energy weapons in the air.

His arms tighten slightly. "You're a refreshing breath of air, kid. Never forget it."

[goodfight]

They pass the place where men met their end, where Xavier's ash pile still sits, and Neil merely watches past it all. He watches a scene playing in a time set in the not-so-distant past, words repeating over and over again in that stifling room.

I'm much the same. There had been humor, ever present even in the face of certain death. The only difference is that my trophies are somewhat more medical in nature. Oh, and to be honest, I probably kill fewer people than you do.

Neil swallows. Despite his focus, he continues to address the present. "Refreshing, huh?" It's a thought, one he lets go of immediately.

[doubletap]

"Yeah," Alex answers quietly. They move through an underground location that Alex desperately wants to be out of, but moves as with the utmost patience. There is reaction and there is response. Choice is in one, but not the other.

"You've kept me moving, after all." So-- "The least I can do is return the favor here."

[goodfight]

Something of Alex's response draws Neil out of his mind, back into the waking world. "Moving?" he echoes, his voice almost hesitant. "What are you talking about?"

Kept Alex moving. The statement hardly makes any sense.

[doubletap]

This isn't quite a misstep. Not like mentioning the Chip that drunken day in Novac. But it's something he should probably keep. Showing wounds to other predators isn't always the smartest idea.

It's dumb, though. Idiotic. Because that's not it at all. Neil has claim to this, too, it's his as much as Alex's, but it's not quite to the point of sharing. "Ask me later," Alex says easily, like the topic isn't heavy. "When you're completely fine and back to yourself, ask me then."

He pauses, then glances down at Neil, offering a small grin. "Until then, you're just going to have to deal with me."

[goodfight]

The answer proves conditional, and perhaps Neil shouldn't frown as he is now. He shouldn't think on how to press for an answer as he does now. As he shifts in the next moment.

There is, unfortunate or not, always another moment to ask. To gain an answer in this state, regardless of its nature, may not result in the most perfect of understanding. As dumb as he is sometimes, Neil has enough wisdom to know that.

He looks at the other, his frown softening to a neutral line. "Alright."