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

[doubletap]

Neil lessens his grip, and Alex flashes a quick smile of thanks before turning again, walking a few steps to the side and holstering his gun.

In the interim, Drew rushes to fill the silence, after a wary look at the dog. "No, I-- I was just coming back because Ellis was--" Mad at him, and-- "Washington wanted me--" Out of the way-- "To deliver a package. I didn't know-- Didn't know you were even up. You're-- The Lone Wanderer, right? Wow, I--" No, don't say it-- "Thought you'd be taller."

Shit, say something else. Anything.

Panicked, Drew's mind slips backward. "Are you guys doing it-- Uh, I meant, together, I mean, that's none of my business, I just thought you were like his dad or something--"

Fuuuuuuuck me.......

[goodfight]

...So the guy Neil's pretending to defend is a rambler. The most dangerous kind, he is sorry to find. This is a one that's running on pure nervous energy, and nerves can take a person, well, anywhere. Usually down. Neil stares, eyebrows rising higher and higher as the young man spirals downward, creating the (not-so-beautiful) disaster he anticipated from before.

It's fucking tragic, circumstances aside. The guy "thought" Neil would be taller? What the hell did that even mean--

Without a glance at Alex, Neil raises his hand and wiggles a finger at the actual question, as if to silence the rambler from continuing. "It is none of your business," he says, tone neutral. "And yeah, I'm the guy they call the Lone Wanderer."

[doubletap]

Drew rambles in fear, and it makes Alex a little regretful that he apparently scared the shit out of the kid. It's making a mess, one that's bordering on insulting, but it's not unforgivable--

Scratch that.

Alex is deaf to Neil's reply, and only turns slowly to look at Drew. "You 'thought' I was his fucking father? How the fuck old do you think I am? And that fucker was a complete asshole, and I am nothing like--"

Alex. Alex Seattle Geer. Are you getting emotionally upset in front of a stranger?

Alex lets out something like a loud growl and spins around to knock his head against the wall, leaving it there as he begs for calm. ED-E, upset on Alex's behalf, starts a series of reprimanding beeps, getting in Drew's face about it and making him step backwards.

Which makes him inadvertently step on Dogmeat's tail. The dog yelps and jolts, in the process getting Drew's legs tangled together, making the kid fall hard on his ass.

He stays there, head in his hands, without a word.

[goodfight]

Forgiveness might have possible for the rambler, even as the world around Neil descends into chaos. Even as Alex and ED-E grow increasingly animated and upset, as Alex's response pricks the fragile parts inside him, Neil was willing to overlook it all and gently guide the young guard toward the gift shop entrance.

Then the very same guard steps on Dogmeat's tail. Causes the poor dog to yelp in pain, the first sound he's uttered in a long while. All bets, as they say, are off.

His jaw and fists clench shut as Neil steps toward the guard, his anger fierce and swelling. He's planning not to stop until he's at that quiet form, where he'll reach down to collar the offending creature and shake the living daylights out of him.

[doubletap]

There's chaos behind him, a mess of sounds and ED-E beeping in admonishment. What a good friend the bot is. Alex doesn't deserve him half the time. It's almost reassuring enough to--

There's a sharp yelp, a sound from Neil's friend instead of Alex's, and in a beat, Alex is swinging around to cut the movement off that he knows would come from that; an arm around Neil's chest as Alex swings them in a circle, making Neil face the brick instead. He keeps the arm around Neil's front in something of comfort. What the fuck does it matter? The guy saw them locking lips.

He whistles a stanza, and ED-E breaks off, zipping down to Dogmeat in concern and cajoling him to come over to their side. Once the two return to their respective parents, Dogmeat creeps to Neil's side, tail curled between his legs.

"Drew," Alex calls out. "The only thing Neil loves in this whole damn world is his dog. I would work on that apology now."

Startled, Drew scrambles up, almost taking a step forward before stopping. The kid makes a face of pain, but listens. Again, it seems, his only redeeming feature is his willingness to listen. "...You know I'm a fucking mess. I didn't mean... any of it." At Alex's raised eyebrows, Drew focuses on Neil's back. "I'm really sorry, Mr Park."

[goodfight]

He knows. He knows he's seeing red over an accident, but fuck, he can't stop. Neil will not fucking stop because his sad little guy had to get hurt in the process. Dogmeat deserves better. Deserves everything good in the world for having to put up with Neil's bullshit.

But Alex cuts Neil off, brings him back to face the wall, and Neil stops. He stays facing the brick and mortar, the red slowly easing down to the washed out colors of the Capital Wasteland, until nothing remains. Until he notices Dogmeat at his side, looking so fucking sad. He wiggles out of Alex's hold to comfort the damn dog. To pet and to hold and to never let go.

Somewhere in that, Neil hears the exchange. He catches the apology he had planned to shake out of the guard. Here, without effort, he would note two things: (1) Very few have ever addressed him by name. There is something redeeming in that. (2) Alex is wrong. There is another thing that Neil loves.

But that is neither here nor there.

"You're lucky you didn't break his tail," Neil speaks tersely without looking up from his pup. "Be fucking careful next time." Though from his tone, it's quite obvious that there will never be a next time.