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]

Apparently the conversation continues. A tad more pointed--one that makes Alex quiet and consider things. He stands, looking downward, then leans to kiss the top of Neil's head, a hand cupping the side of his face. "...Get more rest than this, Neil." Get a deeper sleep, one you can actually heal in.

Alex needs to sort the rest of the crap, and there's still those holotapes he found, but at the moment, he should heed ED-E's advice--he doesn't know if and when those BOS bastards are going to show up. He tugs the cushioned chair over to the bed, setting it close to the mattress, before settling down.

ED-E hovers, as he does, and Dogmeat watches. Alex reaches down and drapes a hand over Neil's own. He leans his head back and closes his eyes.

Knowing ED-E is watching, he murmurs in a show of annoyance, "This chair isn't comfortable at all."

ED-E beeps affectionately, and despite everything, Alex feels his mind slipping away.

[goodfight]

It's funny, those transitions in dreams. They come and go as they please, and when they do, you never remember exactly when. Sometimes, you never remember what came before when you reach the after.

Here, it is the same. Neil falls into the deeper rest asked for, slipping into absence, and the world before simply disappears. There is no counter, no wine. No whiskey, no obscured man striking up conversation.

There is only sleep.