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]

...He's overcome by some kind of emotion. He can't think to speak. He rubs a finger against Neil's cheek, then only murmurs quietly. "...Good kid."

He separates slowly, then gives his attention to the eyebot. ED-E gives a hopeful sound, and Alex lays his hand against his friend's chassis. "Good job," is the quiet praise. "Watch for now."

The next is just science. After everything else, the fact of combined chemicals is almost too simple. The substance he put together earlier, from their paste and a hackney biogel and a vegetative aloe is perfectly fine as a solvent and sealant. He lines the bone piece with it liberally, touches dabs to the outside of the hole, and taking a careful bit of time, lines them up so that this time they fit right. The solvent holds long enough for him to cake the stuff on the outside once they're together--it seals in less than ten seconds. A perfectly natural, easily dissoluble, non-obtrusive substance which is not something that will rot and infect.

He had tried not to look in at the brain itself. It's not his specialty, not by any means, and he wanted to get that finished and closed. What he did end up seeing was better and worse than he thought. There was no giant chunk missing--just maybe an indent slightly noticeable. The trade-off was the unhealthy pulsing red, giving rise to Alex's main assumption. If Neil doesn't already have a fever, he'll have one soon enough from all of this--and it wouldn't be good.

"Almost done with this, kid," Alex says, stepping back. "Just need to line up the skin and sew it up. Giving you warning."

It's going to hurt.

[goodfight]

Alex praises the relevant parties and sets to work, but the details are lost on Neil. Mind laden with fog, he drifts in and out of awareness as the world moves forward around him, nearly touching the unconscious before twitching awake. The forms in that room shift and change beneath the light, and--

Well, it's nothing pleasant. It's nothing unbearable. The worst, as stated, is over.

When Alex explains, Neil closes and opens his dark eyes as a response, as if to acknowledge the warning. He does not have the full concentration as he did prior, but the Med-X may curb the worst of what's to come. Hopefully.

[doubletap]

Neil gets a moment. Alex wants to do this as quick and neat as possible. The catgut is flossed through the needle, double pulled for stability, and Alex goes through the motions of a battleground medic, thinks somewhere in his mind it's a little funny, and strangely enough, misses Arcade. Julie, and everyone else doing good. Doc Richards, Doc Mitchell. The Auto-fucking-Doc in the Big Empty. Hah, now that's--

He never actually told that group he was leaving for a while. Time doesn't pass the same for them, but he wonders if he should have, now. Wonders if he should have went to the Big Empty, went to the Divide, went to the fucking Boomers, the Devil's Brigade... Should have told the people who have started to live their lives relying on him that he was going. He didn't think this would be anything but a vacation, and for Alex--traveling is something he's always done. Telling people is something else. All he actually took the time to do is update the Lucky 38 crew and program a new emergency subroutine into the Mk II Securitrons. This vacation was more like an escape and he understands that now. Still doesn't excuse anything. Still doesn't mean those things disappeared because he needed a break. If they get back to the Mojave, things need to be done differently. He's not going to lock himself to a location like House, but he's going to find a way to balance responsibility and self. Going to have to. Because this will work the way it deserves to; play out the way it needs to.

Because the Mojave deserves to live, like the Divide never got to.

The skin is carefully moved into place, and after making sure Neil is remaining still, he begins to thread the needle through flesh.

[goodfight]

It hurts like Alex says, but Neil manages. He barely shifts from the alignment of thin skin, from the pinpricks, the uncomfortable sensation of thread pulling through one's own flesh. The man only sets his jaw and forces his ragged breaths through his nose.

His vision blurs. The skin covering the rest of his face and body starts to feel warm, almost comfortably so. Neil thinks that he might fall asleep, despite his preferences. If he isn't careful, he might go back to those unwanted dreams.

He wonders if he actually has a choice in the end.

[doubletap]

There's too much stillness in the interim, and Alex thinks it's not fair to expect Neil to fill in the gaps. Without looking up from the needlework, Alex starts a running monologue, casual and light.

"So I was bored within a day of you being gone," he says. "And you know that Moira has been on you to do a sequel...."

[goodfight]

Moments before, Neil might have lifted his eyes to Alex, holding exasperation and intrigue. Now, he barely registers the story's beginning. He blinks tiredly, watching and listening with the awareness of a patient slipping happily into their Med-X fix. The only tell is his mouth settling into a line, as if showing his disapproval.

[doubletap]

Alex's eyes glance down and notice the attempt at a hard-set line. He snorts. "Like you're in any position to lecture me. She gave me a list of things; got an open quest log from her. I was going to start, but...."

But the dog came back. And Alex got distracted.

"Anyway, I am going to finish the shit out of that before we go."

[goodfight]

Well, Neil supposes that he's being hypocritical. He did blow himself up with a frag mine for one of her requests. Besides, he recently got his brain cut out of his own accord; there's no room for his complaints.

He opens his mouth to speak but quickly finds disappointment. The question he intended to ask is reduced to a single word. "What...?" gasps Neil.

[doubletap]

"The first one?" He guess at the sentence. "A special fungus that's been rumored to sustain life completely by itself, and can even reduce radiation. She said it's in a place called Little Lamplight."

He finishes one part of the gash, ties it off. Moves on to the other one.

[goodfight]

Oh. That fungus. That place. Neil had planned to bring Alex to Little Lamplight (if the new mayor, since MacCready's likely long gone, is willing to grant entrance), but then everything just kind of petered out. His enthusiasm for his hometown took a nosedive at the amount of crap, and by the time they reached the Republic of Dave, he hated D.C. with every fiber of his being.

The corners of his lips pull down into a frown.

[doubletap]

"Eh, you can bitch about it later," Alex says, with a pat far enough back on Neil's head that it shouldn't pull skin. "But I'm interested to see what she does with the stuff. Especially if--"

He grins. "--If I finish helping her, and we both have our name on a book. We can buy them in a pair and be celebrities."

[goodfight]

Alex pats him like he's consoling a irritable child, and Neil can't help but frown harder. Especially when the other speaks.

The first portion of what he says is fine, but-- What? No. Absolutely not. Neil can't even look at his fucking name on that fucking book; why the hell would he want to buy it?

This is all expressed in a low growl.

[doubletap]

Alex laughs once, tired, but something lightens. Loosens. He stitches the last three stitches and ties it off, reaching for a scalpel to cut the catgut. "Wanderer, you disappear for over a month and get your head cut open, and you are fucking upset by something you should be proud of?"

[goodfight]

Neil's so displeased that he barely registers the finishing touches on his head. And to be frank, he doesn't really know why he got upset over the stupid Wasteland Survival Guide. Normally, he would feign irritation and be done with it. Perhaps now he's realizing the crowning moment of that time in hell was a guide about living in the Wastes.

The emotion's juvenile. It's just flat out dumb, and it makes him want to cry.

So again, he tears up. Blinks angrily to let the fucking water out of his eyes.

[doubletap]

Alex notices. Of course, he does. But he cuts the thread and reaches for the pot of homemade sealant on the table, slathering it over the cut with less careful motions than he did before. It dries into a somewhat sticky cream, but it'll help keep things together while stuff heals.

Which means he's done. Done and done.

He drops without warning, knees cracking on the floor, and leans to press his face into Neil's stomach, to take in, for a moment, that this first part--this first danger zone is over. He moves his head slightly, nuzzling, and just stays there. Stays right there.

[goodfight]

In his absurdity, Neil barely notices the final steps, the last stretch to repairing what had been damaged. It isn't until Alex drops to kneel and presses his face into Neil's stomach that the younger man realizes something has passed. His eyelids flutter as he watches Alex, as he attempts to make sense of what is unfolding before him.

[doubletap]

"Hey," he says for probably the eighteenth time, speaking into Neil's stomach. "You know that I love you, right?"

That this wouldn't have happened for anyone else.

"Please promise me," he says, lifting his head to look over to Neil, eyes tired and dark imprints heavy under his eyes. His face looks gaunt. "That you won't go alone to places you don't know anything about anymore. Please."

[goodfight]

The question, the promise-- Neither make a lick of sense, but one already shifts things within Neil. Moves his truths around. Alex has pressed the word love enough times for Neil to now agree that yes, the bastard loves him. Apparently, loves Neil enough to waste his precious time and energy patching the younger guy up.

But never going alone. Alex understands Neil's called the Lone Wanderer for a reason, right?

(Right?)

"Give...up..." Neil inhales, his throat and head threatening to tear apart. "...wandering?"

[doubletap]

"Fuck no," Alex breathes out, no hesitation in the answer. "Both of us... We like exploring too damn much for that. I would never fucking ask that."

The clarification is-- "Don't go by yourself. Take me with you. Take Dogmeat with you. Fuck, take ED-E with you. Don't go alone. Don't make me worry something will happen again. I don't want--"

Shit. There's no point in pretending pride will save you now, Alex Seattle Geer.

"...I don't want to lose you, kid."

[goodfight]

The response takes him aback. It fucks something up within him. Alex has never shown concern over Neil's welfare before; he'd seemed perfectly fine whenever Neil hopped over to a random locale. They're adults, after all. They do adult things like taking care of their own shit.

Well, at least until Neil fucked his own shit and ended up here. Now, there's concern. There's a potential of loss written behind Alex's eyes, and Neil can't recall. He can't remember if there was ever someone who desperately didn't want him to go at it alone.

He blinks and attempts a word. Why? It comes out weak, inaudible, and Neil slumps from where he is, exhausted by that little bit of effort.

[doubletap]

"I said," he responds to the nearly unsaid word. "I told you a few times by now. I just told you again. I love you, Neil Park, the fucking Lone Wanderer, savior of the fucking Capital Wasteland despite their fucking retarded bullshit about it. I care about you--me. I'm asking you, kid, please--"

Fucking don't do this to me again.

He takes a minute. Inhales. Swallows it down, like he told Neil to. "...Just promise me."

[goodfight]

Alex doesn't want to lose him. He cares about him. He loves Neil enough to beg for a promise.

Has Dad ever done that?

Pleaded for Neil not to run off, not to get himself injured, maimed, or killed. Not to travel back into the dangerous Wastes because James genuinely desired his well-being and not because he needed his kid's help. Didn't he once send Neil into the crossfires of a turret before? Tried to seal him in a vault where nearly every security officer wanted to bash his skull in?

Neil isn't even Alex's blood, and he is being asked to stay close. Stay alive. And the shit's real enough that Neil can't look at the other man anymore.

"Okay," he gasps. "Promise."

[doubletap]

Alex exhales, rises up on his feet to curl over Neil, tuck in close to him, an arm around the top of his head, Alex's head against Neil's shoulder. "Good kid," he says, a repeat from earlier, no less sincere. "Good kid."

Thank you.

[goodfight]

Neil's enfolded into an awkward embrace. He listens to the sound of Alex's voice ladened down with gratitude and wonders what has just happened. Neil nearly won the consolation prize of natural selection's bad side, and Alex Seattle Geer calls him a good kid.

How backwards. Neil hates himself. He wishes with every bit of himself that Alex would hate him as well.

[doubletap]

After a moment, Alex backs, and gives an exhale again. Concerned, ED-E questions, and Alex shakes his head. "It's fine." I'm fine, he means.

He exhales once again, and goes to rummage in the packs. "All right, we're nearly done here. Just gotta bandage you up, make you drink something nasty, and check on something, and you can get some real rest." Alex comes back with a handful of things, dropping them in a heap near Neil's legs and keeping the first thing he mentioned. Sterilized cloth is opened and placed over the wound on Neil's head, taped down.

He smiles, slightly. "You look like shit, Wanderer."

It's a repeat. The first thing he said to Neil when he returned. It's somewhat... redeeming. This past shitty month lessens, just the slightest.