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]

Oh. Guess talking isn't part of the kid's plans. Neil watches ED-E sit in the corner for a bit before turning to address Alex. To pause for a beat at the injuries.

"...Yeah, I just grabbed the nearest thing," he says distractedly. "Are you okay?"

[doubletap]

He pauses for a minute. Then inserts the stimpack into a leg, and drops it on the floor, crossing the room. He reaches out, grasping the front of the jacket (not wonder it felt familiar), and pulling Neil into a wall. Alex leans into him, leaning his head down to nuzzle the skin underneath the collar of the jacket.

"...You look good in my clothes," he murmurs, tongue flicking out.

[goodfight]

Perhaps it's the missing part in his brain or the growing fever, but Neil does not resist the movements. He doesn't squirm away from the head nuzzling against his skin. Instead, he blinks as if attempting to comprehend, as if fighting through the heat for some kind of sense.

"Alex," he gives slowly, ignoring the other's statement. "Are you okay?"

[doubletap]

Neil calls his name, and Alex feels like he's fighting through a haze. He stops reacting, and moves to just rest his head on Neil's shoulder instead. "Maybe. That wasn't what I wanted." A truth more than most, and he continues, rolling his head to the side to look at Neil.

"And I'm mad at you."

[goodfight]

Again, perhaps it is his condition. There is a tragic expression etched upon Neil Park's face, something he doesn't remember ever really having. Guilt, is it?

"I'm sorry." For too many things. Fuck, he's starting to sound like a broken record in his broken head. "What do you need me to do?"

[doubletap]

He watches the expression bloom on Neil's face and thinks it's fucking tragic. Alex was fighting on this kid's behalf, and still he looks like this in the end. Alex hates this place. He hates what it does to Neil. He just wants to take him from it and be done.

He straightens, moves his hands to hold Neil's face, and leans to kiss him. Thoroughly.

[goodfight]

There are lips meeting his own. For a brief, fleeting moment, Neil finds relief in the affection. In another showing something for him.

Until it shatters, that is. Until he remembers there is a reality they are trudging through. Neil tries to break the kiss prematurely, to pull back to breathe.

[doubletap]

Alex lets him, running his thumbs over Neil's cheeks fondly. "You just need to rest, Wanderer," he says affectionately, answering the question Neil asked. "You need to lay back down. You're going to worry the shit out of me again. Showing up in that hall? Goddamn kid."

[goodfight]

Is Alex searching for the reasons behind his choices? Neil somehow doesn't think so, but he continues as though that answer is a yes. Another's skin on his cheeks tingles uncomfortably, and his unfortunate countenance changes to that of exhaustion.

"I woke up. Heard an explosion. You yelling." Head suddenly spinning, Neil presses his back up further against the wall for support. "Of course, I'd show up."

[doubletap]

"Come on," he says quietly, backing up and keeping his hands on Neil. "Come sit or lay down. You shouldn't be moving around so much."

He reaches, to gently tug the laser rifle from Neil's hands.

[goodfight]

The suggestion's taken gracefully--or as gracefully as a recent trauma 'patient' can be capable of. Free from his weapon, Neil utilizes both his hands to balance as he stumbles toward the bed. There, he drops down onto the mattress as if dead, his legs dangling over the edge, taking care to not slam his skull into anything.

And somehow, laying down makes everything worse. Nausea piques, and he murmurs a pained sound.

[doubletap]

The gun is leaned next to the wall, then Alex follows Neil. Only to murmur in exasperation at the act. "Kid..."

Alex moves to shift Neil onto his back, brushing his bangs from his head. The sheet is pulled up, then Alex pauses, smiling slightly. "You keeping on my coat?"

[goodfight]

His fever's unbearable, and he feels like he's gonna throw up, but Alex shifts things just enough to be tolerable. Neil goes to give his thanks when the other points something out.

Coat? What-- "Oh." Neil glances down at what he's wearing. "I'll take this off." He starts to sit up, hands moving to undo the buttons.

[doubletap]

Alex brushes his hands away, pushing him gently back. "You can keep it for now if you want. Unless it'll make you too warm."

Alex goes through the motions of checking Neil's condition--temperature, pulse, pupils, etc. "Didn't expect to get jumped by the metalheads so quickly. I'm going to have to go check on the guys upstairs soon."

[goodfight]

His efforts are hampered, but truth be told, Neil doesn't mind. He relents. "You sure?" he asks after a beat.

"Rivet City guys, right?" If they witnessed anything of the recent 'unpleasantness,' they must be fucking stressed past their limits. Although-- "Did you talk to them? Who's the one in charge today?"

[doubletap]

"I like you in my clothes," he says, a repeat. Then continues to the other topic. "Washington. Good guy. He likes you."

[goodfight]

Neil stares outright. "Wearing your coat, then," he tells Alex.

As for Washington, the name sounds familiar, in the way of Neil probably talked to the guy before. Talked to nicely if what Alex states proves correct. "That's a first." Someone liking him. "So how would you say, 'I'm sorry for the gross inconvenience of making your work harder?'"

[doubletap]

Alex's smiles grows, obviously pleased. He tilts his head to the second topic. "We say, 'you can take the credit for running out the insane squatter who managed to kill a contingent of Brotherhood forces.'"

He shakes his head. "Because I'm definitely not letting them take the fall for helping us."

[goodfight]

His gaze falters, the skin around his dark eyes swelling from the high temperature. Neil shuts his eyelids, taking relief in the dark. "You always have an answer," he speaks evenly. "Have to respect you for that."

[doubletap]

The expression shifts to something more solemn, and he reaches to close his hand over one of Neil's arms. "Do you want me to do something else? This is your party here."

[goodfight]

At the pressure of a hand, Neil swallows the whimper sitting in his throat. Touching's beginning to be too much. He doesn't know if this is good or bad. "Your plan's perfect. None'll be wiser."

A pause. "Provided that's all the Brotherhood of Steel that came into the Memorial."

[doubletap]

He watches Neil for another moment. "...I'll go check upstairs, make sure everything's kosher. You mind if I wake you up when I'm done, make sure things are good here as well?"

[goodfight]

"No mind," responds Neil. Between the sickness and the fever, he doesn't believe he can fall asleep anyway. "Thanks, Alex."

The gratitude is given with mourning in his voice. "Really, thank you. And I'm sorry. Will make it up to you somehow." The you includes Dogmeat and ED-E. And any poor soul who got caught up in this melodrama.

[doubletap]

About ready to go, Alex paused, then shifts to kneel on the floor, hand trailing down Neil's arm until he catches his hand, bringing it to his mouth. He kisses his fingers, and stares at the kid. "...Listen, you have to stop apologizing. There's no resentment here. I just want you to get back to yourself."

There's a thump sound as Dogmeat's tail hits the metal of the bed. Alex glances over, and then to ED-E peering back at them. "...All of us want you to get better, all right? Don't thank me, either, kid. There's nothing I've done that you wouldn't, right?"

[goodfight]

One has to wonder about his apologies if people keep telling him to stop. Regardless, Neil forces away his reactions. Push down his want to crumble beneath Alex's touch to the pits of his stomach. To reach desperately for Dogmeat like a child.

"Better. I'm on it," he manages. He leaves the rest of the topic alone.