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]

Acknowledgement. A simple addendum. These Neil can work with. "Yeah, of course." It is only fair, and who is Neil to deny Alex passage into a place that isn't his to begin with?

(Unlike--)

He inhales sharply, his chest expanding to clear out any thought.

[doubletap]

Cute. The kid is cute. Alex leans to kiss his cheekbone. "By the way," Alex Seattle Geer adds. "I like you naked like this."

[goodfight]

Perhaps it's the aimlessness, the irregularity. The quiet affection when his head's broken and mending from another man's efforts. Neil flushes brightly. He thinks his fever might have piqued and ignores the obvious. "Why's that?" he asks.

[doubletap]

In response, Alex curls a hand around Neil lower down, then slips to trace the inside of Neil's thighs instead. A question Alex didn't expect. The blushing is honest. Perhaps Alex should be honest as well.

"There's not as much distance," he states after a moment.

[goodfight]

Another day, he might have fought off the wanted reactions and the blatancy presented. Today, Neil allows them. Permits himself to exist alongside the truth of things. He releases a quiet sigh at the hand around him and slipping down.

"You said you followed me--" As stated outside of President Dave's territory. "--because you wanted to be closer to me. You want to be something to me." Is that still true?

[doubletap]

The sigh causes his body to react. It doesn't matter that Alex knows nothing will happen right now--not like that. His body still wants that conclusion--this person. So he ignores it. Acts like nothing happened.

"...Why do you think," he starts quietly. "That I waited for you on that pier?"

[goodfight]

The result is felt, clear as sin, but as they are speaking, Neil remains as he is. They are speaking, and there exists only one thing to say.

"For over a month," he returns. "That's insane. Everyone else would have left after a couple of days." Given up on him. "So I'm very sorry for making you wait. I won't do that again."

[doubletap]

There is something in this. Something that Alex cannot shift gears and turn into humor. The chance is there ("Well, I never said I was sane~").

He lets it slip by.

"You won't," he echoes. "Are you promising to stay with me?"

[goodfight]

There is something. Something that stings and burns at the tip of his tongue, but something he must give nevertheless.

"Yeah," Neil murmurs. "Something like that." Until life shifts in its ever-changing state.

[doubletap]

His body pulses against Neil's thigh (against his will). He ignores it. Ignores it and leans closer, his hand slipping back up to cup Neil's head--

He kisses him--lips and tongue and teeth and want.

[goodfight]

A hand cradles his head. Another's body and lips press closer his in want, and Neil can only take the gestures. Accept his affections. There's nothing else until life shifts in its ever-changing state.

There's only a meager promise. An apology given a beat later than was due.

[doubletap]

Out of nowhere, Alex chuckles against Neil's lips, breathless. "You're supposed to be resting," he chides.

[goodfight]

A beat passes as Neil attempts to make sense of the statement, of that reaction. He finally blinks, wishing he could shrug in the usual dramatic fashion. "This isn't resting?" he says, feigning ignorance.

For a beat only. "I think I can try to sleep for a bit," is the continuance, serious this time.

[doubletap]

Here, Alex will give an exceedingly familiar look. "It becomes the very opposite of resting."

He shifts away, leaning again on an elbow, keeping his other hand resting on Neil's hip. "Do you want to, though?"

[goodfight]

Neil snorts, or what counts as snorting given his weakened state.

At the query, however, he turns again toward the ceiling, eyelids fluttering against the dim lighting. "No," he admits. "But it doesn't matter. I'm going to sleep eventually." At some point, he will have to go back to Hell.

[doubletap]

As if he can't stop touching Neil, Alex reaches out again, to trace Neil's jaw. Maybe it's because the kid isn't fighting. Maybe it's because Neil isn't hiding things or being pissed off. It's nice. Alex wants it, and there's some kind of loss in thinking about what spawned all this.

"Well," he says. "I can leave you to sleep, or I can tell you a story, I guess." Something to distract from the nightmares in Neil's brain.

[goodfight]

His heart drums at the hand moving against his jaw, at the choice Alex presents. Neil's head desires the chance of a story, an ancient indulgence, while his propriety works overtime to come up with a way to request it without sounding...well, pathetic.

The attempt fails. Spectacularly. "Story please," is the instant response.

[doubletap]

The honesty is charming. Alex likes it a lot. He shifts closer to Neil, nudging him over. Then slips an arm under his neck. "If it doesn't hurt, c'mere, then."

Let Alex hold you while he speaks.

[goodfight]

The closer proximity allows the full force of his reaction to hit Neil, and as he shifts into Alex's arms, he noticeably blushes. "...It's been a long month," says Neil, attempting composure. "And you don't really tell me much stories."

Thus, he got overly excited.

[doubletap]

The heightened reactions weren't expected, and as Neil fully blushes, stammering over his explanation--one that Alex hadn't asked for--Alex wishes he could love him properly.

Resents what made that impossible for now.

Neil comes into his arms freely, and Alex leans down, cutting him off on the tail end of his last word by kissing him deeply.

[goodfight]

A few words and shifting earn Neil a kiss, and it takes all of himself not to lose his practiced composure, his false calm. He grips Alex's forearm, fingers pressing lightly into the other's skin, before pulling his head back from the kiss. "What?" he questions.

[doubletap]

"I love you," he says instantly.

And I want to make you happy.

"And that word doesn't mean enough to tell you how I really feel."

[goodfight]

That phrase... It has been repeated several times over throughout the course of this disaster. Neil has to wonder, maybe, if it's perhaps Alex who has been affected the most.

"Are you okay?" he asks, voice broadcasting his concern.

[doubletap]

"I'm a little worn-down," he starts. "And I'm not really sure where to go next." Something that the impeccable Courier has never stated. "I'm upset by a lot." Things he would put off saying for the time being. "And I wish that I knew how to help more." For everyone involved.

His arms tighten on Neil, though, and he kisses the corner of his mouth. "But I'm happy. You're right here with me and being open, and I'm happy."

I'm really, really happy.

[goodfight]

Uncertainty. Alex has never admitted to such an emotion. He always seemed so sure of what he was going to do; it was almost enviable to Neil, to someone who never quite understood where the hell he was heading toward in life. It would disturb a number of people, hearing uncertainty from this man.

But Neil is only concerned, even as Alex says he's happy. As he continues to give affection. Neil only thinks he should perhaps do something.

"Do you need anything? Something I can provide?"