ghost of a chance.

[goodfight]

The Capital Wasteland. It's a wasteland. It has dead trees. There are trash, debris, and rotting corpses everywhere. It's Neil's hometown. D.C. ain't pretty, but D.C. is where he comes from. A crappy start, literally.

Neil's hardly phased, though. Despite Alex's clear opinions regarding the area, the younger guy has been looking forward to getting back. Years have passed since he last laid eyes on the Capital Wasteland; some positive change must have occurred. Or any change, really. Anything would be fine.

As they pass through Megaton's gate, however, Neil catches a glimpse of that thing, and he stops dead in his tracks. His eyes widening to show white.

"Da... Dad?"

Comments

[goodfight]

They pull apart to speak words-- Sentiments, Neil finds, that prove far more potent than a mere declaration of love. Alex presses love, companionship, and genuine want, and Neil loses the smile, drops the confidence from his countenance, and finds himself trembling.

There's a potential for loss, great and heavy in the backdrop. There is death on the horizon from where they are.

He stops, of course. Trembling and imagery both. He stops shaking long enough to reach up to brush his thumb across Alex's lips. "You're the only person," Neil responses quietly, with emotion. "The only fucking person to say that to me. Did you know that?"

Did Alex understand that? "How the hell am I supposed to say no to you? After that?"

[doubletap]

Neil touches him, runs his finger over his lips, and Alex kisses that thumb, a reaction as natural as breathing. The words Neil uses are ones that comfort instead of condemn, and Alex smiles to him; links his hands behind Neil's back and holds him tight.

"Good," he says simply, in something of his familiar tone. "That's good. I want to be your only person. I want to be the only one to say that to you."

He tilts his head, watches Neil with a smile. "I want you to be unable to say no."

[goodfight]

Alex would accept that, that position, and it's starting to reek of a marriage purposeful. Neil flushes deeply, every part of him affected, far too affected to think in terms of what came before. There is none other. There is no father, no harshness of the Wastes, nothing. Only them.

Neil finds himself smiling without actual thought. Returns to teasing to convey a truth. "You must be so damn tired of hearing no from me," he remarks. "Sorry, for the resistance."

[doubletap]

"Ah," he says lightly, as if they hadn't just been in the middle of starting something. "But resistance is apparently your signature move. If you didn't resist, I wouldn't know what to do."

...Point proven, he supposes.

[goodfight]

Oh. Let him just run away with that a bit.

"Well, coincidentally," is the continuation. "I'm pretty sure you could just take me right now without any resistance." The smile on Neil's face widens to a playful smirk. "But it seems like you don't know what to do with that."

[doubletap]

The calm evaporates, and Alex closes his eyes against it. For a moment, his lips thin, like a man walking a short line, but after a moment, instead-- He bursts out laughing.

Eyes sparkling, he leans forward, putting his face very close to Neil's. "I know what to do with you, Mr. Park. Don't doubt me. Is there a bed we could ruin in this shack?"

[goodfight]

There we go. Laughter. It's the damn cure for nearly everything, sometimes. Neil laughs in turn before pointing up.

"Second floor, door on the left," he says, nudging forward to knock foreheads together. "That bed doesn't have sheets, though, and the mattress is questionable." A warning, just to keep everyone well-informed.

[doubletap]

"God damn this place is garbage," he murmurs, before closing the distance to kiss Neil. He enjoys the motion, but eventually leans back and cocks his eyebrow.

"What a tragedy that I'm thinking of moving here."

[goodfight]

The statement has Neil laughing against Alex's lips, continuing the sound after they momentarily separate. "That is a tragedy," he returns. "You seen the bloated corpses we passed by, right? The garbage everywhere? You love your fucking Mojave. Why would you ever leave it?"

[doubletap]

Neil laughs and Alex kisses him again, the sound warming him somewhere in his bones. "Because you laugh here. Because you look happy here.

"Because you love me here."

[goodfight]

As opposed to rejecting Alex. Yeah, Neil gets it. There's something here, something he can't quite put a finger on, that makes him act lighter despite the horrible moments from before.

Neil murmurs into the kiss, mingling breaths. "I love you anywhere. I'm just..." What is that word? That descriptor? "Myself. I feel like myself."

[doubletap]

"Then be yourself," he replies back.

Alex leans back, tilting his head to catch Neil's eye. "I said I was okay with months, remember? But we'd have to talk about years. Here's that talk." Suddenly, uncharacteristically self-conscious, he glances down. "...But only if you're okay with it. I want to stay with you, wherever you are."

[goodfight]

A solution that's simple. Who would've thought?

The next, however, is not so straightforward, and Neil blinks back at Alex. Tries to make sense of it. Months is okay, but years-- Isn't Alex more or less the unspoken guardian of the Mojave?

"...Alex." A pause. "You sure?"

[doubletap]

"You tell me," he says, glancing back up for a second. "Is this what you want? To stay here?"

[goodfight]

Neil-- His chest hurts suddenly, without a single explanation. "I don't know," he says honestly. "I haven't thought that far ahead."

[doubletap]

The expression moves across Neil's face, discomfort and uncertainty. Alex feels contrite for ruining the moment. He pulls Neil back against him, tilting his chin up. "Then don't think right now. But let me know."

He kisses him softly, then rests his head against Neil's own. "...If you want me, I'm yours."

[goodfight]

Neil feels contrite for giving himself away, but the allowance of a delay eases his discomfort. And again, he's drawn to Alex. "I will," he murmurs kindly, smiling at the face so near his own. "But what do we do now?"

[doubletap]

This answer is simple. Alex smiles back, almost mischievously. "Well, obviously, we go ruin a bed."