[closed] the only constant is change

[capcious]

Who: the Fallout AU crew
Setting: the Commonwealth
Summary: BoS things, institute things
Warnings: Fallout warnings, smut
Other: [original notes] [first post] [second post] [third post] [fourth post] [fifth post] [sixth post] [seventh post] [eighth post]

- minor timeskip to when the BoS has its feet under it again, shaun asks riley to go up and keep an eye on them and deacon goes with
- they get assigned to a BoS squad composed of AU versions of chancellery guards (paladin archimedes o'hallan, knight-captain anthony norris, lancer-sargeant alex reyes, knight riley reynolds, knight everett wynter, knight henry "hal" saller, aspirant 'jack' "deacon" 'priest')
- maybe some minor quests involving getting to know them, gotta get some solid Bonding going
- sarrith (sarah, secret enclave remnant) and sal's romeo and juliet romance
- that one quest where you get the nukes from the glowing sea for the BoS
- wynter's mistake and gradual ghoulification and the position it puts the squad in
- blind betrayal

- shaun announces ferran officially as his successor
- ferran dealing with the short institute quests that result from that
- shaun discovering ferran's a slut and trying to talk to him about it
- zetta freaking out bc they're spending all this time waiting for her to recover and dealing with the BoS, and not having the time to try to figure out a way to save shaun
- zetta, in general, driving shaun slowly up the wall because she's cooped up and needs to be kept occupied or else Bad Things Start Happening, why is this shaun's life, this was not what he was expecting at all
- ferran going on missions with x6-88 / house divided, warwick
- nathan and zay's one night stand with ferran becoming not a one night stand any more
- at some point we need to have nathan call deacon a mongrel to his face so zetta can go positively nuclear
- zay finding out nathan is taking buffout

- build towards the railroad and institute being on better terms (not *stable*, but they need to be in a position where they're willing to make an alliance at the battle for bunker hill and afterwards to take the BoS down)
- probably need to do a meeting with dez and carrington, bc jfc (and ferran being the next director makes it easier to make negotiations on the institute's behalf though shaun probably doesnt fully trust him with that wrt the railroad yet, shaun needs to see ferran make decisions that benefit the institute OVER the railroad for that)

- mass fusion happens before battle for bunker hill, lighting a fire under the brotherhood's ass (still use it as the faction cut-off point?)
- at the battle, brotherhood wins -- keeping them a legitimate threat and serving as the push for the institute and railroad to work together against them

[image] [lyrics]

well, oh, it seems you're a lot like me
you dug yourself into places you never thought you would be
but don't you fret, and don't you mind
the only constant is change,
and you never know what you'll find

yeah, tomorrow i might wake up nice and clean
and i might believe the things i said i didn't mean
and this might turn and wind up just the way we'd dreamed
and i might become the things i swore i'd always be

Comments

[inhonorof]

[Riley starts to grin.] That's terrible. You're terrible. [He kisses Deacon's cheek.]

[gallifreynpcs]

What? [Hal feels like he's missing something.]

Who were these two factions who were fighting?

[Deacon just smirks.]

[inhonorof]

Oh, don't, [Riley says to Deacon, laughing. To save Hal, he answers,] It's a joke. I don't know if this stuck around after the war, but before it, there were jokes about men being from Mars and women being from Venus.

[gallifreynpcs]

[Hal looks at Riley with no recognition on his face at the phrase.]

But what does that have to do with "X"es?

[inhonorof]

[Oh, man.] Think ex-girlfriend or ex-boyfriend.

[gallifreynpcs]

[Enlightenment hits.]

Oh. Oh that kind of "Ex."

[inhonorof]

[Now, Riley is allowed to laugh, so he does.] Yeah, now you've got it.

[gallifreynpcs]

Seriously, what's it like being in a real battle?

[Everett asks.]

Most of us were too young to fight during the war with the Enclave. And everything after that was basically just ordinary wasteland skirmishes. We've never had a chance to prove ourselves.

[inhonorof]

[... oh. Riley starts to deflate again. His smile freezes on his face, and then fades -- more like falls apart, really. He has to again resist the urge to burrow into Deacon.] It's... hard to describe, [he goes with.] But... it's not... glorious. It's -- It really is... hell.

[gallifreynpcs]

[O'Hallan leans forward to warm his hands at the cook-fire.]

Reynolds is right. If you're out there thinking about glory, you're going to get yourself killed. It's a duty, not a chance to show off.

[inhonorof]

Even then, [he says softly.] Sometimes, it's not duty. Sometimes, you're just out there, and... [Riley trails off. He isn't entirely sure what he's trying to say, and isn't sure if he'd want to finish saying it even if he did. He leans into Deacon.]

[ersatzeverything]

[Deacon protectively lays a hand on Riley's arm. These goddamn kids and their goddamn Brotherhood nurtured warrior-complexes.]

Knock knock.

[inhonorof]

[Riley blinks a couple of times.] Huh?

[ersatzeverything]

It's a joke. I know you had those in the Old World. Work with me here.

[It's a distraction, since Everett busted up his first distraction by bringing up battles and fighting again.]

Knock knock.

[inhonorof]

[Oh -- Oh. He's caught up now.] Who's there?

[ersatzeverything]

Brahmin go.

[inhonorof]

Brahmin go... who? [Already, the corners of Riley's mouth start to quirk.]

[ersatzeverything]

Nah, pal, Brahmin go "moo."

[It's bad. It's so bad. It's worse than puns and he's pretty sure he'd be actually murdered now if Zetta were here to hear that joke. But it has to be ridiculous to pull Riley away from memories of horror. Tested and true Deacon remedy.]

[inhonorof]

[He knew this was probably going to be terrible. But... How bad catches Riley entirely off-guard. Laughter bubbles up out of him.] Oh my god. You're so lucky Zetta didn't hear that. [... oh. He slipped. But he doesn't think this -- is going to be too bad.]

[ersatzeverything]

[Oh fuck. Deacon hopes that none of these boyscouts know who Zetta is. Or her connection to certain factions. Luckily, most of the buzz Deacon's heard about the Commonwealth talks about Zetta as "Bad attitude, builds turrets for settlements." Her connections to the Railroad and the Institute should be pretty damn secret. And her Minutemen connections aren't a problem.

Yeah. Yeah, they can handle this.

Alex asks the predictable question.]

Who's Zetta? Your mom?

[Okay, maybe not entirely predictable.]

[inhonorof]

[This catches him even more off-guard, and he laughs again.] No, no. Not at all. She's... [Riley trails off, looks thoughtful for a moment, then glances at Deacon. He's not sure what he's allowed to say -- what would work best.]

[ersatzeverything]

[Don't look at him, don't look at him...goddammit, Riley looked at him. Lucky for them, the Brotherhood soldiers here aren't expecting dishonesty from them. They aren't looking for signs of it. But he's gonna have to have a chat with Riley later about Lying: 101.]

She's our supplier. Not drugs. Fancy Lad Snack Cakes. I can't get enough of them. She's up in Sanctuary a lot, but she always seems to have some Fancy Lads to trade. I dunno where she gets them.

[inhonorof]

[1. Riley is so telling Zetta he said that. 2. They're so not gonna believe that, but he thinks it still helps. Riley's sure Deacon knows what he's doing, knows he chose that on purpose. So... It should work out, somehow. Riley barely manages not to giggle.]

[ersatzeverything]

Asshole.

[Deacon laughs at Alex.]

Okay, okay, she's actually our secret wife.

Fucking liar.

Yeah, okay, so it's like this. She's actually the Lone Wanderer. It's true!

[Everyone around the fire groans at that. That's too outrageous even for Hal to believe for a moment.]

Nah, the truth is boring. She's a tinkerer, travels around, helps out settlements.

[inhonorof]

[Riley can't fight the giggles any more when Alex doesn't believe the "secret wife" line.] She works with us, [Riley adds, now that he knows what direction Deacon's taking this.] Uh... I mean, the Minutemen. [He rubs his thumb against Deacon's side, as quiet as an apology as he can give right now.]