[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

[reformedcriminal]

Yes, Father.

[Shit, he shouldn't have called Shaun "Father" even if everyone else does. That's...awkward. Shit.

Ferran wonders if he can will himself sober within the next fifteen minutes.]

[redefinitions]

[.................. yeah he's just going to leave now.

And try to spend the time scrubbing his brain.]

[reformedcriminal]

[Dr. Li leaves shortly after Shaun does, tucking her hair back into place and not saying a word to Ferran. She fully intends to pretend that nothing happened and Ferran had better go along with it if he knows what's good for him.

Ferran straightens out his clothing and tries to pull his mind together well enough to talk to Shaun without screwing things up further. Ten minutes after he'd been caught in flagrante delicto, he makes his way to Shaun's rooms.]

[redefinitions]

[When Ferran arrives, the shutter to the balcony is closed. Shaun is seated at a small table, on which there are two glasses of water, one set before Shaun and the other in front of the empty chair opposite him.

When the door opens, Shaun looks over. He nods slightly and says in greeting,] Father. Please, have a seat.

[reformedcriminal]

Of course, Shaun.

[Thank God he remembered to not call him "Father" this time. Ferran carefully sits and reaches for the water. Maybe if he drinks enough he can flush the Med-X out of his system faster.]

So, what did you want to talk about? I did a fairly good job with Higgs and Loken if I do say so myself.

[He'll go with optimism and act like this might not, in fact, be about him trying to get off in the closet with one of the chief scientists.]

[redefinitions]

Yes, you handled the situation well. [X6-88's report was favorable. Interesting, but favorable. But Shaun knows better than to admit -- more likely, confirm -- that the courser is actively watching him.]

But that is not what I called you here for. [This isn't a conversation he ever expected to have. He isn't quite sure how to approach this. He takes a deep breath.] I have no doubt I do not need to impress upon you the importance of the role of Director. This means I find myself... [an artful pause] surprised by what I just witnessed.

[reformedcriminal]

At least it wasn't Zellweger and Lone with me in the closet. It would have been crowded.

[Fuck, he shouldn't have said that. It's like Med-X turns his filter into a funnel.]

Sorry. I mean to say that I understand the gravity of the post of Director. And that is, ah, likely not the best way to establish a rapport with the scientists.

[He looks over those words after he says them. Yes, those words sound nice. Although maybe he should have tried to sound more contrite.]

[redefinitions]

[Ferran isn't entirely being his typically composed self. Shaun's eyebrows twitch.]

Surely that wasn't your intention. [Please, tell him it wasn't.]

[reformedcriminal]

No. [Ferran laughs, but it's a little too sharp and explosive. Not like him at all.] No, of course not. If that was my intended method for winning everyone over, I'd be exhausted by the end of the month. Even I have my limits.

No, it wasn't really...intentional at all.

[redefinitions]

Do explain.

[Shaun is fairly certain he doesn't entirely want to know the answer to this, but it's important. Especially so since he didn't know whatever problems exist here were problems before he made his decision.]

[reformedcriminal]

I was there. She wanted it.

[Ferran isn't sure how else to explain it. Especially with his head floating on Med-X.]

I...my intention was to stop sleeping with people who will soon be subordinates. But I...I slipped.

[redefinitions]

[Good. Shaun allows himself to lean back in his chair. He still doesn't understand the likewise slip in Ferran's usual eloquence, but at least this was an accident, one he doesn't plan on repeating. This shouldn't be a continued issue.

... for the Institute.]

But only those soon to be subordinates. [It's not-quite-a-question.]

[reformedcriminal]

Well...it doesn't include Zetta or Riley, of course. Or Deacon. [Or other people not included, but he has just enough sense to stop there.]

[redefinitions]

[Shaun can't tell if Ferran isn't taking his meaning, or if he was only sleeping with Institute scientists. He pauses to sort out how he wants to raise clarification.]

Of course. I simply mean to point out your phrasing doesn't bar infidelity elsewhere.

[reformedcriminal]

[Ferran's brows pull together slightly at the word "infidelity." He's not unfaithful. Not...exactly...]

Your parents know everything.

[Well, that was a broad assertion.]

...about me.

[Still too broad.]

...sleeping with people.

[redefinitions]

[Now Shaun's brows pull together, too.]

Do they? And you still do it?

[reformedcriminal]

Well, yes.

They've always known what sort of person I am.

[redefinitions]

[............ that is a response that fails to make Shaun feel better, and, in all honesty, makes him more worried. He wants to pinch the bridge of his nose, but refrains.]

You make it sound like something that cannot be avoided, [Shaun says, slowly.] But you are sure it will not be a further problem in light of your position?

[reformedcriminal]

[This conversation would be so much easier if he wasn't high. He blinks and focuses very hard on the words, testing each one out before he says it.]

As I said, my intention is to avoid any, ah, dalliances with anyone who lives and works in the Institute.

I fully appreciate the sort of conflicts, interpersonal and political, that it could cause. Everything from jealousy to doubts about my objectivity.

[Oh wait...]

Anyone who isn't a...a...long term partner that is. Since we all live and work in the Institute at times.

[redefinitions]

[Here, when Shaun pauses, it finally isn't because he's trying to figure out how to step around this delicate topic.]

Father, are you sure you're well?

[reformedcriminal]

[...fuck.]

...just tired. Zetta's recovery has been difficult. I'm not, ah, at my sharpest.

[redefinitions]

[Shaun watches Ferran for a moment. Finally, he says,] You should go rest, then. And... I trust you'll keep this conversation in mind the next time you begin to... "slip."

[reformedcriminal]

Of course. It won't happen again.

[He thinks he actually means it. Probably. Imagining Shaun's troubled face if he starts to feel like he needs his ego stroked might help keep him in line.]

[redefinitions]

Thank you for speaking with me. [Shaun inclines his head.]

[reformedcriminal]

I always welcome your company. Even when the topic is something that neither of us particularly wanted to discuss.

[And that really is true, he thinks with a muzzy sentimentality brought close to the surface by the Med-X. Shaun is dying. Even a moment of being Judged Wanting by him is a moment where Ferran gets to see the amazing, level-headed leader that their little baby became, and those moments won't last forever.]