[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

[capcious]

[If Zetta wasn't so preoccupied, she'd give Nathan a strange look for calling her by last name, because since fucking when did he do that? Instead, she just answers,] What does it look like? Yeah, it's a grenade. [She puts down a tool and leans over her notes, not even glancing up at him.]

[timesbureaucrat]

[At her affirmative, he unconsciously takes a few steps back.]

For God's sake, you could blow up half the lab!

[capcious]

Please, do you think I'm stupid? I disarmed it. I'll re-arm it later, before I test it.

[timesbureaucrat]

Where did you get it? No, never mind that, where exactly are you planning on testing it?

[capcious]

[Uh, it's hers, obviously. She brought it with her when she came down here.] I don't know. One of the back hallways, probably.

[timesbureaucrat]

[Nathan crosses his arms over his chest.]

That had better be sarcasm.

[capcious]

Uh, no. Where else would I test it?

[timesbureaucrat]

Nowhere! Not until you're fully healed and can test it on the surface. I'd recommend using the super mutants above us as test subjects--vile, unnatural creatures that they are--but they do inadvertently serve a useful security function.

[capcious]

Yeah, that's not happening. I'm not gonna wait another month at least. Don't you want to know what I'm making?

[timesbureaucrat]

The Institute doesn't have a testing range for grenades.

[But...he is curious. Nathan pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs.]

All right, I'll humor you. What are you making?

[capcious]

I'm increasing the armor piercing capability. [She taps the top of the grenade with her pen.] Making them better for cutting into power armor.

[timesbureaucrat]

[Even knowing that it's not a live grenade, Nathan tenses as she taps on it.]

Are you telling me this so that I'll support your back hallway testing?

[There's only one group in the Commonwealth with extensive power armor use.]

Do you really think I'm so easily manipulated?

[And yet it's working. He's now more intrigued than angry.]

[capcious]

Are you telling me you don't want me working on this? [Zetta grins.]

[timesbureaucrat]

I'm not saying it's not a worthy project, I just don't want the roof collapsing down on our heads because some structural support somewhere was damaged. It's not pleasant.

[And also doesn't want Zetta to get hurt by setting off grenades in enclosed spaces, but he's not going to admit to that either.]

[capcious]

Please. [She rolls her eyes now.] If a few grenades are all it takes to bring this place down, we've got other issues.

[timesbureaucrat]

It may be easy for you to be blase about having a building fall on your head, but I take it very seriously. And you just said that you're designing it to better cut through metal. What if it's even more effective than you predict and it shreds a steel beam? Or slices through something else that's important?

[Like Zetta.]

[capcious]

I said it was going to be somewhere out of the way. Anyplace with anything that critical ought to be blocked off properly. [Zay comes passing through at this moment, headed towards his work station. He makes as if to stop by Nathan, but then notices who he's talking to, and decides to instead keep going and only brush a hand along his back as he passes by.]

[timesbureaucrat]

[Nathan notices Zay approach from his periphery, pass behind him, a touch along his back.

...My, that's distracting.

He turns his head to watch Zay make his way to his work station.

...What was he just saying?

Grenades.]

Uh...right.

Yes.

Well, I'm not sure the engineers considered grenades when they were sealing off sensitive areas.

[capcious]

[Zetta starts snickering as Zellweger completely shreds Nathan's focus. She's still snickering as he returns to the conversation.] You're running out of arguments. Why don't you just go screw Zellweger in the supply closet already and let me get on with it?

[timesbureaucrat]

What?! [His voice is a shrill squeak and his cheeks redden.]

I--I wasn't thinking anything of the sort!

[capcious]

[Zetta laughs. He's way too easy to fluster.] Oh, you're so full of shit.

[timesbureaucrat]

I'm on duty.

[Not that that's always stopped them.]

[capcious]

[He just gets a Look in response. One that clearly communicates exactly how much Zetta believes that matters.]

[timesbureaucrat]

[Nathan's mouth moves like he's thinking of speaking but there's not much he can say that will salvage his dignity at this point.

So he changes the subject.]

You shouldn't throw grenades when you only have one functioning arm and it's your non-dominant one.

[capcious]

[Zetta laughs again -- well, it comes out more as a bark. But she lets it slide.] I already thought of that. I just need to set up a vice stand for it and a system to pull the pin from behind a guard. No throwing necessary.