[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

[crowspy]

[Bellamy shakes his head, bangs flopping into his eyes.] Still sounds too good to be true.

[timesbureaucrat]

You can judge for yourself when you meet them. But you should know me well enough to know that I'm not easily impressed.

[And therefore anyone who impresses him is genuinely impressive.]

[crowspy]

I assume that's meant to apply to Chef, too. [It sounds like a jibe, but Bellamy is only half-joking, is mostly probing for information and reactions. Zay, for his part, mouths "chef" to himself with a displeased tug to his lips.]

[timesbureaucrat]

You assume correctly.

And his title is "Doctor."

[He knows it's useless, but he has to try.]

[crowspy]

[Nothing solid yet. He doesn't imagine he'll get a whole lot for a while. He'll just have to keep trying. But that doesn't mean he's going to keep pushing now. Bellamy is, as one of his old coworkers once said, "infuriatingly patient."] How soon do you think you can arrange the meeting?

[timesbureaucrat]

Using Institute technology, I might be able to get them here today. Now. If they're available.

[Nathan notices Singh shift in alarm at the prospect. And it just makes Nathan more desirous to get the Old Worlders here immediately so he can find out what Singh's hiding.]

[recalcitrare]

[Zay glances at him in surprise, too, and his mouth pulls down into a frown right away. Secretly using the relay twice like this -- once leaving, once returning -- is going to get them enough trouble. But using the power draw to add another trip? And to sneak out the Director's mother, who is being kept there for her health, on top of that? But he can't voice that. Not directly. No one on the surface can be allowed to know about the Institute's power problems. Instead, he says, voice pitched low,] Nathan? Are you sure about this? [If Nathan gets caught while he's down there, leaving Zay stranded on the surface...]

[timesbureaucrat]

[Nathan turns his back to the others to speak quietly with Zay.]

The Reynolds have the freedom to use the relay to come and go whenever they want. All I need to do is invite them to come here.

[recalcitrare]

[Zay's frown doesn't let up.] And how do you plan on doing that?

[timesbureaucrat]

[A smug tilt of his head, because if he pulls this off he'll have proved that he hasn't lost his touch with Old World military technology systems.]

By using the powerful communications equipment here to make contact with Zetta's Pip-Boy computer. Care to assist?

[recalcitrare]

[Zay arches an eyebrow.]

As opposed to waiting here for your troops to try prying me apart?

[And miss watching Nathan at work? (And being alone with him?) Yeah, right. That wasn't even a question.]

[timesbureaucrat]

They wouldn't try to pry you apart. Except perhaps Dr. Singh. He was a medical researcher.

[But Nathan wants Zay with him regardless. He wants to show off to him.]

[recalcitrare]

[And now Zay is rolling his eyes.] That's not what I meant, and you well know it. [He makes a gesture for Nathan to lead the way.]

[falloutpslnpcs]

[Captain Lone leaves with Zellweger to contact the Old Worlders. Singh acts like he's considering bolting so John casually moves to stand in front of the doorway.

They do this together.

He strikes up meaningless conversation to pass the time while keeping Singh with them.]

Zellweger isn't the Captain's usual type.

[crowspy]

[Bellamy's surreptitiously watching Singh, so he doesn't notice John's movements. When he speaks, Bellamy's eyes snap to him.] Really? [He leans forward slightly.] What's his usual type, then? And how do you know?

[falloutpslnpcs]

I've known that boy since he was born. And I've trained enough young men to know what a crush looks like. He'd talk about a future with a wife and children, but he always had eyes for the athletic boys. The tall and muscular ones. Good soldiers. There was one in particular. Jared Phillips. A power armor infantryman. Nice boy.

Zellweger's a different type entirely.

[crowspy]

Huh. And now he's picked up one who's more brains than brawns. Not to mention quiet. With an attitude to match the Cap'n's. Wonder how that ended up happening.

[falloutpslnpcs]

[Regan snorts.]

There aren't any soldiers in the Institute.

[crowspy]

There are coursers. He could've gotten the hots for one of them instead.

[bostoncrossing]

Considering that Institute synths live in servitude, if he'd pursued one I, for one, would have lost any remaining respect for our Captain.

[Carrington has little respect left for the old Enclave ideals or anyone who holds to them. But he remembers Lone as a decent person, not sadistic or one who abused his authority. If he'd preyed on the synths under his power, however, what little bond he felt for the captain who helped keep him alive during the journey to the Commonwealth would have been irretrievably broken.]

[crowspy]

I mean, yeah. No shit. I didn't mean pursue, just, y'know. If his type solely included the buff types, then that's his optoin. Pretty sure if he'd tried to pursue a courser, they would've snapped his neck and we wouldn't be standing here having this conversation.

[bostoncrossing]

Would they? Deadly as they are, I imagine that they're still required to obey orders and would be recycled if they harmed a human in the Institute.

[He doesn't know as much about coursers, beyond their obvious role as the Institute's hunters and killers. He's heard of only one courser aided by the Railroad and that was before his time. But that means that at least one courser considered himself as much a slave as the rest and yearned to escape.

Come to think of it, it was Deacon who told him about that courser, so the entire story might have been a lie.]

[crowspy]

You're putting way too much thought into my dumb jokes, my man. You're probably not wrong, but we're trying to gossip about the Cap'n here. Let's stay on topic.

[falloutpslnpcs]

I think it's sweet. I'm glad he's not lonely. [Sara's urged her father to date, too, but he always says that he doesn't want to take the risk of his past catching up to him and hurting someone he loves.]

[crowspy]

I'd say I'm shocked he's the only one of us to hook up with someone in the past ten years, but let's be honest, I'm totally not.