[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

[bostoncrossing]

[Carrington wishes that he could leave as well, and go back to things being simple, but that's not going to happen and he needs to discuss things with Deacon and Faraday. He slinks over to them.]

...I would appreciate it if you said nothing to Desdemona or any of the other Railroad agents about my presence here.

[capcious]

[Aaaand there he is. Zetta can't decide whether or not she's surprised he decided to do this right away.] It's not like we'd have anything to gain from it.

[ersatzeverything]

Except sweet revenge.

Lucky for you, we're not jerks.

[capcious]

You'd really better quit giving him shit about this kind of thing, though. Or else I'm going to have to punch you again.

[bostoncrossing]

As second-in-command, I'm not going to stop being concerned about a mystery in the ranks.

[capcious]

There's a difference between being concerned and giving him shit.

[bostoncrossing]

Concern does little good if it's not spoken.

[capcious]

Again, there is a fucking difference between expressing concern and giving him shit. You're just being a jackass just to do it at this point.

[ersatzeverything]

Yeah, like, I could say that I'm concerned about a leader in the Railroad being a former member of a xenophobic organization that has a history of advocating genocide, and I could start demanding that you reveal every detail of everything you did while a member of that organization.

But I won't, 'cause, like I said, I'm not a jerk and I know you're loyal to the Railroad now.

[And also he still has access to those Enclave personnel files that the Brotherhood of Steel acquired. He can find out for himself what Carrington did for the Enclave. But Carrington doesn't need to know that.]

[capcious]

So get your head out of your damn ass. [She's helping. Really.]

[bostoncrossing]

Charming, as usual. [Carrington sneers.]

But you've got nothing to worry about. Under the circumstances, I have little choice but to let Deacon's lies go unchallenged. You've all but blackmailed me.

[capcious]

[Zetta's hackles start to go up.] No, we fucking haven't. We just said we weren't gonna tell them. And it's not like we've gone out of our way to ferret out your past to hold it over you.

[bostoncrossing]

[Carrington deflates, his shoulders sagging.]

Then...you aren't disturbed by it? By me?

[capcious]

[Zetta is surprised by how fast the fight went out of him. But then, she finds herself thinking of Deacon and Nathan simultaneously, and maybe she's not so surprised after all.] I meant what I said. You've put yourself on the line for a better cause, and you've stayed there. That says enough. [She folds her arms over her chest and doesn't say the other thing she's thinking: Besides, it's not like I haven't lost the fight against Nathan on the whole "being friends" thing.]

[bostoncrossing]

[There are other things Carrington wants to ask if she thinks are acceptable, but he already knows her answer to them simply by knowing the company that she keeps. He doesn't need (or want) to tangle his own personal issues into this. She's an agent, not his damned confessor.]

Then I'll trust in the bond of our devotion to common goals, regardless of what we may think of each other personally.

[capcious]

The way you said that is making my skin crawl. Christ. You realize just because someone pisses me the fuck off sometimes, it doesn't mean I hate them, right? [Why are you so surprised, Zetta?]

[bostoncrossing]

...

I thought that was exactly what it meant.

[capcious]

[Zetta sighs, aggravated, and looks to Deacon incredulously.]

[ersatzeverything]

Nah, Zetta yells at lots of people.

Uh...doesn't usually punch people, so you reached a special level of pissed off there.

But, hey, you don't murder innocent people or anything so, yeah, we're good. Even if you're kind of an asshole.

[capcious]

I yell at everyone. I think the only person I haven't yelled at is Riley. [Although that only applies to pissed off yelling. It's not like she's never raised her voice at Riley, but usually he has to work to earn it, unlike everyone else.] And I punched you because I fucking warned you to back off multiple times and you kept pushing it. [Warned in Zetta-ese, anyway.] You piss me off because you treat Deacon like shit and then turn around and claim to fucking respect him. And I'm not talking about the, [she changes her tone to mimic Carrington's for the 'quote,'] "oh he lies all the time" bullshit, I remember one of the first things you did when I met you was assume he didn't do his fucking job. You always assume the fucking worst of him, and then, on top of that, you decided to drag out the shit he'd been through in front of everyone to try and win an argument and wouldn't back off. Yeah, I was gonna fucking hit you. You deserved it. [Whoops, she's still mad about that, apparently. Focus.] But being an asshole isn't enough to make me hate you. [But Deacon sticking up for him whenever she's raving about him has helped, and more than she's considered. Usually, people can't get away with stepping on the people closest to her without her hating them.]

[bostoncrossing]

Well then, I suppose just as you yell at everyone, I snipe at everyone. I'd tell you that I'm under a great deal of stress recently, but I dare say we all are.

[And his attitude is only one-quarter stress related. The other three-quarters is just a well honed thorniness to keep people at a distance. Like spines on a cactus.]

[capcious]

Uh, yeah. That's not an excuse for ignoring the fucking lines drawn. I don't yell at Riley because I know his fucking history with it, and unless he invites it, any yelling at him is across the line. Doesn't matter how pissed I am with what's going on with Shaun or the Brotherhood or whatever else, that's where the fucking line is and I know better. And when someone starts drawing those lines, I pay fucking attention. I get it. Obviously, I fucking get it. But jesus christ, dude, you don't get to be surprised when someone comes to slam you back across the line, or play the victim when you think someone's taken exception to your attitude.

[bostoncrossing]

...

Are you quite sure you don't hate me? Because I'm receiving distinctly mixed signals.

[capcious]

[Zetta pinches the bridge of her nose.] I'm allowed to be pissed at someone all the time without hating them. Jesus christ. [That's not how normal people work, Zetta.]

[bostoncrossing]

Interesting. I'm curious now who you do hate.