Fallout 4: AR

67. Planning for the Future

"So, what happens now?" asked MacCready as he rested against me, one leg sprawled over the arm of the couch. We were comfortably tucked into the cushions after relieving our previous emotional tension in a most satisfying manner, and the resulting hot showers to clean up. While Mac had the determination to resume his normal level of activity, his recovering body demanded he rest frequently, to his dismay.

"Hmm?" I wasn't quite ready to leave my comfortable reverie and come back to reality, not yet. Making the decision to stay had lifted a weight from my soul I didn't even realize was there until it disappeared, and I was enjoying the heady feeling of freedom from the torment of indecision. "What do you mean?"

"If you're going to stay here," and he shuffled a little, giving the point of my shoulder a light kiss, "what are we going to do?"

"We." I savored the word. I like that. "Well, what were you planning to do after you got Duncan's cure?"

"Plan?" He chuckled ruefully, relaxing against the couch cushions. "I never had a plan beyond getting the cure. I barely even had a plan to get the cure, honestly." He shook his head. "I'm not really the planning type, more of a 'take one day at a time' type."

"Really? I thought you led a whole settlement when you were younger."

"Ha. That was only following the traditions set up by my predecessors and keeping the others in line. There was very little planning involved. When I did need to think ahead, I had help from the other kids like Joseph and Eclair." He snorted lightly. "I didn't even plan to become mayor; it was kind of an accident..." he trailed off, expression distant.

"How does one accidentally become mayor of a settlement?" This insight into his character had me curious.

"Easy. I punched the former mayor in the face when she insisted on being treated like a princess." At my amused but shocked look, he explained. "She got everyone to vote for her, and as soon as she won she started making all kinds of stupid demands, like everyone had to call her 'Princess' and stuff. It lasted about five minutes before I couldn't take it anymore. So, I stood up and popped her right on the nose. 'We need a leader, not a princess' I remember saying. And I got the job."

"You punched a girl?" I giggled a little at that. "How chivalrous."

"Hey, she was bigger than me!" he protested. "And I was only ten years old. But," he added, proudly, "I kept Little Lamplight going strong for six years until I aged out and left. Even then, I had no plans. Headed for Big Town (that's where all the kids went when they left) and tried to find work as a sniper. Hiring out to someone else seemed to be the best option."

"So you're not a planner, then." I concluded.

He shook his head. "Not at all. It's one thing I admire about you, angel; you always seem to be thinking ahead. Becoming mayor, hiring out as a sniper, meeting Lucy," and his smile grew wistful, "Duncan... none of it was planned. I'm much better at reacting to stuff."

"Which is something I'm no good at," I sighed. "We really do balance each other out, don't we?"

"Definitely," he agreed, with a tender smile. "But that doesn't answer my original question. What happens now?"

"Good question." I pondered this while he absently traced the puckered scars on my arm, finger-walking up and down the embedded pins playfully. "You really had no plans for your own future?"

"No. People in my line of work tend not to live too long unless they're very, very good. And I was still just... reacting, I guess. Taking things one day at a time. If I woke up in the morning, well, that was good enough for me." MacCready leaned in to place a loving kiss on my lips. "But now?" He smiled, his eyes glittering. "Not so much."