Nuka Girl, Nuka'd World

Truce

"What do you think would've happened if she chose you?"

MacCready and Deacon had become closer, but the young mercenary wasn't expecting such an odd, sentimental question from the spy. He looked up at the sky, the clouds were thin and wispy and the sun was bright, taking the typical Boston chill out of the air. Spring was here. And in full force too.

It suddenly clicked why he was actually bothered about that, or even contemplating it at all. And it actually annoyed him because why had he become so adjusted to settler-farming life? In fact, did he even enjoy it a little?

But the other possibility was that he was just excited because it meant that soon Duncan would be feeling better. Well enough to travel again.

"Vanessa?"

Mac knew exactly who Deacon was talking about. Vanessa was the only thing left that Deacon seemingly had any sentimentality for. He hadn't talked about the Railroad since Glory. Or even been back there. He'd been doing his best to cheer Deacon up, and Victory too, but so far, nobody had been very successful.

"I don't know man, I don't think about that anymore." He caught Maple's eye from across the compound. She was back to wearing her vault-suit unzipped, and she wasn't wearing her jacket. The other ex-vault dweller in his life looked up from her chemistry set, grinned from ear to ear and waved, he waggled his fingers back. "Yeah, yeah, I know you got your eye on the other older woman, but c'mon, 'Cready. Play the game at least."

MacCready sighed and took a sip from his lukewarm beer. He looked at Maple again, if only because the beer reminded him he wanted to ask her to help him repair the refrigerator. He just couldn't get the thought of cold beer out of his head. Or her apparently.

"Alright, well, I think we'd see her walking around in a lot more blue."

"Because she would've never gotten the Rocket suit? Makes sense." Mac shook his head, "no, because she would've stuck with the Minutemen." Deacon laughed for the first time in days, to the point where the beer he'd sipped was sprayed out his mouth, "are you joking?"

Grumpy as always, and even more so at the fact Deacon had laughed at him, MacCready grumbled as childishly as always, and sat up, ready to piss off to find something else to do. "Wait, wait, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Please, heh, elaborate your point my young friend." The only thing that truly kept MacCready from skulking off was the ego boost he got from being the first person to make Deacon smile again. He assumed it would've been Vanessa.

"Mm, well, I know you like fu-freaking stalked her or whatever, but I don't know how closely. When she first hired me, back last October, with ol' Nick, she was dead set on teaching me morals. Always made us stop to help people, and build up settlements, and rescue settlers. It seems like she's a whole other person now, I know. But I think if I hadn't left her that day in Goodneighbour, she never would've met you, or the Railroad, and we would've kept on working with Preston. If only so she could prove a point to me about being a better man or whatever."

Deacon had never thought about it that way, and he was miffed at how Mac still had a deeper view of her than he did, even though he'd been tailing her for so long. "What about you? I bet you thought about it in way more detail than I did."

Thought? More like think.

"I wouldn't have let her go out to the raider park alone, in fact, she probably wouldn't have gone at all. I'd have been honest with her sooner, maybe she wouldn't have run off," he laughs, it sounds strangled, "we would've taken on the Institute already, and then, after rescuing Shaun and all the synths, we'd settle down on a little farm somewhere. Have another kid, a girl, we'd name her something stupid and pretentious like... Wynter or Queenie or uh, Gethsemane." Deacon stares down at his feet. He's daydreaming, out loud, and it's stupid.