Fallout 3, "Trust"
Jan. 29th, 2009 06:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
summer_sparrowI slapped it up at ff.net even though it's completely unbeta'd. Feel free to rip it to shreds, it probably needs it. Yeesh, I am so out of practice...
I don't know how many of you, if any, play Fallout 3, but basically it's on the premise that I like the underdog, and I think Gob deserves to get laid, ghoul or not. Poor guy. Present tense, and I'm trying to avoid naming my Vault Dweller if at all possible, so for now she's alternately "Vaultie" and "kid."
The Vaultie ducks her head, a pink flush crawling up her neck. Everything seems pretty normal, the bar is still a dusty shithole, Moriarty's snores can be heard throughout the building, Gob is still a chewed-up mess of radiation... but this is damn sure a dream.
"What," he manages to rasp out, which he considers well done when his body can't decide whether to stop breathing or hyperventilate. Somehow he keeps the rag moving across the bar, on autopilot.
The Vaultie kicks her foot against the metal rung of her chair, a lock of red-gold hair falling into her face. The dog that's been following her everywhere lately looks up briefly from it's place near the door, tail softy wagging. She taps her fingers against the dirty bartop, every line of her body screaming nervousness. She hasn't looked like this much of a kid since the first day she strolled into Megaton.
"It's just... there's not a lot of guys in the Vault, Gob." She takes a deep, shuddering breath, leaning back in her chair, and squints against the shafts of light that are starting to come through the gaps in the walls as the sun rises. "At least... none that I'd be willing to... um. Just... It's gotta happen sometime, you know? It's--" she glances up to meet Gob's eyes and looks away just as quickly.
Gob realizes that he's crumpled the dustrag in his fist, and carefuly lays it on the bar. Just as carefuly he makes his way around the corner of the bar and drops into the chair next to the Vaultie.
"It's bad out there, Gob," she continues more quietly. "To be absolutely honest with you, I'm afraid. Of-- well, of getting killed before I get to do anything at all-- what a waste!" she says, flashing the smile that stopped Gob's heart the first time she spoke to him-- "or, worse, that... well, that I'll be... there's a lot more men than women out there, Gob, and I've seen some... things..." Her voice is nearly a whisper now, and though Gob buys the first reason more than the second-- the kid can come out of a supermutant attack on the winning side, after all-- but the mere idea sends rage coursing through him. Gob carefuly unclenches his fists, for the second time, before speaking.
"Kid, that still doesn't explain why you're coming to me about this. Not that I'm not flattered--" --not that flattered was even close to the surreal elation her suggestion had inspired-- "--but, hell, I'm not even my own first choice."
The Vaultie stilled, turning to face him with a particularly stubborn set to her mouth.
"I trust you, Gob. I pretty much don't trust anybody out here but you and the dog. And... I like you. And the ghoul thing doesn't bother me, and, and I talked to Nova, she told me-- y'know-- stuff--" the blush peeks over her collar again-- "If it's gonna be anybody, it might as well be you, okay?"
Gob gripps the edge of the bar hard enough to hurt his fingers, but it steadies him. Trying to reason this out, or even believe it, was like swimming through mud. Sure, there'd been a kind word or two over the decades, and a few smoothskins didn't even seem to mind too much if they accidentally bumped him or something, but nobody willingly touched a ghoul if they weren't one. Hell, the last time he'd--
-- the Vaultie snaps him out of his thoughts with a kiss pressed against the corner of his mouth and a key pressed into his palm, and now Gob knows he'll never manage to breathe again--
"Just, just think about it, ok? I'll be home for a few days." A sharp whistle brings the dog to it's feet, and Gob realizes he can't hear Moriarty's snores anymore. He's so damned busy getting back around the bar before the man sees him-- or hits him, more likely-- that he doesn't even notice the kid slipping out the door until the hot midmorning air strikes his face.
For the rest of the day, Gob is painfully aware of a key resting in his pocket, and tries desperately to keep hope at bay.
I don't know how many of you, if any, play Fallout 3, but basically it's on the premise that I like the underdog, and I think Gob deserves to get laid, ghoul or not. Poor guy. Present tense, and I'm trying to avoid naming my Vault Dweller if at all possible, so for now she's alternately "Vaultie" and "kid."
The Vaultie ducks her head, a pink flush crawling up her neck. Everything seems pretty normal, the bar is still a dusty shithole, Moriarty's snores can be heard throughout the building, Gob is still a chewed-up mess of radiation... but this is damn sure a dream.
"What," he manages to rasp out, which he considers well done when his body can't decide whether to stop breathing or hyperventilate. Somehow he keeps the rag moving across the bar, on autopilot.
The Vaultie kicks her foot against the metal rung of her chair, a lock of red-gold hair falling into her face. The dog that's been following her everywhere lately looks up briefly from it's place near the door, tail softy wagging. She taps her fingers against the dirty bartop, every line of her body screaming nervousness. She hasn't looked like this much of a kid since the first day she strolled into Megaton.
"It's just... there's not a lot of guys in the Vault, Gob." She takes a deep, shuddering breath, leaning back in her chair, and squints against the shafts of light that are starting to come through the gaps in the walls as the sun rises. "At least... none that I'd be willing to... um. Just... It's gotta happen sometime, you know? It's--" she glances up to meet Gob's eyes and looks away just as quickly.
Gob realizes that he's crumpled the dustrag in his fist, and carefuly lays it on the bar. Just as carefuly he makes his way around the corner of the bar and drops into the chair next to the Vaultie.
"It's bad out there, Gob," she continues more quietly. "To be absolutely honest with you, I'm afraid. Of-- well, of getting killed before I get to do anything at all-- what a waste!" she says, flashing the smile that stopped Gob's heart the first time she spoke to him-- "or, worse, that... well, that I'll be... there's a lot more men than women out there, Gob, and I've seen some... things..." Her voice is nearly a whisper now, and though Gob buys the first reason more than the second-- the kid can come out of a supermutant attack on the winning side, after all-- but the mere idea sends rage coursing through him. Gob carefuly unclenches his fists, for the second time, before speaking.
"Kid, that still doesn't explain why you're coming to me about this. Not that I'm not flattered--" --not that flattered was even close to the surreal elation her suggestion had inspired-- "--but, hell, I'm not even my own first choice."
The Vaultie stilled, turning to face him with a particularly stubborn set to her mouth.
"I trust you, Gob. I pretty much don't trust anybody out here but you and the dog. And... I like you. And the ghoul thing doesn't bother me, and, and I talked to Nova, she told me-- y'know-- stuff--" the blush peeks over her collar again-- "If it's gonna be anybody, it might as well be you, okay?"
Gob gripps the edge of the bar hard enough to hurt his fingers, but it steadies him. Trying to reason this out, or even believe it, was like swimming through mud. Sure, there'd been a kind word or two over the decades, and a few smoothskins didn't even seem to mind too much if they accidentally bumped him or something, but nobody willingly touched a ghoul if they weren't one. Hell, the last time he'd--
-- the Vaultie snaps him out of his thoughts with a kiss pressed against the corner of his mouth and a key pressed into his palm, and now Gob knows he'll never manage to breathe again--
"Just, just think about it, ok? I'll be home for a few days." A sharp whistle brings the dog to it's feet, and Gob realizes he can't hear Moriarty's snores anymore. He's so damned busy getting back around the bar before the man sees him-- or hits him, more likely-- that he doesn't even notice the kid slipping out the door until the hot midmorning air strikes his face.
For the rest of the day, Gob is painfully aware of a key resting in his pocket, and tries desperately to keep hope at bay.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-30 07:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-30 08:45 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-30 10:47 pm (UTC)...Is there any more of your story? Because I would love to pretend to beta as a cover for squeeing in absolute glee at being able to read the awesomeness first. XD
(no subject)
Date: 2009-01-30 10:55 pm (UTC)I imagine there was probably a "this is how this works" class re: the biological aspects of sex, but it just seems so repressed in the Vault, and... yeah, the male specimines aren't exactly the finest. :p
And I don't understand the lack of Gobfic at all. The boy just doesn't get enough love. :D