#// danse throwing in with the minutemen

[repconnaerospace]

@fatedvoyage / logan: i'm guessin' this is not the future you pictured for yourself. no country for old men / accepting

"No, I suppose it's not." And he maintains that the Minutemen, such as they are, are heavily reminiscent of Lyons' time in the Capitol Wasteland; too willing to overextend themselves in the name of protecting the far-flung settlements of the Commonwealth plagued by ferals and super mutants. And before, true enough, he'd have argued that they also lacked a strong ethos, lacked a central set of tenants to operate around, to adhere and dedicate themselves to. But, as it goes, things do have a habit of changing, and one thing he will admit has done so and eventually settled him here, specifically, is that his assumptions might have been right in the beginning, but new leadership and new direction and organization has set the Minutemen on the path to becoming a true force to be reckoned with, in this corner of the wasteland.

He still has qualms, of course. Places where, while he logically knows the structure of the Minutemen under the new General is preferable to the drifting solo after being banished from the Brotherhood has made his reality before this, it still fits poorly in some ways, still feels too lax. Chafes against ideals and, he supposes, some will say indoctrination, that he had been proud to adopt as his own.

And, of course, there's something to be said about the questionable qualities of those he's found himself rubbing elbows with here. Logan is just one example, and possibly not the worst, but certainly not a shining beacon of what the new Commonwealth can possibly be.

"But it's still a future that allows me a chance to effect the outcome of the Commonwealth, to show how structure and discipline are key to mankind's survival."

[everydayyoulovemeless]

how would the companions deal with Sole getting "surprised adopted" (kidnapped) by a very territorial mother deathclaw who fully believes Sole is her baby? Who'd just go in guns blazing to deal with it? Would anyone go for the sneaky approach or even trying to get the deathclaw to not attack them as well?

Fo4 Companions Reactions To Sole Getting "Suprise Adopted" By A Territorial Deathclaw

➼ Word Count » 1.0k ➼ Warnings » None ➼ Genre » Platonic/Romantic

He absolutely refuses to take anything bigger than him head-on, and this instance is no different. MacCready will run stressed hands down his face as he sits behind a rock, waiting for the perfect moment for him to finally take aim and shoot. He's so confused and would almost be terrified to ask about what went wrong for you to be taken by a whole deathclaw, but will mainly focus on trying to get the both of you out of the nest as fast as you possibly can.

Nick almost has to let out an exasperated chuckle when Ellie gets the report. He's aware that a deathclaw isn't the kind of thing he's well equipped for fighting and, therefore, will try his best to make it a simple in-and-out mission. His plan is to show up, get you out, and leave without any conflict, but he knows it's just wishful thinking. The plan fails horribly, and a few shots were fired on his part, but he got you out, didn't he? Isn't that what really matters?

Cait will roll her eyes when she hears the news, sighing loudly as she goes to get her shotgun. It'll take her a minute — especially if she's off the drugs — but she'll eventually find herself an opening to lodge a bullet in the skull of the beast. She's more amused than annoyed at the situation and will throw her blood-drenched arm around your shoulder as she tells you that the two of you are headed to the bar so you can tell her all about what happened.

The second he learns about the situation, Danse rushes to grab both Haylen and Rhys to go out on a rescue mission. They'll make light work of the deathclaw, shooting it down quick before Haylen and him run over to you with an abundance of medical supplies (Rhys doesn't think you should be coddled since you were the one who got yourself into this mess), and a long lecture on Danse's part on how to avoid being kidnapped.

Preston panics when he learns about your little incident and is quick to rally a hoard of settlers to follow behind him to steal you back. Deathclaws are notorious for causing problems for the Minutemen, and Preston ends up putting all of that past resentment into saving you. He goes in frightened, angry, and prepared, blazing down anything that tries to prevent him from getting to you. The group makes quick work of the mother, and Preston just can't find it in himself to shatter the eggs at the end.

Codsworth decides his best action is to just waltz in and politely ask for your return. If he treats the deathclaw like he would your mother, then he doesn't think he'll have any issues. His plan goes horribly when he goes to shake her hand and introduce himself, only for him to get smacked by her giant claw. He'll then start to panic a bit and you'll probably have to step in and help him take the creature down.

Piper finds its behavior strange and will focus on that aspect more than she will on your rescue. She'll sit and document the incident, curious about the reason behind it all. She never comes to a sound conclusion, but she does manage to sneak you out eventually. There's no way she's going in there with only her pistol, so she'll just throw a few grenades to distract the deathclaw, while you run from out of the nest. No harm no foul.

Curie's not entirely sure how worried she should be, that being said, she'll use this as a learning opportunity for an up-close deathclaw study. Her calm demeanor matched with her unthreatening aura has the creature unbothered and she'll be able to simply walk you out the same way you came in.

Strong isn't phased. You got yourself in that position, so you can get yourself out. There will be absolutely no rescue coming from him.

Hancock thinks you're an absolute riot. Who gets kidnapped by a deathclaw anyway? He doesn't even bring a gun when he finally decides to stop laughing and come and get you. He just waltzes on in with no plan in mind. He doesn't need it — just throws the mom a pound of mirelurk meat and grabs you. Deathclaws are a lot less likely to attack ghouls than humans, so he doesn't have many issues going in — the trick is distracting it long enough to get you out.

Way to be incognito... Deacon certainly isn't thrilled to hear you got yourself taken — hell, not even he's pulled something like that off. His approach is to stalk the nest you're being held in, before taking one clean shot right between the creature's eyes. He doesn't stall any longer than he needs to, just one pull of the trigger before coming to your side. He tries to make himself appear nonchalant but fails miserably as he can't help but look you over for cuts. He's honestly so worried and won't leave you alone for a good week after.

X6-88 thinks you're stupid for getting caught up in something like that, but he doesn't waste any time in teleporting you out of the nest and safely into the Institute. He'll send for a squadron of synths to take out the deathclaw as the medics look you over for injuries and diseases.

Dogmeat was there when you got kidnapped and most likely got taken with you.

Old Longfellow's getting too old to deal with things like this... can't you get yourself free on your own? He's reluctant to go, but will eventually go to check in and see if you're still alright. He has no problem taking down the beast, but don't think you're not going through a whole training regime afterward to ensure that this'll never happen again.

Gage is amazed at your ability to get yourself in the worst possible situations. If it were anyone else he would've just forgotten about them and moved on, but since you're the boss, he goes to put together a group of raiders to put her down. It'll be a relatively quick rescue, but he never lets you live it down.

[slocumjoe]

Concept for if Bethesda loved the other Companions same as old tricky dick

Gage; a dlc that doesn't kinda suck actually, but also properly explores what being a raider entails, and what kind of people end up as one. I don't think you could actually redeem him, but I'd like that idea to be directly confronted, as least. I've talked about this before but it's wasted potential that you can't make the Nuka Gang confront the fact that Oh Shit The Farmers Are Now Dangerous

Deacon: I don't think he needs his own side quest or even DLC, but I'd like him to have side quests attached to him, a la Nick's detective cases sidequests. He's a spy. Pls let us do spy shit

Piper: Same as Deacon, but I think she actively needs a sidequest. Her character gimmick, her plot purpose, and her actual affinity talks are so unrelated it's painful. Let her journalism actually be content, not just a bit of trivia about her. A set of side quests + a personal quest that addresses Diamond City's Problems with a capital P. Lots of societal issues in that little space and we do nothing with any of it.

Preston: just fix the Minutemen and give this man a goddamn break. The Minutemen just need a rehaul, so as to not have him be the quest giver. And give him other stuff to do! I wanna actually fight the Gunners! Bring up and address the failures of the old Minutemen!!! Please!!!

X6-88: give the bitch something oh my God. Much like Gage, I don't think you can convince him to let go of the Institute, but give us a CHANCE. Emil just seems so scared to ask hard questions and use interesting concepts.

Danse; finish his arc you thots (also I think Fallout 4 really lacks some humanizing/soft moments in the world and I think Danse would be a good. Subject? For them. Like a shelter dog getting to play with ducklings. Idk but I have a vision)

MacCready: they forgot that his whole point was having a whole ass baby. Give him his child wtf.

Strong; delete

Codsworth; stronger plot presence. This robot raised that old bitch let him throw hands. Also, if you wanted to put quests in Sanctuary that spawn up as the town develops, Codsworth would be a great quest giver and tagalong as you try and keep the piece and set up some kind of society.

Curie; I've said it before. I'm saying again. Curies whole deal should have been a major plot point. She's a robot that becomes human and develops human feelings with human biology. This is not important to any faction leader. What on earth.

Cait; yall fuckin know how I feel about Cait but honestly, her personal quest sucks so much I'd rather they didn't. Just give her more and better affinity talks. She needs more time to open up and develop, and 4 conversations is not enough.

Hancock; I have quite a few nitpicks about Hancock but the fact that Micky D getting ganked and being revealed to be a synth DOESNT MATTER is insane. Macdonough's last interaction with Hancock was crucial to his character arc and not letting that circle around is so, so miserable. Also, I want politically-charged quests. Campaigning! Discussions on economy! He's a mayor of this weird little anarchy town, let us play in that space.

[fusionnukacola]

Companions crushing on Sole before either lets on to their feelings.

Thanks for requesting! I've always loved asks like these.

Cait: The second she saw that, honestly, hot piece of ass stumbled into the Combat Zone and singlehandedly take out all of the raiders, she was smitten. Cait had only been traveling with Sole for a few weeks, but she already found herself looking at them when they weren't watching. Plans to do something about it, but has no idea what to do.

Curie: Had no idea what the feeling was. She'd experienced it once before, decades ago when one of the scientists had been extremely kind to her, but that didn't compare to what she felt now. Will do mostly nothing about it, except for a few spare comments about the weird feeling in her stomach she gets sometimes around Sole.

Danse: Gets scared straight off the bat. He lists all the things wrong with this attraction towards Sole, such as, "I'm their commanding officer." And "This is just straight-up inappropriate." Becomes, somehow, even more, awkward around Sole. Eventually goes to Haylen for advice, and she laughs at him before giving him advice. If Sole has completed Blind Betrayal, he wonders about how they could ever like someone like him, a machine.

Deacon: Worse jokes. Worse humor. He doesn't know how to deal with it, so he denies it every time he can. Tries making flirty jokes and stutters halfway through it and comes up with a different ending, usually ending in jokes that don't make sense at all. "Hey babe-bbbitch how those uhhh . shit. bye." Desdemona wants to deck him.

Hancock: Convinces himself he just wants to fuck Sole. He's wrong. Makes flirty jokes every chance he gets, and Sole thinks he's joking. He is not. Cries to Fahrenhite about how beautiful Sole is every night. She's getting sick of his crush. Tells him to "man-up" and go talk to them before she "throws him out of the window."

MacCready: Genuinely writes a comic book of them both. Spends all night on it and it's written in crayon. Offers to give them sniping tips, but gets too nervous when he's close to Sole like that, and completely messes it up. Blushes very easily.

Nick Valentine: Tells himself that it'll pass, but wonders what it would've been like if the original Nick met Sole before Jennifer. What would they think now, of the pretend Nick Valentine? Doesn't worry about it too much, but also won't make an advance.

Piper: Nervously laughs around them all the time. Purposefully doesn't look at Sole's face, or anywhere at them. Unbelievably awkward. Sole eventually confronts them, asking Piper if she hates them. Piper says. "Oh-uh. No? No. Don't worry about it blue!!!" And runs off.

Preston: Always. Blushing. Sole asks him if he's sunburnt, and he says no. Constantly asking Sole if they would take him with them to the next settlement because "I want to see the Minutemen's General recruit another settlement!" He's a liar. He wants to watch Sole fight. Sometimes, when it's late, he'll think about how likely it is that Sole wouldn't be interested in him.

X6-88: Stone cold. Doesn't blush. Denies it completely, but he can't help feeling drawn to Sole. They were a really good fighter and leader and definitely bound to lead the Institute to success but... it would just be wrong. Doesn't make a move at all.

[imdoingaokay]

I have an idea! The romanced companions reacting to female sole survivor dying during combat!

(A/N): I know, I know, you all missed me. I missed you too haha.

I'm sorry for the long wait, I promise it wasn't on purpose. As I've said before, I am in nursing school, which makes getting out a stuff super difficult. But I love you guys and I love writing!

Sole was written as Gender Neutral, love you <3

Anyways, enjoy my garbage, I wrote this during my class hehehe

SUPER HUGE TW FOR THE FOLLOWING: Descriptions of death, death in general, nothing too graphic (but still), and plenty of angst

Cait: She can’t help but feel terrible like she failed Sole. It doesn’t help that she was right there when it happened.

Watching Sole slump down, hearing their breathing slow until they completely stilled. It was a feeling she had grown used to, but not one she wished to revisit.

She doesn’t know what to do, so she does what she thinks is best. She buries Sole unless Sole specified they wanted their body burned or something. She tells the Minutemen, The Railroad, Brotherhood, or the Insitute, whoever needs to be informed, and then she leaves. She never really thought she was worthy of Sole, regardless of whether they were a “good” or “bad” person, so she leaves as soon as possible. 

She tries her best to stay away from drugs and alcohol. But, realistically? If Sole dies? There’s a solid chance she throws herself back in unless Sole was with the Minutemen or the Railroad and set up a grief group before they passed.

Romanced, Cait is still in pain, still mourning, but it hurts more. She finally had something good, something healthy, and it was ripped away from her. Cait stays wherever had become Sole’s home, and sort of adopts a caretaker role, she works alongside the settlement workers. She tries to honor Sole’s memory, whatever it may have been. She never really moves on, but she forgives herself. And she thinks that’s what Sole would’ve wanted.

Curie: In absolute agony. She tries her best, really tries to stitch Sole up to the best of her abilities. But as she watches Sole slip away, Curie knows she can’t do anything. Not like it makes it any easier.

Curie uses Sole’s pip-boy and begs for backup, begging for help to get Sole’s body out of range. Eventually, when some help does arrive, Curie is hysterical. She can’t seem to forgive herself for her mistakes, despite not making any. She returns to Sole’s home and decides to leave soon after. Curie still feels the guilt of not being able to save Sole, so she decides to help others. Curie slowly turns a name, a mysterious doctor who appears around the Commonwealth, treats patients, then leaves, and the cycle continues. Curie can’t forgive herself for failing her friend, but she can make up for her mistakes by helping others.

Romanced, Curie may settle instead. Choosing to stay where both she and Sole called home. She becomes the Settlement’s doctor and becomes a very good one at that. She isn’t as bubbly as she once was, just more reserved.

Danse: No, no, no! Danse sprints over to Sole, and despite his power armor, he moves relatively fast. He uses his power armor to block Sole’s body from any potential projectiles. Danse picks up his friend, praying they’re still alive, and flees. 

Once in a safe area, Danse lays his friend down and realizes… they’re gone. Sole gave Danse a second chance at life after Danse himself was convinced he didn’t deserve it, and now they were gone. How does that happen? He can’t find it in him to cry, he frowns deeply and picks up his friend again, now returning Sole to wherever or whoever needed them, needed Sole’s body. And Danse will take Sole anywhere if they need. The Railroad, Institute… preferably to the Minutemen, however.

He even takes Sole’s body to Cambridge Police Station if Sole was loyal to The Brotherhood. 

Once Sole’s body has been delivered, Danse returns to Listening Post Bravo. And for the first time, he weeps. He’s lost so many, and it seems like he’s always the one left behind.

He’ll leave the Commonwealth, and go somewhere, anywhere, probably out west. He fights ghouls and super mutants, mindlessly shooting until he can’t anymore.

Romanced, it’s worse, it’s so much worse. Danse screams Sole’s name, sprints over, and takes them to cover. Danse gets out of his armor and cradles his lover, he begs, screams, and pleads with whatever god he can to save his lover. But it’s too late, Sole is gone. And Danse is alone.

Danse returns his lover’s body but doesn’t leave wherever they are buried. He stays, becoming a farmer and working his heart out for whatever Settlement Sole had claimed as theirs. Danse thinks that Sole would want him to be happy, and would want him to move on. But Danse can’t do that. He loves Sole too much to move on. But he continues living, and living is good enough.

Deacon: Deacon isn’t a very serious guy, but the moment he sees Sole fall, he’s the most serious man he knows. Deacon shoots any enemies nearby and quickly rushes over to Sole. He shakes his friend, begging them to wake up, but after a few seconds, he realizes that Sole is dead. His friend is dead. Per Railroad guidelines, Sole is supposed to be left behind at least, buried in an unmarked grave at best. So why does Deacon hesitate? Why does he carefully carry Sole back to their home a bury them properly? Respect? Compassion? Adoration? Nobody knows, Deacon always changes his story.

Sole becomes just another body, another story, one he might tell to the next doomed soul he meets. But honestly? Deacon doesn’t expect to live long enough for that.

Romanced, Deacon is immediately by his lover's side, he holds his lover as tightly as he can and attempts to stop the blood and comfort his lover, but as soon as they still, as soon as they go limp, Deacon breaks. He silently holds them and takes them home. He’ll probably still work for the Railroad, work helping Synths until they don’t need him anymore, but he isn’t the same. He’s so much sadder and so quiet. He’s effective and gets the job done, but when Sole died, so did a bit of Deacon.

Gage: Furious at first, how dare Sole die? How dare they die right here? How dare they leave him alone? At the start of their friendship, he would’ve been slightly annoyed, but Gage and Sole have been friends for longer. And now, he’s alone. He barred his heart, he told them everything about themselves, and now Sole is just gone, his friend is just… gone. He does what he has to do, and gives them a burial, potentially somewhere other than in Nuka-World. After that, he takes up the mantle of Overboss, not happily, don’t get me wrong. He would much rather avoid that role, but Sole was the best one the raiders had, and nobody else will be able to measure up to them. At least, with Gage, he can try to emulate Sole’s leadership. And he’ll do a pretty good job. Or at least, he’ll try until someone comes along and kills him. He’s fine with either.

Romanced, he sprints to his lover’s side, he holds them while they bleed out, “Alright, you’re fine. You’re fine, Sole.” He claims as if that will magically close the gaping wound in Sole’s side. He watches Sole slip away from his grasp and slowly break out into tears. He didn’t remember the last time he cried it was probably when he still lived with his parents. He feels ashamed for his softness while he sobs into his lover’s neck, feeling Sole’s body turn cold. But after his lover is buried, he refuses ever to cry again, deciding to harden himself for the rest of his life, however long it is.

He becomes Overboss, does his job, and waits… waits for his end. And when his end happens, he hopes it’s quick and hopes Sole will wait for him on the other side.

Hancock: He lies to himself, and says that Sole isn’t dead, they’re just knocked out. But the blood and the stillness of their body tells Hancock that his buddy is gone.

After burying or burning the body, Hancock returns to Goodneighbor and holes himself up in the Statehouse. Hancock always knew he would most likely outlive Sole, but he hoped it would be different. He hoped Sole would be an old man or woman, that they’d die peacefully after puffing some jet with Hancock. But the Wasteland is cruel, and it takes the best people away, just because it can.

He gets word that a few of the people in Goodneighbor want to set up a small memorial to Sole, and Hancock is more than happy to help. He keeps living, he’s certain that’s what Sole wants. He never gets that close to anyone again, not because he’s trying to guard himself, he just can’t find the time. He walks around the Commonwealth, throwing himself into helping everyone, that’s what Sole did. So without Sole, someone else has to pick up the “slack” so to speak. And he’s fine with that, hopefully, Sole is too. 

Romanced, he does his best to keep a brave face for Sole, sharing a final kiss before Sole eventually succumbs to their injuries. He cries for a while and throws himself into more chems. It’s Fahrenheit who encourages Hancock to get out of the Old State House and to go for a walk around Goodneighbor. He goes out on the balcony first and notices how bright it is outside. The past month had been fairly cloudy and gloomy, so Hancock stands there, feeling the sun on his face. He’s not very religious, but that warm feeling… it had to be a sign that Sole loves him, wherever they are, Sole loves him.

He never loves another again, not how he loved Sole, but he will keep living. He’ll keep going until the day comes when he and Sole see each other again. 

MacCready: He’s upset, for lack of a better word, so upset he ends up cursing for the first time in years. He grabs at his friend and clings to them, attempting to help them. But eventually, he has to face the music. They’re gone, and he’s alone. Unlike what he did with Lucy, MacCready brings Sole back, back to their home… wherever that might be. He’ll travel the entire length of the Commonwealth if it means that Sole will get a proper burial.

He’ll end up leaving, if Duncan hasn’t joined him in the Commonwealth, thinking that the Commonwealth has nothing left for him anymore. If Duncan has arrived in the Commonwealth, MacCready ends up retiring from mercenary work permanently. He’ll end up working as a guard in Sanctuary, working nights. It makes it easier to care for Duncan when he’s with him during the day. MacCready focuses on Duncan and Duncan alone, with no time for anything else.

Romanced, he’s a mess. He cries and clings onto Sole, begging them to wake up. But he knows it’s over. He mourns his lover, hauling their body to the pair’s shared home, and buries his lover despite the sadness he feels. Unlike if they were just friends, MacCready stays in The Commonwealth, bringing Duncan if he isn’t there already. He works as a guard, but refuses to ever love again, after all… nobody can measure up to Sole or Lucy. His life surrounds his son, and the memory of Sole. He feels terrible if Duncan never got a chance to meet Sole, but he tries to tell stories of them. 

He’s a good man, he tells himself. So he stays alive, for the sake of his son… and for the sake of Sole. Sole would want him to… right?

Nick Valentine: Nick comforts, if he can. He soothes his friend as much as possible. Talking to them as they bleed out. If he knows he can’t help, he just stays nearby and talks with his friend. Like Hancock, Nick expected to outlive Sole, but not like this. Nick watches his friend leave their world and prays they go to a better one. 

He covers Sole with his coat out of respect.  Hell, he ends up burying his friend in that coat. He doesn’t mind losing it, Sole deserves something to keep them warm under the 6 feet of earth.

He’ll continue to work, but he does his best to keep his memories of Sole, copying them from his subconscious and placing them on a holotape. Nick doesn’t want to forget them, not someone who did so much for him.

He’s so used to people leaving him, so used to the cruelty of the wasteland, but… 

Why Sole?

Romanced, Nick does much of the same, but he cradles his lover, holding and soothing Sole the best he can. But even if he can’t prevent his voice from cracking and breaking, he watches his lover go limp and does his best to return the body somewhere his lover can be properly buried.

He mourns, turning off the neon sign in Diamond City for well over a month. When it does come back on, Nick is back to work, still polite, cordial, and friendly. But everyone can’t help but feel the sadness in his eyes

It’s strange, he thinks. As time goes on, Nick’s memories come and go, but Sole’s memory stays. Maybe the “real” Nick Valentine, could only love Jenny, but Nick can only love Sole. And that sort of love stays, despite the space of an old synth’s hard drive.

Old Longfellow: He calls out for Sole, seeing them hurt breaks his heart. 

“No, kid… no you gotta get up, come on.” He tries to lift them, only to place them back down when he hears the pained cry of his chil-I mean… Sole.

He tries his best, but even he realizes there’s nothing he can do. He comforts them in their last moments, realizing that despite dying, Sole is trying to keep him calm. If he has one, he’ll share a drink with Sole, and watch as Sole breathes for the last time.

He’ll bury Sole on the mainland unless Sole says otherwise. But when Longfellow returns to his Cabin, he finds himself wondering what is next. He hoped it would be him to die first… he was supposed to die first. It was his fault, he didn’t do enough, and he should’ve taken the blow.

He sits on his bed, and for the first time in what feels like ages, he cries. Only to still himself a few moments later, he can’t cry. He has to move on, has to keep living.

He’ll keep living, wondering if he’ll die that day or the next, but he doesn’t mind either.

Longfellow works with Far Harbor more, now. Helping Synths pass through the fog with his help, if he can. He thinks Sole would approve.

Hopefully, he’ll meet someone who he can teach again. Someone younger… maybe that synth child Sole spoke to him about.

Romanced, he realizes that Sole needs him to calm down much faster. But he can’t help but admit to his lover before they go that it was his fault. He’ll never forget his lover smiling and cupping his cheek, feeling how warm it felt on his prickling beard. And he’ll never forget how they smiled and shook their head, in pain, but smiling. And all of a sudden, Longfellow feels some closure.

The rest of it moves the same, he continues to help and continues to live. But he’ll never love again, nobody else is like Sole, and even if there was… he doesn’t want them. Longfellow will always want Sole, not someone like them. And when the day comes when he returns to the sea or the dirt, he’ll embrace that with open arms… the way he hopes Sole will embrace him when they see each other once again.

Piper: Piper cries out “Blue?!” over and over again until her throat is raw, she shakes her friend, begging her friend to wake up. But Sole is dead. And that’s it.

She buries her friend the best she can, but when she returns home, she finds herself wondering what she should do next. So she does what she does best.

She writes.

Piper writes the most beautiful story about Sole, but it isn’t some sob story or some heroic tale. She tells the truth. She describes the story of Sole’s life after The Great War, and she writes the tale of Sole navigating through the post-apocalyptic world, how they won, and how they lost. And how despite it all, Sole persevered, and even when they were on death’s door… Well, maybe Piper does play Sole’s life up a little bit.

Regardless, Sole gets one hell of a send-off.

Piper continues writing, focusing on what matters to her.

Romanced, she does everything the exact same. She cries harder and writes faster, but most people in Diamond City agree, Piper isn’t the same. She’s still got that strong sense of justice, she will still do whatever it takes to get a story. But she takes more time off, spends more time with her sister, she lives. Because she’s certain that’s what Sole would want her to do. 

Preston: He does what he can at first, he picks his friend up and tries to get them away. But when Preston looks down and watches his friend grow weaker and weaker, he accepts it, he accepts that this is the end of The General. Preston brings Sole’s body back and gives them a proper funeral. 

He apologizes to his friend's grave, claiming it should’ve been them instead, tears gathering in his eyes. He knew he would cry over his friend, but not this hard. He’s adopted the role of General, he’s certain that Sole would’ve wanted that. He also adopts their leadership skills and learns how to grow the settlements. He’ll do his best, and he’ll be the best General he can be.

General Garvey has a nice ring to it anyways.

Romanced, he’s distraught. He clings to his lover and drags them home. At first, he can’t stop his tears. He begs his lover to come back, begs whatever god there is to take him instead, but Sole’s gone. Eventually, when the calls for help become too much, and when he can’t ignore them anymore, Preston dons the name of General. 

He continues to do his best and he’ll stay alive for as long as possible, for the sake of the Commonwealth… and for Sole’s sake too.

X6-88: He calls out for Sole, a few times. It doesn’t make sense to him, Sole isn’t supposed to bleed. He tries to give them stimpacks, but the blood… it’s too much. 

Sole may try to comfort X6, maybe try to stop him, but X6 can’t seem to stop trying to save them. But after Sole goes limp, after Sole goes cold, X6 realizes what he has done. 

He takes them back to The Insitute, waiting for reprimand, for something. If Father is still alive, he watches as the older man sighs and orders for the body to be taken away. Father watches X6 before asking, in a confused tone “Why are you crying?”

X6’s fingers go to his cheeks, where he feels the wetness from his tears. Quickly wiping them away, he apologizes and returns to his duties. But all of a sudden, he’s emotional? He thinks about Sole, how they acted toward others… X6 liked them... X6 admired them. X6 actually misses them. But he isn’t supposed to feel that way, not towards anyone. So why does he feel this way for Sole?

It takes him time, and he eventually comes to the realization that X6 feels this way because… he cared. He cared for Sole, and Sole cared for him. And maybe that makes him faulty and maybe that makes him a terrible Courser. But X6 can’t seem to care, not for that. 

Romanced, X6 probably had more time to work on his emotions, and more time to work on his outlook on just about everything. So when Sole dies, he knows that the reason he is crying is that he loved them. And X6… actually doesn’t mind that. He gets curious one day and reads a few books, and even overhears a few others speak, and over time, heals himself. He lives, works, and does what he needs to do because when the day comes, and he dies, he’s fine with it all. The love he had for Sole was real, and that’s worth something, isn’t it?

[zirawrites]

How would companions react to SS creating an anti-ordinance turret? Like a really small one? It’s basically a explosive repellent that can shoot down any armed explosive in the air.

Rather than detonating at full effect, the projectiles the turrets use will force them to detonate a controlled explosion.

A small boom instead of a big boom.

No more mini nukes or missiles ruining everything.

Example

Cait: "Holy shit!" Cait was both impressed and, well, freaked out. She obviously enjoyed seeing the destruction Sole caused mid-air, but technology like that felt a little... Institute-y. "Don't let anyone get their hands on that. This sure as hell protects us from all the nasty shit raiders like to throw our way."

Codsworth: Codsworth rattled in enthusiastic support. "Jolly good show, sir/mum! The raiders won't know what hit them. Or, rather, what didn't hit us."

Curie: "Most impressive!" Curie was more interested in studying the turret than watching the explosion it made in the air. "And this is safe, yes? You've tested it many times before putting it in Sanctuary?" Curie raised an eyebrow when Sole hesitated. "Maybe leave the science to me, Sole."

Danse: "Impressive technology, soldier." Usually Danse despised any technology the Brotherhood hadn't vetted themselves. But this didn't cause destruction, it only prevented it. "You'll have to make more for us to install on the Prydwyn."

Deacon: Deacon whistled lowly. "Don't let Tinker Tom get his hands on that. He'll probably try to make it sentient or something. Reason with the missile instead of fighting it in the air." He was impressed by Sole's work, but it inwardly reminded him that Sole was related to an Institute genius. Which was unsettling.

Hancock: "I prefer my weapons to shoot first. But this is still impressive." Hancock smiled and gestured to the turret. "Can we throw more shit at it?"

MacCready: "Damn, Sole! I thought I was impressive crafting a new scope for my rifle. This is way cooler." MacCready spent the rest of the afternoon shooting at the turret, seeing what it was able to deflect.

Preston: Preston thought this technology was exactly what the Minutemen needed to guard the Castle. It would allow them to protect their people without firing the first thought. "See, I knew I was doing the right thing making you General." He clapped a warm hand on Sole's shoulder. "You're truly making a better, more peaceful Commonwealth."

Piper: "I've never seen anything like this." Piper was hesitant to approach the turret. If Sole had really made it, there was a big chance it would explode. She'd seen what happened at Sole's crafting table before. "Just don't let Nat near it, please. I can already see this thing going up in flames."

Nick: "A non-lethal turret. Now I've truly seen it all." The synth was glad Sole had made something so useful. It was a rare defensive weapon that truly defended. "Care to install one on me? Right on my shoulder. Like a metal parrot, if you will."

X6-88: "I see where Father gets his genius." X6 would have preferred a turret that shot bullets instead of deflecting missiles. But the invention was still useful.

[vaas]

characters in fallout 4 who should be bears

danse is only here for the gay men who already like him

hamthe bouncer in the 3rd rail

eddie winter

the sole survivor regardless of gender

deacon

cait. shes still a woman shes just a bear.

barney rook in Salem

chase in acadia

zealot richter in the nucleus

allen in far harbor

actually like 60% of all characters in far harbor should be bears. throw a randomiser down.

GAGE IN NUKA WORLD.

colter in nuka world

mason in nuka world

cito in nuka world

60% of all pack raiders in nuka world.

sturges

80% of all minutemen. you fucking heard me.

uhhhhhhhhh more thick ghouls in general would be good

GLORY. PLEASE

[rosemaryreaper]

Minutemen Danse and Haylen? Sure, definitely.

But at what cost?

At what cost…

(Slightly spoilery WIP sneaky peak. Content warning for a panic attack and brief emetophobia.)

* * * *

That was all it took: the last metaphorical blow against the fractured wall of the dam. All at once, the weight of the world came crashing down.

Then Haylen was on her knees, dry heaving into the grass. Something touched her back, and she took a swing at it. But then the world wobbled—or maybe just her—and she made a noise like a dying animal and threw up for real. Her body spasmed, the bile hot in her throat and bitter on her tongue. The something grabbed her again and pulled her onto her backside and dragged a cloth against her mouth, all while she was saying, “No, no, no, no,” but her mouth wasn’t quite making those sounds, so she kicked and thrashed and punched until the something released her and she flopped onto her back on the ground.

A million miles underwater, a voice was saying, “Breathe. Haylen, sweetheart, breathe,” which was stupid because her chest was constricting tight enough to squeeze all her organs up into her head and out her ears. Or maybe she would vomit them up as one big bloody mess. She didn’t care which happened as long as one of them made it stop.

Which was also stupid because she knew what was happening. She’d seen it in the knights who woke up screaming, the initiates whose hands shook too hard to hold their guns, the paladins who begged her through tears not to tell—not to fill out that damn report. She’d stayed with them all—talked down the ones she could, sedated the ones she couldn’t. She’d held their hand if they’d needed it. And she’d filled out that damn report: unfit for duty. Usually temporarily. Sometimes permanently. It had been a kindness.

Like a bullet between the eyes of a wounded doe.

She was sobbing. It took her a while to recognize the sound. Even longer to recognize it as coming from her. Still a million miles away, Delaney kept repeating, “You’re okay. You’re okay,” which was so untrue Haylen wanted to take a swing at her again. She was not okay. She was not okay.

Something cold and wet snuffled against her hand. She flinched when the sensation turned slimy, dragging along her skin.

A warm weight settled over Haylen’s pathetic shuddering, sobbing body, draping from her thighs across to her shoulder. It put a pressure on her tight chest that made it harder to shudder and sob. A different heart beat over her own. A different breath heaved at a different time. She wrapped her arms around the weight; ran her fingers through its fur. Dogmeat’s heavy sigh brushed her cheek as he wiggled comfortably into place.

She didn’t know how much time passed before she came back to herself—before she felt the prickle of the grass beneath her head or the chill of the breeze on her wet face. She didn’t know when her body returned to a form vaguely reminiscent of solid, no longer in danger of unraveling like the entrails of some poor gutted creature. It was around the same time her ears came up from the water to hear Delaney’s attempts at soft, soothing sounds, which embarrassed Haylen as much as they helped. However much time had passed, it couldn’t have been quick.

The change must’ve been visible, because Delaney eventually concluded Haylen was coherent enough to speak—or at least listen without throwing a punch. As gently as possible, the General said, “I’m going to get Danse.”

Haylen made a noise in her throat that threatened the immediate return of hysterics. “Danse hates me.”

“No. No, honey, he would never.”

“He does. You didn’t hear him. I destroyed everything.” She resumed crying. Or maybe she had never stopped. It didn’t particularly matter.

“No,” Delaney said. “He was upset. He doesn’t hate you. He loves you too much to even consider it.”

“No, no.”

“Yes. You’re practically his little sister. Nick had to hold him back from charging before the firing squad himself to save you. The worst you did was scare him half to death, and that wasn’t your fault.”

Haylen was too busy sniffling to reply. Dogmeat licked her cheek, which was gross. She hugged him tighter.

Delaney continued, “Danse has a lot going on. Not all of it has to do with you. I’d wager most of it doesn’t. He’s been alone in that bunker two years now. We’ve given him time, we’ve given him space. He’s had more than enough. If he doesn’t want to talk to you, I swear I’ll march in there and drag him out—by the crotch of his power armor if I have to. I’m his friend, but you’re his team. There’s a lot both of you need to process, and you’ll do it better together.”

Haylen took a shaky breath. She was afraid to move. Afraid to close her eyes. Afraid to sleep. But most of all— “I don’t want to be alone.”

“You won’t be,” Delaney said. “I’m going to make sure of it. As soon as you feel well enough to stand, we’re going to see Curie, all right? She’ll look after you while I get Danse—same as she looks after me or Ros or Cait. All right?”

The implication was almost more terrifying than the predicament. But it was the “almost” that made Haylen whisper, “All right.”

Delaney exhaled in relief, and Haylen knew she had noticed the “almost” too. “We’ll make this better, honey. I know I can’t fix it. I know I owe you more than I can ever repay, and I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. We’re going to make this better, I promise.”

Haylen didn’t have a response to this, since she very much wanted to stop crying now. So, she held Dogmeat and breathed until she felt brave enough to sit up without falling right back down. With time, sitting led to standing. Standing, eventually, led to walking, if unsteadily. Delaney wrapped an arm around her shoulders, holding her up. Dogmeat stayed glued to her leg.

With more time, they stumbled their way to the clinic. Too focused on moving one heavy foot in front of the other, Haylen lost track of the minutes again. She didn’t care to pay attention to much of anything until walking and standing led back to sitting, and suddenly there was a hospital bed beneath her. She blinked at Delaney, who had somehow let go of her, and at Curie, who had somehow materialized to wipe her face with a cloth. The phrase “panic attack” got said. Haylen tuned the rest out. It wasn’t that she was underwater anymore; she was just too damn tired to translate the sounds into comprehension. More accurately, the “almost” made her too scared to.

A pill capsule got placed in her palm. She accepted the accompanying water automatically. She knew this part. She was used to being on the other side of it.

She downed the pill with the water. Fingers traced the hair alongside her ear. Arms lowered her onto the bed. She still didn’t want to close her eyes.

She didn’t have a choice. Down she went, like a bullet to the head.

It was a kindness.

[vaiyamagic]

What if Fallout 4... but Skyrim?

I’ve been playing around with this idea for a while, but only seriously considering it for the last week or so. So basically, what if we take the characters, plots and themes and throw them into Skyrim? How would that all work out?

Some things would be an easy 1 for 1 with little change, like... the Brotherhood of Steel are the Stormcloaks. They just are. And Ulfric and Maxson are basically the same person.

Other things would have to change a lot to make it work; for example, Nick can’t be a robot. But, he CAN be an Altmer and a mage, both things that put Nords on edge for similar reasons.

So, here are my thoughts below the cut:

As stated: Maxson is Ulfric. Very little would have to change. Danse would be a Stormcloak of course, but wouldn't have a specific Skyrim counterpart. I have an idea that his "Blind Betrayal" story arc would be finding out his dad was a Thalmor or something like that.

Cait would be a Companion. 100%. She would be one of there werewolves and probably end up wanting the cure, but only after the questline convinces her. I guess her equivilant would be Vilkas. Without a twin tho.

Desdemona is Delphine. (They even share a voice actor!) Not sure who Esbern would be. Deacon would be a Blade and work with Delphine, but more like he works in Fallout than in Skyrim. (Follows you around, popping up in disguise at random important towns.) I feel like he would be the one to take the horn to lure in the Dragonborn, tho. I also like the idea of him being really good at illusion magic so that nobody knows what race he really is. (Maybe Deacon is Delphine and Des is Esburn?? Hmm...)

Hancock would probably be the equivilant of Brynjolf? Haven't actually decided if he'd be in the thieves guild or the dark brotherhood. Not sure what race I'd make him. Tempted to make all ghouls either argonian or kajiit to get the same kind of reaction from general populace. Probably argonian. Maybe G3 synths are kajiit?

X6 would be in the DB. Maybe taking Nazir's role?

Strong would be an orc, obviously, but I'm not sure how we can work his motivation into Skyrim equivilants. Thoughts?

Not sure if Gage would work better as a generic bandit plotline or as like have him be Madanach's equivilant. Maybe then we can get a forsworn questline LIKE WE SHOULD HAVE.

I'm having trouble with Preston and the minutemen. Not sure how they would work in. Maybe have them be the Dawnguard? Not sure.

Don't have much of an idea for Piper, Curie, or MacCready either. Feel like one or more of them should be an elf of some kind for diversity's sake. If I had to pick, Mac would be a dunmer, and Curie would be bosmer. (If we don't follow the synths are kajiit rule.) Mostly because of their personalities.

I have many ideas for Nick, but as stated before, his basic change would be he's an altmer mage. I also have some vague ideas for Codsworth, but that's more plotline than what race or such he would be.

What do you guys think? Ideas? I know I missed a few companions and prominant NPCs, but I'm not sure what do do with them.

What names do you think they would have, since their fallout names don't fit well into skyrim lore? I feel like Deacon and Des can stay the same, but Nick could be like Nicodemus or something.

[fuzzydreamin]

Yo for the character breakdown, throw me a Danse(Danse revolution)

♞DANSE DANSE

-How I feel about this character

I am crawling through Todd Coward's window to bite him for not completing any of the companions quests. It is an insult that we reach such a thrilling peak with Danse just for... nothing. NOTHING?! *BITINGBITINGBITING*

Like others, I'm one of the people who didn't really care for him at first until I sat down and he invaded my brain of his own accord and now I am sitting here screaming "JUSTICE FOR DANSE!" and appreciating his hairy-beary greatness.

He's not my favourite character, but he's definitely up there in the high ranks.

-All the people I ship romantically with this character

MacCready. Look. Much like liking Danse I didn't expect it at all, it just invaded my brain one day. And it works. In my head it's all figured out and I actually love them together so much. Everytime this duo busts open the door to my brain I am left with feels. It's got the angst, it's got the fluff, and they are good for each other. Mac is good for Danse, vice versa.

Cutler. Not sure how many people read into their relationship as just friends or something more, but I'm definitely on the more side. I feel like Cutler had chaotic energy, but I think that's a bit of a requirement for any Danse pairing. He's the straight man of the act, the other has to be occasionally whacky. It's enrichment. Anyway, I think about Cutler. I think he would have been a fun guy and I think Danse still mourns/pines for him.

I think there's definitely room for him to fit in with Preston and Sturges too. Similar interests and whatnot, though they don't so much fit the chaotic energy I feel Danse needs from a partner. Also... Hancock. I can see it working. Maybe in an alternate universe though.

-My non-romantic OTP for this character

Haylen wins here. She's his bro, his ride-or-die, his "you're a synth fucking run" soul sister. In my heart I know she defects and shows up at Sanctuary after BB.

But also, for more friends, again I think he'd be getting along well with Preston and Sturges. I also think he would find common ground with Nick and X6-88 after everything. And I think he could have a fun mentor situation with Cait.

-My unpopular opinion about this character

I dunno really, I'm not sure I have any ideas about him that really stand out against anyone elses.

I suppose I do think he gets woobified a bit much, and can be a lot more dominant and mean than how people often portray him.

But I also know that that's a concious decision for the luls. People aren't making jokes and comments about the character along those lines seriously. It happens to all characters. This is tumblr the jokesite, ain't none of this that serious. So, 🤷

-One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon

Like all companions: the other half of his damn story. I want to see him actually struggle with all that he's lost even though he's decided to continue living despite it. And not just the Brotherhood stuff. And I want to see him find a new way to live his life and a new place to belong.

I want him the join the Minutemen. Not because Preston or anyone else asks/suggests/pushes him towards it, but because being on the outside has let him see the harm the BoS really causes and the good created by those he had previously turned his nose up at.

I want him to deconstruct what 'good' and 'right' meant to him and rebuild it into something new and better that he can still feel pride in being a part of without it becoming a toxic devotion that eats him up from the inside.

[fallout-wastes-reacts]

hey! Love fallout 4 so much. Could you write where the companions (romanced plz) react to a sole trying to go "cold turkey" and quit chems?

Hi thank you for the request!

Cait: cait is happy that sole is trying to quit chems but shes also kinda mad that they would even get into them in the first place, i mean…they helped get her clean and they go and do chems? She wont express her anger but she will encourage them to quit, hell she might make them travel to the vault to cure their addiction, she’s supportive over their decision to try and quit

Hancock: its no surprise hancock is a chem junkie himself, one that will never quit. But when sole gets addicted hancock Trys his damn hardest to get them to stop, his excuse being that hes a ghoul so it doesnt matter what he takes. He may offer some chems to them during the process before reminding himself that theyre trying to quit, hes…actually never seen someone try to quit so he might accidentally offer chems here and there

MacCready: MaCready has never even touched a chem so you best be sure hes gonna immediately try and help sole quit, he constantly reminds them of the consequences chems can come with, Surpisingly not a single joke or immature comment comes from him while sole is trying to quit, he’s actually…acting like an adult for once, he’ll throw away any chems they find on their travels and will constantly be checking on sole to see how they’re doing with quitting

Piper: piper has maybe tried a chem once or twice but…never again, she hated it, so she hates it even more when sole gets addicted to the damn things. She’ll constantly be on their ass about quitting, pulling up old papers about the consequences of chems and will even start writting papers on the effects chems have on the body, sole almost always gets a free copy as a way to say “you need to quit” piper also constantly keeps sole by her side to avoid them getting to any chems, like someone forcing their dog back if they go to run off

Curie: curie is a robot very well versed in medical emergencies and medical knowledge so she knows all about the dangers of chems, she will be very supportive over soles choice to quit and will encourage them by mentioning some of the dangers of specific chems, she will also act like a parental figure, slapping chems out of soles hands even if theyre not using it, and then reminding them to not touch any chems before continuing on with whatever she was doing

Preston: Preston is…disappointed to say the least, i mean the general of the minutemen on chems? He’ll comment about it but not aggressively or anything, but he’s extremely relieved and happy when they say that theyre trying to quit, preston will praise them for this and try to help however he can, and he’ll constantly be checking on them and going with them whenever they leave sanctuary, never know you might run into a charismatic chem dealer so Preston isnt taking any chances

Danse: danse is more formal and strict about it, he’ll obviously be supportive of soles choice to quit but…hes much more persistent about it, constantly commenting about the brotherhood not needing chem addicts or about sole being unfit for the brotherhood, he may sound like a dick but trust me hes trying to edge them into quitting more, he might get some stuff from the brotherhood’s infirmary to help them quit more, he also worries a lot. Chems can cause severe radiation and radiation can lead to ghoulification, he stays up at night worrying sole might accidentally turn themselves into a ghoul with all these chems, and…you know the brotherhood doesnt take kindly to ghouls, feral or not

[returnn-of-the-mac]

How would the companions react to finding an abandoned deathclaw nest and all of a sudden the eggs start hatching and before they knew it a group of baby deathclaws are following them around like ducklings😆 ps love your work

Thank you!! 🖤 Again, sorry I only got around to this now, hopefully you’re still around to see it! Please enjoy! :)

FO4 Companions React: Stumbling Upon Baby Deathclaws

Preston: This might sound crazy General— bear with me— but what if we brought these baby deathclaws to the castle and domesticated them? If they can be trained, they would be a huge asset to the Minutemen.

Nick: I’ll admit they are cute, but remember, my friend, deathclaw are natural predators. You can’t predict if and when their instincts will kick in. It’s not a situation you want to be in.

Codsworth: [nervously] How long until they decide that we’re on the lunch menu?

Curie: Zince zese deathclaws are newborn and uncorrupted by ze wasteland…I wonder if we would be able to rear a breed of docile deathclaw. It would zertainly be an interesting study.

MacCready: They’re uhhh…[swiftly moves foot away as one of the babies sniffs it]…They’re alright, I guess.

Longfellow: [angrily waving whiskey bottle around] Don’t trust these little bastards. Once yah think you can trust em, they’ll snap and bite yer limbs off. Trust me, I’ve seen that shit firsthand.

Cait: Let’s train these killin machines up and then let em loose on the raiders. That’s a bloodbath I’d pay tah see!

Hancock: [amused] Aw, look at these little guys. Wonder if we can teach em some tricks.

Piper: Where did these little ones come from? [looking around nervously] I hope Momma isn’t close by…

Ada: [Pulling out a cluster of teddy bears] I have toys.

Deacon: [squealing] I’ve always wanted a Deathclaw, but a whole SQUAD of these little guys?? INCREDIBLE!!

Danse: I wonder if it would be possible to to train these creatures to identify and eliminate Commonwealth vermin like ghouls and mutants. And synths.

Strong: Here, little ‘claws [throws radstag meat on the ground] Eat. Meat make babies strong.

X6-88: I would say exterminate them. However, these creatures could be valuable to the BioScience Division.

Gage: Heh. I think these little rascals like us, boss. We should keep em [noticing one of the baby deathclaws repeatedly running itself into a rock] Ha! Dibs on that one!

[wastelandlovingscenarios]

I want this to be a short request but how would crushing!companions react to sole who holds their hand whenever they get scared and it slowly turns into a habit for them to always hold onto his hand?

omg this is literally so cute, bye. 🥺💗 i hope you enjoy, anon.

to keep it short, i’ll just write their reactions to when sole holds their hand and i will put ‘companions react to sole holding their hand as a habit’ in a separate post! <3

-

Danse:

it’s nothing new in his life— he’s experienced his fair share of people holding onto him during stressful and terrifying situations, so it’s something he’s used to. however, sole is an exception in this case. it’s been quite a while since he’s caught feelings for his companion, so it’s different in certain situations with them.

when they first get startled and hold his hand, he tenses up, his mind going completely blank as they wrap their fingers around his palm. though millions of people have done the same action to him in the past, this one feels different and he swears it makes him feel emotions he’s never truly felt before. before he can question what their intentions were, he noticed how they drew closer to him, eyes frantically scanning their surroundings and he realizes that there may have been an uncomfortable presence around.

so danse slowly takes a breath and squeezes their hand in return, looking down at them with red cheeks and a nervous expression. “you’re safe, don’t worry. if there appears to be any threat within our vacinity, i will neutralize it as best as i can.” when they look at him with a relieved smile, he feels his heart swell with emotions he’s never felt in his lifetime. he doesn’t dare to let go until sole feels safe enough to do so and even when they do, he fights the urge to take their hand in his once more.

instead, he impatiently waits for the next time he has the chance to hold their hand in his again, already excited though he refuses to admit it.

Deacon:

deacons not a very affection man nor has he received any affection from any other individual besides his late other half. To say this situation was terrifying for him was an understatement. he’s probably already dreading the fact that he has an unavoidable crush for his companion, not wanting to deal with that type of stress no longer.

the first time his crush rushes to hold his hand out of fear of their surroundings, he immediately pulls away out of habit and stares at them with a lump in his throat, words scrambled and refusing to leave his mouth for a moment. “i-, uh-“

with a mortified expression, sole waves it off with a flush on their face and an embarrassed tone, “shit i’m sorry. it’s just a habit, please don’t mind me.” they slowly distance themselves away from him and deacon quickly gets his act together, inwardly panicking that he may have hurt their feelings unintentionally. “no, it’s fine. i just- uh.” they tilt their head with a confused expression and instead of explaining himself, he lets out a soft apology and awkwardly goes on his way to save him the embarrassment. when he thinks about it later, he feels a pang of guilt hit him and realizes he may have been too harsh, so he tries to make an exception.

next time around, when sole does accidentally jump to grab his hand, it takes him a moment to calm himself down but does gather the courage to return the gesture. he would notice the surprised expression on soles face, and even though he’s internally losing it, he musters up the same shit eating smile he always has and cracks a joke; “charmer, i know it’s hard to stay away from me, but you could at least try.” when sole doesn’t respond and sends him a confused expression, he gives them a small smile and tugs their hand, “that’s okay though, i don’t mind. good ol’ deeks will scare the monsters away.”

when sole lets out a small chuckle, he feels himself grow agitated and immediately whips around to hide the blush on his face as he drags sole along with him. “we better get going if we wanna get outta this scary place. yknow, before you jump out of your shoes.”

Maccready:

he’s very to himself in most situations and values his personal space just as much as most people do in the commonwealth. he believes in a personal bubble and really enforces that idea, respecting his own personal space as well as others. however in this case, mac is probably just as scared as sole is, though he may be a lot better at hiding it.

when sole does grab his hand, he doesn’t give attention to it at first due to him being scared as well but when he does notice them showing signs of fear, he tries to reassure them, even though he’s flustered at the sudden contact. with a deep breath, he sucks in his negative emotions and decides to step up to bring comfort to them.

“hey, you okay?” when sole doesn’t respond, he just pulls them closer and squeezes their hand gently to grab their attention. when they do look at him, he smiles awkwardly, a inevitable blush dusting his cheeks. “earth to sole?”

when they explain their habit of doing so, he tries to lighten the mood by telling stories about his life in the capital wasteland and how he felt during his time at little lamplight, letting them know that he had similar fears and still continues to have them despite him experiencing the wasteland for years.

soon enough, their hands naturally find home in each other as they both continue exchanging similar experiences they’ve had, laughter filling the silence that sole feared just moments back.

Hancock:

hancocks a very touchy man and people do show him quite a lot of affection, so just like danse, he’s used to the constant attention others show him, only this time, the perspective is a little different. he enjoys it far more than other companions and doesn’t mind when they rush to hold his hand, though it catches him off guard.

for a moment, he processes the events occurring but once he does, he lets out a soft smile and a chuckles under his breath. he wants to let out a flirtatious comment or two, but fights the urge and instead, soothes their fear instead of embarrassing them.

“don’t worry, sunshine. you know i wouldn’t let anyone hurt you.” he’d rub his thumb against their knuckles and smiles when he sees the tenseness in their body melt away. “in fact..”

when he lets go of their hand, he sees the panic grow on their face and lets out a small chuckle. with a swift movement, he gently throws his arm over their shoulder and pulls them closer, rubbing their arm reassuringly.

“.. this might be a little more comforting. no matter what happens, i’ll always be ready to protect you this way. don’t you agree?” when they chuckle and nod at his suggestion, he pulls them closer to his body, whispering loud enough for them to hear.

“ ‘m always here for you, sunshine. you don’t ever have to be scared, especially with me around. don’t ever feel like you have to hide it from me.” sole lets out a small hum before leaning into his touch, trusting every word that left his mouth.

Nick Valentine:

nick is very understanding with a situation like this and doesn’t mind it one bit. though he does get a bit flustered, he tries to play out the scenario in a way where they won’t feel embarrassed about the events occurring. he’s aware that everyone has their fair share of fears, no matter how tough you play out to be.

“things can get pretty scary around here, i know.” when he smiles down at them, they feel a sense of ease and relax into his touch instead of having the urge to pull away. “waking up 200 years later in a completely different life will do that to you.”

sole would sigh and hold his hand tighter, their voice barely a whisper as their cheeks flush with embarrassment. “i wonder how you do it sometimes.”

nick lets out a small laugh at their reaction. “it wasn’t always like this, sweetheart. i was just as scared as you, maybe even worse.” sole looks at him with curiosity as he continues on, “theres always something new everyday but soon you’ll learn how to adapt to it.”

“you think so?”

“i know so.” his words are full of reassurance and comfort, allowing sole to let go of any negative feelings that filled their chest.

“good thing i have the best companion in the wasteland to guide me around this hellhole.” sole puts it out as a joke, but knows a part of it was the truth that she was wholeheartedly grateful for.

he proceeded to rub his thumb on their knuckles, feeling a sense of happiness in their comment, “i’ll do my best to meet your expectations, partner.”

Preston:

poor boy. he’d be a blushing mess if sole were to ever do something as simple as this. if they were to dart to grab his hand, even out of fear, he’d stutter in confusion, obviously flustered at the idea of them latching onto him. “w-what are you d-doing?”

his body would immediately freeze upon contact, stopping in his tracks despite the possibility of getting attacked at any given moment. when he catches the terror in their expression, he’s reminded that the general has their weak points too. so instead of questioning their actions any further, he tries to reassure them despite his pounding heart.

“did you wanna turn around? we can always find another route. we could even send a team of minutemen to do this for us.” when sole shakes their hand and swallows the lump in their throat, preston lets out a soft sigh and smiles at them softly.

“just leaving the suggestion out there, general. say the word and we’ll turn right back around.” sole would shake their head, their stubbornness peeking through the look of fear twisting on their face. “it’s fine. i can’t be selfish and let it get to me.”

preston would feel his heart swell at their sacrifice and the determination that they held, despite the odds going against them. gently, he squeezed their hand and looked down at them, seeing the curious expression on their face. “if that’s the case, just know i’m confident that nothing will tear you down. i have your back every step of the way,” he pauses for a moment, rubbing the nape of his neck nervously with a dorky smile, “even if it mean- uh -holding my hand. i’d be more than happy to.”

after a few moments of silence, sole processed his words and smiled at him in response, returning the squeeze. “thank you, preston.”

Sturges:

sturges is aware he isn’t the strongest man in the commonwealth nor does he have the ability to protect sole in most situations. however, if he had a choice, he would do the best he could and he knows that sole is aware of his intentions. yet, when they yelp with fear and lunge to him, taking his hand in theirs, he realizes that maybe he isn’t as weak as he sought out to be.

“you holding up ‘lright, sweetheart?” when they notice their actions, their expression slowly twists into a terrified one and they attempt to retrieve their hand as quickly as they can. sturges doesn’t stop them from doing so and instead just laughs heartily and offers his hand to them despite their reaction.

“i’m fine with it, yknow. i wasn’t complainin’ or anything, just wanted to check if you’re okay.” sole hesitates for a moment, eyes flickering from his hand to his face before replying. “are you sure it’s okay? it just gave me a little scare, you don’t have to-“

before they could continue, he moves closer, taking their hand in his with a light blush on his cheeks and a reassuring smile plastered on his face. “it’s the least i can do for you.” his actions are more than enough to reassure sole and they nod, accepting his offer. “thank you, sturges.”

Gage:

he doesn’t like crushes— gage is so used to the habit of a one night stand and constant hook ups that he absolutely forgets how loving someone feels like. as sole grips his hand in fear, he chokes up for a good second and immediately gets himself together, retreating his hand and glaring at them.

“the fuck you think you’re doing?” despite his tough demeanor, his voice becomes slightly shaky and a small tinge of pink dusts his cheek. this doesn’t go unnoticed at first, but sole knows they’re too distracted to point it out.

they would apologize with an embarrassed expression and he’d avert his eyes elsewhere before continuing on; “yer the damn overboss, some stupid shit like this shouldn’t scare you. you gotta be tougher than that if yer gonna survive in this world.”

he doesn’t realize the words that leave his mouth until his eyes fall on sole, who’s clearly embarrassed and overwhelmed with the situation and immediately feels a tinge of guilt. with a quiet groan, he slows down and averts his eyes elsewhere, waiting for them to pick up the pace. when sole lets out a confused hum, he forces the words to leave his mouth.

“hurry up and get in front of me, why don’t ya’? yer acting like i’d let the overboss get hurt on my watch.”

they would pause for a moment at his words but feel a sense of reassurance knowing that gage had their back, despite his attitude towards them. “okay.” sole would smile at him softly and he’d scoff, fighting the blush threatening to creep up on his face. this stupid love bullshit was doing nothing but holding him back.

“yeah, yeah. lets get a move on before i leave ya out here to get eaten.”

[slocumjoe]

I thoroughly enjoy your takes on the relationship between Danse and Hancock post-BB, with Hancock being the local cat and laying on Danse every chance he gets because He Gets Him. It's very, very sweet and it really seems like the kind of reaction I'd expect out of Johnny given his personality.

YOU FOOL, YOU GAVE ME AN EXCUSE TO TALK AT LENGTH ABOUT MY ENEMIES-TO-FRIENDS FANFIC ARC

Trigger warnings for suicide, self-harm, drug use, alcoholism, sexual assault/groping, and a mental breakdown. This is not fun.

Also this is insanely long. It's so long. This took me 4 hours to type with a single 2-Taco break. Is if fanfic if there's only, like, 5 bits of dialog? Is this fanfic? Oh my God what is wrong with me

Hancock's (and the others') opinion of Danse starts shifting sometime during the Minuteman arc, when Augustijn starts really greasing the wheels to get the Minutemen up and at 'em.

So, they've all had some time to get to know Danse on a basic level. Hancock, in particular, knows him enough to know he fucking hates him. Everything about him. The way he talks, the tones he takes, his goody-two-shoes speel when he's an asshole. Everything. Hancock cannot fucking stand him and is constantly going at Danse's throat, sometimes just because he's bored and it's so easy to piss him off, sometimes he's genuinely hoping Danse starts a fight that Hancock can and will finish.

But then they go through one of the settlements, one day. Hancock kind of wanders off. Not too far, but away from the gang. A few people see a ghoul on his own and try it. He gets swarmed, they're trying to make him throw the first hit thinking he won't but there's a lot more of them, and Gus and the others have moved on. So, Hancock's in a bad fucking way—

—until a big, metal hand blocks a bat aimed at his dome.

Danse gives the assholes one hard look, and very few wastelanders will look up at a T50 helmet and think they stand much chance. But Danse gets in front of Hancock anyway, arm still out and over him. His would-be attackers slink off quick.

Danse makes sure Hancock isn't injured, then asks he not wander off like that again, for that very reason. Not even angry, or annoyed, or derisive. Just genuinely worried about his safety. And walks him back to the others.

Hancock has no fucking idea what to think of that exchange.

Danse sees Hancock wander off, he follows him, he sees he was in danger, he helps him.

Hancock would not have done the same for Danse. And it fucking bothers him that, despite everything, Danse still went out of his way, looking out for him. Next time they camp for the night, he has Isadora go ask the big guy about it. Fuck no, he's not asking himself.

Isa reports back that Danse just...thinks he has to. It's his job to make sure all of these civilians are safe. He does it for everything else, why wouldn't he then? Hancock was in danger. Danse is the guy who gets in front and takes the danger himself. It's that simple to him.

See, Danse is the dude in Power Armor. Danse takes the hits in a fight, because they bounce right off. Deathclaws? Danse gets in front. Mutants? Danse gets in front. And, apparently...bigots? ...Danse gets in front of those...too...despite...what the fuck?

If Hancock didn't hate Danse before, he certainly does now, because now Danse has gone and made shit complicated. He likes his jackasses nice and simple with nothing deeper than the skin, and...whatever that was, that was layered. And Hancock doesn't like thinking too much about people he can't stand. Especially not when he might just think they're not that bad.

The same thing happens with Nick, somewhere in Diamond City. Someone scared and mistrustful and thinking old Valentine went and turned coat, they attack Nick in broad daylight, take a shovel at him. Danse is there before they get a hit in. Nick. He goes out of his way to keep Nick safe. And where Hancock loathes him for it, Nick gets something of a respect for the guy.

Hancock talks to others, when its private. Preston isn't sure what to think of him, but Preston keeps his cards close to his chest, so who knows. Bobby thinks he's fine when he isn't talking. Piper gets irritated when he fusses over her, her recklessness. No one really knows what to make of this one fucking guy, beyond finding him pretensious and self-righteous.

So it's just Hancock, who's really turning Danse over in his head. But Nick, he's clearly got an opinion, got a read on crew-cut. He just doesn't share with the class. But Hancock thinks Nick sees something in him, because he takes utmost care to make coffee the way Danse seems to like it. Hancock confronts him on this, and the old bag of bolts just shrugs, says, "Well, he deals with things we don't want to deal with. We owe him that much, don't we?"

On Danse's side, Hancock isn't notable. Hancock is one of many in this motley group that dislikes him and wants him gone. Danse keeps to himself anyway, and is used to being the odd one out. To him, it doesn't matter. His job is to protect them and join Knight Reinier on his mission. What he thinks of Reinier's group is irrelevant. He does his job even if they don't want him to. What, is he supposed to let them die? Just because they don't like him? Abhorrent. Even if Hancock seemingly wants to gut him and is a nightmare to deal with, he is under his protection. Regardless how either of them feel about it.

Hancock notices this about Danse and fumes. He doesn't want to be taken care of by someone he fucking loathes. He hates debts. He hates morality and shit not making sense. He hates feeling like he doesn't have all the answers already.

This confusion...continues? Worsens? When Danse's nature is revealed.

Augustijn is off in the Institute, tentatively trying to broker peace, get Isadora the title of Director, when the gang gets the word. They're waiting at the Boston Airport at the teleporter. Danse was left at the Sentinel Site. Maxson storms down from his blimp, asks if any of them knew about Danse.

The Brotherhood is hunting Danse, now.

Haylen catches them as they leave to find him. Tells them where to go. Hancock can't stop making jokes and laughing. It's funny. It's ironic. It's a great joke to play on someone. It's perfect. It's the best punishment ever. It might just mean Danse finally—

Danse might—

The others, some of them saw it coming. Hancock didn't. If he did, he'd have rubbed it in Danse's face, stuck it in place of his name, spat it out at him with a grin.

They get to that bunker, Nick, Dogmeat, and Curie take the elevator down. X6-88, a courser who should really be trying to capture Danse, is off to the Institute to get Gus and Isa.

They wait outside. Nick and Curie don't come up the elevator. Cait wonders if Danse really did kill himself. She turns the thought over in her head, and says it seems fitting even if she hadn't thought of it before. Preston turns green where he stares at the setting sun and agrees. Says he always thought about it. Danse almost always took nightshift. So did Preston. They'd argue over it, insist the other one needed sleep more. "Most people want to sleep," Preston says, and by his face alone, Hancock really does think Danse is fucking dead down there.

He takes the elevator. He has to know.

Maybe he's—maybe it's because of himself. Maybe Hancock remembers sitting in an old ruin, huffing poison, so desperate he actually prayed that it'd kill him. He hates Danse. Hates him. Does he hate him that much? Maybe its principle. I want to kill you myself, so you can't—

He gets down there. Hears Nick. Hears Curie. Doesn't hear Danse. But Nick is talking, addressing him, the situation, so he must be alive. Curie promises Augustijn should be there soon, please take a moment to breathe. Danse laughs and Hancock about shits himself because that isn't a noise Paladin Fucking Danse makes, and he never wants to hear that fucking noise again.

It takes so long. Nick talks and talks and talks, and so does Curie, and Danse barely says anything. Danse rarely talked, anyway. It's normal for him. He's a quiet guy. Keeps to himself. He never joined in conversation. Hancock liked that about him, he knew when he wasn't wanted. Hancock wonders if he would have ever spoken to them if they didn't try and fuck with him. Deacon would move his tools in garages. MacCready pestered him with inane questions to see how deep he'd scowl. Cait and Hancock both loudly discussed if he was a virgin.

It sets in, there.

Hancock tried to, too. Hancock went through with it and it didn't take. Danse was still going. He was letting Nick talk. Letting Dogmeat whine at his legs. Letting Curie check his arms, take his weaponry.

Danse had every reason to do it. Every reason, and no reason not to. No one would miss him, pity him. It was his job, anyway. He could have done it and Hancock would have thrown a party celebrating that the fuckhead was dead. But he didn't. He didn't. He wasn't going to. He fucking wanted to, God knows that, Nick never stopped talking him down, but Danse didn't do shit and Hancock didn't know if that made him a coward or—or—

Gus and Isa showed up. Augustijn threw himself at Danse. Isa told Hancock the old man, his baby? Shaun. Gone. Gone for good. They were at his bedside. Saw him off.

Hancock hears Augustijn sob, turns to peek into the window. Danse holds Augustijn like he himself has no problems in the world, like he's already forgotten he's a synth. Hancock leaves and Isa follows him out. Everything after that is a blur, save for Maxson showing up. Then things are a blur again. Danse tries to stay the bunker. Preston, shaky in the legs after his General tried to fistfight the Elder of the Brotherhood, says fuck no.

Curie and X6 took Danse back to Sanctuary. The rest of them got to watch Maxson and Desdemona agree, for once, as Isadora insisted they not blow up the Institute. Hancock remembers jackshit else.

The Minutemen take over the Institute with the Brotherhood and Railroad's help, and Isa gets her very own group to boss around. Synths get taken care off, the Institute stops being shitheads, the Brotherhood sticks around to make sure Isa keeps her promises.

Hancock pretends it didn't happen. He still torments Danse. He still pesters him. Danse reacts...better. He lets Hancock do it, doesn't defend himself. Hancock brings it up, teases him, regrets it immediately even if Danse doesn't react. He doesn't do that again.

They go back to Sanctuary. Augustijn is a wreck. Isadora is below ground, hard at work. Hancock finds Danse. It's like nothing happened. He acts the same. Seems the same. Augustijn frets over him before duty calls him away. Gus and Isadora are gone, trying to figure out the new political sphere of the Commonwealth. The rest of them take a well-earned break.

Danse kind of vanishes.

They know he's there, he's around. Just working. Always on guard duty, always performing maintenance. They don't see him. That's usually how it is, so Hancock thinks it's fine. He goes to buy more chems. Lady there says hey, that guy you always bitched about? I think he's loosening up, finally. Been buying grape mentats.

He knows he should say something and he doesn't. He likes chems. Its good that Danse is doing them, now. Its good. And grape mentats! Maybe he'll finally make friends, be tolerable. Maybe he'll even get laid. Next time Hancock sees him, Danse has dropped too many pounds. He tells himself its fine.

The wasteland gets its peace. The Institute is going to actually help, now. The RR and BOS won't go to war with anyone. To celebrate, they all go drinking. Preston and Curie drag Danse along but they all lose him in a corner pretty quickly. Hancock sends some shots his way but doesn't pay attention. No one does. They party and forget that Danse is there at all. Hancock turns around and Danse is gone. He asks the bartender if he noticed where he went. Out the door, he says. Got himself a friend for the night, looks like. Danse doesn't do that. Hancock trips and breaks his stool, he's out of that bar so fast. Finds Danse barely standing in the alley and his 'friend' is far too handsy. Cait deals with her. He didn't realize Cait was behind him but he focuses on getting Danse...somewhere. Fucker is pretty light. He shouldn't be.

Hancock ends up dropping him anyway. Sees his face and almost pukes because he knows that fucking look and this is his fault. He kept sending him shots. He didn't look at him once, or invite him over to the bar. He left him to chug alone in a corner when all of them were partying. Danse was in trouble and just like he thought he would, Hancock didn't do shit.

He tries to pick him up again. Danse takes one heaving breath and drops his face in the dirt and cries. Hancock looks at Cait and she's off to find Nick, or Curie, or anyone who doesn't hate Danse.

He doesn't know what to do. He just pats his back awkwardly. Danse, whenever one of them was upset, always offered a hug. They usually took it. MacCready took it. Isadora took it. He even hugged Curie, the first time she couldn't save someone. Danse admitted, once, that he just never knew what else to do.

So Hancock pulls him up and hugs him. Tries to. Danse is heavy even if he's dropped a third of his weight and Hancock goes stumbling down against the wall, with a drunk, hurt Danse in his lap. He thinks its working, having his arms around him, until Danse starts babbling.

It's exactly what you would expect and yet Hancock isn't ready for it. You hear it from yourself, its normal. You hear it from someone else and its the worst thing you've ever heard. But the worst part is that Danse keeps saying sorry. Sorry for crying, for being drunk, for being heavy, for being awful, for being alive. He's sorry, a million times he's sorry.

Hancock never once wanted it. Not before, when he really did hate him, and not now, not like this. He tries to quiet him down, tell him its fine, but then Danse starts begging him to kill him. Thats when his heart starts beating so loud he can't hear anything else, when everything gets blurry again.

Nick shows up. Helps drag him to a hotel room. Shushes him when he begs for death because he can't kill himself, he promised Augustijn he wouldn't, and just flops him on the bed. Hancock throws up in the bathroom.

Nick says he'll stay and keep an eye on Danse. Hancock digs through Danse's coat, finds the key to his apartment somewhere in the Concord district.

It's not as bad as he was expecting, but worse in a different way. There's a present for Piper's birthday half-wrapped, a box of her favorite lemon candy that's so expensive, she doesn't even look at it when they find it. A photo album of his time in the Brotherhood. Booze everywhere. No decor. It's lonely and small, like Listening Post Bravo. What worries Hancock is that there's weaponry. He finds an empty box and shoves all of Danse's kitchen knives in, his forks and spoons too so he can't stab himself or scoop out his eyes. He even debates taking his coffee machine. They're like toasters, right? Could he kill himself with one? But then Hancock says fuck it. He isn't letting Danse stay here period. Not like this. The knives and forks and spoons can stay. He takes the coffee pot anyway, because it made a truly rancid noise when he unplugged it and it stinks of burnt circuitry. Danse deserves better.

He finds Nick the next morning and tells him everything. The mentats, the weightloss, Danse's shitty apartment, everything that Hancock's been worried about and then some. Nick tells Hancock that he already knew about the mentats. Danse woke up in the night and puked and it was purple. Neon purple.

Hancock laughs at it, tells Nick he kept sending Danse shots when he was on chems and wonders when he'll stop being a shitty friend. Nick claps him on the shoulder and tells him shitty friends don't care about coffee pots.

He goes to see Danse, first thing when the sun is up. Big guy's face down on his pillow, face pickle-green and scrunched up as Curie lists off various coping mechanisms in place of alcohol and drugs. Hancock shoos her away. Danse asks Hancock if he's willing to tell him what the fuck happened. Nick won't. Curie doesn't know. Cait only said she 'dealt with it' and 'it won't be happening again' and 'they'll never find her' and 'she had pineapple gum on her, do you want some?'

Hancock tells him, and over the retelling of the shitshow from last night, comes to appreciate just how expressive Danse can be. His scowls were always incredible to watch, like his very skull was scrunching up. The thought is all he has to get through it without...puking again? Crying? Grabbing him by the shoulders and screaming at him for the love of fuck, we don't hate you?

Danse blinks owlishly. Clicks his tongue. Shrugs, slaps his knees, and stands to leave. Says it was unfortunate and he won't be doing it again, he's so sorry for the inconvenience—wait, why do you have my coffee pot?

Hancock looks at the fucking coffee pot under his arm, and looks at Danse, and gives it to him straight. He's too exhausted for anything else. He has it because it's shitty. Its a shitty coffee pot from a shitty apartment in a shitty part of Sanctuary. Danse is a fucking tech genius, or whatever, if he wanted a good coffee pot he could make one. He could spend money on one, and not lemon candy for Piper. He could borrow one, or get coffee at the little Cafe down his street that gives it free. Its a shitty machine and its shitty that he puts up with it, just like he puts up with all of them being shitty, even long after he arguably deserved it. He doesn't deserve shitty coffee. Nick got that before anyone else did. Danse doesn't deserve half of what he's ended up with. Hancock hates him but he hates himself more, so that just means he fucking hates that Danse is ending up the same way Hancock did. Burying everything in chems and booze and acting like nothing is wrong, or if it is, it doesn't bother him. He hates that he got what he wanted, Danse miserable and hating himself as much as Hancock does and one bad day away from killing himself. Most of all, he hates how little he could blame him if he did, and he hates how Danse really did end up being the better, bigger man who had to decency to feel bad about it all.

They stare at each other for a minute.

Hancock throws the stupid fucking coffee maker across the room and stands and screams we never fucking hated you either! They just didn't know him! He never let them! They never let him let them! It was an endless cycle of Danse being stand-offish, so they'd keep away, and then he'd take the hint and stand even farther away, so they'd keep fucking doing it, and look where it's led, you're so far away, we don't even know where the fuck you are to reach out and fucking help you!

Danse asks why Hancock should feel bad. He looks at Danse and asks how the fuck he ever got that T50 helmet on, having a skull that fucking thick. Danse was a shithead but so were all of them, so was Hancock. And then the big idiot shakes his head, looks like a kicked puppy, says he never hated them, did they all think that? He was hard on them but he never meant to—

You'd think he'd spoken in tongues, or grown his nose back. Danse looks a mix of hurt, confused, and guilty. Hancock doesn't want him to be any of that, he wants him to fucking understand. He wants him to see that it isn't just Augustijn who's scared for him. And he doesn't know how to make him see that, if Danse could ever see that.

Danse just...looks at the corpse of his coffee machine.

And again, apologizes for the heinous fucking crime of not doing a good enough job at powering through the worst time of his life for all of their comfort. How dare he bother them. Hancock wonders if this is how people feel looking at him, listening to his bullshit. But at least Hancock can look people in the eye while he does it. Danse stares at that broken, thrown away piece of garbage with a lump in his throat and looks like he wants to crumple into a ball and die on the floor.

"I know you're weird about the ghoul thing, but seriously, man, do you need a hug?"

"...pardon?"

"Do you want a fucking hug?"

His eyes water and widen and he flinches like he's been shot, and Hancock decides fuck it, if he doesn't like it, he can chuck me across the room.

Danse...probably likes it? He does—well, he doesn't do a lot of crying, he cried everything out last night. But there's crying. Buries his big stupid head in Hancock's shoulder and clings to him like a kid does a teddy bear after a nightmare. Hancock has always been a hands-on, touchy guy. He doesn't mind cuddling this asshole if that means he won't hop off a bridge come lunch. But his spine doesn't like the weight of Danse nor being bent to accommodate his height. Tall asshole. Hancock just kinda...shoves him at the bed. Makes to sit down. Sitting down becomes laying down. Hancock accepts his fate. He didn't sleep last night anyway.

Later, Curie re-enters and finds Hancock underneath a cried-to-sleep brick shithouse of a man. She only barely manages to not smile.

Once Danse wakes up, Hancock has made note of three things: Danse is very cuddly and honestly, is a top-tier cuddle-buddy, warm as hell; Danse is very pliable when he's just woken up; he's accepted that maybe he and Danse aren't so different, and if Danse is as stubborn as Hancock, getting him to knock off the destructive shit will take bartering.

Danse is not an easy man to barter with, Hancock knows. And he'll catch on if Hancock starts at 50, and if 50 doesn't cut it. Hancock goes right to 100 and tells Danse he'll cut way back on chems if Danse starts taking care of himself again, or at least lets himself be taken care of.

If there's anything that can get Hancock to do something, it's vindication. Danse has always been iffy on Hancock's liberal chem use. Of course the idea of getting his way, of winning that little battle, would be too tempting. Danse takes the bait. Hancock resigns himself to chem use only on weekends and holidays, and takes some pride in having convinced the prickliest cactus to let himself be vulnerable.

Augustijn comes back a week later. No one sees either of them. But the next time Hancock does see Danse, he's put some pounds back on. The chemist says he's stopped coming in. Hancock siccs Piper and Codsworth on Danse's apartment to decorate it. Piper finds her birthday present. Danse spends two hours scrubbing her red lipstick off his face, complaining about the surprise being ruined the whole time.

Shit gets weird when the little synth kid shows up. Given everything with Shaun, and who Augustijn is, just as a person, that kid was always gonna be weird and messed up. Danse takes to him immediately. If the kid isn't with his dad (adopted dad?), he's with Danse, in the garage, at the river, down at the farms, walking Dogmeat. Hancock thinks its a good look on him, a kid on his shoulders, in his arms, holding his hand. Even more so when Danse gets back to his old weight. And then a little more. Then quite a bit more, especially in the chest and thighs. And then Danse starts smiling, gets laugh lines. Cait and Deacon make a drinking game out of swatting away the 'honeyflies' whenever they start surrounding. Something about a big, bulky man being fatherly to a skittish kid just drives people fucking wild. Danse develops a taste for ugly ass button ups, and not even his fashion sense scares them off.

Hancock takes him for beer, occasionally, through it all. Buys him dinner just to be sure he's eating. Watches how Danse changes bit by bit. He puts fat on in the legs before anything else, then the stomach, then the arms. His cheeks fill out quickly, too. He makes a lot more jokes than Hancock thought. They're just delivered so straight, you don't notice if you don't know to look for them. Once Hancock starts looking, they're everywhere. He wonders how many he's made that Hancock took as an earnest remark, and gave him crap for. He asks. Danse just grins, all shit-eating.

They go out for drinks. It starts as Hancock just wanting to check up on him. It turns into Hancock's favorite part of the week. He finds him fascinating. Danse is a history nerd, of course he is. He's wistful for simple pleasures, like live music, or fishing, or sports, if only for the fact that they're symbolic of peace. He has strong opinions on mirelurks. He actually isn't a virgin and admits that his first and only time was so his at-the-time squadmates would stop giving him shit for not having sex. He has reoccurring nightmares about his best friend, and he still misses the guy so much, he doesn't want the nightmares to stop because they're all he has left of him. He has it bad for Gus but he loves Theo so fucking much, he feels like the kid's Pops whether he gets with his dad or not. He's better with the synth thing, what really bothers him is how he acted and treated others, and how it took being one of them for him to see it was wrong.

Hancock finds him sweet, dorky, heartbreakingly sentimental, underneath all those scowls and grumbles.

He has to admit that he likes this guy.

What really sells him on Danse is how much he'll let you do, if you're close enough.

Hancock is touchy. Hancock is always cold. Danse is very warm and, having gained a lot more weight than he lost, very soft and comfy. Danse is touch-starved.

Danse becomes his travel mattress, portable chair, teddy bear, space heater, pillow, et cetera. Giant soft thing filled with fluff and warm. And Danse lets him. Danse lets Hancock play with his surprisingly soft hair, rub his shoulders, tuck under his chin, lay across his shoulders like a scarf...

It's a cosmic joke.

It's more of a cosmic joke than Danse being a synth. Hancock could have been using this fucker as a bed the whole goddamn time. He'd seen Danse be cool with ghouls before. Wiseman at the slog. That ghoul kid near Quincy. Kent. Even fucking Daisy, hell, Daisy liked Danse. The whole time, the whole fucking time, Hancock could have had a giant, warm, soft teddy bear. But no. But no. The teddy bear had to go through the the fucking wringer first.

He tells Danse as much. Danse laughs, loud and rosy-cheeked, in a flamingo print shirt, and says it fluffed him up.

[ground-zero-idiocies]

I've got a funny prompt/request for Fallout 4. So someone tells Nora to act her age, and Nora immediately starts to play dead.

Ground-Zero-Idiocies Presents: Fallout 4 Companions React: ‘Act Your Age’

Cait: “Frankly, I don’t know what you were expecting when you asked a two country old popsicle to act her own damn age. How bout you do that instead of making my girlfriend mess up her daily walk? Really. I ‘spected better from you.”

Codsworth: “Oh mum! While I must admit that this is quite humorous, I feel obligated to inform you that the soil still contains trace amounts of radioactivity that can seriously damage your tissue!”

Danse: “Really, Sentinel? You treat a schoolyard taunt by writhing in literal commonwealth filth? I will never understand you pre-war types. Stop embarrassing yourself and stand up! Honestly. I don’t know what you think you’re doing.”

Deacon: Tearing up “Hey, don’t insult my friend like that! I’m sorry. Barbara used to do that when she was feeling silly. I’m sorry, it’s just…look at my head. It’s bald. That’s funny, right? Good lord.”

Curie: “Oh no! Madam! Are you feeling alright?! It is not so normal to simply fall on zee ground like this! I must get you to zee hospital immediately!!”

Gage: “Real funny boss. Now get the fuck up before Mason’s all over my back about not picking an ‘alpha’ OB. Seriously? You need to get up. This is ridiculous.”

Hancock: Falls to the ground and starts wiggling like a snake while holding up the middle finger. “Don’t mess with me or my worm friend! We are happy like this!!”

Jack Cabot: “I really do suppose that, if this were the case, you would be just as barren as the skeletons that people refuse to remove from their homes and business. And I suppose I should be a fossil, then. I wonder what species future archeologists will believe my father to be. I think about this a lot.”

Longfellow: “Hardy har. Very funny, sole survivor. I need to find a bar. Did you like that? It’s from a new series of poems I’ve written called ‘Fuck off: love from Far Harbor’. Now get the hell out of here.”

MacCready: “I guess that if I were to act my age people would tell me to put my chems away and actually do something with my twenties. Eh, I’m all for throwing that away.”

Nick Valentine: “You could say I’m any number of ages - my memories start 265 years ago, I think I was built about 100 years ago, and I can only lucidly recall the last 40 years. When someone can figure out how to act 265, 100, and 40 all at the same time, let me know.”

Piper: “Very funny, Blue. Now fuck off asshole, no one asked for your opinion. Or even your existence. No one talks to my adopted ancient sister like that!!”

Preston: “Ha ha, general. Now please stand up. You’re embarrassing the entirety of the Minutemen right now. This absolute clown has no right to rain in your parade but that coat is an absolute bitch to clean. Trust me, I know.”

Strong: “Little lady collapse on ground. Strong help little lady. Strong wants bad man to leave or Strong will smash bad man!! Strong is sorry for little lady. Strong should take anger management class.”

X6-88: “Leave before I tear you limb from limb, leaving you less human than an egg before conception. And to you, Nora, stand up. This is absurd. You aren’t actually 200 years old. Our great and mighty Father is actually much older physically and mentally, and I believe that we would find this very disrespectful.”

[that-blue-vault-dweller]

How would companions react to fem Sole asking them to act like they were dating in order to avoid creeps hitting on her?

So I hope it's okay, but I went with just the guys on this one. 🥰

Thank you for the request!!! I hope you enjoy! 💙💛

MacCready - Is really awkward about it, but he agrees. He is very hesitantly touching her, and when she tells him that he has to truly sell it, he steps it up a notch and carefully wraps an arm around her shoulders. If they are getting suspicious glances, they make sure to make loud conversation about this only being their third date but how they are totally into each other.

Deacon - Loves the idea, and immediately goes for it. He has no problem pretending, and this is just another undercover op for him. He becomes a real ham about it, calling her all sorts of weird pet names like "googly-bear" and "schmoopsie-pooh." By the time he's through, it's all she can do not to laugh at him and his sheer ridiculousness. They both have way too much fun with the whole thing.

Hancock - Has no issue whatsoever with it, and perfectly plays the protective and slightly possessive boyfriend. He throws an arm around her whenever a creep even looks her way. He might even throw in a platonic kiss on the cheek just so they buy it and take it as a romantic one. If they persist, he is sure to narrow his eyes and try to channel a little of his inner feral as he threatens them wordlessly. His ruthless reputation alone leaves most of them shaking in their boots, and they usually leave him and his "girlfriend" alone.

Danse - Is very hesitant and he is immediately worried about overstepping some sort of boundaries, but he eventually agrees. But when he actually has to act like they're a couple, he has a really hard time. He is flushing like crazy when he has to wrap an arm around her waist and he is terrified that he is going to do something wrong or accidentally touch her somewhere he shouldn't. He has large hands, after all, and they might bump into dangerous territory.

Preston - Goes with it, but is sort of nervous. He calls her "babe" a lot and tries to make sure it's said sort of loud so others can hear. He also whispers to her about different events with the Minutemen, talking quietly so no one can hear him but her, and she fakes a few laughs in an attempt to convince people to think that he is whispering other things in her ear.

Valentine - Agrees easily enough. He politely puts an arm around her shoulders and calls her "doll," but other than that, he does not impose too much upon her. She actually has to take some initiative herself and snuggle closer to him, tucking her head under his chin. It is all he can do not to chuckle a little as she gushes about her gentlemanly boyfriend to anyone nearby who will listen.

X6-88 - Does not want to do it at all. He is not comfortable with pretending to be in a relationship with her. However, he does not want anyone messing with her, and he instead resolves to threaten people if they get close to her. He withdraws his gun without a single bit of hesitation and he informs the person that if they do not leave quickly, they will receive a laser hole through their chest. They always seem to take him very seriously.