oh boy when deacon and the railroad find out about what just went down in goodneighbor, the effects of the situation just keep ballooning out of control like a trail of dominoes
“So, fun news, and by fun news, I mean really, really bad news.”
Deacon sheds his coat as he joins the other Railroad officers. Carrington is giving him a look that says, “This had better not be another joke,” and as much as he would like it to be, it isn’t. This is just plain old shitshow.
“What happened?” Dez asks.
“I was just down in Goodneighbor, you know, checking on that thing with Amari? And it turned out that Nick was there too.”
“Nick Valentine? The synth detective?”
“The very same one that pistol-whipped John Hancock, yeah.”
Dez’s eyes widen. “You’re joking. Why?”
“Well, y’know how we recently found out sole was a synth, and all? Turns out the ol’ mayor didn’t take too kindly to that, and they’re banned under threat of death. Nick took offense.”
“Well, no shit,” Glory pipes up. “I take fucking offense. This asshole’s been working with us forever. What, did he get cold feet overnight?”
“I don’t know.” Deacon adjusts his sunglasses, trying to hide his anger.
Dez sighs. “Emotions aside, we should prepare for the worst. If Hancock is shifting his opinions around, we might be his next target. We need to get Amari out of there as soon as possible.”
“And put her where?” Carrington asks. “There aren’t a lot of safe places for us to operate. That’s what made Goodneighbor so convenient. The Institute isn’t willing to go there.”
It’s impossible to miss the anger in his tone. Deacon tries not to let it get him riled up, too. What he really wants to do is march into Goodneighbor and start demanding explanations, but that’s not on the table. The second option--just beat the shit out of Hancock until he takes it back--isn’t, either, though it seems that Nick was leaning that way, too.
“Maybe we can put her up in one of sole’s settlements. They’re pretty secure.”
Dez nods. “Good thinking, but which one? Most of them aren’t in very convenient places.”
“Forget about convenience,” Carrington snaps. “All our usual routes are up in smoke, now. We should focus on security.”
“The Castle?” Deacon suggests.
“It could work.” Dez lights another cigarette. “But we’ll be exposing ourselves to the Minutemen, and it’s almost too close to the Brotherhood for comfort.”
Glory cuts in, “That’s why it’s smart. The Institute can’t do shit with both the Minutemen and the Brotherhood right there. We’re swapping one enemy for another, sure, but I feel better about our chances against the Brotherhood.”
“It would be better if we could get a man on the inside,” Carrington adds.
Deacon shakes his head. “Don’t look at me. I don’t want anything to do with it. Besides, I think me joining up with the Brotherhood probably isn’t the way to stay on sole’s good side.”
“But we’re in agreement on the Castle?” Dez asks.
Carrington folds his arms. “It’s the best we have under the circumstances. We can only hope the Minutemen are sympathetic to the cause.”
“Well, they haven’t cut ties with sole, so they do have a synth for a general,” Deacon says. “That seems like a good sign. In the end, it’ll be sole’s call.”
Dez nods. “Let’s get Whisper in here as soon as possible. The sooner we can get this done, the safer we’ll all be.”
yes he deserves more appreciation, like how is this sarcastic middle aged impeccably dressed medical "professional" not a fan favorite yet??? Him and Ronnie Shaw are my beloved bitter old queens <3
More highschool au things?! They're really good! I would like to personally request Drummer Boy, Ellie, Vadim Bobrov, Scribe Haylen, and human trash Maxon.
Mmmm, yes these are always fun to do!! Added in some other related peeps as well!!
Drummer Boy: He’s the newest person in Desdemona’s group. She knew him cause he’s a family friend that moved back to town, so she lets him in their group and puts a lot of trust in him. He’s the best covert note passer in the entire school. Other people get caught, but not Drummer Boy. He’s usually sort of jumpy and nervous, but never get under the suspicions of the teachers. Doesn’t actually play drums, he just has a nervous habit of tapping his fingers on stuff, so Desdemona and crew started calling him Drummer Boy and now everyone does.
Doc Carrington: Very focused on his studies. The Railroad crew is always asking to copy his homework, which annoys him to no end. He’s very dedicated to his friends, but always has to be the one to reign them in when they get too wild or come up with ideas for protests that are too crazy. He stays up very late at night either studying or playing strategy games online, so he’s always tired and a little grumpy. Plays Magic the Gathering with MacCready and Travis and takes it way too seriously. He tries to get them into Dungeons and Dragons to mixed success. His DnD character is a Druid.
Ellie: She’s the administrator for the school’s office. She is very, very good at her job, and without her the school would probably fall apart. She’s super cheerful, even at eight in the morning as kids are rolling into school. She’s far too lenient when it comes to lateness. She works closely with Nick, and they hang out outside of school too. Once one of the kids saw them hanging out together and the whole school thought they were dating. They’re just best friends. Sometimes she fills in for sick teachers, she lets the kids kinda do what they want, or teaches them about something random. She’s pretty crafty and helps with a lot of the decorations for dances and stuff.
Vadim Bobrov: He’s a legend at the school. He graduated a year or two back, and he was known for throwing the best parties, doing the best pranks, and in general being a really cool guy around the school. He always knew how to get alcohol for parties, and he was a really excellent host. He once literally tossed a guy out of his parent’s house that was creeping on some girls. He fancies himself a matchmaker and is always trying to set people up. He thinks he’s subtle, but he’s not. During breaks he’ll hang around with people he still knows from the high school. He always gets alcohol for the high school kids.
Yefim Bobrov: He’s a little shy, and has trouble filling his popular brother’s shoes at the school. People are always asking him to tell them stories about the crazy things that Vadim has done, and he always tells them, but he’s not that much of a storyteller. He’s a lil awkward when it comes to social interaction, but he is a genuinely nice person. Vadim entrusted him with how he used to get alcohol underage, but Yefim is more careful about it. He does pretty well in his classes, he particularly likes English class. He’s always reading when he has the chance.
Scarlett: She’s good friends with Vadim, Yefim, and Travis. She’s one of the guys and anyone that wants to ask her out has to go through the boys. She’s quite popular at school, and loves to know all the gossip. She’s friendly and a pretty big tomboy. She started up a co-ed baseball team that got to be pretty popular at school, they play against other schools and the games are always packed. She has a part time job waiting tables at the local hole in the wall diner and always gives her friends free pie with their meals.
Scribe Haylen: A freshman who is kind of sheepish around the big personalities of the school, but she is a super hard worker and pretty friendly to those who approach her. She quickly, and perplexity finds a place among Maxon, Danse, and Rhys. She takes their macho antics in stride, she’s pretty athletic as well and she can keep up with them, but she much prefers strategy and learning. Everyone thinks Maxson and Danse come up with the winning plays for football, but its all Haylen. She volunteers at the school library in her off periods. She’s never pegged for a troublemaker, but she has some of the best ideas for pranks, and they all super elaborate. She’s one of the only people that Rhys will have a conversation with that isn’t made up 100% of grunts and shrugs.
Knight Rhys: Quiet, brooding, kind of dumb jock. He used to bully people, but then he found sports so he’s able to use that as an outlet for all his teenage angst and rage. He’s the hardest tackle on the football team, and one of the best batters on the baseball team. He listens to really really loud metal music to pump him up before games, and he got the entire team into it. You can seriously hear it on the feild and it sometimes scares the other team. Sneaks into local bars to see local punk/metal bands, but never tries to get alcohol there. Bought a guitar from a thrift shop, but he never really quite figured it out so it just sits in his bedroom. He hides it when his friends come over.
Elder Maxson: Captain of the baseball team and quarterback of the football team. He’s a senior and definitely the queen bee so to speak of the jock group. He can be kind of an asshole, and has some really uneducated opinions and he tends to tell offensive jokes, and the others in his group are always making excuses for him and groaning when he tells them and trying to tell him to knock it off. He’s a natural born leader with charisma, though he tends to clash with Desdemona a lot on issues. It got so bad with them arguing in the halls and in class that they were eventually both drafted into the school’s debate team to give them a better outlet for their arguing. Maxson is a well dressed dude, and he’s always got the latest models of technology, laptops, gaming systems, iPhones, etc. He tries to keep this secret, but one of his hobbies is livestreaming video games on Twitch. He has a decent following on there.
