This is a bit of a sequel to something I posted like a year ago [link link]. Life has slowed to crawl and I’m trying to keep productive so, why not just edit more of that Gage x Gamma nonsense I still have on my computer? :D I still have a lot of fun writing these two, especially in the quieter moments between them, especially especially when it’s due to the sting of betrayal~!
Synths, man, ruining all the good relationships in your life since 2229~.
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Radiation sickness was never fun to deal with. It was even less fun when you had an insane Overboss. In the backroom of Fizztop, Gage slowly watched the RadAway do its damn job as he also desperately tried to ignore Gamma.
"Seriously though, you want a new scope for your do-hicky?" It was a borderline impossible task. Looking over his shoulder, the tiny tyrant of an Overboss sat cross-legged at his weapons bench and Gage knew he was still out for his particular brand of blood.
He had been real clear about that. A few members from the different gangs that had camped out by the entrance of Nuka-Town all but bombarded them with questions and hope as soon as they had returned from Safari Wild. Did they clean out the park yet? Fight anything fun? There's this odd rumor about a man in running around in loincloth too, did ya see him too!
It took every ounce of patience Gage had left not to scream at them all. Because, it wasn't his job to do scream. And it was Gamma’s. And just because he wanted to poke every wound Gage had just a bit more, Gamma had decided to be chatty with them. For the first time as Overboss, happily answering all their questions in wordy detail.
It was only when he feigned utter innocent, asking about Jackpot Royal's past though that Gage had put his foot down.
"Sorry, but we have business to attend to at Fizztop." He said curtly, tugging the short kid along with him.
"Yeah, that true. These injuries ain’t gonna heal themselves. Wait, did you know Gage give me this time?" Gamma dramatically exclaimed, poking out the bruised spot by his temple. "Me! His Overboss! God, Gage. We're really gonna haveta to work on your aim. Because not cool, not cool." He tsked, paying no mind as Gage pushed him on to the platform, harsh as could be.
Poor Jackpot Royal looked on hopeless, unable to tell if they should step in for their Overboss or if that would cost them their head. After a moment, they just waved goodbye and started to move back towards the Parlor. Smart kid.
After that, Gage just did his best to ignore Gamma, shuffling back towards his bed in the back room as he felt the radiation sickness finally start to settle into his body. It didn't take long to set up the RadAway, years of experience he'd never knock away, and he’d just let himself crash into his bed, hoping to sleep off the unpleasant he knew was going to come.
Gamma though had other plans.
After roughly five minutes of peace, he turned up in the back room himself despite having free-range of Fizztop. Instead of his typical mask, the kid had found a pair of over-sized road goggles and a rip-to-shreds puke green bandanna to cover his face instead.
"I'm gonna make some mods." He smiled in that same sweet and cold voice from earlier. “Have any requests?” Translation, I'm still pissed and fuck you if you think you're getting off scott-free.
"Some damn quiet and peace," Gage said though.
"Sorry, that's not on the menu today, friend." And that was that.
To his credit, Gamma wasn't really as noisy as modder as most raiders were. He worked fast and careful. And if he wanted to, Gage was almost certain he could work quiet too. But, that wasn't the case today. So instead, Gage gave up and just started to watch him from his cot.
Gamma... He hadn’t been right earlier. Gage had had no clue about him being synth, being a tool of the Institute. If he were to guess, he would've just said the kid was a Vaultie because of a Pip-Boy but one who had been out in the Commonwealth longer than a Pip-Boy suggested. But, more importantly and more simply, he would've said that Gamma was basically like him: a fuck-up without a home just trying to survive as comfortably as possible. That was always the vibe he give out when they were up at Fizztop together, away from the other raiders down below.
"You know, tough shit, I made you a scope anyways. It's neon." He cackled a bit, turning to show off the piece.
And, Gage just replied. "Why are you even here?"
Toxic neon yellow scope in hand, Gamma paused along with the question, eyebrows arched in his own. It was weird seeing them do what exactly what Gage had always pictured them do, and a part of him was relieved. He could read this kid, at least a little bit.
"I mean, here, in Nuka-World. What does the Institute want with us?" Because he wasn't stupid. He saw the endless possibility of this place, and he always knew others would see it too. That's why he recruited Colter. That's why he knew they needed an Overboss, someone to keep the rift-raft off their steps when they came trying to collect.
Over by his workstation, Gamma put down the scope and swiveled his chair around once and twice, until he was facing Gage again. “Not a damn thing, really." He said, shrugging slightly.
"Bullshit." Nuka-World had power, if nothing else.
"Not really," Gamma sighed again, spinning his chair around a little. "They're, ah, how would you put it." He tapped his bandanna playfully as he thought over his words. "Ah! Right! They're dead, so you know, Nuka-World? Not on their radar."
"Dead?"
"Ah, yeah. You haven't heard the rumors? Like, shit, they were everywhere out around Boston when it went down." Gamma sighed again as he rested his head in his arms. "Basically, some fucker blew us up."
"Someone, just, blew up the Institute?"
"Well, I wasn't there when shit went down so it's a bit hard to say," Gamma said, trying to play it off with his normal dramatic air. But Gage heard an unfamiliar hard edge enter into his voice. ‘Bothered by something now, are we?’ He thought, filing it away for another time. "But that's the jist I got. Plus, you know." He frowned again, looking briefly away.
"I don't know, what."
"Urgh.” Flopping forward, his arm reached out to catch himself before he hit the floor. It was a short hop to Gage’s bed from there, Gamma plopping himself right beneath him as he started to fiddle with his Pip-Boy. Gage took to the moment to again quickly take in his Overboss under the bright, artificial lights of Fizztop.
He didn't look like a synth, honestly. That was kinda the point, no, but still, Gage always figured there had to be some kind of tell to them, something that read fake. Even Gamma, odd and loud as could be, sitting next to him with Gage knowing, looked as human as anyone else. Was the Institute just that good with their abominations of science, or were there more synths out there than Gage ever thought to consider?
Gamma interrupted that line of thinking though, shifting as he could show Gage whatever it was on his Pip-Boy easier. "Just listen." And Gage did, and he heard nothing but static.
"There’s, nothing?" He said, unsure. Maybe that was a synth thing, but he dismissed that idea as Gamma sunk back down to his ass.
"Exactly," he said, pushing back a few strands of purple that fall in front of his face as the radio station played back only static.
"What's supposed to be playing?" He asked, figuring he did owe something to Gamma for saving his life earlier. Maybe letting him... talk was an okay way to pay him back, and one that wouldn't cost him even one cap.
He didn’t say anything at first, tracing the dirt on the floor instead. And it was nice, quiet as the RadAway sunk deeper into his body and sleep pulled him closer. But after a few minutes, Gamma’s voice tugged him back into the conversation.
"It used to play classical music." Quietly, his attention was entirely on the measured static tick up and down on his screen. And strange as it was, Gage did remember that funny little station. The only thing it played were these old instrumental pieces, no voices, no commercials, no updates about why they were going to die today. His mother listened to it religiously, never missing a chance to glare at his father every time he tried to change it to Diamond City radio in her presence. Gage had loathed that station so much as a kid, even as an adult too. It was just so frickin' dull.
But, still, after a hard day, hell if his hands didn’t twist the dial until he found that station once again and let it play for a few songs. Just a reminder how nice it was to be alive.
Until, maybe a year ago, Gage tried to tune into it one day and just, found nothing. Another loss to the ravages of the Commonwealth. He wondered how his mother took that news.
"It was the Institute's station, you know," Gamma smiled sadly. "We did fucked up things with it, of course, but it was ours. If it stopped playing, you know..." Trailing off, he didn't bother finishing that line of thought. It didn't need to be finished. Gage got the jist.
If it stopped playing, it was dead. The Institute was no more.
They sat together for a moment, Gage trying to process that new bit of news and he guessed, Gamma was trying to process the same bit of news albeit in a different context. And Gage thought, maybe he wasn't so wrong actually.
Maybe Gamma was a fuck-up too, just like him, one without a home just trying to survive as comfortably as possible in the fucked-up death trap they knew as the Commonwealth, albeit in a slightly different context than Gage originally had thought.
"So," Gage started slowly, "Why are you here?"
It wasn't the only question still floating around in Gage's mind but, either because of the drugs, the exhaustion or something else, all the others had quieted down for the moment. The Institute was no more. Maybe it was a lie, it was kinda unbelievable, but Gamma never honestly struck Gage as a liar.
He made up stories and played games and loved to mock people endlessly, but he never outright lied to Gage, not in the way most people did. That's why ...this... whole mess stung worse than the Gatorclaw attack or the additional rad sickness. Gamma never lied to him, except about basically everything.
Below him, Gamma just halfheartedly shrugged his shoulders. "Caps are the rule of the land, Gage, you know that."
And honestly, Gage could let this go for the night with that. Betrayal still hummed under his skin like a parasite. He knew this wasn't over, not by a long shot. There still a thousand questions and concerns he had about this, about synths, about the goddamn Institute and about Gamma being Overboss too. But underneath that all, like with Connor and Colter before, his stupid rotten idiotic heart was still telling him to trust Gamma, that he wasn't lying, not about this.
And fuck if he didn't want to believe that.
"I'm gonna put that scope on your gun, okay?" Gamma said quietly, playfully poking Gage in the head as he laid his own head back on the bed.
"Do that and I'll throw you off Fizztop," Gage said back, closing his eyes. Exhaustion tugged him along towards the poppy-filled land of dreams he hated so much. But it wasn't before he saw Gamma’s eyes through his dark shades, the same intense look once again focused squarely on Gage. He had no idea why he found it comforting now, though it was easy to blame to the drugs.
Pulling himself back to his feet, Gamma pressed his ratty clothed mouth right above his ear in an utterly sarcastic feeling kiss. "Oh, Porter, I'd love to see you try." And Gage could almost feel his lips move into a little grin before his Boss finally walked out of the back room, leaving him to a peace and quiet.
I’m trying to kick myself into some level of production and the easiest way is to read over the weird snippets of Gage and Gamma’s story!! ✨ I always like writing out their interactions and I still like this bit a bunch. I really should finish up the whole story. :’l
The last gatorclaw dropped to the ground with a crunching thud. The small metal hub shattered from its weight behind Gage and Gamma hopped off with an astonishing amount of grace.
And then, once safety set in his bones, all the emotions left Gage at once.
"You can’t be fuckin’ human,” Gage laughed, almost hysterically as excitement flooded out throughout his body. He let out another hardy laugh, hand covering part of his face, because god damn! Three gatorclaws, three of them! They should've been dead, dead, gone and halfway on their way to eaten. It was unreal.
Did he know how to pick them, or what!
Gamma just shook his head though as he made his way over, wiping the blood off his knife. Gage imagined a soft smile on his face. It looked great like everything else in this moment.
"You know what," he said quickly when Gamma offered him his hand, tugging him back up to his feet. Pain rung out from the wound though, and Gage flopped right back down. He was too hopped up on adrenaline anyways. His body left like rubber and like a live wire all at the same time. It was probably why he was rambling so much, so hard. But, who cared! They were fuckin' alive! "I'm gonna buy you that stupid knife from Kathleen! Right when she gets back from the Commonwealth, it's yours!"
"That thing's like a good ten thousand caps, Gage." Gamma almost snorted, kneeling down and fishing around in their bag.
"It's, fuckin', yours." He said again, stronger and he reached down to force Gamma's attention up. He didn't care if this idiot never wanted to see the world with his own free eyes, Gage was making a promise, internal and eternal here and now, under the hazy light of the moon and the thick scent of copper in the air: he'd follow this idiot to the Glowing Sea and back if he asked.
No one, no one else in this entire fucked up world could inspire Gage to feel like that. He didn't just feel it. In the moment, he knew that Gamma had his back in a way no one else ever had. He just took on three fuckin' Gatorclaws to save Gage's ass! Anyone else would've run. Anyone else should've run, it was the smarter plan but, God. He didn't.
He could kiss him, honestly, shitty mask and all.
But under his hands, Gamma stilled. Or rather, he was still. Unlike Gage, he wasn't shaking. He wasn't riding a high and such a simple, small thing stuck out in his frantic excited mind like the realization of pure trust he felt for this boy.
Anyone else would be Gage, they're be reacting. They'd be screaming in joy, they'd be shaking in terror, hell, maybe they'd just be puking their guts out just because over such a goddamn impressive feat. They'd be bragging! Something! Anything!
But, no. Under his hands, Gamma was still and the world seemed like it shuddered to a complete stop as Gage realized this was par for the course for him. Did he ever really react? Not after fights, he always were cool, calm and collected, from Colter to now. The words of his from before reran over his mind, and a sinking horror arose in him.
You can’t be fuckin’ human.
Sitting in a old marsh in a reactive hellscape at night, Gage held Gamma's face in his hands, staring at the boy as an realization dawned on him. The thick smell of blood from the gatorclaws filled the air around them, and it was starting to feel suffocating.
"Gage, this is lovely and all, being caressed like I'm a damn schoolgirl..." Gamma started, probably glancing back now to look through their supplies. There was a new rustle between them. "Buuuut, I gotta get a stim for ya." The cut on his leg was severe, but. You know.
Gamma wasn’t human.
"...you okay, Porter?"
"You're not human," he said slowly, then pulled back his hands like the kid was acid. He felt numb, he felt worse than numb. The high from before straight collided back into the earth with the same force of the last gatorclaw. It shook him to his core.
It, it was the only explanation he had. It made sense! He'd heard all the fuckin' stories about the Institute as he roamed around the Commonwealth, the Institute and their synths. He'd heard the rumors of what happened at University Point, raised to ground and not a soul alive to tell the tale of what had happened. They came in the middle of the night and replaced you like you never were.
Only this time, Gage willingly let one of them in. He said 'do this one thing and I'll get you in the keys to our fuckin' kingdom'. Of course he killed Colter! That's why he didn't bloody take Gage's fuckin' advice! He was a fuckin' synth, what chance did Colter even have?
Beneath him, Gamma only tilted his head up a bit, shoulders lax as he stopped the search for that stimpak. "Cool, ya finally realized it. Now, can I-"
Which, ultimately, was the wrong answer for Gage. He grabbed the rifle laying by him quick and bashed it into the side of Gamma's head. And he couldn't really lie, it felt good catching that kid off guard for once because he railed back, hard.
"What in the loving fuck!?" He swore, pressing a hand to the spot that Gage hit. The moonlight wasn't strong to see if he drew any blood, and the gatorclaws' mask the scent of anything new.
"You're not human," was really his only defense. Rifles weren't great at close range and he still aimed it at the Boss.
"Yeah, no fuckin' shit, Sherlock," Gamma swore again, still pressing his hand against his head, still not motioning to arm himself any. Like Gage wasn't actually a threat even with a gun trained on him. What bullshit.
"You're a synth," Gage glared, weighing out his options in his head. Wrong option, apparently, because Gamma just grabbed the end of the gun, forcing it violently to the left as he leveled himself with Gage. And yeah, up close, he could see he indeed draw blood.
"Excuse you?! I didn't go through three years of intensive Hell to be called just a synth. I'm a fuckin' Courser, get it right," he snapped, letting go the gun in a snap. Swearing under breath again, he just pushed Gage's leg aside, purposefully putting the most pressure on the wound (Gage assumed) before grabbing their supply bag.
"What's even the difference? You're still Institute tech." Because Gage didn't need to be an Egghead to know the best kind-of synth was a dead one. There was nothing good about them. Gamma though, just snorted as he rooted through their bag a good few feet away from Gage. Enough of a distance to not get hit with the butt of a rifle, not enough to not get shot by one. He really didn't think Gage would shoot, did he?
"The difference is those three dead Gatorclaws," he said, "That mind you, I fuckin' killed so you wouldn't end up in their digestive tract. So, you know, you're welcome. I'm so getting that knife now too."
"I'm not buying you shit."
"Yes. Yes, you are," Gamma said in an odd mixture of overly sweet and utterly ice cold. Gage heard the quiet thud on the bag hitting the ground, and looked up towards the fake. The stimpak was well in hand, Gamma expertly applying it to his temple with a little hiss. "You're buying it because, this," he waved his hand around his forehead, "was a shit thank you."
And now, I'm going to make to you suffer wasn't said aloud but Gage heard loud and clear all the same. Like he was the wrong here. Like he was the one who had been lying for the past two months.
Like he was the one who tricked him into trusting him. It was fuckin' Connor all over again. It was just like Colter too. He didn't see what he needed to see until it was too late and now, look when he was: once again at the mercy of the cold unfeeling universe.
Fuck. He'd even laugh when Gage jokingly lamented how the Institute hadn't tried replacing him yet, because, you know, he was Important, he was worth replacing. That stupid little fucker.
"I didn't pretend to be human," Gage shot back as Gamma, slowly, closed the distance between them.
"Who's pretending," was his only response before he jabbed the rest of the stimpak into Gage's leg. He hissed at the sudden intrusion, feeling the skin rapidly react to the drug as it coursed throughout his system. It was always a goddamn weird feeling, watching skin healed over the span of seconds instead weeks. Even weirder was to feel it happen. "Because it ain't me. I never claimed to be human."
"You never said you weren't either." And to that Gamma just looked up at Gage again. The faint outlines of his eyes popped out even in the darkness, forever too sharp for the expression of 'are you serious right now' Gamma had. Well, that was one mystery solved, he guessed.
"I killed Colter, a dumb idiot in decked out raider gear, with my bare hands." He noted. "I took down an infestation of bloodworms, an entire Park of hostile robots, and how many gatorclaws now? With what else, but basically a kitchen knife?" Gamma laughed quietly, but the sharp focus in the outlines in his eyes didn't flicker even for a moment. At least Gage knew why he found it so unnerving all the other times he saw it: it was utterly unhuman.
"Do you really think," Gamma continued, softly, slowly and surely for Gage, just letting the point really sink home, "a know-nothing human could do that? Or that a synth could? Please, Gage. Use your head. It's good for something other than caps, you know?" Reaching out, Gamma placed a hand gently on Gage's shoulder and looked him square in the eye.
"You knew it. You just didn't want to accept it." And with that, Gamma pushed himself back up his feet. "I'm gonna go get that stupid code and then we're going to get back to Fizztop because well, yes, I am that amazing and did, once again, totally saved your stupid life you ungrateful bastard, I'd rather not die because of your weirdo hang-ups." He said, waving his fingers in the air like it was spooky voodoo.
Gage didn't say anything in return, and Gamma took that admission of ...something because he just sighed and walked into the hub. From his seat, Gage listened to the soft sounds of fabric moving, bones hitting metal and heavy furniture being pushed around. He tried to empty his mind, tried to think rationally, if there was an rational line to be found.
He, he did know Gamma was odd. He thought he was something at first, a ghoul possibly because they were the only things he'd ever see move as fast as Gamma did. The sheer amount of distance he crossed during his fight with Colter, and so fast. He knew that's why the crowd had gasped. It wasn't that this nobody had gotten to their Overboss, it was just the pure speed of his movements.
But, when he had finally seen flesh, all those thoughts left. He still thought Gamma was odd, but there was plenty of odd people wandering around the Wasteland, odd people that did horrifying things to survive. It changed them so if there were a few motions that seemed off, a few choice words that caught Gage's attention in an off kind-of way, it never stuck.
It was, like everything else off in the Wasteland, easier to look away.
He knew, in an instant, how the Institute got away with so so much.
"By the way," Gamma said as he peeked his head out of the door. His mask was still firmly in the place, the dried blood was starting to flake away. Gage would've wiped the drying blood away himself, annoyed at the light touches that stuck to his skin. Gamma left it. Off, in a dismissible way. "You should probably move. That's an radioactive drum that on the other side of that wall."
Gage all but bolted away, Gamma cackling behind him. "Again, you're welcome!"
"Sometimes we lie to ourselves when something is bad or something doesn't feel right. We still go for it, hoping that it's gonna be something more. Sometimes you have to face the facts." - @hermusicofficial . . Original Song by: ( @hermusicofficial) . . 📹 : @iamosckelly . . (If you like it, please...click the SHARE button. I appreciate YOU!) . . #OscKelly #CouldveBeen #HerMusicOfficial #JustASnippet #GrewUpOnThis #SingersLife #ActorsLife #Back2Me #CoverSong #Share #Like #Comment #FollowMe #PhotoOfTheDay #SongOfTheDay #Philadelphia #TheShadeRoom #SaucyVocals #TheSangersRoom #RnB #RnBMusic #Roommates #SingersRoom #SingersOfInstagram #BDXBookings #MTBcasting #MTB202 (at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/B4IskvuBS_b/?igshid=1qgbsxt9pofsa
🎤 V E N U E C H A N G E 🎤 It's been a minute since we kicked it.... So meet me at Lou & Choo's, (2101 W. Hunting Park Ave) for a DOPE set. All hosted by @dani_aka_danielle & @keeters80 . This showcase is gonna be LIT!!! Info below... (& on flyer). Hook, Line, 🎼 Singer Monday, August 19th 6pm - 11pm Lou & Choo's 2101 W. Hunting Park Ave Philadelphia, PA 19140 Live Entertainment | Full Menu | Drink Specials 《 TICKET LINK IN BIO 》 Advance: $20 / Door: $25 (Partial proceeds will benefit a local family in need) Mention "Osc Kelly" when purchasing ticket....THANX!!! #OscKelly #JustASnippet #GrewUpOnThis #SingersLife #ActorsLife #Back2Me #FollowMe #TheShadeRoom #SaucyVocals #TheSangersRoom #RnB #RnBMusic #Roommates #SingersRoom #SingersOfInstagram #BDXBookings #BDX (at Lou & Choo's) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1P4jyeBFkG/?igshid=1h3prpvxlhw6q
"Soul music is soul music. It can be wrapped up in a neo soul package; it can be called hip-hop soul. But soul is soul, and it's been around; it will never go away." . . Original Song by: ( @maxwell ) . . 📹 : @iamosckelly . . (If you like it, please...click the SHARE button. I appreciate YOU!) . . #OscKelly # #IDontCare #JustASnippet #GrewUpOnThis #SingersLife #ActorsLife #Back2Me #CoverSong #Share #Like #Comment #FollowMe #PhotoOfTheDay #SongOfTheDay #Philadelphia #TheShadeRoom #SaucyVocals #TheSangersRoom #RnB #RnBMusic #Roommates #SingersRoom #SingersOfInstagram #BDXBookings #MTBcasting #MTB2020 https://www.instagram.com/p/B1H2EUEhn0q/?igshid=vqpy06wlv4p5
“Here's to love at first sight, and here's to getting over it the moment you blink.” . . Original Song by: #Playa ( @smokedigglera ) . . 📹 : @iamosckelly . . (If you like it, please...click the SHARE button. I appreciate YOU!) . . #OscKelly #Playa #Cheers2U #JustASnippet #GrewUpOnThis #SingersLife #ActorsLife #Back2Me #CoverSong #Share #Like #Comment #FollowMe #PhotoOfTheDay #SongOfTheDay #Philadelphia #TheShadeRoom #SaucyVocals #TheSangersRoom #RnB #RnBMusic #Roommates #SingersRoom #SingersOfInstagram #BDXBookings #MTBcasting #MTB2020 (at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) https://www.instagram.com/p/B1HwoVKhakS/?igshid=2lmlp15npy1m
🎤 S H O W T I M E 🎤 It's been a minute since we kicked it.... So meet me at @golfandsocial for a DOPE set. All hosted by @dani_aka_danielle & @keeters80 . This showcase is gonna be LIT!!! Info below... (& on flyer). Hook, Line, 🎼 Singer Monday, August 19th 6pm - 11pm Golf & Social 1080 N. Delaware Ave Phila, PA 19125 Live Entertainment | Full Menu | Drink Specials 《 TICKET LINK IN BIO 》 Advance: $20 / Door: $25 (Partial proceeds will benefit a local family in need) Mention "Osc Kelly" when purchasing ticket....THANX!!! #OscKelly #JustASnippet #GrewUpOnThis #SingersLife #ActorsLife #Back2Me #FollowMe #TheShadeRoom #SaucyVocals #TheSangersRoom #RnB #RnBMusic #Roommates #SingersRoom #SingersOfInstagram #BDXBookings #BDX (at Golf & Social) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0_OrlWhLRu/?igshid=1fnoeog925fpa
