Welcome To Potomac Attire!

Business Discussion [ Bannon | Mac ]

Mac still wasn’t sure how to react. He had a hundred different instincts running around in his head trying to decide on the best course of action. None of them were working, but at least he’d stopped the unbidden tears. That was always a plus.

"No, I can’t think of anything." Which was a lie. A bold-faced, rotten, cowardly lie because there was something that needed to be said, something that if he would only swallow his pride and act like a goddamn man he could say.

"I’m sorry."

There it was.

Bannon wasn't sure whether to believe Maclaren. It could have been a sincere apology, or just another fabrication in attempt to regain Bannon's trust or a sad mixture of both. Still, he was gentlemanly enough not to dig deeper to find out which and take his word for it. Not like it would do him any good to try otherwise. "I'd rather not dwell on it. All is forgiven, provided it does not happen again." He cleared his throat somewhat awkwardly. "I'll see you in the morning then." He didn't smile as he made his goodbyes in case Maclaren thought he'd taken the apology as some sort of sick victory.

Instead he nodded politely and raised his beer bottle, taking another last draft. He rose from his chair. He thought for a moment about leaving the cap as a small token, but realized again it could've been taken badly. Pity money. So instead Bannon left it at the bar as a small tip along with the empty beer bottle. "Have a good night Maclaren."

Macnpen's Follow Forever - Special Edition

So I reached over 300 followers, and I wanted to say a special thank you to everyone, and to highlight some of the people who’ve meant a lot to me and to the development of the character.

These are people from the relationship page who have had the biggest impact on Mac’s life and development, positive or negative.

From the top left going clockwise:

carolina-red; notamalfunction; thececengineer; sharpdressedgrin; hellsoverseer; thelonewandereravrid; hellomynameisfxxckyou; welcome-to-potomac-attire; security-chief-harkness; forty-dead-men

#oh wow #macnpen

lesbianavagardner

Visit Original Link

#mood music

Business Discussion [ Bannon | Mac ]

Mac glared at his beer until he felt a little more composed. Caught red handed. His brain went through a hundred different ways to get out of this mess (closer to ten different ways). The most likely was to get down on his knees best he could and beg Harkness to be merciful, because he figured Bannon would want to chuck him out first chance he got. That’s what he would’ve done.

Mac stared at him in an almost frustrated disbelief. This was not the expected reaction. In fact it was the polar opposite of the expected reaction. A very large part of him screamed to not look a gift horse in the mouth and just smile and nod. So he did nod. Maybe less of the smiling, but definitely agreeing to what Bannon said. “You don’t have to give me a raise,” he said. .. ”..” .. "I don’t really need the caps." He took a drink, all the while staring at the somehow accusatory cap in the middle of the table. "But I am happy to forget this.”

“I’d been intending to give you a raise for some time now, but since you were already getting the pay through your own methods, I was holding off.”

Honestly, he’d been both thinking of the best way to confront Maclaren, and once deciding so, building up the nerve to say so. This could’ve gone sour fast, and he decided that Maclaren’s reaction would be a good way to gauge whether he’d deserve a second chance. It was …satisfactory so far, still among the better outcomes.

The thought of having Maclaren dumped overboard hadn’t really occurred to him. He’d considered quietly firing him, but between Maclaren’s work ethic and excellent pieces and tragic history, he figured a chance to redeem a certain behavior wouldn’t be out of line. Also if he continued his thieving ways on other stalls, it would still be Bannon who had enticed him on the ship and would be partially responsible. And explaining this all the Harkness would frankly be unbearable.

He finished his beer. "I think we're done. Is there anything else you can think we should talk about tonight?" He silently braced himself for anything Maclaren might say under this date of amnesty.

Business Discussion [ Bannon | Mac ]

As the story progressed Mac ‘s stomach dropped, and his face fell. Had Bannon just accused him outright, he’d have denied it. Vehemently, and with loud protests and calls for the security team. He would’ve continued denying it all the way through whatever process there was.

But it was the way he’d done it. And by the time he got to something, stolen, ripped from her, an unbidden tear fell down his face, which he quickly wiped away. Because it was right, of course, even if Mac hadn’t quite understood why he did nor even see it as bad. It was hearing it laid out like that. He looked down at the cap, blinking away the tightness in his throat and the mist in his eyes as he chewed the hell out of the inside of his mouth. When he trusted himself enough to speak, he said in a thick voice, “I think I would’ve preferred family dog.” He sniffed, not meeting his eyes because he couldn’t. It would mean admitting too much, and not just the stealing. It would mean admiting everything that he’d bottled up since leaving the Falls. “What now?”

He gave a soft mute snort about the dog, pretending not to see Maclaren’s unbidden display of unwanted pain. Instead he kept his smile as firm and gentle as he could and tried not to force meeting of eyes.

Bannon was a very private man and not very good at handling raw emotions. He always tried to remain reserved and apposite in his transactions. But he certainly had no place to judge how others on how they felt on things they couldn’t control. Or how they dealt with feelings they couldn’t control and shouldn’t have had to.

“What happens now? Well, the discrepancies in my accounts will cease, and after a week I give you the raise you certainly deserve but I’ve been putting off for obvious reasons. You put in enough hours and produce better work than I could. You’re an excellent tailor, the best there is, it’s why I hired you and why I’m still glad I hired you.” Of course, a large part of that was Bannon’s consummate gift of denial and selective deafness of other’s opinions of him, especially Maclaren’s. “Then, it’s probably best we …forget this.”

Business Discussion [ Bannon | Mac ]

He shrugged. "It really was a long time ago," he said. "You know how it is." He made a face at that lengthy journey, though. "Christ. Why’d you come all the way up here then? Seems a hell of a trip if you didn’t know what was at the end."

Mac grinned and shrugged. "I wouldn’t be insulted." He had to think about that, though. He’d never really thought of himself as having quirks. "Does she have a charming smile?" he tried. Oh god, what if he meant stealing. Oh dear. Mac’s face went back to guilty.

"There was a future at the end," he said dead honestly. And nothing to lose back in that rat-eaten town. He'd hated it, hated what it had done to his father, hated what it tried to do to him.

Ah, he saw that Maclaren quickly grasped his meaning. So he told a story. "When I was about, nine or so, my cousin Aaron died. Wild-life attack. It was sad, a kid's death is always sad in its own way, but it was part of life and to be brutally truthful, I didn't like him. A bully and crass.

“But a few months later, by the time the rest of us had moved on, my Aunt Ellie started stealing things. Minor things that weren’t noticed at first. Caps that were laying around. Tools, kitchen utensils. And those were the things that were worth something, there were others there was no point in stealing. Baby bibs. A tube of glue, a kitchen towel. She’d just sneak it in her apron pocket when she thought no one was looking.

“But one day I noticed and I went straight to my mother. I was angry, she had the nicer house, and who was she to take our things? And my mother just calmed me down, told me not to say a word and that all the adults in the family already knew. I couldn’t understand it, and it got me all the more frustrated, but sure enough, after a few months the missing things started reappearing shortly after she came to visit. And life went on.

"It made no sense to me, my mother didn’t get alone with her sister-in-law and there was no reason to cover for her, and it wasn’t until I was much older I got it. Her young son had just died terribly and unfairly. What happened, I understood, was that something important was stolen from her. Just ripped from her. And in terms she didn’t understand, she had the urge to steal things back to make up for it. And when the rage was over, she returned it all.”

His finger tapped on the cap absent-mindedly before pushing it between them on the table. “I didn’t become councilman by not keeping track of my own till. I’m not angry.”

Business Discussion [ Bannon | Mac ]

"God, no," he laughed. "I was miserable at it. I did all the sewing and household work with my Ma. I liked the animals, though. They’re smarter than they look." He shrugged at the question. It was long enough ago that it didn’t really hurt anymore. "Both dead a while back. Couple years between them. Farm’s long gone. Which is probably good; it was a shit farm."

He raised his brow. "Never heard of it." Which was odd, or at least it must be very far down. Mac knew the whole Wasteland but it stopped at the boundary. He had to laugh a bit though. “Do I? Was it the family dog? Be honest. I won’t be offended; it wouldn’t be the first time. In a weird way you sort of look like my dad did. Well just basic similarities.”

Bannon laughed with him, before calming at the more serious answer. “I’m sorry to hear that,” although it was the better answer of the two, the other being “we fell out” and they left him to rot in the Falls.

“Charleston? It’s a long journey, about, what was it, several weeks walk? More edible food and less irradiated country, but the wild-life and raiders were worse.” He threw his head back in laughter again at Mac’s suggestion, “No, not the dog. I’m speaking of my aunt, not physically of course! You’d be about half her size! But you two have the same quirk.” And here it was.

Business Discussion [ Bannon | Mac ]

Okay this was going entirely opposite of how he expected, and it actually made him relax a little, only because he was trying to figure out Bannon’s end game. “Way up north not far from Old Olney,” he said honestly. “Family had a smallish brahmin farm. And then after that we lived in Megaton.” He tapped on the side of his bottle. "Nothing very interesting," he shrugged. "But not a bad way to grow up." He wanted to ask why, but he was trying to relearn social skills, so instead he said, "What about you?" because it was polite to have a two way conversation.

"You know, I never saw you as a brahmin farmer," he chuckled, his free hand beginning to play with the cap on the table. The idea of Maclaren as a child playing with animals twice his size was amusing in its own way. "Does your family still live out there, or have they moved on?" He already half-knew both the only possible answers to that but still asked politely.

"I'm actually not originally from the Capitol Wasteland. I grew up in a town called Charleston, far South from here. Had a big family." He drew closer to his point. "You remind me of one of 'em."

Business Discussion [ Bannon | Mac ]

Mac’s face went from guilty-innocent to deer in the headlights. "Uh, fine. It’s fine. Beds are comfortable, people keep to themselves. You know, making friends and things. Not on work hours or anything." Definitely on work hours. But everything else was genuine. The Common Room may be derided by some but to Mac it was great, and it wasn’t like he spent every night there anyway. He drank his beer, a bit of a bigger gulp than casual. “How are you doing?”

He drank his beer while listening to Mac, glad to hear good news. Some of it might even be true. He wouldn't have minded Mac doing some socializing on work time, it helped develop a report with customers. Something he'd never had the natural knack of. A reputation he was proud of, but it was always something he worked at, albeit happily. "I'm quite fine, thank you for asking. You know Mac, I don't think I've ever asked you, where are you from originally?" he asked, veering Mac towards his intended line of conversation.

Business Discussion [ Bannon | Mac ]

"Is it..?" he said, sounding sicker by the minute as he made his way down the stairs. He was going to get fired. Or thrown in jail. Or thrown out of Rivet City. And all because he sorta kinda embezzled funds from the shop. He sat down across from him with the picture of ‘guilty pretending to be innocent’ look on his face. "Yeah, the beer here’s good," he said, taking the bottle and desperately not looking towards the bar and Brock.

#ooh yes thank you #macnpen

He popped the bottle, slipping the cap onto the table before taking a drink. Warm, dull but did its job. "How are you finding life in Rivet City? Any problems?" Bannon kept his voice friendly, and genuinely meant it. He was fairly sure Maclaren would lie, but he supposed it wasn't to be unexpected.

"Mr. Maclaren. Join me for a drink in the Rudder? I imagine we have a couple things to discuss."

"I didn’t do it.." He probably had, whatever it was. "But sure, okay. Let’s do.. that.."

#Sorry I couldn't switch to Bannon on my phone.#macnpen

"This is a long time coming," Bannon smiled, and lead Maclaren down to the Muddy Rudder, buying a couple beers from Belle. He took a table and handed a beer to Mac. "Hope you don't mind, I know her stash of beer is her best available product."

security-chief-harkness

Harkness was getting angry. Right he got the point. Did he honestly think that he hadn’t thought of these implications. “Repeating your argument wont increase its integrity" Harkness retaliated. "Did you honestly think it was a spur of the moment decision? I have spent nearly a decade of my life on this damn ship so don’t you dare say I didn’t think about it.”

It wasn’t as if he spent his time floating about in ignorance. It was his being. Of course it fucking bothered him and plagued his mind constantly. He was just sick of living the fucking lie. The Institute had already taken enough from him. This was just the final piece he needed to reclaim from them, his own damn identity.

“If you’re so confident in your argument clothes merchant why don’t you tell me what the hell you would do?” Harkness waved his hand in annoyance. “It’s all good and well talking about that something should be done. That’s the easy damn part but what would you do?” He shook his head. “Don’t try to argue defence. How the hell do you think you’re able to stay safe in your stall? Theft isn’t a problem for you. Now why would that be?" Raising an eyebrow he paused "because I know how to do my damn job and so do they guards under my authority.”

He was incredibly proud of them and he didn’t appreciate their work being dismissed. “Exaggerate them. Make it so that anyone outside of Rivet City doesn’t know what’s real and what isn’t. I told my guards. I wasn’t making some show. I didn’t carelessly announce it to every visitor. I was well aware of the consequences. I just refuse to make an enemy out of everyone that isn’t us. That might be an appropriate attitude in the Upper Deck but not here.”

Harkness laughed, not kindly. “We have been testing the weapons defences. There is an entire world outside of that damn Marketplace and I’ve been ensuring that Rivet City s defended against it. You might be brash in your arrogance and ts easy to point fingers but at least don’t insult me. I know how to defend this ship. Its what I have been doing and what I will continue to do. Even if the wastes know I’m an android. That won’t stop my duty.”

#shit this got long #sorry #securitychiefharkness

"A spur of the moment decision? No. Still a fast one. But that's the problem, isn't it?" The problem was he hadn't been one of the ones in on the big fucking secret. He had never been considered trustworthy. Wasn't that the joke. Bannon trusted Harkness fully. Perhaps not completely, and the distance between them philosophically was enough to fit the entire ship into, but Bannon trusted Harkness with his life. And all he was to Harkness was a joke.

Clothes merchant.

Of course. That’s all he was, wasn’t he? Just some stupid useless stall owner. Because he didn’t wear a black uniform and shoot his gun outside a practice range, he was just a civilian and had no right to say in the ship. To be waved off when he expressed concerns. The snooty stall seller who needed to be kept out of the loop and then laughed at because he was out of the loop.

“This isn’t about making enemies! This is about being prepared if our allies decide to make enemies out of us! You know damn well that’s what this is about. I don’t want to have to wait until one of our citizens goes missing while on a routine trip and getting ransom notes saying ‘turn the robot over’”

Yeah, he believed in stratification, but he’d be damned if he did nothing to protect this city. What would Rivet City be without its trade? Could they afford the armor (armor Bannon helped provide) and security if this place was still just a hole with a lab in it? He loved this city, and he worked every day to make it the beats of heart of civilization, whether the last of the old or the first of the new. Didn’t matter which.

"Yes, how foolish of me wanting to talk things out before action. To have a chance to talk and think things through. Well forgive me but I've just had something that could be the cause of a dozen future crises dropped in my lap and I think I have the right to be demanding answers."

Oh hell, let's see how Harkness liked this kind of shit dropped on him. "Exactly how many of your sabbaticals in the past few years have been because of this? Did Li know?" He could take Madison knowing. Oh Christ, if she did this shed a very different light on her leaving for the Commonwealth.

"These people who 'created' you," the idea that Harkness was made was both repugnant and understandable at the same time. "You know them. How could they hurt the city? And spare me the 'we're protected' line. I want to be prepared for the worst. You have the military side of things, let me at fucking least have some ideas of what to do for the civilian side."

The last question he spoke quietly. "Would they use Madison against us?" And then a worse thought. "Have they already used her against you?"

#Harkenss please don't send the cannibal in Bannon's direction....#securitychiefharkness #ripperandribs #OOC

tittytron

lacy underwear makes me feel powerful and unstoppable

#mostly just comfortable

"Spreadin' rumors /is/ childish you moron, fuckin' hell."

"Upon Harkness’ request, as to confuse parties that might be interested in such an advance piece of technology.

If you have an issue, I suggest you speak to him about it.”

rebellionwithin

This was infuriating. The story was changing by the second, he wouldn’t have created this much of an argument if it wasn’t for the fact that he had admitted it was him in the first place. Suddenly it wasn’t. "What the hell are you talkin’ about? You need help. Bannon, you said you did it, not me. I asked you told me Harkness had told you to spread a few rumos about him to lead people to believe that it was a rumor. You said that! To me! Like 10 minutes ago! A lot of fuckin’ help if you don’t remember that. If you hadn’t have notice Li left to go the Commonwealth, it’s common knowledge, so yeah she just fucked off. I am right this time. This is not the last of this Bannon, you could have just fuckin’ admitted you were wrong and said your peace, but no you had to be an arrogant fuck about it and deny everythin’ in order not to look bad. You’re a terrible fuckin’ liar and this is not the end.”

Not a fucking chance.